Stock tune and intercooler upgrade

I am just wondering, for those that had upgraded their intercooler with the stock tune...

What difference did you notice? throttle response, consistent power?

I have been monitoring my IAT-2's and they are usually 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit higher than ambient temperature. Not sure if I would benefit to upgrade my intercooler.

You will see a good change in temp. If you run it hard it is a great MOD. I have the FP tune but on the track (super hot) I didn't have any problems this weekend and no loss of power that I had before. I love my cp-e intercooler....no mod fit and double the size of stock.

I think everyone's car would benefit from a bigger intercooler. I'm personally a fan of the larger surface area intercoolers rather than the thicker intercoolers, but they both do a nice job of keeping temps near ambient.

With the stock intercooler, if you sit in traffic or have your car idling only a few minutes, you can see your intake temps shoot up in the 130, 140, 150 degree range. This will cut timing quite a bit to protect the engine. You can feel when timing is being cut. You'll notice the slowness or hesitation.

If there is any chance for more performance mods later on, I would most definitely get the intercooler sooner rather than later. Just my thoughts though.

As it gets hotter you'll definitely notice. 30 degrees over ambient is quite steep, most aftermarket coolers worth their money drop to like 10-15 over ambient and recover from heatsoak MUCH quicker.

I installed the CPE intecooler last summer and I tried it with and without at tune, the biggest difference without the tune was top end drop, I think someone dyno tested both the stock and the cpe intercooler on the stock tune, and the CPE intercooler had around 20 or so more hp between 4000-6000 rpm, didn't make more peak hp just made the curve extend compared to the stock intercooler which heatsoaked like crazy over 4000 rpm. Like said above the benefits grow greater as it gets hotter.

I have the MAP street intercooler on a stock tune. I didnt notice any power gains. Temps drop significanlty faster once im out of traffic. Planning to tune very soon

BoostedCanadianPoney said:

I have the MAP street intercooler on a stock tune. I didnt notice any power gains. Temps drop significanlty faster once im out of traffic. Planning to tune very soon

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Well you really aren't going to "gain" anything, it's not a power adder. You just won't lose as much. Keeps temps down into the range (I believe it's 100 degrees where timing begins to be pulled) where timing isn't being pulled.

yep for sure, that is why a tune is in the pipeline very soon

Without a tune you wont see much. (FROM A SHADETREE TUNING VIEW) The cpu will most likely drop your boost targets down to meet the power the cpu calls for. without a tune to change this you will probably just see your boost pressure drop yet still have roughly the same power. THAT BEING SAID, get an intercooler even if your running stock tune. The stock intercooler is a huge weakness for this engine by design (to keep it from getting close to GT performance). If you have to pick between tune or intercooler go tune but make an intercooler a priority.

Garf said:

Without a tune you wont see much. (FROM A SHADETREE TUNING VIEW) The cpu will most likely drop your boost targets down to meet the power the cpu calls for. without a tune to change this you will probably just see your boost pressure drop yet still have roughly the same power. THAT BEING SAID, get an intercooler even if your running stock tune. The stock intercooler is a huge weakness for this engine by design (to keep it from getting close to GT performance). If you have to pick between tune or intercooler go tune but make an intercooler a priority.

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I'd almost say grab the FMIC first. I mean this is purely opinion but Grabbing an IC first really doesn't have a downside over the tune. It'll help while still stock until you can grab the tune, while doing it the opposite way and you'll still be getting killed by crap temps.

For you guys who have replaced your FMIC. Even if your new IC did nothing, wouldnt you still feel better just getting that horrid POS stock unit out of your car? LOL, I sure did!

I'll jump on the "get an intercooler first" bandwagon too. Upgraded to a mishi IC as the first mod done to the car, and it made quite a bit of difference above 5k even with the stock tune. Wife could even tell that the car felt better, and didn't seem to fall on it's face in the higher RPM range.

FWIW, stocker would get heat soaked after first gear in Florida afternoon heat.

Friend was trapping 97-100 now with a Wagner tuning Evo 1 IC he's trapping 102-104 in hotter weather

The stock intercooler is barely adequate for stock power levels much less anything else. It heatsoaks terribly and should be one of, if not, the first things replaced.

When the stock intercooler heat soaks, the PCM will pull timing and such to keep things within safe parameters as charge air temps increase, so running a stock unit in and of itself isn't detrimental, but upgrading it not only keeps charge air temps within check but it allows you to make power consistently and reliably. Stock power is 310 hp. If a good 3rd gear pull heat soaks the factory unit, it might be making 240 hp. That's where an upgraded unit, even on a stock car, can help. An intercooler isn't going to add horsepower like adding additional boost would but it will restore and maintain any lost power (as the factory unit heatsoaked).

There's a lot of people on here that will argue back and forth against the viability but it's been proven time and time again that the factory unit is junk.

kart3l said:

I am just wondering, for those that had upgraded their intercooler with the stock tune...

What difference did you notice? throttle response, consistent power?

I have been monitoring my IAT-2's and they are usually 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit higher than ambient temperature. Not sure if I would benefit to upgrade my intercooler.

Click to expand...

If you track your car and intercooler is a must investment.

If you don't track... well, you can get one because everyone else said you would benefit. Might be better off with better tires, depending on what you have.