So I just got a turbo z31 YAY!!! The seals are going out in the turbo so I will be replacing it with,well, an upgrade. I am going from water cooled to air cooled. So I obviously want a fmic. So now I have two problems. One is that I am under the impression that a fmic will especially mess with the airflow to the radiator being its angled position. And two is that the turbo and throttle body are both on the driver side. How would I run icp? across the motor? Would it be better to just get hold of a stock z32 side mount? I plan to run 13-15 psi so I will need an intercooler with decent flow rate and volume/flow efficiency.Is a side mount really a good choice? I saw a modded intake mani on redz with the throttle body on the pass side, how was that done? I would appreciate any pointers you can throw on this subject and also if you have had success with tuning the eepromless ecu,any good tuning tools you can suggest. Idk if piggyback will work. Thanks guys

 

if your asking these sort of questions, you really need to get some more experience with cars and turbo's, before you start taking on projects like these.

 

Welcome to ZDriver!

Indeed... time for more research. Sounds like you've been to Redz31's website. That's got tons of info on turbo upgrades & intercooler setups (TONS of pics too... maybe you missed that?), so I suggest looking through his site more.

SMIC and FMIC are just terms relating to the LOCATION of the intercooler. If there's enough room you can use a FM as a SM, or a SM as a FM, but most SM's are smaller.

And I'm not sure why you would downgrade from a water cooled turbo, to air cooled turbo...

Like Hoov said... there's tons of info on all this. I also suggest reading some books:

Maximum Boost:


Street Turbocharging:

 

yea i know the diff between intercoolers, I am just saying that a side mount will allow the piping to be rerouted on the same side of the car. and after 15psi the watercooled stock turbo is no longer efficient because it starts producing more hot air. and i know z32 tt side mounts are very efficient so I didnt know if i could use a sm as a fm because of how wide a sm is. it will allow me to, like i said, put the air back into the same side of the engine where the throttle body is livated

 

*located

 

What makes you think you will be running more than 15 psi? What are your other mods going to be?

You are making this more complicated than it has to be. Just get a moderately sized fmic. 28x7x2.5 or so. You can run the pipes on thesame side.

Cx racing makes good intercoolers for a cheap price. Search eBay.

 

Yes... "Stock"... Why not upgrade the stock turbo to a T3/T4 hybrid so you can keep the water cooled core?

Running 15psi is going to require a lot more than a bigger turbo and an IC.

 

thats not because its water cooled, thats just max efficiency of the stock T3


read Maximum Boost and come then come back

 

ok i did not elaborate, sorry.I thought I might be able to get away with vague questions.My stock turbo seals are dying. I have a t3/t4 hybrid.I know that the max efficiency of the stock turbo is 15psi. I thought that was because of the fact it was watercooled. I never really thought into it but now that I do think about it, i feel like an idiot. I feel more comfortable with an air cooled setup because that is what I have used in the past. I have never seen an intercooler with an inlet and outlet on the same side. Now that I know they exist I will look more into it. Thank you justin260z. and I am actually working on buying the two mentioned books. I have read a few chapters out of both and they are very good. Does anyone have any experience with air fuel controllers on the z31?Thanks

 

On the intercooler portion why is it that the mentioned size of 28x7x2.5 ya can find on ebay for less than 100 bucks versus the $1200 ya find on a legitimate website? dAMN i would love to spend the 100 over the 1200 but what does the construction and design difer from each other or the operation? i find it questionable. I too in need of an intercooler.

 

you'll know when you hit a certain level in your life when you can full understand on of these..

 

Where are you finding 1200 dollar intercoolers? LOL


CX Racing is a legit brand, and I have used them before. There are a few 240sx buddies who use them with their rb25's and are pushing 20 psi through them with no problems at all. They really have great products.

 

I'll search through my fav's and pull those websites for ya so ya can see for yaself that intercoolers for a 1988 Nissan 300ZX Turbo are listed from 900 to 1200 bucks for a full kit inlcuding piping and intercooler.

Im gonna have to check out that website ya listed. I'll search it tonight and post it tomorrow for ya to see. They list different stats from various vehicles and tested them through numerous stressful boosts. I been workin on my z for a lil over 3 years now and has came a very long way. Ill be pushing estimating 550 hp easily and comfortably. Its a big step coming from the Acura or Honduh family.

THanks again.

 

One more thing before i forget. I been researching on the Mishimoto Intercoolers. Have ya heard anything positive on them? I really havent heard anything bad nor good. But i will definitely check that site ya listed for sure though!

 

dude, just because they work, doesnt mean they are good, you have variables like pressure drop, heat transfer, flow/how it flows..etc their is a reason why good IC's cost so much and it ain't because its a brand name.

 

I know that man.


Im just saying its a great intercooler for the poor man.


If you have the money, by all means get a "name brand" ic.

 

No one in the Z31 perfomance quest uses a side mount IC.

 

Read this.

http://www.redz31.net/turbofaq/turbo...m#intercooling

http://z31performance.com/forum/view...oolers#p153543

 

The ultimateZ.com, Horsepowerfreaks.com, Blackdragon.com, jimwolftechnology, thezstore, japanparts, brcperformance.com,....etc... All in the 1K range. I know what to look for in a intercooler but when i hear or see a intercooler that swears up and down that say their intercoolers are tested before retail makes me curious what is the catch or is it really a good buy at a low dollar. ya know? just looking for a little light shed here.

 

You can get away with a cheap knockoff, but when you start building a well tuned car, you'll start seeing the difference.

 

reddzx, you answered all my questions by putting those links up. I really appreciate you doing that for me. hoov100 is right though.

I totally agree, the consistency at which your ic keeps air pressure constant is a big vairable when building a tuned car. make sure you know what you are buying before you do it. dont just get any ic because it looks big enough to eat small childeren.

 

whats the difference between the intercooler core and a intercooler?

 

The core is the internal portion that is involved with controlling the flow of air etc, while the intercooler is the entire finished unit including end caps.

 

which one is better to have? I would imagine the whole unit.

 

This site has great info on intercoolers.

http://www.are.com.au/techtalk/intecoolersMR.htm