AVO TMIC Install & Fitment

AVO Top-Mount Intercooler (TMIC)

I finally installed the AVO TMIC I bought back in March, and figured I would share a few notes and pictures with ya'll.

The Purchase

I bought the AVO TMIC from Infamous Performance & Tuning. As you'd expect, it was shipped expediently and was packaged very well. I order most of parts from IPT simply because I have learned the most of what I know about my Subaru from msprank's comments on these forums. Additionally, I have never had a bad experience with IPT.

Appearance

The AVO TMIC is beautiful, and has the fit and finish of what I think anybody would refer to as a "quality piece." I was surprised to find that the cooler appears to have a ceramic-y, glossy coating. I'm not sure what this coating is and I'm not sure if it provides any functional benefits, but I can comment that the coating makes the TMIC look really nice and I suspect the coating will make the TMIC resistant to stains and easy to clean.

Perrin TMIC Coupler

I bought a Perrin TMIC Coupler (throttle body hose) directly from Perrin, and installed it with the AVO TMIC. The Perrin TMIC Coupler appears to be an exact replica of the stock throttle body hose but formed of silicone and looks pretty. When I removed my stock throttle body hose, one of the infamous rubber rings inside the stock throttle body hose was already falling off, so I'm glad I bought the Perrin hose.

I do not believe I have much to add beyond GTeaser's write up of the Perrin TMIC Coupler besides fitment notes with the AVO TMIC. In sum, the Perrin TMIC Coupler fit well with the AVO TMIC.

AVO TMIC Fitment

In brief, The AVO TMIC fit great after some careful and patient installation as shown in the below photos. The AVO TMIC uses the stock rubber grommets (cushions per Subaru), which are removed from the stock TMIC and on placed onto the AVO TMIC - a nice touch.

After replacing the stock throttle back hose with the Perrin, I slid the AVO TMIC onto the Perrin TMIC Coupler, and then onto the charge pipe (intake duct B per Subaru). The TMIC did not line-up with the stock mount points (intercooler stay RH & LH per Subaru) that first couple times, and thus, I removed the TMIC, marked the top of the coupler, rotated, or clocked, the coupler about 10-15%, and re-installed the TMIC until it perfectly lined up with the stock mount points. I suspect that if I hadn't removed the stock throttle back hose and installed the Perrin TMIC coupler (e.g., I suspect that I didn't get the TMIC coupler positioned perfectly the first time), the TMIC would have lined up perfectly the first time. Please note that silicone lube is very helpful when rotating the TMIC coupler and installing the TMIC.

Yikes! The driver's side of the TMIC proximate the BPV valve attachment area did touch, or contact, a portion of the driver's side intercooler stay after installing the TMIC. It didn't appear to affect the fitment but I'm pretty sure it would rub over time and/or provide noise/vibration, and although I don't think it would affect the performance of the TMIC, I find it to be undesirable. I think this has been a problem with other TMICS, but I cannot seem to find the threads/posts on legacygt.com to cross-reference.... To remedy this deficiency, I cut a portion of the driver's side intercooler stay as shown in the below picture.

Additionally, I cleaned the stay and painted it with high-temp paint. I hope that paint doesn't peel and flake all over my engine bay, but my luck is generally terrible.

Lastly, for whatever reason, I really like the stock engine cover, and was pleased to find that it fit and lined-up perfectly after installing TMIC.

Performance

I will getting a tune in the next couple weeks after I finish up my DP install, and will post some results in this thread.

Dang it, eckseleven - I forgot to check that, and of course, it is just barely not touching or is barely touching. I couldn't pass the thickness of a small zip tie between bolt from the slave cylinder and the TMIC.

Thus, I added two thin fender washers to each TMIC mounting point (between the rubber bushing/cushion of the TMIC and the intercooler stay), and now have a comfortable amount of clearance.

We'll see if anything shifts once I start driving this bucket again.

Nice job mcg_!!!!! Can't wait to do this myself.

Going AVO as opposed to RacerX?

Regarding slave cylinder contact, I added two more fender washers (total of 4) to each TMIC mounting point after trying to shake the TMIC whilst attached and hearing slight contact between the slave cylinder and the TMIC.

Still haven't drove it yet.

Also, now that the TMIC sits higher, I needed to trim the Engine Cover to fit correctly -- the top edge of the opening needed to be trimmed about 2 cm.

Thanks for the great write up. Did you happen to install a different charge pipe or BOV?

Thank you. I didn't happen to install a different charge pipe or BOV.

How has the TMIC been holding up? Any rubbing with your modifications?

I think it is holding up fine but I really haven't taken a really close look at it since driving back from the tuner. I'll try to pop the hood tomorrow from the friendly confines of the heated underground parking at work and take a look..... My garage is presently -3 F

Thank you. I didn't happen to install a different charge pipe or BOV.

 

 

 

I think it is holding up fine but I really haven't taken a really close look at it since driving back from the tuner. I'll try to pop the hood tomorrow from the friendly confines of the heated underground parking at work and take a look..... My garage is presently -3 F

I appreciate the response, thanks! Whenever your garage heats up, I'll patiently await your response

I've been waiting to upgrade the top mount, and was originally planning on the RacerX, but after seeing this thread, I'm weighing out all possible options. All of your info has been very helpful!

By the way, your walk-throughs are incredibly well done.

By the way, your walk-throughs are incredibly well done.

