Cobb, who has began to really make a name for themselves in the Mazdaspeed 3 market, has sent us their new Front Mount Intercooler Kit. Slated for release next week, Cobb has sent us a near production piece of their new intercooler. What's missing from the retail kit? Nothing really, Cobb just had a late minute change to the visual aesthetics of the end tanks, including having their name stamped on them.
Measurements of the core is 24 inches wide by 7.8 inches high by 3.5 inches thick. its a fairly large core but it doesn't affect cooling whatsoever to the radiator. The pipes themselves are powder coated for a nice luster and durability. The kit contains quality stainless t-bolt clamps to secure the connections between the silicone pieces and charge pipes.
They are also giving the end user, the option of adding the Cobb branding to the FMIC core itself. So, how do we proudly brand our piece? We will show you!
Inside the box, Cobb includes a template to spray paint their branding name to the core itself. Some people like branding, others dont. This is a nice option to see considering other FMIC kits out there are already branded before they are sent to you.
First, we lay out the template on top of the core to get an idea for fitament. I also used a light cleaner to remove any residue/oil from the core itself.
After laying it out, you get an idea of where the letters show against the core itself. Remove the blue backing from the template so you can begin to position it and lay it firm with the glue backing so it doesn't move. I made adjustments in order to center it and to place the lettering on the lower part of the core for a better visual. After I was satisfied, I applied a lot of pressure so the vinyl backing sticks to the core well as this prevents any trapped air bubbles.
Now we begin to peel off the top portion of the template. Grab a corner and begin to peel up at a 45 degree angle. You need to pay attention to the little pieces that outline the B letters, the center of the O and of course, the C.
Here is an example of the small pieces that you need to pay attention to while peeling. If it begins to lift, back up a bit, reapply pressure and peel slowly as the template applies itself.
Below you will see the final template applied to the core.
Now you're ready for paint!
Painting the core itself is an easy task. The hard part is done, so let's get busy.
This is optional but I try to use primer whenever possible. I sprayed several light coats on and let them dry between each coat.
After about an hour, I busted out some nice semi gloss enamel. I sprayed one light coat until it was completely dry, than 3 additional medium coats. I also left the template on until the core was completely dry over night.
Installing the Cobb FMIC is really straight forward. They provide detailed instructions, a parts list, tools you will need and some hints and tricks while aligning the pipes during final assembly. Lets take a look at the parts list and tools you will need:
Parts List:
- Charge Piping: - Lower Cold Side (Longest Pipe) - Throttle Body Cold Pipe (Has BPV Flange) - Upper Hot Side (Has Brace) - Lower Hot Side - Intercooler Core - 90 Degree Silicone Joint/Reducer - 2.5" - 2.75" Straight Silicone Reducer ( Used On Tbody ) - (4) 2.5" Inner Diameter Straight Silicone - (2) Intercooler Core To Bumper Brackets - 2 Part Power Steering Line Bracket - 2" (62mm) T-bolt Clamp - (10) 2.5" (72mm) T-bolt Clamps - 2.75" (76mm) T-bolt Clamp - (4) Intercooler to Bracket Bolts - (4) Intercooler to Bracket Washers - (4) Intercooler to Radiator Support Bolts - (3) Power Steering Bracket Bolts - (3) Power Steering Bracket Washers
Tools you will need for assembly:
- Phillips Head Screw Driver - Flat Head Screw Driver - Socket Wrench/Ratchet - 8mm Socket - 10mm Socket - 12mm Socket - 3/16" Allen Wrench - 6" Extension For Ratchet - Ultility Knife - Can of Silicon Spray Lubricant for the Silicone Pieces.
Cobb recommends that if you haven't had your mount recall performed, you should get it done before moving to the FMIC. We also recommend that you have some kind of after market mount like the TRZ Dogbone, Street unit or the likes. This will keep engine movement to a minimum and reduce the chance of the charge pipes rubbing on the drivers side. I suggested to Cobb that several more rubber pads should be included in the kit to over come any rubbing possibilities. Although my car has a stiff mount, I noticed the pipes haven't moved an inch and I really wouldn't be to concerned with it.
