So far the only IC in general that's outright been bad is the ECS one. It's 1 of 2 FMICs tested so far (other being a Baun V1).
I collect logs of cars on
TRACK - this does not reflect street performance. Realistically speaking they'll likely all be pretty similar for a single pull or two I imagine. Refer to Jeff's testing for stuff more along those lines. IMO a 5-10F difference from one to another isn't even worth bothering if you're just looking at street pulls. If long term you want more POWER then unless it's a higher flowing core, it might become limiting at some point.
IMO the main advantage to a FMIC is that you can run the A/C and not have the hot condenser air add 8ish-15F to your IATs on average - how much exactly will depend on how hot and humid it is outside. It's not a straightforward number.
Back to the track cooling stuff:
Full cooling reports here, with info on how these are collected:
https://www.datadrivenmqb.com/drivetrain/coolingdata
The fact is under sustained hard use/constant lapping
most all of the intercoolers perform about the same (all min and average values fall within a ~10F window of each other).
@GTI Jake 's IC is right there with all the others, and I would expect any of the cheaper FMICs with smaller cores to perform more along the lines of the ECS one - though that's just speculation until some more actually gets tested. I'd like to see a CTS one since they're relatively popular.
Stock location have the advantage of a TON of surface area, FMIC have a minor location advantage, but IMO is mostly a moot point if A/C is turned off.
IAT delta min is probably the most relevant.
IAT delta max is going to be moreso dependent on track (time in turns off-throttle where the IAT creeps up due to lack of airflow through the manifold - even though the IC itself is probably cooling off)
IAT delta avg is worth considering since most samples are all in the ~50%-60% TPS average range when on track.
View attachment 291481
It's not "cheap", but the Mishimoto IC is cheaper than the DO88 and is great at dropping IATs even when heat soaked - meaning even better on the street. I DO have concerns that it might be more restrictive in airflow getting to the radiator under track conditions (look at
@MonkeyMD 's logs in the link above)... but this would never be a concern or a problem on the street.
Also if you haven't gone through your cart yet - the shipping on the DO88 IC is STEEP. That's what I run, and IIRC added another $100+ to the cost because it's coming out of Sweden, unless EQT now stocks them locally - this was not the case when I ordered from them last year.
