WHY SAAB 900 IC?

David Carter · Post by **David Carter** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 4:30 am

I was just wondering why the facination with the Saab intercoolers.?

Why wouldn't one goe with the Thunder bird:

or the RX-7 :

or the Celica Alltrak:

all of which are already top mount intercoolers and about the same size of the Saab 900

Heck these FMIC (which the saab900 is) are about the same size..

the turbo ford probe:

Or the Audi:

All of these sell on e-bay for about the same price.. and are all about the same dimentions.. i was just wondering why it seems the saab 900 is set in stone as the way to go...

I personally allready own the audi FMIC for a rally car i was building..but we went with the larger 80's saab 9000 FMIC..so i just have it laying around.. and it's good.. before i go out and buy another intercooler..why can't i just use the one i have?

David Carter
eternally in debt..

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 5:03 am

well I can add that the t-bird one does not fit, close but does not fit. I plan on modding it heavily as it only cost me 25 bucks at the local scrap yard.

Mike

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 7:04 am

I would say it is for three reasons:
1. It is a known fact and has been proven to be able to be done.
2. Readily available
3. Pretty good fit

Not that I would know since my car doesn't even have a turbo or intercooler. yet.

rsstiboy · Post by **rsstiboy** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 9:40 am

i wouldn't bother with a air/air top mount, you know why so many of them are available? because they are crap! and nobody wants them.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 2:10 pm

rsstiboy wrote:i wouldn't bother with a air/air top mount, you know why so many of them are available? because they are crap! and nobody wants them.

Rant on:
You know what man, your car came with an air to water and you live where they are available...we don't

. If air to air is such crap then why does every year of sti and almost every other turbo in the world come with one? I know the saab 900 isn't the best air/air out there but I can get one and put it in for under $100 US. If I get an air/water sent over from your neck of the woods it's like $350 US and then even more cost and time to get it in. The air/water is a better system then the 900, I will admit that, but I don't think it's that much better. Your car came stock with the air/water system so you don't know what it's like to have to work your butt off just to get intercooled in the first place. At least we're trying! So I take offense when you slam the 900 setup (or air/air for that matter) because it's kinda like a rich kid who bought a new car sneering at the poor kid that bought an old car but is fixing it up with his own hands. Sorry it just rubs me wrong. Rant off:

David: The reason people use the saab 900 is because it's relatively easy to put in and you have to take into account the plumbing. Looking at some of the i/c you have there, I can tell at least the probe one wouldn't work and probably the celica wouldn't either. Unless you reweld the end tanks or something. The saab is cheap and easy and good for any boost the stock turbo can run efficiently. It's a good entry level i/c. If you run real high boost with a turbo upgrade you'd probably want something bigger though.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 5:04 pm

yeah what he said!

I tried to post a similar response earlier but it would not go through for some reason.

91White-T · Post by **91White-T** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 5:18 pm

None of the intercoolers you show there will come even close to fitting without heavy modification. The Saab IC is a nearly perfect fit for something that was never meant to be there. As far as TMIC's being crap, any intercooler is a whole lot better than no intercooler...

rsstiboy · Post by **rsstiboy** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:49 pm

raw nerve

for your info the sti and wrx come with factory top mount air/air because its cheaper and lighter to make than a air/water setup, but please note all of the above had to put on larger bonnet scoops.

as soon as i can get my hands on a fmic i will be getting rid of my water/air setup because i am at its limits now, i personally agree that an intercooler is better than no intercooler, but at least do it properley the first time! you won't regret it.

rsstiboy · Post by **rsstiboy** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 10:56 pm

oh, and FYI i do all of my own work/mods by no means am I rich, and i am not slamming air/air just air/air top mount i/c, like i said before they are crap! if you notice other cars like nissan silvias and skylines, they all have a pissy little intercooler, like what you guys are putting above your motor to absorb all of your heat, however they mount theirs down low at the front of their car to get maximum efficiency out of it.

Warp3 · Post by **Warp3** » Mon May 16, 2005 5:22 pm

magicmike wrote:well I can add that the t-bird one does not fit, close but does not fit. I plan on modding it heavily as it only cost me 25 bucks at the local scrap yard.

Mike

I know this is a pretty old post, but could you please elaborate on how exactly the T-bird turbo coupe IC doesn't fit? By looking at the dimensions it looks like the depth is a bit too much, but the rest of the dimensions look pretty close to workable. The reason I bring this up, is that I'm looking for an IC to install (I have a WRX TMIC I bought in the past, but I'm not sure if I want to go through all the work of installing it right now, so I'm looking for some smaller options) and the T-bird turbo coupe / SVO IC is on my list of possibles.

I'm also considering the 300ZX Turbo ICs, but can't seem to find any decent sizing data on them.