Removal:
To remove the bumper, start by removing the 8 phillips head screws ( 6 plastic headed, 2 machine headed )
Locate to the drivers side front bumper and remove the 2 phillips head fasteners that attach the bumper to the fender liner. Remove the liner out of your way to get to the 8mm bolt that attaches the bumper to the fender. Repeat this same step for the passenger side as well. I suggest doing this step first without the use of ramps or floorjacks. Just move the wheel inward for each side and this step will be breeze when removing the actual bolt from the fender well.. Once you have this step completed, I would suggest putting the car on ramps or jackstands.
Now its time to move underneath the car. We will be removing the under tray by locating 11 8mm bolts, 7 10mm bolts and a plastic fastener. Keep track of your bolts and where they go. If you have never removed the entire belly pan before, this could be a troublesome step for you when it comes to reassembly.
Once you have the under tray removed, you will have to disconnect the fog light harnesses attached to the lights themselves. You will also need to cut the plastic black clips that hold some of the wiring in the bumper.
Next you will need to remove the Ambient Air Temp Sensor and the 2 plastic clips that secure the wiring harness to the bumper.
The bumper is now ready to be removed from the car. If you have a helper handy, this will really make this task much easier. Start with laying down a blanket, sheet or anything that will keep the bumper front hitting the ground and causing damage. Start with popping out one side at a time and it will go quickly.
Begin by popping the rear edge retaining clips from the fenders. There's also two tabs ( one on each side behind the front grill ) that secure the bumper to the bumper support beam that need to be LIFTED upwards while pulling the bumper forward.
Core Installation:
The hard part is now done and it's all down hill from here.
Now that you have the bumper out of your way, there are several plastic ducting pieces you need to get out of your way to successfully mount the core. To remove these, you will need to locate the 2 plastic retainers and 3 10mm bolts. The difference between the right and left side is, the right side has only 2 10mm bolts to remove opposed to the left having 3.
Also, you can now remove the factory brackets that hold the power steering cooler lines. There's 2 10mm bolts on both the left and right side that need to be removed.
Now you can relocate these power steering lines using the supplied Cobb brackets with 3 10mm bolts, washers and lock washers.
Loosely install the Cobb power steering relocation bracket around the plastic radiator core support.
Now its tme to bring the power steering line up to the Cobb bracket and loosely install it using the supplied 10mm bolt and washers. Don't forget to keep everything loose until the actual intercooler core is mounted. I would like to suggest not securing the 3/16" bolts all the way. You will understand this better when installing the lower charge pipes. If the IC is secured from both mounting positions, the lower hot charge pipe may bind on you when slipping it into the silicone and you will have to go back and loosen up the 3/16" bolts.
TMIC Removal:
Now we can finally ditch that TMIC on top of the engine. Start by locating the two 10mm bolts that hold the plastic tmic cover to the IC itself. Once the bolts are removed, lift the front of the plastic cover up than back to release it.
Now we need to remove the IC itself. Locate the 3 12mm bolts that hold the IC to the top of the engine. We will need to save one of these 12mm bolt later for securing the hot side charge pipes with the new FMIC kit. The hardest part of this whole operation is removal of the clamps. First, loosen the clamp going to the turbine housing hose, than the clamp that attaches to the hot side inlet of the factory tmic. Now, with a good set of pliers or needle noses, remove the factory clamps holding on the bypass hose (large hose) to the bypass valve and the small vacuum line attached to the top of the BPV. Just squeeze them and force them downward an inch or two. Now loosen the clamps holding the cold side of the Ic discharge hose and the clamp securing the hose to the throttle body. You should now be able to lift the TMIC out of the top engine and set it aside.
Now with the TMIC out of the way, you should be able to get to the hose that attaches to the throttle body and remove it completely. Each car will vary here, but I did have to get to this clamp from underneath the car. Surprisingly, the clamp was loose to boot. Also, it's a good time to remove the large bypass hose going to the factory turbo inlet. Loosen the clamp with the pliers and pull the hose off the inlet. You will need to trim approx 3/4 to 1" of rubber off of this later. Since most of us already have a intake system ( Cobb SRI, Mazdaspeed CAI, CPe CAI, Injen, etc ). I did not have to remove this bypass hose from the turbo inlet as Cobb describes. As long as you have a sharp utility knife, you will be able to trim the end piece that connects to the bypass valve from the front of the car with ease.
