is this suppossed to be impressive? because it's god awful.

 

I'll take a pic of the Begi#3 core this evening.

 

also consider how well the Bell cores hold up externally.

 

So bell> fm> fab9> cxracing/ebay (from sticky)?

 

Based on what? I'm all for a heads up comparison but certainly this can not be decided based on value or quality since nothing has been mentioned about the fin density of the FM unit and we're leaving out other important details. I think size and price should also be a consideration here. To perform a proper product analysis we need a little more detail than some pictures from a dozen random sources. Price>Volume>Fin Density>Build Quality?

An international customer had an eBay intercooler shipped to me last year to ship with the rest of his order - it showed up bent. The material/build was so cheap I was able to grab it at each corner and bend it back, point being - pictures don't show the overall build quality. I'm confident anyone who owns one of our intercoolers can confirm the build quality is that of a premium intercooler.

 

I do not believe that ebay intercooler story. You could use mine as a jacking point, then take it off the car and use it as a tent stake hammer, then put it back on the car and use it as a bumper beam. The thing is seriously make from 1/4" thick aluminum its ******* dumb, it weighs more than my radiator full of water.

 

Wowowow, there is absolutely no way to compare 2 eBay intercoolers without them being side by side.I've heard if you order on Monday their stronger than if you place your order on Wednesday. But Friday gives you the best turbulators.

 

Oh man, now I'm making things up? His username on the forum is Landrew. There is NO way you could do that with the eBay unit he had shipped here. The entire core had a lean to it.

Regardless, my point is - there isn't enough information to put our intercoolers behind the FM units. It might be a good place to be (I've never seen an FM unit in person) one way or another, still it can't be decided based on this thread or the information in it.

 

Ummm, my post had a question mark at the end. Wasnt trying to hurt feelings. I just want the best buy for my dollars spent.

 

Completely understand, but when things are written on the internet people believe them.

I'd honestly like to hear from someone who has used both our intercooler and the FM product.

 

Raises hand. Yours is lighter, better fin density, easier to mount, looks better in the mouth of the car, and has given me steady AIT temps.

There is so much conjecture in this thread my head hurts.

 

My ebay unit is a piece of **** that wouldn't even make a good paper weight, it's incredibly light. A piece of **** tube-fin with a bunch of folded over fins and decent performance. It would be perfectly fine for a street car but does get heat soaked on the track. Had I done more (some) research prior to purchase I would have known better. But it was cheap so who the **** cares, it will get replaced eventually.

Based solely on the pictures posted, from a cooling standpoint it looks like Precision > Bell > Fab9 350hp > aidandj ebay. Oddly enough (not really) the distance from camera to core is Fab9 > Bell > aidandj ebay > Precision. If you took all 3 cores and compared them from equal distances and same angle, which one would look better? From a distance the Bell cores look surprisingly similar to the 350hp Fab9.

More fins and turbulators inside means more pressure drop? Such a statement makes sense to me but I don't know ****. Anyway, based on that logic aidandj ebay > Fab 9 350hp > Bell > Precision

Based on price aidandj ebay > Fab 9 350hp > BEGI > Precision. Bang for the buck I don't think you can beat Fab 9's price with the exception of a very specific Ebay unit.

Only one of these has internal baffles so this is easy. BEGI > *

Mounting is another easy one. Fab 9 350hp = BEGI > aidandj ebay = Precision

Durability is tough. mt.net wisdom says BEGI are durable as **** and don't bend fins. Fab 9 are still pretty new and don't have a long track record. aidandj ebay is brand ******* new and made in china so probably mediocre. Yes I have no basis for that so suck it. I've only seen pictures on one Precision core, Savington's, and it looked fine after lots of track abuse. So this seems reasonable to me: BEGI > Precision > Fab 9 350 hp > aidandj ebay. I suspect all but the ebay unit will last a lifetime, and well the ebay is cheap so **** it. Replace it with another down the line if it falls apart.

Build quality is easy. * > ebay

The absolute most important quality has yet to be discussed in this thread.

Fab 9 350hp > *

And since this is miataturbo.net there can be only one choice. Fab 9.

 

If you are like me and do **** as cheap as you can and would rather spend way too long attempting to engineer something then eBay is the way to go. Any other situation I would pick FAB9. The outlets are in a perfect place, the mounting solution is awesome. And FAB9 have gotten a really good reputation of support and timeliness, something other companies can't always live up to.

I put effort into my eBay intercooler because I value my time at next to nothing because I do this for fun and have extra time as a student. If I properly valued my time then it would be FAB9 hands down.

 

So e-cool (tm) or half radiator/half intercooler?

 

So help me the next person to bring up a half and half setup is getting a box full of rubber dicks sent to their workplace.

 

Just ordered half radiators to do some scientific back to back testing. If Hondas can do it then Miata can too!

 

I believe FM switched to Chinese made cores a few years back. Around the time of switching to silicone pipes

 

Well that would explain why they cost less now. Can anyone confirm?

Looks like box o dicks is going to aidandj. Hehe

 

The dollar value of ebay intercoolers I ordered and returned before I got a good one > any brand name IC

AFAIK all the ebay tube/fin deals are crap. I've seen pictures of mediocore looking ones, but the ones I got were thick tube extrusions with jack for surface area. They weigh a ton with thick tubes and end tanks but still easily twist and rack side to side.

The first bar/plate I ordered is the ebay IC pictured in this thread.

 

Yeah, credit for the eBay intercooler goes to deezums. I have just been writing about it and spreading the word.

Bring on the dicks.