Aryt chaps, done a bit of looking into intercoolers and 90% of people seem to say smic only avoid fmic where as 10% say they have no issues with fmic.... Only reason I ask is I much prefer the look of a front mount but its not worth it if it does actually put any of the engine at risk.

 

Only topics I've seen on the matter have been in usa where on hot summer days it can effect cooling but this isn't usa and a hot summer days? Well don't even get started on that lol.

 

Cheers

Welcome to the club Shaun. Any pics of your Z?

Hi shaun, on these cars I generally advise sticking with smic because they are miles easier to fit, and you can get quite large ones without much modifcation, but if you want to get loads of custom piping in for fmic then go for it.

SMIC's are usually plug&play, where most FMIC's need a lot of grinding, cutting (sometimes welding.) and some thing may need to be moved out of the way to improve cooling.

 

the only FMIC that's ok (imo) is the HKS type , as it sits under an angle and it keeps the correct crossflow.

There are a lot of cheap clones of this HKS FMIC intercooler nowadays (on ebay and the likes), not sure about quality and fitment of those

 

I have the original HKS one on my own car and I don't experience any real cooling issues, only when in busy traffic the temps shoot up, but I have fitted an upgraded aircon fan,

which assists the main fan under these situations and then it's ok.

 

 

It won't fit very well under a standard bumper ...it's ok with a 99 spec bumper, but you'll still need to cut a lot of material from the bumper.

Other aftermarket bumpers may be ok.

I had an ebay FMIC fitted to my Slicktop, seemed ok but I felt the car was laggier compared to my black one before it.

No pictures of it yet mate don't pick it up until next month, had a yellow LWB N/A auto a couple years ago my first Z and loved it. Have had a SWB TT manual pop up locally for a price I cant turn down so saving like mad to get it haha.

 

Ah well for as much as id love a nice shiny intercooler showing I guess it will be smic, I'm only looking to do basic things to it when I get it mainly turbo back exhaust and bov (for Noise!!!) then ill go onto things to aid better running, Ali rad intercoolers etc.

 

From looking online it seems a vast majority of things will have to be bought from the usa? Cant find much uk things other than some of the usual ebay specials unsure how they would fair? Also seems a swb exhaust at a cheap price is fairly hard to find.

 

What sites do you lads use and parts you'd recommend?