Aftermarket SMIC - $140 - Aliexpress - Free Shipping

[Sirocco20348]

For those who are after a cheap aftermarket side mount intercooler ...

I was trawling the internet today and found this SMIC selling for $140 with free shipping.

VW 02 05 JETTA Golf GTI MK4 1.8t Turbo BOLT ON Side Mount Intercooler Kit-in Cooling System from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com

If this is in the wrong area, feel free to move, but its specific to mk4's.

[Stan]

cool find, i wonder what their cooling effectiveness compared to stock is

[Sirocco20348]

There are a billion threads on the internet debating whether they are worthwhile to stock.

For $140 even if its not, your subconscious will be satisfied that you did something alleviate heat soak.

FMIC look like a pain in the ass.

[Manaz]

I'd wonder how good an item you can really get for $140 inc shipping.

You'll also need to be sure that there are not RHD vs LHD fitting issues (I doubt there are, but you'll want to be sure).

[h100vw]

I'd wonder how good an item you can really get for $140 inc shipping.

You'll also need to be sure that there are not RHD vs LHD fitting issues (I doubt there are, but you'll want to be sure).

LHD/RHD no problems.

I have to question it's ability to work with 400hp though

You are into a dual pass or long pipes to get a single pass. IIRC Lito has a single pass with long pipes and that goes well.

Gavin

[Sirocco20348]

Vwvortex were yappin on about the 'taco taco' intercooler which is pretty much the same as this one.

Original Thread: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ensive-for-you

The only test results I have found were from a company called pagparts and they said its the worst SMIC intercooler of all time.

Test conditions and thoughts:

mid 80s (30 degrees Celcius approx). frankenturbo (k04) setup. I think the 23 and.20ish psi. Owner took it to the track where it trapped and ET'ed worse then stock.

You might've had problems with your endtanks when you ic got too hot. Heatsoak will not prevent you from boosting. This Intercooler is not efficient. The numbers don't lie. There's very poor internal fin density which does almost nothing. I mean it is boosting despite the heat but while it is not pulling timing, because of the iat's it is starting at very low base timing due to the compensation maps and robbing power. I've logged several different smic's this year and this is by far the worst one to date

No one else has posted up results. Lots of 'butt dyno' results saying that its aweeeesomeee lol...

Im a facts kinda guy so im staying away from this heat exchanging piece of shiz.

Sorry for posting such a bad intercooler.

[h100vw]

Vwvortex were yappin on about the 'taco taco' intercooler which is pretty much the same as this one.

Original Thread: VWVortex.com - Is the $280 Godspeed SMIC too expensive for you??

The only test results I have found were from a company called pagparts and they said its the worst SMIC intercooler of all time.

Test conditions and thoughts:







No one else has posted up results. Lots of 'butt dyno' results saying that its aweeeesomeee lol...

Im a facts kinda guy so im staying away from this heat exchanging piece of shiz.

Sorry for posting such a bad intercooler.

Not really adequate data to conclude anything in your post above. I haven't been to the vortex link. We don't know what the ambient temp is??

My Polo was exhibiting temps like those under boost on the highway. I discovered the fins all flattened on the back of the IC so I guess weak airflow through it a contributing factor.

If that log was done in a drag, I can see that the ic would probably heat soak in the queue and a 1/4 mile run at max chat would do sweet FA to recover it. The FMIC in my S3 takes a handful of KM to recover at highway speeds, after getting stuck in roadworks for 20 minutes.

My S3 runs about 10 degrees over ambient in cruise and down to 3-5 degrees over under boost.

ICs are definitely all about the construction of the internals in my eyes.

Gavin

[Sirocco20348]

Not really adequate data to conclude anything in your post above. I haven't been to the vortex link. We don't know what the ambient temp is??

My Polo was exhibiting temps like those under boost on the highway. I discovered the fins all flattened on the back of the IC so I guess weak airflow through it a contributing factor.

If that log was done in a drag, I can see that the ic would probably heat soak in the queue and a 1/4 mile run at max chat would do sweet FA to recover it. The FMIC in my S3 takes a handful of KM to recover at highway speeds, after getting stuck in roadworks for 20 minutes.

My S3 runs about 10 degrees over ambient in cruise and down to 3-5 degrees over under boost.

ICs are definitely all about the construction of the internals in my eyes.

Gavin

He said the ambiant temp was mid 80's.. so about 30 degrees.

Was your polo using a stock IC?

How are you measureing and logging air intake temps?

And is that measureing the air temp as it enters the intake manifold?

[h100vw]

I was using a BT thingy to display on my phone, same as VCDS really. It is measuring at the Throttle body.

I reckon 23PSI would heat up the charge pretty effectively.

Gavin

[Sirocco20348]

Ah ok nice one.

Would be interesting to see some peoples results with SMIC and FMIC's.

Just found a pdf that people might find interesting. I might head out this evening and get familiar with logging.

http://www.vaglinks.com/OBDII/Vag-com_Data_Logging_And_Graphing.pdf

Keep in mind people that you need the '06A-906-018-AGU.LBL' label file to know what your doing.

Mapping Boost:
Log maf/rpm, export to excel and calculate as follows:
boost pressure in bar = ((maf*53.47)/rpm)-1)