I have been wanting to upgrade something after I replaced my timing belt without breaking anything , and I don't have the skill or cash or time to upgrade the turbo's yet. I found some Ebay intercoolers for less than half what the legit racing sites are charging. Has anyone touched these? Are they chinamax trash or just generic? I have my B5 with revo firmware and gutted pre-cats but no other mods really. Here are the two intercoolers i have found : http://store.max-redline.com/servlet/-strse-149/Detail, and http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CXRac...#ht_6469wt_939 .

Will it benefit me at all to upgrade these before the turbos ?

 

some people buy the ebay intercoolers to cut costs but they are hardly better than stock. the cxracing front mount is a piece of **** and has been found to decrease hp and cause more lag.

go for a fmic from a reputable company if youre gonna go that route. they are some what cheaper than the reputable side mounts out there.

go water meth if you have some cash to burn or a ssautochrome cat-back.

 

this is the way to go if you want a fmic:

http://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catalo...22ece56c24e24b

 

Why are side mount upgrades so expensive ? Seems like everyone goes for the front mount unit, is this only because of price ?

 

90% of people get fmic's due to the price. the other 10% used to own hondas and this is there first german car. with the front mount you have to hack up your front bumper support to make it fit and there is like a million miles of extra tubing compared to the side mounts. the side mounts have larger core dimensions than the fmic's. the only problem with side mounts is that when standing still they do get some heat soak on hot days. this can easily be solved by a little water/meth or misters on the intercoolers.

 

isnt the cxracing core the same as the jhm?