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Nissan GTS4 I/C U/G
NISSAN
Skyline GTS4 AWD
HR33
GT-R INTERCOOLER UPGRADE
(FMIC in Stealth Mode)
Click on the images to see a larger view
The GTS4
seems very naked about now with everything
removed to explore the options of the FMIC
upgrade
The front mounted GTR HR33 Intercooler
fitted perfectly into the front area with a
bit of massaging with a saw into the plastic
front clip.
There is actually a fair amount of flow up
under the bar to the top of the intercooler
as well. That is why I have fixed on a
extended piece of flat Aluminum to ensure
air goes though the FMIC at the top instead
of taking the easy path straight over it.
This Intercooler was actually supplied by a
chance visit to see John Martin at OrienT
Express who had originally sold me the car in
'97?
I had been to quite a few places to try to
get some "expert" advice on what I should do
to intercool the car for proposed higher
boost as I want to break into the 12's. The
advice from one shop was to makeup a hybrid
I/C from two smaller coolers and come in the
top and out the bottom and back to the
original piping in the engine bay.
This sounded OK and the price seemed
reasonable around $1800 for the work
involved.
BUT every time I called in to see them
they were always too busy to do anything
this week!
So another shop come up with a second
hand cooler from a truck core and piping
at a great price under
a grand so seemed to be a better idea. BUT they were very
busy also! SO what to do...
Then I visited John and saw the GTR
cooler and made an offer of $600.
I kicked my self two weeks later when I
saw another one fully polished and
detailed in Autobarn Sunshine for $900.
The original holes for
the two intercooler pipes. The rear hole
usually being for the turbo outlet. In this
mod it will be the front hole used for the
turbo outlet to allow clearance for the
Modified AFM (more here)
The Stainless Steel pipes and straight
sections I bought locally at about $18 for the
bends and $20 for a metre length.
The hose I bought at Purple Pig at a good rate
from the scrap bin. They made up for it on the
fancy clamps which cost about $7 each though.
I am sick of the standard type screwdriver
fastened clamps as they never seem to hold for
long and always come loose.
These clamps do not! Well not until you are in
the middle of nowhere anyway;-)
Like on the return trip from Adelaide
after Martin Donnan Dyno's the car! Lucky the
clamp was accessible through the front intake
and did not cause too much drama except when
returning to Melbourne on the outskirts and I
had a
drag with a Commodore. The boost must have
been leaking previously when Martin Dyno'd it
and set it at 15PSI.
By the way it accelerated and then started
detonating I figured it must be way higher and
when I checked it on the boost gauge ( hidden
under the Ashtray) it was over twenty PSI!
Tucked tight
under the FMIC outlet pipes is the high volume
oil cooler and 12v fan for those days when the
oil temps may get a bit higher than normal.
The airflow through the front clip side hole
also forces down through it at speed adding to
the cooling effect.
On the passengers side
where the original Side guard mounted
Intercooler was now holds a securely mounted
air conditioning condenser that has a huge
volume and high flow though for the
modified Auto Trans
to keep the temperatures down when stalling up
the 2800RPM Soderstrom Torque converter at the
drags.
This massive
cooler also gets air coming in the front clip
passenger side entrance duct but is also
assisted by two 12vDC Computer fans for good
measure while stationary at the drags.
Having driven the Skyline for a few weeks now,
the ECU seems to have retuned itself to be a
bit leaner and the power has increased with
the boost still set at 10psi. It certainly has
made a difference that I was able to detect
while driving out of the garage the first time
after fitment! The revs seemed to build
quicker and the response to the throttle was
much better.
After pushing it a bit I can touch the outlet
side where its very cold while the inlet side
is quite hot as you would expect.
By the way anybody out there with an Auto GTS,
its not so much as a blow off valve on the
intake piping as a BYPASS VALVE!! The function
of this item is to open immediately you push
the throttle to bypass air to get everything
happening quickly. If you don't believe me
just pinch the vac line (or put in a tap as I
did) and see how much more slower you get off
the line! Its an Auto remember and you don't
take your foot of the throttle to change gears
like manual cars do (mostly;-) where you need
to vent boost from slowing the turbo!
Of
course this was not good enough for long,
as I
really wanted to get rid of that long pipe and
reduce lag and heat soak!
See
what i did
here
