Inside grill mount or stock location intercooler?

billygeg

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
I was looking around for a aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler when I came across TR custom parts website..I see they have both the stock location intercoolers and the front mount.. Which do you guys feel is the better install?
 
I was looking around for a aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler when I came across TR custom parts website..I see they have both the stock location intercoolers and the front mount.. Which do you guys feel is the better install?
Are you looking to convert the 85 to an intercooled set-up?
 
I was looking around for a aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler when I came across TR custom parts website..I see they have both the stock location intercoolers and the front mount.. Which do you guys feel is the better install?

RJC FM-315 or FM-325.
 
If your car is stock, or close to it, you may never need a front mount. If you plan to be running in the 8's one day, skip all the in between steps, deal with how poor it will run in the mean time and buy a big-ass front mount.
 
Nah Im not into racing it..Im happy with the way it is now..If I can get a little more speed thats cool but not necessary.... Both kits are the same price but the front mount looks cooler but, If it will make the car run like crap I will skip it and just go with the aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler
 
The front mount won't make it run like crap, but it will cause the engine to run warmer due to less air flow across the radiator. To do it right, usually requires a dual fan set-up. May also require a larger capacity radiator.

Here is another option: http://www.arizonagn.com

Look for "modified stock location intercooler" under the Buick Products drop down menu.
 
Nah Im not into racing it..Im happy with the way it is now..If I can get a little more speed thats cool but not necessary.... Both kits are the same price but the front mount looks cooler but, If it will make the car run like crap I will skip it and just go with the aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler
To clarify my earlier comment............

Front mounts typically have more surface area exposed to cooler incoming airflow. thus allowing more efficient heat dissipation from the core. Also they usually have more mass, thus providing a greater heat sink for charged air. The tubing usually has softer larger radius bends allowing air to flow more smoothly into and out of it. If they have more passage tubes, this also provide less of a pressure differential from the inlet to outlet........and all kinds of other stuff........bla,bla,bla.......

But...........They can prevent sufficient airflow from making it through to the radiator, thus putting a strain on a cooling system that may be in need of service, or even in perfect working order, IMO was marginal to begin with. Also, larger volume requires more time to fill, (and in my experience from back in the day) resulting in extreme lag. Generally speaking, a poor dollar to horsepower value for any car that isn't at the point where the intercooler is the bottle neck.

So...........You may be better off with a nice stock location upgrade.:)
 
Nah Im not into racing it..Im happy with the way it is now..If I can get a little more speed thats cool but not necessary.... Both kits are the same price but the front mount looks cooler but, If it will make the car run like crap I will skip it and just go with the aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler
The front mount will lead to more mods to keep the water temps down generally like others have stated but you don't have to worry about ground clearance.the stock location is plug and play you just have to pay attention to ground clearance.if the car is stock and with a stock tune I would put a modified dutt neck or what Jm posted and be done.raising the boost and alky injection is the biggest bang for the buck from a performance standpoint on the stocker.
 
Nah Im not into racing it..Im happy with the way it is now..If I can get a little more speed thats cool but not necessary.... Both kits are the same price but the front mount looks cooler but, If it will make the car run like crap I will skip it and just go with the aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler


well leave it alone. although the front mount sure does fall into the cool guy parts at car shows :p
 
Nah Im not into racing it..Im happy with the way it is now..If I can get a little more speed thats cool but not necessary.... Both kits are the same price but the front mount looks cooler but, If it will make the car run like crap I will skip it and just go with the aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler


Leave the stocker on there ... you don't need a front mount or a upgraded SLIC .. the stocker has no problem supporting lower 11's all day

If you want to hit the EASY button .. put a E85 conversion kit on it ... Simplest most cost effective mod there is for these cars .. complete game changer and lets the car be all it can be.

you can add as much or as little power as you want .. from stock 13 psi to 25 psi + .. at the higher boost the trans is on borrowed time.
 
I was looking around for a aluminum shroud for my stock intercooler when I came across TR custom parts website..I see they have both the stock location intercoolers and the front mount.. Which do you guys feel is the better install?
If you decide to buy any aftermarket intercooler,you need to understand that the Precision stock location intercooler outflows most of the front mounts. This means less restriction which keeps the turbine workload to a minimum. This is a very big deal that most front mount marketers don't even consider when they design an intercooler. If you buy most of the front mount intercoolers,you will end up with too much restriction as the power goes up. If you buy a front mount that has minimal restriction,you will severely diminish the effectiveness of the cooling system. The best front mount will have many vertical cooling tubes. The vast majority of intercoolers marketed for our cars have few horizontal tubes which leads to more restriction which puts more strain on the turbine which creates more heat to attain any give desired boost number.

Generally speaking,the Precision stock location is the best intercooler out there. They used to market a front mount. I wonder why they quit selling it.
 
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If you decide to buy any aftermarket intercooler,you need to understand that the Precision front mount outflows most of the front mounts. This means less restriction which keeps the turbine workload to a minimum. This is a very big deal that most front mount marketers don't even consider when they design an intercooler. If you buy most of the front mount intercoolers,you will end up with too much restriction as the power goes up. If you buy a front mount that has minimal restriction,you will severely diminish the effectiveness of the cooling system. The best front mount will have many vertical cooling tubes. The vast majority of intercoolers marketed for our cars have few horizontal tubes which leads to more restriction which puts more strain on the turbine which creates more heat to attain any give desired boost number.

Generally speaking,the Precision stock location is the best intercooler out there. They used to market a front mount. I wonder why they quit selling it.
Did you mean “Precision stock location replacement” during the entire first paragraph?
 
Leave the stocker on there ... you don't need a front mount or a upgraded SLIC .. the stocker has no problem supporting lower 11's all day

If you want to hit the EASY button .. put a E85 conversion kit on it ... Simplest most cost effective mod there is for these cars .. complete game changer and lets the car be all it can be.

you can add as much or as little power as you want .. from stock 13 psi to 25 psi + .. at the higher boost the trans is on borrowed time.
What is a E85 conversion kit?
 
What is a E85 conversion kit?


Series of parts ( Fuel Pump, Injectors, Tune adjustment ) ... basically that's all that is needed to run E85 ... It's a complete game changer on these cars.. not only from a performance standpoint .. but also peace of mind.
 
but also peace of mind.
This is as high on my list of things I like about E85 as anything and I just pull into a gas station just like anyone else. If you can have peace of mind and get everything out of your engine all the time,that's a big deal.
 
This is as high on my list of things I like about E85 as anything and I just pull into a gas station just like anyone else. If you can have peace of mind and get everything out of your engine all the time,that's a big deal.


Agreed ... and the Price aint bad either :) $1.29 a gallon
 
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