Here's a few pic's of my pro alloy fmic a fitted to my 53 plate vRS.

It took me two attempts to get it on and working, first time I got everything stripped down then discovered the MAP sensor mounting was machined too thin and the sensor "O" ring passed right through it and out the other side and did not make a seal. Also the kit came without any fitting instructions and I could'nt get the fmic to fit behind the crash bar and get the mounting brkts to line up...... so smic back on

Pro alloy were really good about it, and they made a new MAP sensor housing ASAP and "E" mailed pic's of how to line up the intercooler with the crash bar

Second attempt at fitting was a success but what a PITA to get the intercooler mounted correctly..... on jabba's web site it states that no cutting is required to the crash bar, but no way would this one fit without one of the O/S bumper mountings having to be cut off to allow clearance for the top outlet pipe (can be seen in one of the pic's).

Also I had to make two tappered spacers for the top two crash bar mountings and a brkt for the bottom O/S rad mounting and a brkt to support the front end of the pancake pipe.

Now its on I'm really pleased with it, I cant feel any turbo lag and the car feels like it pulls a lot smoother and stronger than it did before, but without the surge that I was often getting with the smic.

Before fitting the kit I measured the internal volume of the fmic, MAP sensor tube and the two additional boost pipes which came to 10 litres (total), and when I get time I'll do the same with the smic and pancake link pipe that I have removed then deduct the smic volume from the fmic volume to give a total additional volume, then by using the following: T(fill) =Vic/((AFstart+AFfinal)/2), I will be able to calc what the theoretical turbo lag is..... just for intrest

Anyway here's the pic's.....its nice and shiney :p

You can see the cut that had to be made in the crash bar in this pic.

On at last !

New deeper MAP sensor pipe and alloy spacers I made for top mounts.

Must say buddy that FMIC looks a very well made piece of kit

Hat off to you for getting it fitted in the end, I have done a number of jobs on my car that should of been straight forward but did not end up that way.

Very nice mate,pushing me further to purchasing one!

Looks good.

Must say buddy that FMIC looks a very well made piece of kit

Hat off to you for getting it fitted in the end, I have done a number of jobs on my car that should of been straight forward but did not end up that way.

Thanks Bowders

Pro Alloys, quality and workmanship is very impresive, and the way in which Waynne @ Pro Alloy delt with the initial fitting problems was absolutely spot on..... top customer service

Very nice mate,pushing me further to purchasing one!

You wont be disappointed if you do mate

I choose Pro Alloy after doing months of reserch to try and find an IC that would work best with my cars other mods.....but TBH the final descision as to which one to buy was a bit of a "wild a$$ed" guess.

There are so many options to choose from....single pass, double pass, inlet/outlet options, end tank designes, pipe sizes, core sizes, core types etc, and the prices vary by a huge ammount.

This was'nt the cheapest option, but its been a success which for me is the main thing.... if I'd paid less but been unhappy with the outcome then I'd have been gutted.

Here's another pic of the hole kit inc the silcon hoses to help concince you to get one :p

I went with Forge for the reason you mentioned after reading / reveiwing all the other options and DIY variants. Again Forge is certainly not the cheapest and probably not the dearest, but ticked the boxes for me for Quality, fitting, performance

I also got a very reasonable discount ordering through Briskoda reference..

Turbo lag calc now done.....not that my a$$e dyno could detect any

I've now measured the volume of the smic and the small rubber pancake pipe connector that have been removed and it comes to 2.7 litres, which when subtracted from the Pro Alloy fmic kit volume of 10 litres gives an increase in boost system volume of 7.3 litres (0.2578 cubic feet).... simple so far.

Before I go any further I'd like to point out the only true way to test turbo lag is on a dyno or out on a track/road, but the following calc (which I have not used since my college days) gives an indication of what to expect. Also I wish to declaire I've made several assumptions as follows.... VE @ cruise is 40%, VE @ full boost 80% and my new Pro Alloy fmic and KO3s turbo density ratio will be 2.14.

