This is a follow-up from my eBay Intercooler + M7 Heatshield thread here on NAM, but I would also consider this a different mod so I am making this separate. The graphs includes the eBay intercooler and M7 Heatshield because I intended it to be working with the FMID from the start.

What is the point?
After installing my 17% pulley and colder plugs, I noticed that IATs and overall thermal management as stock was having a harder time doing it's job. The R53 already runs fairly hot and relies very heavily on the low speed radiator fan to keep along due to a runaway heatsoak scenario created by the exhaust manifold dumping heat into the engine bay. The 17% pulley and colder plugs combined with a need for more speed exacerbates the issue even more. I live in climate that reaches 100*F+ for days or weeks even and I needed to come up with a solution before the summer came in full.

The natural idea that comes to mind would be a meth injection setup, however, my car is a daily driver and must pass CA SMOG. I am also not fond of the idea of having to do a lot of work to pass SMOG and reassemble, as I don't have enough time for that since I am fairly busy with work. I also was very interested in getting better IATs and thermal management as passively as possible. Even if meth injection was an option, I would probably get annoyed with refills and constantly sourcing injection fluid. While meth injection is probably superior to my solution, I really wanted something that was just better than stock and to fit my climate needs and pass SMOG (I hate smog btw).

The Idea.
In addition to the improvements in thermals brought on with the eBay IC + M7 Heatshield, I wanted to give direct airflow over the hot side supercharger horn, and also establish a way for the air in the engine bay to exhaust out quickly. To do this, I had to make a duct to intake air from the front and an exhaust, going out through the cowl.

Here is a diagram of the overall idea:



The Cowl Exhaust
In order to get the exhaust cowl to work, I had to remove about 3 in off the top of the passenger partition to create a slot for hot air to move from the engine bay to the cowl and out the vent. I also cut a hole at bottom near the coolant expansion tank to allow the cooler air to also move, hopefully allowing better convection. Since hot air is now going through the cowl, its probably a good idea to make some heatshields for the ABS lines and also one for the ABS unit. I made some out of sheet metal and they seem to take all the heat and keep the actual lines cool.




The FMID (Front Mounted Intake Duct)
Fortunately, the aero grill has some extra space next to the radiator to leech off frontal air and put in a duct. I had to cut a section off of the plastic radiator holder in order to install a sheet metal duct that is removeable since it is mounted using the existing bolts. I had to use the gold tape to piece together the weathersealing foam. To get more airflow, I also cut a channel into hood, where the FMID sits while the hood is closed. It also makes the airflow do an upside-down "U" before entering the bay, don't know if that is good or bad. I then painted it up and put on an M7 decal because I felt like it needed a decal












Results.
Sorry in advanced if anyone finds some mistakes. I'm just a normal dude who knew nothing about cars before I got my R53. I tried my best to gather data using my OBDLink LX bluetooth dongle and Torque Pro.
Before mods, I have been logging every drive on my daily commute and during more fun driving. So I felt like I had a lot of data to get a sense of what is normal and what is an exception and why. I tried my best to find and compared data that was as similar as possible, however sometimes I couldn't get a perfect 1:1 environment due to seasonal change.

City Driving, Daily Commute, Traffic
These graphs are made from my daily commute home from work. If you look closely, you can see patterns in the speed lines due to it being the same course so to speak. There is obviously some variation in traffic, as you would expect, but it should be similar. This test was most important to me since I was very concerned about IATs just commuting around.

1) STOCK VS MODS NO FMID
2&3) STOCK VS MODS + FMID
4&5)MODS + FMID + IC SPRAYERS










WOT Test.




Conclusion....My Personal Experience So Far.
Again, this is not to be thought of as a meth replacement, since meth would be better overall and more instantaneous for better performance. The goal for my project was mostly centered around thermal management and improving the stock cooling for city driving and avoiding overheating. IAT have big influence on the engine coolant as well, especially with high % Pulley

My setup works well, but it still takes some time to get the IATs back down after a lot of traffic, albeit not very much. The FMID and other mods do a great job slowing down the heatsoaking process and creates more temperature plateaus rather than spikes. I have also notice that my R53 is far less reliant on the low speed radiator to stave off overheating. Driving for 30 secs at speeds as low as 30 mph are enough to curb the IATs and coolant temps, making things alot cooler in stop and go traffic. The IC sprayers just further enhance the effects, however it's nice to know that it will still function well if I were to run out of fluid.

I'm happy that I could share this information with anyone who may find it useful

 

I like the data to support the mods. Although I would want a specific road to test on where you could repeat with more control.

For instance, a downhill road where you can coast in neutral to see the effects of your work. Start at a specific spot, check temp, coast down the hill, check data. Block off duct, go back to top of hill, wait for temps to match first run, coast back down.


I say coast because it eliminates any variance in throttle inputs and engine loads, which would absolutely change the data.

I do like the expansion heat sinks... definitely a "I built a PC, saw that, thought, that might work in my car". Also, you don't need to block out your front plate. People can see that when you're parked.

 

I hear where you're coming from about more controlled road tests. I actually never thought about posting my results anywhere, so I didn't think far enough ahead to get very specific conditions to compare to later. I was just gonna do this myself and not tell anyone because it seemed maybe too weird, but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to share my results. Hence why testing is very personal to my particular use. I do in fact notice the effects firsthand every time I drive my car now though, so testing some degree isn't needed to convince myself. People are free to go about their business and just slap on an AirTec or with the Stock IC if works for them.

Yeah the idea had just come to me one day. I've been building custom PCs for years. Not too long ago I build a custom cooling solution for my GPU to set top scores on 3D Mark. The heatsink on the expansion tank have 13w/mk thermal pads in the center and are edged with steel epoxy to stay mounted.

Just being extra cautious due to the my job, currently writing this from a Level 4 prison.

 

Oh, this isn't doubting the benefits you're seeing. I'm sure what you've done has in fact improved the cooling.
But it's more of, how much is it helping. Removing all other variables, you get to a more precise number. The average temps is interesting and there is evidence of 10-15' improvement, but the other variables could play a role...

I'm glad you posted data. There have been other threads/posts about how x does y, but they lack actual data to support it... just "it feels better".



I like it, I like the outside the box thinking to solve issues -- I may steal this.



Side note, your front duct work could be 3d printed. download Fusion360, spend a little bit learning it, build a 3d model, send to a local library to print... now you have a working prototype. Could help smooth the air flow and would be really cheap -- most libraries only charge you materials.

 

Ah I see, yes very true. I'll have to keep this in mind next time I plan something like this.

Good Point! I would totally mess around in this area if I had a printer of my own. One could probably come up with some interesting shapes to improve and better direct airflow all the way around.