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Do I need an aftermarket front mount intercooler?
A properly designed intercooler is vital to any modern-day turbocharged engine.
Stock intercoolers are designed to match the power capabilities of the stock engine. They are built for the typical daily driving habits of most consumers and rarely perform well under performance driving conditions. Larger, performance engineered intercoolers reduce intake air charge temperatures and remove air flow restrictions, allowing tuners to take full advantage of settings like ignition timing, boost levels, and air fuel ratios. In the case of the 10th Gen Civic Type-R, a PERRIN front mount intercooler might be the single best engine modification you can install.
PERRIN Design
The PERRIN front mount intercooler (FMIC) is designed to fully utilize the opening of the Civic Type R bumper, maximizing cooling efficiency and maintaining smooth equal air flow across the entire core. By aligning the cast end tanks to the center of the core, the PERRIN intercooler maintains smooth equal flow across the entire core without the need for internal baffles or dividers. Using a 3.15” thick bar and plate core, we were able to completely fill the front grill and gain height to maximize the surface area of our intercooler. This is the best blend of internal volume and surface area, and it shows with our proven horsepower results.
Proving our Design
Testing was done using our in-house DynoPack chassis with our 2018 Civic Type R. We have installed a PERRIN Performance 3” exhaust system and front pipe. Our dyno tests were performed using both the Stock ECU and a Ktuner OTS Stage 1 w/downpipe ECU flash. Initially, we warmed the car up, running about 20 pulls before we got consistent HP levels in the runs and can create a reliable baseline for the stock intercooler. We then installed the new PERRIN front mount intercooler and retested. The results show a consistent 10-WHP gain in the upper RPMs. The same runs with the PERRIN Intercooler and the Ktuner reflash installed show a consistent 20-WHP gain.
About the author
John Herring
Operations Manager