Turbo lag = V ic /((AF start + AF final)/2)

V ic = total volume of intercooler (inc extra hoses etc) in cubic feet.

AF start = starting turbo compressor flow rate.

AF final = final compressor flow rate.

AF start = RPM/2 x displacement x VE = 1500/2 x 110 x 0.40 = 33000 cubic inches = 19.10 CFM.

AF final = RPM/2 x displacement x VE = 3850/2 x 110 x 0.80 = 169400 cubic inches = 98.04 CFM.

AF final = 98.04 x density ratio = 98.04 x 2.14 = 210 CFM

So if I now put in the numbers......turbo lag = V ic /((AF start + AF final)/2) = 0.2578/((19.10 + 210)/2) = 0.0022505 x 60 = 0.135 seconds.

And thats it.....turbo lag with the new Pro Alloy kit works out @ just over a tenth of a second more than std.

I'm happy with that and as I've already said at the start of the thread.......on the road I cant notice any turbo lag at all, just lots of smooth power and (forgot to mention earlier), the 007P DV is a fair bit louder now

Mmmmmmmmm.........… nice!!!! They are a lovely bit of kit these FMIC's - you would really benefit from modifying the bumper to allow maximum air cooling now though.

Top work!

Steve

Mmmmmmmmm.........… nice!!!! They are a lovely bit of kit these FMIC's - you would really benefit from modifying the bumper to allow maximum air cooling now though.

Top work!

Steve

Thanks Steve

Do you have any pic's of your modified crash bar ????

I seem to recall you've somehow done yours but been able to retain some of the original's strengh ???

Must say I do like the look of your's and Bowders cars....... I'm very tempted :p

That IC is very sexy! Looks like a nice bit of kit.

How does the frontal area of the core compare to the standard SMIC?

I like the "to be sure to be sure" approach to the hose clips! Those big stainless Ace/Jubilee/Norma clips are bloody expenive. I've slowly changed all the ones on my car over to the Norma stainless items. The Norma ones are really nice. I find the large Jubilee clips to be too wide, which obviously isn't good if you're trying to seal a hose against a pipe.

Very nice install you have there . Nothing's ever bloody easy with modifying!

That IC is very sexy! Looks like a nice bit of kit.

How does the frontal area of the core compare to the standard SMIC?

I like the "to be sure to be sure" approach to the hose clips! Those big stainless Ace/Jubilee/Norma clips are bloody expenive. I've slowly changed all the ones on my car over to the Norma stainless items. The Norma ones are really nice. I find the large Jubilee clips to be too wide, which obviously isn't good if you're trying to seal a hose against a pipe.

Very nice install you have there . Nothing's ever bloody easy with modifying!

Cheers mate

The frontal area of the IC cores as follows;

SMIC - 20cm wide, 19cm high. FMIC - 52cm wide, 20cm high.

Funny about those hose clips.....dont know why I do things like that I actually pressure tested the FMIC, hoses and map sensor housing and they held 20psi easily with only one clip fitted, and in the case of the FMIC held 20psi without any loss for 7 days (pics attached).

You wont be disappointed if you do mate

I choose Pro Alloy after doing months of reserch to try and find an IC that would work best with my cars other mods.....but TBH the final descision as to which one to buy was a bit of a "wild a$$ed" guess.

There are so many options to choose from....single pass, double pass, inlet/outlet options, end tank designes, pipe sizes, core sizes, core types etc, and the prices vary by a huge ammount.

'Ello

You mind me asking what options you looked at? (e.g. Boostfactory,...)

I have one of these fitted to mine and it is spot on!

it's a real shame to be only using half the core area though, with the top half getting covered by the crash bar..

i used to have one of those, yep looks great mine didnt have the mounts on the bottom of the cooler though only mounted up in the middle, strange