ScoobYSnax

I might be purchasing a 2000 1.8TQ in the next couple days. It has the APR v3 chip. I was wondering if putting on a FMIC would help performance at all or at least increase engine life? If so, by how much? How much do FMIC's cost? Is it worthwhile? Or should I just put on a K04 in the next year or two and then put the FMIC on?

Does anyone here have a FMIC? Have you noticed your turbo not getting as hot? Have you seen any performance gains? Sorry for all the quesitons...

HappySedan, now with K04 power :)

which would mean more boost from the K03 and you wear it out sooner, or buy a larger turbo that works less and flows more air. From previous experience with other turbo charged vehicles, when you go to a larger intercooler you typically have more pressure drop which means you need more pressure (boost) to compensate for it. Thats just my opinion, I could be wrong.

tselle

You would probably do better on sustained, high RPM boost conditions, having less heat soak. For short runs, I imagine you would need an updated program to make use of the improved cooling efficiency of the intercooler... basically allowing your turbo to go farther past its efficiency where it is pumping more air, but also pumping a lot more heat. You can look at the europeanspeed artical in their Audi tech section for more details.<ul><li><a href="http://www.europeanspeed.com">http://www.europeanspeed.com</a</li></ul>

Boostd4

Its like using a squirt gun (K03) to flow water through a sewer pipe (larger IC)...more work is required to get the water (air) to where it needs to go.

shaggymatt

Me too. Butt dyno didn't really notice much difference, from just the install.

Mark P

the pressure that the turbo creates at one end is the same as is being pushed out at the other, regardless of how much space is inbetween. It may be easier to visualize if you think of your fluid as water instead of air. It will take slightly longer to fill the tubing up with water, but once it's filled up, however much more you push in from one end will come out the other, regardless of how big the volume is of the tubing between the input and output.

*Disclaimer 1: This may not be completely accurate due to the temp drop influencing pressure, however this is the WHOLE POINT of having the FMIC, so it's not a negative.

*Disclaimer 2: I'm by no means an expert in this area, and this is just what I've picked up along the way.

From what I've gathered, a FMIC will help a chipped 1.8T, it's just a matter of whether the cost is worth the help it provides.

Mark P

seems at certain boost conditions, the car goes into limp mode due to some sensor readings that are being recorded differently with the FMIC in place.

Diesel

I don't have data on my A4, but my Talon experienced what we called "intercooler soak". The fenderwell-mounted IC could not quite reject all the BTU's being poured into it. As a result, intake manifold temperature slowly but steadily rose as you went up through the gears, even at stock boost levels.

Somewhere around the middle of third gear, evil knock would start to appear, and the ECU would promptly respond by retarding timing. Power would fall off accordingly.

All of this completely invisible without instrumentation.

An FMIC would have helped that car even at stock boost levels.

hurricanesteve

or so some people answering would like to believe...

a chipped K03 will heat soak a stock intercooler pretty quickly.

an FMIC would be a huge help in preventing it...so you can keep your power up and prevent pinging/knocking