ive heard from multiple people that you can get almost the same amount of flow from sidemount without blocking the radiator and with less piping. are they as efficiant as a front mount like ive heard?

 

No, it is not that's why people who has big turbo, has to go with fmic to avoid the heatsoak. fmic a lot larger and direct touch to cold air to decrease the intake temp. and it is larger than the smic

 

As stated above but if your only going K04 there is a company that make a larger SMIC that will work well and save you a load of hassle but any bigger and you will have to go FMIC for sure although its been stated that a FMIC dose not work well on the S4's but that’s another story.

 

I just switched from the stock SMIC to a FMIC and I've noticed a huge difference. The piping distance was actuall less with my FMIC.

 

what kinda difference did you notice?

 

if you ever looked at the direction on how to put that larger SMIC in i would rather just go with the FMIC and save some of the hassle, just hook it up and leave your old SMIC there.. to much crap has to come apart im way to lazy

 

While we are on the subject. Has any A4 owners noticed any overheating when they switched to a FMIC or do you use extra fans to provide more air flow past the intercooler?

 

There are fans on the opposite side of the radiator for supplemental cooling if needed. The only thing that may be a worry is the fmic (depending on how tall it is) can restrict air flow to the AC condensor which might have an affect on your AC performance.

 

So will it run any hotter or are the stock fans great workers?

 

With my FMIC i have noticed more low end torque and overall more power due to the colderair. when I'm stopped for a minute or so is the only time my engine will reach the normal temp it did while runing stock, the rest of the time it runs a little cooler now.