The big Intercooler thread.

[El_mateo904]

I have now installed 2 CVFab race core intercoolers on my car. The first being a test unit and now the “final” product. The test unit had perfect fit, great build quality, and excellent performance. Even tho i was told the final product would have a “better” performing core... i didnt believe it could be much better. I was wrong.

Build quality... its built like a tank. The mounting points are rock solid and also has some bushings to keep shock/vibration stress off of each point. Cast end tanks... not welded sheetmetal.

Fitment... its an absolute beast. CVFab has managed to produce an intercooler that takes up every bit of usable space, and maintain perfect fitment.

Performance... Jason Anderson has all the data so ill leave that for him to post up. But i will say that it is pretty amazing. And yes, the core being used in the final product does actually perform better than the test unit i have been using for the past few months.

Bottom line... if you are in the market for an intercooler, this is the IC you should be looking at. Top notch fit, finish, and performance for under $500? Its really a no brainer.

Silver is the test unit. Black is the final product.

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[FreePenguin]

Just bought Cpe fmic intercooler new for 314 and 177 for Cpe hot pipe @ lethal performanxe

 

[TicTocTach]

Got my ATM installed today. Took a lot longer than I anticipated, but I haven't taken a new car apart before (lots of 60's cars), and since this is my daily driver I needed to be sure everything was 100% right. Found several things on my '18 that were different than the videos show for '15-'17, so that was an issue, too. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience and it's running great. Haven't had chance to compare performance by Track Apps yet, but she's definitely not suffering in any way.

 

[FreePenguin]

Installed the Cpe intercooler through belly pan on my eco, wasn’t bad took about 30 mins

 

[speedfrk]

Installed the Cpe intercooler through belly pan on my eco, wasn’t bad took about 30 mins

Does your car have shutters?

 

[TicTocTach]

Installed the Cpe intercooler through belly pan on my eco, wasn’t bad took about 30 mins

About 7 hours for my job... but I probably could have done it in 6 if I had rushed...

 

[FreePenguin]

Does your car have shutters?

Nope, my didn’t come with them. What is max psi boost for our car?

I had a cold charge pipe + hks with stock intercooler I don’t remember the psi from boost I used to get.

I’m ford tuned, I added Cpe cold charge to match the hot charge + Cpe delta intercooler. Can’t seem to get over 19 psi.

what is best way to get highest psi? Gear 3 wot?

 

[DavisCustoms]

Installed the Cpe intercooler through belly pan on my eco, wasn’t bad took about 30 mins

Didn't know that was even possible... I was under the assumption that you must remove the front bumper cover to access the FMIC.

 

[FreePenguin]

nope. Slid it right under. I needed like 1/2 an of clearance on the passenger side (put driver side in first), the very very very tip of the IC was bumping the GT bottom grille that I have in the car just a hair, so my friend just put a little force and pushed the bumper grille part outward and it slid right by. didn't hurt the car at all.

Pulling the stock intercooler out was cake, it fell right out. its just the new one was beefier, it was like playing Tetris, you had to figure out what direction and angle to slide it in to make it work. took us about 2 minutes of trying/rotating before we realized, shove the driver side in first, then pushed the passenger side up.

we also didn't hook the brackets to the intercooler before install, we did it after we had the intercooler up there, that way it was less things to be in our way pushing it up in there.

My car did not have AGS from factory. so if you have those, I doubt it'll be possible.


pull that belly pan, and its literally, full access to the IC. 4 bolts on bottom metal piece that goes across bracing it in, unclip the little sensor on driver side, and it pushes up and out, little clip looking mechanisms.

 

[DavisCustoms]

nope. Slid it right under. I needed like 1/2 an of clearance on the passenger side (put driver side in first), the very very very tip of the IC was bumping the GT bottom grille that I have in the car just a hair, so my friend just put a little force and pushed the bumper grille part outward and it slid right by. didn't hurt the car at all.

Pulling the stock intercooler out was cake, it fell right out. its just the new one was beefier, it was like playing Tetris, you had to figure out what direction and angle to slide it in to make it work. took us about 2 minutes of trying/rotating before we realized, shove the driver side in first, then pushed the passenger side up.

we also didn't hook the brackets to the intercooler before install, we did it after we had the intercooler up there, that way it was less things to be in our way pushing it up in there.

My car did not have AGS from factory. so if you have those, I doubt it'll be possible.


pull that belly pan, and its literally, full access to the IC. 4 bolts on bottom metal piece that goes across bracing it in, unclip the little sensor on driver side, and it pushes up and out, little clip looking mechanisms.

Interesting....

 

[FreePenguin]

So literally slides up in there, just need a slight of flex on one side it was so small that it could very one car to the other.

I refuse to take my bumper off, I do not want those bumper clips I see a lot of members have from bumper accidents

So if you don’t have active shutters, be aware you can make it work. Fmic anyway

 

[DavisCustoms]

So literally slides up in there, just need a slight of flex on one side it was so small that it could very one car to the other.

I refuse to take my bumper off, I do not want those bumper clips I see a lot of members have from bumper accidents

So if you don’t have active shutters, be aware you can make it work. Fmic anyway

unfortunately, I do have the active shutters. guess its bumper off if i decide to change out the FMIC

 

[FreePenguin]

I had a charge pipe blow off, damn thing. I reclaimed and tightened them all down as snug as I could. no issues now, wot everywhere, did some pulls, it was like 40* out, and man it felt good! but to be fair, I haven't driven the car since it was like 70* out, so it is probably stronger anyway since its super cold out.

I cannot get over 19-20psi, I swore I used to get like 20-22psi. I am ford performance tuned. Those who have the CP-E intercooler, stock and ford tunes, you guys get over 19-20psi? Do you think because its 30-40* out, is a factor why im stuck at 19-20psi?

I have hot and cold cpe pipes + hks bov along with my intercooler if it matters. I do not believe there are any leaks, those clamps are as tight as they can go. holding strong.


edit- do you think those cpe clamps are strong enough to break the charge pipes or intercooler cast iron ends or the engine mount spots? I torqued them down as far as I could. hopefully didn't like, break them. Before this, I did them as loose/snug as I could, but every time kept getting blown off.
So pulled my little ryobi power drill out, and snugged them up nicely. more than I did by hand, quite a bit more. but they are solid and not moving.

 

[FreePenguin]

Edit I guess 19 -20 is normal. I read comments saying good air = less psi
Bad air = more psi needed to hit those levels.

so because I’m running 19-20 means my car is running better than it would if it was hotter running 22-24? Feels strong

 

[Cardude99]

About 7 hours for my job... but I probably could have done it in 6 if I had rushed...

Same here took forever

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