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:30 pm

I'd recommend front-mount as well for anyone considering an intercooler... you will eventually have to replace your top-mount if you really want efficient intake charge cooling. What's that old saying? "Never enough time to do it right, always enough time to do it twice." That holds true here IMHO... even though the TMIC was MUCH less work installing.

Anyway, I just got lucky watching eBay for a while... I measured how much room I have in front of my radiator, and how much more room I could get by cutting into my front bumper steel, and how much more room I could get by tilting the radiator/condenser assembly back. I found an IC that looked as though it could be made to fit, and routing was possible, and man it was a lot of work but I love my front-mount.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/free5ty1e/images ... talled.jpg

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:43 pm

I have a Saab 900, I want a FMIC.

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:01 pm

Here is an off topic and possibly dumb question;
If you could get it to fit, could you hook up two tmic in series, basically one next to other?

Warp3 · Post by **Warp3** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 10:44 pm

snowboarded wrote:Here is an off topic and possibly dumb question;
If you could get it to fit, could you hook up two tmic in series, basically one next to other?

I actually thought about that when I was looking at the 300ZX intercoolers.

To be honest, while it should work, it would be more efficient (especially for pressure drop) to use a single intercooler of the same size as the pair would be.

92BlackBeauty · Post by **92BlackBeauty** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:15 am

Would it even be worth running a TMIC if I'm planning on swapping in a 16g and cranking the boost? FMIC seems so incredibly hard to route though....

Another question, simply by installing a TMIC and cranking boost on my stock turbo to maximum efficiency(of course with a FCD installed) will I notice a gain in usable power?

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:35 am

My FMIC should be here within a week

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:00 am

which one are you getting or are you just usin jakes one that he didnt put in.

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:08 pm

I found that my Saab TMIC actually hurt my 1/4 mile time because of how much heat it soaked in from the engine. Stock with no intercooler I ran a 15.6, with the top-mount in there I was at 15.9.

With a laser temperature sensor it was easy to see that after any drive long enough to warm up the engine, I was seeing higher fin temperature (120, 130*F) on the output side of the IC than on the inlet (90*F)!!

FMIC is a bitch to route but man it's so much more usable. And my IC's total area is probably only about 2 - 2.5x the Saab 900. But every time I touch the bitch, it's cold

The inlet side is actually a bit warmer than the outlet side, at any given time, after a drive or run of any given length.

snowboarded · Post by **snowboarded** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:39 pm

92BlackBeauty wrote:Would it even be worth running a TMIC if I'm planning on swapping in a 16g and cranking the boost? FMIC seems so incredibly hard to route though....

Another question, simply by installing a TMIC and cranking boost on my stock turbo to maximum efficiency(of course with a FCD installed) will I notice a gain in usable power?

While I am by no means very knowledgeable in it, I am pretty sure that even with the 16g and a FCD, if you crank the boost up it could possibly hurt you. If you are running stock engine management. If you want to crank up the boost and be able to use it, you would need a different management system.
Check out this thread;
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... highlight=

I am still going to up the boost in mine using a MRT EBC, but only to like 12 tops.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:29 pm

azn2nr wrote:which one are you getting or are you just usin jakes one that he didnt put in.

I'm using a simple bar and plate setup. The core is about 1.5" wider than yours, .75" taller, and .75" thicker, plus it's bar and plate so it should flow really really well.

I am gonna try to have it installed by the feed and speed if I can get a WRX pipe kit to test fit and then have a real pipeset built.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:45 am

ohhh thats gonna be such a tight fit. maybe a little more cutting but thats probly ok.

little ot but how do you take the bumper beam off. i have it unbolted but i cant get it off. once i do i might get a larger core.

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:17 pm

*cough* Sawzall *cough*

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:41 pm

I was gonna go with the Johnny Racecar 8" model, but I like the bar and plate and this one looks a little better. Plus, it's 3.5" deep, and that is a TON of thermal mass.

I have a plan that will help with fitment, but I'm not afraid to cut stuff.

For the WRX that I did an FMIC on, we just unbolted the 4 bolts holding the beam on and pulled it off.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:44 pm

you have to lift, it "clips" on so it will stay on without the bolts.

if you do a search of my awic install thread i think there's photos in there.

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:05 am

BAC5.2 wrote:I was gonna go with the Johnny Racecar 8" model, but I like the bar and plate and this one looks a little better. Plus, it's 3.5" deep, and that is a TON of thermal mass.

I have a plan that will help with fitment, but I'm not afraid to cut stuff.

For the WRX that I did an FMIC on, we just unbolted the 4 bolts holding the beam on and pulled it off.

ssautochrome model perchance.

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WHY SAAB 900 IC?

WHY SAAB 900 IC?