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2016+ Honda Civic 1.5T FMIC
Description
Engine performance really comes down to one simple thing …FLOW. The more efficiently the engine can move air in and out from the intake to the exhaust tip the more potential to make power there is.
When Honda developed the 10th Generation Civic and Civic SI they developed an intercooler system that supported their goal - around 200 horsepower. However, as we push for more power we quickly find the intercooler to be a major bottleneck in the engines flow and thus potential power due to poor flow and heat dissipation.
27WON set out to design a performance front mount intercooler and piping system (FMIC) for the 2016+ Honda Civic 1.5T that provided the best balance in flow and thermal efficiency. Read below to see how 27WON continues to REDEFINE The Aftermarket with our FMIC kit.
We carefully studied the entire OEM intercooler system. From these hours of research we found several ways to that we could REDEFINE what a performance FMIC could be for your 10th Gen Civic.
From our aluminum cast end tanks with integrated air-foils to our 4-ply wire reinforced silicone we found opportunities for improvement in all areas of this kit.
With optimized tuning the 27WON FMIC netted us 35whp & 25wtq with the potential to gain more low-end torque with a built engine.
Many flow simulations where performed to make sure we utilized the entire volume of the core and not just parts of it. Coupled with hours upon hours of driving on both city streets and highways we where able to collect tons of real world data.
The efficiency of an intercooler is directly related to the pressure drop from the cores inlet to its outlet, below we explain the importance of reducing pressure drop.
By definition, as it pertains to heat exchangers, pressure drop is the amount of "work" that is required to push the boosted air through the intercooler. The larger the pressure drop the greater the amount of work required. For best performance you want the least amount of drop you can have. By testing various core densities we were able to reduce the pressure drop from ~1.60psi to ~0.70psi thus improving overall performance.
This helps increase spool time because the turbocharger does not have to work as hard to push air through the core.
Reducing intake air charge temperature is the #1 job of the intercooler. We not only want to remove as much heat from the air as possible, we also want to be do it consistently. This means we cannot heat soak the core.
The temperature delta is the amount of heat being removed from the boosted air as it passes through the intercooler. The OEM core performs ok for 1-2 quick pulls on OEM power but quickly becomes saturated with stagnant heat. This means it can no longer do its job well. This is a major problem for any type of performance driving.
The 27WON intercooler both removes more heat, which improves performance, but also does not become heat saturated like the OEM core. It can withstand WAY more abuse.
When it comes to intercoolers…size matters. The frontal area of the core is the most critical dimension to increase the efficient cooling capacity of the intercooler. The OE 4.37in height is not sufficient, we increased the height 41% to 6.50in with width nearly unchanged. This maximized the frontal area behind the grill. Thickness was increased from 2.52in to 3.70in, a 47% increase. This resulted in a total core volume increase of 120%.
A big intercooler is pointless if you do not efficiently use the entire core volume. Verified by CAD flow simulations we designed the inlet and outlet end tanks to optimize flow distribution throughout the entire core. This ensures entire core is used; drastically improving the efficiency of the intercooler and thus releasing more power and potential.
Let's repeat this because it's important. Our internal airfoils better distribute the boosted airflow through the entire core increasing cooling efficiency compared to those without.
Unlike some options today, the 27WON Intercooler kit comes complete with intercooler, piping, and silicone couplers. The piping was specifically designed for the L15 engine found in the 10th Gen SI and Base model Civics.
A single seamless 2.25 inch pipe is used on the “hotside” and a 2.75 inch pipe is used on the “coldside”. Staggered pipe sizes were selected to optimize for power and drive-ability. The relatively smaller 2.25 inch hotside pipe will still support well over 500whp and its smaller size helps move the hot boosted airflow through the intercooler more quickly thus improving response. The larger 2.75 inch coldside pipe was also optimized to create a large “plenum” of air just ahead of the throttle body. This helps reduce turbo lag and improve transient response.
Our single pipe inlet and outlet minimizes the number of couplers and thus the number of potential boost leaks. Integrated into every coldside pipe is a single 1/8-27 NPT port for methanol auxiliary cooling/fueling.
Our 27WON silicone couplers are constructed of 4-ply reinforced silicone and we didn't stop there. We added integrated wire reinforcement to these couplers.
This drastically increases the strength of the silicone coupler while still allowing for proper flex and bending for engine movement.
Every 27WON Intercooler and Piping kit includes polished stainless steel T-bolt clamps for a complete and professional look.