Originally Posted by 813_05_STi
1-Bigger Top Mount+ The Stock Location of your Turbo= More Hot Air to suck in to your engine. AIT makes Huge HP differences on cars. And the IC sprayer is about as useful as pulling over and peeing on your IC.
wrong in many directions..
the TMIC is just as effective in many situations as a fMIC, and better in some. The IC doesnt suck the hot air in, the intake position is what determines if you suck in hot air.
the IC acts just like a heatsink on a computer chip..its absorbs heat.. thats all it does... being in the front it means you can readily move air over the IC and remove that heat to allow it to absorb more heat from the air coming from the turbo.... its just a big chunk of metal designed to absorb heat.. the bigger the chunk the more heat it can absorb.. so thats why some FMICs are more effective..
water has a higher specific heat than the metal used in intercoolers.. and thats why alot of times the water to air ICs are ALOT more efficient.. thats also why a intercooler sprayer.. when done right.. is a REALLY effective way of impriving your IC efficiency.. water phase changes very easily.. phase change takes engery.it gets the energy from around it in the form of heat.. so when you phase change water (ie evaporate it) it cools things down.. actually it takes heat from them and makes it so they can absorb more heat.
what the TMIC does better than the FMIC is it has less volume of air to move.. when you back off the throttle to change gears or coast through a corner.. the throttle closes.. and the air flow stalls.. the BOV opens to vent some of this.. when you get back on the gas.. the time it takes to get that airflow moving again is "lag" .. larger volume of air = more lag .. alot of things can be done to hel this situation though..
FMIC's look better.. offer about the same advantages alot of the time in terms of efficiency to an UPGRADED TMIC (not the stock one) .. a good TMIC with a properly setup atomiser/water spray wil lhandle 500+ hp quite easily...
TMIC being not as good as FMIC for a number of applications is a myth along with the need for turbo timers..
they do look cool though.. and in some racing applications.. (ie lapping and rally and stuff) can be more efficient.. all depends on the FMIC/TMIc in question and how its set up.