BAC5.2

I use dei's reflect-a-gold at work. Very good stuff. Looks silly, but works great

This isn't worth it. Your reply makes it seem as though you are ignoring the fact that the core is internally finned, and that while the cross sectional flow area increases, the internal fin count proportionally increases. This means that your volume to total surface area ratio increases over the stock core.

You are so right. I don't know why I bothered coming into a thread trying to correct misinformation backed with actual fact. I'll be sure to never provide engineering insight on this forum again. Instead, I'll nod along like a sheep, bow down to your infinite automotive knowledge, and be mesmerized by your mastery of poetic syntax and wikipedia quotations. I'll bask in your light and knowledge, and spend eternity throwing little cocktail pickles at your feet. I'm so sorry for darkening your step with knowledge and information. Please forgive me. Clearly I was wrong for disagreeing with you. There seems to be a lack of "bow down" smileys, so this will just have to suffice

I think the international boundary made this more difficult than it should have been.

I'm not here to teach people about engineering. I've stated my point, with facts. I've been refuted by people with an incomplete (or nonexistant) understanding of what they are talking about. I'm done. You guys can carry on believing whatever you want. I'll keep myself grounded in the magical world of data and facts.

Oh man, I forgot to post my picture at the beginning of this thread: http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii287/bac52/1256523423443.jpg

I've heard a bunch of people say that SI-Drive completely transforms the 5EAT cars. I find use in I-mode, but mostly because it reminds me to drive sanely. I get much better fuel economy when I relax and use cruise control. I'd be fine if I-mode were no different than S# but with a shift light. Someone did some dyno pulls in all 3 mods, and S# made more power than S. I remember reading something about how S#, in addition to throttle changes, also changes the "requested torque" values over S mode. I dunno. I rarely find myself in S mode. I spend most of my time in I or S#.

BAC5.2 - Phil 2009 Outback 2.5XT Wagon Satin White Pearl

How has no one found out where he works, and call his boss to inform him that he is employing someone dishonest?

I've shipped to plenty of people to the PayPal address with a different name. I was just thinking that was stratomasters reason for saying something was stupid. So long as it's confirmed, it's all good.

I think he was saying that it was stupid to ship to a name other than the one who paid you.

Hmm, the OP did put an AEM CAI on the car after just a few weeks of ownership...

1) The number of people on this LEGACY board that have VF52's is far less than the number of people on an IMPREZA board. You JUST said that an aftermarket IC makes a difference to a VF40, the turbo that the majority of us have. How can that be, if you ALSO say that the stock intercooler is better in every way than an aftermarket unit? 2) The "extra psi" is not an extra psi. It's one or two psi that aren't lost through the intercooler. That means that you can turn down the boost, have the same manifold pressure, and run cooler! Cooler air in, cooler air out. 3) Datalogs don't tell you anything about components you don't have. Again, you can run 100% IDC's without an intercooler. Does that mean that no intercooler is better than the stock intercooler? 4) In a daily driver, can you feel the difference in CG between a car with a sunroof and one without? No, you can't. No one can. A Sunroof raises the CG much more than an aluminum intercooler does. We aren't talking about 30 pounds, or 20 pounds, or 10 pounds here. We are talking about a marginal weight increase very close to the CG of the car. This is, quite possibly, your worst argument. Do this. Find anyone running a stock intercooler with a 40+ lb-min turbo. Why do you think no one does it? Surely it isn't because of end tanks blowing up. Why are people wasting money on front mount intercoolers, when they can just clamp their stock ones and get away with running GT30R's?

That actually isn't true.

So clearly this thread is a joke. You keep your head in the clouds, and your car on a pedestal. I'll keep my feet on the ground, and my decisions based on science and engineering knowledge. If that means that, in your opinion, I'm running in circles around a windmill, then so be it. Keep your "eye teeth" to yourself.

Land the plane. This isn't true. You have absolutely NO evidence to support this claim, other than the fact that your WRX (which is not a Legacy) is able to max out the injectors with the stock intercooler. You could max out the injectors without an intercooler. Does that mean that your modified stock intercooler is inferior to no intercooler at all? You'd definitely be saving weight if you removed all of that pesky aluminum and plastic, and that would lower your CG. AND, it would improve your throttle response. But, if you are completely oblivious to reality then I encourage you to continue admiring the "intrinsic beauty" of your wonderful car, and quote more cliche lines from wikipedia. It's clear that, no matter the facts presented, you'll continue to believe you are superior to all.

I wonder what the height of the STi reservoir is compared to stock. If it's lower, it'll better clear an aftermarket TMIC.

So you bought the STi hose, cut out the check valve, then shoved it into the LGT hose from the booster side? The stock hose doesn't have a check valve?

So the replacement bushings are holding up well? That's fantastic. Good job!

I'm glad you'll forcibly misinterpret what I was saying. Not reliability from an endtank failure standpoint. Reliability from a system standpoint.

I can. I'll try to snap a picture the next time I have it out of the box.

