would a front mount help?

[blackgn231]

Have a stock intercooler right now, and was thinking about a front mount,just not sure if its going to make that much different. I have stock block with ported and polished heard with bigger valves, intake is port matched and opened up with doghouse, bigger throttle body, 3- inch down pipe, TA-49 turbo, 160 therostst, 38 pd injectors, stock convertor, roller cam,stock headers. can anyone help me thanks.

 

[gs462]

What are you wanting out of the car? A front mount now wouldn't be that beneficial, you could upgrade in other areas to make the car pick up ALOT of power.

 

[TurboDave]

Depends on what you're looking for....

A good high quality FM will definately make a huge difference in intake charge temperature. Thus allowing a few more pounds of boost, before knock retard sets in (everything else being unchanged). Without suitable upgrades to your cooling system it will also add some heat headaches to your cooling system.

 

[TurboDave]

Couldn't reply to your PM, your inbox is full.

 

[Razor]

Have a stock intercooler right now, and was thinking about a front mount,just not sure if its going to make that much different. I have stock block with ported and polished heard with bigger valves, intake is port matched and opened up with doghouse, bigger throttle body, 3- inch down pipe, TA-49 turbo, 160 therostst, 38 pd injectors, stock convertor, roller cam,stock headers. can anyone help me thanks.

Sounds like your weak link is the small turbo and boost. I wouldnt put a FM on a TA-49. Small turbo like that, a simple dutt neck on a stocker have taken cars pretty far.

Step up to a 62+ MM turbo.. things start to change.

And if your on pump gas in Florida, you dont want to block of the radiator with a FM if you do any sort of real driving. Most do a stretch IC and an alky kit to slam the temps down and the alky allows for higher boost. Unless your running on racegas everywhere. The cars are dogs with stock boost levels.

 

[TurboDave]

Sounds like your weak link is the small turbo and boost. I wouldnt put a FM on a TA-49. Small turbo like that, a simple dutt neck on a stocker have taken cars pretty far.

Step up to a 62+ MM turbo.. things start to change.

And if your on pump gas in Florida, you dont want to block of the radiator with a FM if you do any sort of real driving. Most do a stretch IC and an alky kit to slam the temps down and the alky allows for higher boost. Unless your running on racegas everywhere. The cars are dogs with stock boost levels.

I'll mildly disagree on this point. I run a TE-44 (basically the same turbo), and my front mount made a significant difference, in the amount of boost I was able to run before knock retard set in. The only upgrade I had to make beyond that was a dual fan setup for cooling. And of course more tuning to make up for the additional boost. :biggrin:

 

[Razor]

I'll mildly disagree on this point. I run a TE-44 (basically the same turbo), and my front mount made a significant difference, in the amount of boost I was able to run before knock retard set in. The only upgrade I had to make beyond that was a dual fan setup for cooling. And of course more tuning to make up for the additional boost. :biggrin:

Your not in Florida , and your not sitting in the Florida heat sweating bullets becuase of this FM that now blocks the condenser allowing it not to cool.

Front mounts are for race cars. A quality stretch can take one of these cars solidly into the 9's.

The only advantage to a FM is a car being hot lapped needing a quicker cool down of the IC. The extra plumbing, heating issues, AC issues, are not worth it. Working on the engine makes the FM a little more friendly if your pulling the engine in and out a lot

If you tested a quality stretch on your 44 and a FM, you wouldnt see any performance difference.

But thats OK.. thats what this site is for to give different flavors

 

[1-CLN-GN]

Subscribed.I am in the same boat your in.I currently have a TE44 with stock intercooler and debating between a FM or stretched stock intercooler.

 

[gs462]

I say SLIC all the way,

 

[87NAT]

Your not in Florida , and your not sitting in the Florida heat sweating bullets becuase of this FM that now blocks the condenser allowing it not to cool.

Front mounts are for race cars. A quality stretch can take one of these cars solidly into the 9's.

The only advantage to a FM is a car being hot lapped needing a quicker cool down of the IC. The extra plumbing, heating issues, AC issues, are not worth it. Working on the engine makes the FM a little more friendly if your pulling the engine in and out a lot

If you tested a quality stretch on your 44 and a FM, you wouldnt see any performance difference.

But thats OK.. thats what this site is for to give different flavors

x2

SLIC + alky= as much performance as you want

 

[TurboDave]

Your not in Florida , and your not sitting in the Florida heat sweating bullets becuase of this FM that now blocks the condenser allowing it not to cool.

Can't argue that point. I thank my lucky stars regularly that I decided to move here instead of Ocala which I was thinking of.

Front mounts are for race cars.

Strictly a subjective matter of opinion.

A quality stretch can take one of these cars solidly into the 9's.

Can't argue that logic. I've never understood that arguement. Put enough motor in a car and you could say the same thing about a stock intercooler, or no intercooler at all for that matter.

The only advantage to a FM is a car being hot lapped needing a quicker cool down of the IC. The extra plumbing, heating issues, AC issues, are not worth it. Working on the engine makes the FM a little more friendly if your pulling the engine in and out a lot

A good FM will always be an improvement over ANY great SLIC when speaking of efficiency. There's absolutely NO disagreement on that point among the experts.