Thanks bronconia - I really appreciate the compliment. I do spend a non-trivial amount of time on them (write, edit, rewrite, repeat, repeat.....post), in part, because I knew next-to-nothing about cars besides changing a spare before buying my first LGT and most of the knowledge (which is still pretty limited, I admit) that I've gained originated from these forums. Further, as everybody on these forums should know, some of the information on here is good, some is OK, and some is bad, and a lot of the time, it is simply inaccurate writing and/or hearsay (i.e., parroting something the poster heard from somewhere else like "BLANK oil will blow up your car, noob!"), and thus, caveat emptor. Nonetheless, I've spent many hours sorting out the good from the bad and ok when determining what/how to do to things to my cars, and it frustrates me to no end. Thus, I strive to be, at the very least, accurate in my posts.

This actually an issue in my latest post I'm drafting..... I'm reluctant to post my dyno plot because the tune may not have been the best possible (e.g., due to lack of a complete open source def, lack of EBCS which was causing some issues, etc.) and I don't want anybody to use my results to further any misinformation around here (e.g., "See mcg_'s dyno plot, that proves BLANK, noob!").

Anyway, clearly, I digressed - thanks for the compliment!

I appreciate the response, thanks! Whenever your garage heats up, I'll patiently await your response

I didn't remove the AVO TMIC last night, but I did feel around the area with my finger and didn't feel any dents, bent fins, etc., and, FWIW, I easily passed a thick zip tie through the gap between the slave cylinder and the TMIC. Additionally, I'm pretty sure I haven't heard any clunks or rattles coming the engine bay or vibrations through the clutch pedal (which I think would indicate contact between the slave cylinder and the TMIC).

Next time I remove the TMIC, I will followup with a picture of the TMIC proximate where the slave cylinder gets close to the TMIC.

It does frustrate me that clearance issues exists for the AVO TMIC and the 5th Gen LGT, and furthers the notion that very little "engineering" probably went into the design of this TMIC (as well as many other aftermarket intercoolers. A very close friend of mine and one of the best mechanical engineers I know worked for cooler company that engineered and manufactured OEM and aftermarket intercoolers, radiators, oil coolers, you-name-it. Please find below a few points that my buddy has made that ya'll might find interesting (not intended as staring a flame war people -- these are opinions!):

He (1) laughs-out-loud when I point him to various forum threads discussing the merits between various aftermarket intercoolers, (2) thinks that most aftermarket companies probably do less than 1% of the testing that "real" cooler companies must do for OEMs (apparently, the exception is Grimmspeed, which still think does significantly less), (3) nonetheless thinks that it is very hard to "screw up" bar-and-plate intercoolers, (4) thinks that AVO probably makes very little profit on the TMIC I bought, and (5) thinks that the weight savings on a tube-and-fin intercoolers outweigh any durability and/or performance gains of a bar-and-plate intercoolers.

Thanks bronconia - I really appreciate the compliment. I do spend a non-trivial amount of time on them (write, edit, rewrite, repeat, repeat.....post), in part, because I knew next-to-nothing about cars besides changing a spare before buying my first LGT and most of the knowledge (which is still pretty limited, I admit) that I've gained originated from these forums. Further, as everybody on these forums should know, some of the information on here is good, some is OK, and some is bad, and a lot of the time, it is simply inaccurate writing and/or hearsay (i.e., parroting something the poster heard from somewhere else like "BLANK oil will blow up your car, noob!"), and thus, caveat emptor. Nonetheless, I've spent many hours sorting out the good from the bad and ok when determining what/how to do to things to my cars, and it frustrates me to no end. Thus, I strive to be, at the very least, accurate in my posts.

 

This actually an issue in my latest post I'm drafting..... I'm reluctant to post my dyno plot because the tune may not have been the best possible (e.g., due to lack of a complete open source def, lack of EBCS which was causing some issues, etc.) and I don't want anybody to use my results to further any misinformation around here (e.g., "See mcg_'s dyno plot, that proves BLANK, noob!").

 

Anyway, clearly, I digressed - thanks for the compliment!

Well, clearly, it shows! Accuracy in my opinion, shouldn't be a subjective endeavor. Objectivity is key when it comes to walkthroughs, and it separates the good from the great. Keep up the good work, and once again, THANK YOU!

Awesome write up! I have been planning on getting a TMIC and I like the look of the AVO one. I have a COBB stage 2 tune on my car right now because I installed an Invidia catless downpipe. Would I be able to drive the car with no issues until I get a shop to tune my car?

You would be able to drive on your stage 2 tune with the new IC.

You would be able to drive on your stage 2 tune with the new IC.

Ok cool! Thats what I thought I was just making sure. I dont know too much about this kind of stuff.

I didn't remove the AVO TMIC last night, but I did feel around the area with my finger and didn't feel any dents, bent fins, etc., and, FWIW, I easily passed a thick zip tie through the gap between the slave cylinder and the TMIC. Additionally, I'm pretty sure I haven't heard any clunks or rattles coming the engine bay or vibrations through the clutch pedal (which I think would indicate contact between the slave cylinder and the TMIC).

 

Next time I remove the TMIC, I will followup with a picture of the TMIC proximate where the slave cylinder gets close to the TMIC.

Follow-up pic from about 1 1/2 years post install. As you can see, despite my adjustments (using fender washers to space the TMIC), the TMIC has a pretty good dent with some bent fins. I don't think there is a leak but it is still frustrating that this product doesn't really fit the stock location. Perhaps I'll have to try a Grimmspeed when it comes out.

http://i.imgur.com/BnyAYDV.jpg

Removed the TMIC to bleed clutch. Woof! Those dents are getting ugly. I doubt it affects performance much but sheesh.

2 years post install.

http://i.imgur.com/nXaidgU.jpg

That.....that's not a hole?

No, it is just a bad shadow. I should have taken a better picture.