You said "I also argue that it is better than most of the aftermarket alternative". But your arguments for that are wrong or irrelevant. I have no agenda, because I don't really care all that much. I like your solution, but I disagree that a fixed stock TMIC is better than an aftermarket TMIC. Your solution eliminates blowing endtanks. That's all. From a performance and efficiency standpoint, the stock intercooler doesn't stack up to aftermarket units. Your solution makes the stock intercooler more reliable. But an aftermarket intercooler is better in terms of performance, and better in terms of longevity. The turbo will run cooler, the charge density will increase, and you'll make the same power at lower boost. All of those things make for a more reliable setup overall. You said yourself it's not all about power, but it is about reliability. If all you want to do is keep the stock intercooler together, and aren't interested in making the most of your setup, then this is a perfect solution. Of that I do not argue. But don't be fooled into thinking there is nothing to gain from an all aluminum, bar-and-plate intercooler. That's all. Fahr, that would be correct if the flow channels were hollow. They aren't. They are internally finned. So while wider, they have greater internal fin surface area, and that's just as important as exposed surface area. The real, measurable difference between bar and plate, and tube and fin, is all about flow area. More flow area, less pressure loss, more efficient turbine and if the exchanger is adequately designed more efficient heat transfer. You could run a big aftermarket turbo with an aftermarket TMIC, but you couldn't do the same with a stock TMIC. This could all easily be put to bed by taking internal core temperatures on a car tuned for both types of intercooler. One at the inlet and one at the outlet of the intercooler. That's a sure fire way to find the efficiency of a core. Personally, I don't care all that much. I've got an aftermarket intercooler sitting on my bench ready to install when my exhaust is done. I got it merely as a point of reliability, and I got a deal on it that made it worthwhile.

When are you driving that you are stopped more than you are moving? As soon as you start moving, ambient air blows across a more efficient heat exchanger. It cools down quickly enough, and will stay cooler for longer when stopped. That's a ridiculous argument. The volume of the IC versus the volume of the engine is outrageous. Even if the volume doubles between the stock IC and the aftermarket one. We can even overshoot. Say the aftermarket TMIC is 5L and the stock 2.5L. It takes a whole 4 revolutions for the engine to pump 5L of air. The difference is imperceptible. Yours is the same argument people try to make for a front-mount. The difference in throttle lag is unnoticeable. There are plenty of folks running front-mounts with stock turbos. Again, even if double the weight, it's proximity to the "no-IC" CG means it's impact is marginal. We aren't talking about 60 pounds here. For a DD, you wouldn't be able to notice a difference between a car equipped with a sunroof, and one without. And if you can, then you can certainly appreciate the better intercooler. This is complete rubbish. I can't think of a single car that's made 400whp on pump gas with a stock STI TMIC. I can think of many that have done that kind of power with a big topmount. Even in your Nasioc link, on the first page, is a dyno comparison. Almost 20whp from an upgraded intercooler, with no loss in power at any other zone. See, that's really the bottom line. This solution is better for YOU. But it's not better than an aftermarket intercooler. If you had a better flowing, better cooling intercooler you'd make the same power at less boost. You could still push IDC's to 102%. Less boost means less heat, means more efficient turbo, which means you aren't quite at the outer limits of the turbo. So you make more power while putting the turbo through less stress, decreasing oil temps, and improving reliability of the turbo. Your logic would indicate that the stock intercooler would be better with ANY turbo. That you could put something that flows 50lb/min and be better off with the stock intercooler than a front-mount. Because the front mount has so much more volume, so much less resistance, and must be less efficient because of it. IDC's aren't all that matters. At 18psi, the air going into your engine with a stock TMIC is much higher than with an aftermarket TMIC. I am, and likewise that you are enjoying the WRX. I wish the Process West intercooler were a little less expensive and more readily available. That is definitely a good setup.

It takes longer to heat soak a big TMIC, and moving more than a few mph will bring engine bay temps down to near ambient temperatures. Your argument works both ways, and in most daily drives you are moving more than you are stopped. You are wrong. 1) Bar and plate provides more cooling surface area than tube and fin. Tubes and fins have low galley surface area, and low cooling fin density. Bar and plate cores typically have more than double the galley surface area (the wet surface area, even ignoring depth) and the same or greater fin density. 2) The increased size of the galleys, and the decrease in flow resistance they provide, decreases pressure drop across the core as well. A decreased pressure drop means your turbo is actually making less boost at the outlet of the compressor AND it isn't working as hard to pump air through a restrictive box. This decrease in outlet pressure and decrease in resistance drops the outlet air temperature significantly. Your turbo is working more efficiently, and the system as a whole is operating at higher efficiency. Lower inlet temperatures mean more dense air, which also means greater difficulty in heating that air. You are overstating the weight of an aftermarket TMIC. Yours, with the clamps, versus my aluminum aftermarket TMIC is really only going to be a pound or two more. A pound or two, two or three inches above the center of gravity is not going to make a difference. Having long hair versus a shaved head would have about the same impact on the center of gravity. Last I checked, Jenson Button had longer hair than Lewis Hamilton. Done both of what? You've stopped the endtanks from blowing off, but you aren't going to outperform a bigger TMIC. This is a good cheap fix, and your execution is top notch, but it is not better than aftermarket alternatives. Cheaper, and good for people looking for less out of their cars, but not better.

Why better than a better flowing core with more thermal mass?