If you tested a quality stretch on your 44 and a FM, you wouldnt see any performance difference.

Been there, done that. WRONG.

But thats OK.. thats what this site is for to give different flavors

Absolutely.

 

[Razor]

Fastest stock IC car I know off was 132 in the 1/4 with a stock IC.

 

[Blown&Injected]

can change the oil filter from the top with a FMIC

It also did not seem to hurt to bad even in 90+* high humidity, stop and go Washington DC traffic - stock/recored radiator and fan

 

[alb84]

I can't agree with theory that because it is a smaller turbo the front mount won't make a difference. It makes a huge difference in the air temp. The smaller turbo is going to create more heat at 20 plus psi than the larger turbo will. The larger IC will compensate for the small turbos' heat at high boost. I don't think there is any question about the fact that cooler air is denser air, and denser air makes more power. Just because a bunch of people go fast with a small IC doesn't make the small IC better. They would be quicker and faster with a big front mount. How about the guys we have seen running 10's with a hot air car? I guess that means you can just remove your IC and go out and run 10s so why bother with even a stock location IC. I'm not trying to be a smart ass. I respect the opinions of all you guys. I'm OK with it if you tell me I'm wrong.
Danny

 

[turbo nasty]

Screw the SLIC !!!

I dont give a crap who has run what, when, where and how with the SLIC how fast. its in teh hot engine bay.!!!!

Face it...The heat soak in the engine bay with the radiator blowing right on the SLIC along with radiant heat from the engine hampers the IC's whole purpose to exchange heat from the charge air.

IMO the SLIC is in a poor place just like the WRX and Turbo 2 rx7's IC's.

Why put a IC in a hot enviroment??

Because dittle nuts ran faster than a frog through the 1/4 with a SLIC?
Give me a break.... so im gonna spend more cash on a IC and put it in the engine bay becuase they are doing it.

Not good enough reason in my book.

A FMIC will do its job better in front of the radiator...PERIOD.

And the air doesnt have to hit a 90 degree bend/wall/tank less than a foot out of the compressor with a FMIC Your able to move a bigger column of air more effieciently as well.

FMIC, better radiator if your specific app runs hot (mine doesnt) and fans is a better total package.

Good combos and total packages win races, there is no arguing that thats a fact!

 

[Grumpy]

Just do a search on SLIC and front mounts .. This has been beat to death !! I am up in the North east.. I had a few customers run a front mount. I drove the cars to the track and after cruising the beach.. I know I know.. You can sit in traffic for an hour and a car won't run hot with a FMIC RACING only??!! FMIC !!!! .. Street/RACE SLIC . Ya thats what we use on Melissa's 9 sec STREET car !! She has put over 8k miles on her car THIS SUMMER so far !! YES we DRIVE the car !! :biggrin:
Oh her old set up as a stocker with a 44 turbo and an old CAS stock location intercooler she ran mid 11s @ 118 for prob 10 years !! Switched to Alky an it ran a little fast and quicker
Oppps... forgot... Lots STREET guys that do want the FMIC want it for the "cool guy look" for cruising and the car shows

Ahhhhhh the NET

 

[Razor]

Its like the tag "Show Me"

Buddy of mine had the same thoughts.. He bought a FM.. next thing was the car started running hotter. So next is he bought a 500 dollar aluminum radiator, 200 for a set of trick fans, upgraded his alternator to handle the additional load posed by the fans.. then bought a flow cooler water pump to circulate water better.

In the end he went back to the track and the car picked up nothing et/mph wise from the stretch that was on the car at 28 PSI boost.

I'm a fan of the bling the huge FM offers.. it looks menacing.. Just remember sometimes theory doesnt hold truth when it comes to these cars. Grumpy's combo 9.9 at 138 on a stretch and drag radials.. listen to those been there done that

 

[ijames]

How fast do you want to go, and what octane fuel do you want to do with? The faster the car and the lower the octane the more the front mount will help. Yes you have to upgrade the cooling system to run one. I installed a CAS V2 fm when I had a TE34 turbo which is smaller than a TA49, and I picked up .5 sec and 5 mph tuning to the limit with 93 octane in both cases. Several other guys I know all picked up between .4 and .6 sec going from stock or dutt neck stock or a bg stretch to fm's, starting anywhere from mid 12's to high 11's. Yes, they all had to upgrade the cooling system, even here in Maryland, so just be sure to include that cost when you make your decision.

 

[T-CHRGD]

Just my simple street driven thoughts.
Before the front-mount my car ran super in the winter, but dropped off noticably in the summer. After adding a front mount (a Long time ago - it's a Cartech ) car runs super all year long.
I did upgrade the fans, and the chip turns on the fans sooner, but only recently, with the original radiator now 23 yrs. old, do I need to upgrade the cooling system. (Note to All - ALWAYS use Distilled Water in the mix) :biggrin:
But.... I can't say how FLA weather would change the results.

 

[deezdad]

My only question would be is throttle responce affected at all running a front mount, say with a te44? Seems like an aweful long way to move the air with such a small turbo ...