which way of mounting the intercooler would you recommend for an s13? (money+effort+mods vs. power gains)
same question for s14 as well
Umm… front. It’s the most efficient way.
The only reason you ever see side-mount or top-mount is because those are cheap ways to do it, and v-mount is pretty much absolutely crazy, trying to get as much intercooler efficiency as possible without ruining radiator performance.
I still really like Dave Coleman’s “Mid-mount” IC. The response of a top mount and a front mounts efficientcy. V-mount is pretty neat but it makes access to the front of the engine difficult and is somewhat complicated. I would say most top-mounts suffer from too much heat soak and require large hood vents.
Thats not true. There are pro’s and con’s to all setups. I bet i have the smallest amount of I/C piping compared to anyone on this board, and that is a BIG part of throttle response.
mid-mount? pls explain…
also, what steps would need to be taken to front mount an IC in an S13/180SX
Thats not true. There are pro’s and con’s to all setups. I bet i have the smallest amount of I/C piping compared to anyone on this board, and that is a BIG part of throttle response.[/quote]
He’s not asking about throttle response.
^^^^
True if all he wants is power gains the he wants a front mount. But Sephirius, there is more to a setup then overall power, I made my top mount because i wanted the throttle response. hehehe think of it like this, in super mario cart, who do you play as? Bowser lots of power but takes some time to get there (FMIC), toad really quick but overall on straightaways not as much power (TMIC), or mario/luigi, the middle of it all (VMIC / MMIC). Though in real life it is not that drastic of a contrast.
You can buy complete FMIC kits for a 240, with all the nessesary parts.
Also spite, i was saying that in defense to a TOP mount IC setup, it is not a “cheap” way of doing it, it is a different way, with it’s own pro’s and con’s, like all setups.
Well, perhaps cheap isn’t applicable for the 240, but generally car makers use top mounts as a higher performance option to a side mount, without the expenses of a front mount (most of which are related to front-end collision survivability.)
Racer240SX has a very good point that it’s not just about intercooler efficiency. Throttle response is very important in some applications, and the bigger the intercooler, the longer the piping, the longer the time between when you step on it and the engine actually gets the air. I know a Miata owner in Edmonton who doesn’t run an intercooler, just dumps the hot air straight in. His car has almost no lag and as far as turbos go, instant throttle response. Compared to most turbo cars, it’s perfect for autocross 
He mounted the IC inside the engine bay. Right where the rad would usually sit. The rad was moved back a tiny bit and the whole package was boxed in to keep the air from flowing around the IC and rad. It has less piping than a FMIC but doesn’t suffer from the engine bay heat like a top mount or heat soak like a SMIC.