Using your utility knife, its time to cut off some of that excess hose from the large bypass hose. Start small with approx 1/2" removal. I prefer to get the final fit piece once I have all the piping in place with the BPV valve installed on the new flange. The amount you need to remove really varies depending on the type of BPV you have installed. With the Forge, 3/4" was perfect. Just be sure to come back to this step and do final trimmings before starting that car, so make a note of it.
Now, we move to mounting the actual Cobb FMIC Core to the radiator support. Locate the 2 supplied brackets and install them on the core using the (4) supplied 3/16" hex bolts.
Loosely install the brackets to the core using the 3/16" hex bolts with the 4 washers. The front of the intercooler should be facing up.
With the loosely mounted bracked affixed to the core, lift the core into place and bolt it to the radiator supprt using the (4) 10mm bolts. Inlcuded is a rubber pad where the power steering lines will rest against the passenger side end tank of the core. This is used to protect those lines from chaffing. Keep in mind that when bolting the core down, that you have enough room for the top of the core and bottom of the bumper beam, be sure its sitting level & parallel with the ac condenser. Once you feel everything is level and out of the way, secure those 10mm bolts to the radiator support first, than hand tighten the 3/16" hex's after the core is secure to the radiator support. Once that is complete, tighten the Cobb power steering bracket that secure the power steering lines as well.
Now that we have the core securely mounted to the front of the car, we can now install the charge pipes. We will start with the COLD side piping. You will need to locate the longest pipe along with the pipe with the BPV flange on it. Remember, that can of Silicon Spray is going to be your friend here.
We will be removing the bypass valve from the factory intercooler by removing the 2 - 10mm bolts. Before reinstall the bypass valve in the intercooler pipe that has the flange welded to it, be sure to chase the threads with the existing 10mm bolts to ensure a smooth set of threads. Once completed, install the bypass valve reusing the factory 10mm bolts with the outlet facing in the same orientation as factory. Make sure that the rubber o-ring in the bottom of the bypass valve is in place and does not get pinched when reinstalling. This is also a good time to consider an aftermarket BPV such as a Forge or TurboSmart. Those using a Synpase shouldn't have any fitament issues with this setup. The flange sits high and is angled.
Now its time place the straight reducer on the throttle body with the large end on the throttle body. Use the 76mm t-bolt clamp on the larger throttle body side and a 72mm on the smaller side. Tighten the 76mm with a 10mm deepsocket in the orientation shown but leave the 72mm loose for now. Pay attention to how you place the 10mm heads for the T-Bolts to gain easy access to them with your socket/ratchet setup.
Now we can slide the intercooler pipe with the bypass valve on it into the silicone coupler and leave it loose.
The longer pipe will connect to the end of the pipe that was just installed using a straight coupler and 2 - 72mm tbolt clamps. The other end will connect to the right side end tank on the intercooler using another straight coupler and 2 more 72mm t-bolt clamps. It is best to slide it into the side of the intercooler core first, then the other end up into the BOV pipe. Install the clamps in the orientation shown but do not tighten any clamps yet until all of the piping is fully installed. Make sure it has as much clearance as possible between all power steering lines, chassis, and engine components. It's also important to leave the FMIC core loose. Don't tighten down the 3/16" hex heads as you will bind up when adding the hot charge pipe to the system.
With one side of piping loosely installed, it is now time to install the HOT piping that routes from the turbo outlet to the left side of the intercooler. It will be oriented in the car roughly as shown below. I do advise you to add the coupler to the end of the hot pipe connecting to the lower piece that comes up from the IC. It will save you much headache later and be sure to add a little white lithium grease to cure your nerve endings here.
Let's get started on the hot side charge piping by taking the 62mm t-bolt clamp and placing it over the small end of the 90 degree silicone reducer. Slide the small end of the 90 degree silicone reducer onto the turbo outlet and leave it loose for now. The fit is pretty snug, so applying a small amount of lubricant to the inside of the silicone may ease installation. This is probably the most frustrating part of the install here. It really is TIGHT and even with lubricant, it was quite difficult. I would recommend to you my ghetto hack to get you through this. Grab a pair of channel locks and adjust them to go as wide as possible. Shove it into the small diameter of the hose before installing and force the channel locks open. You will want to rotate this piece and do this several times to get an even stretch all the way around. Once done, lube it real quick and manhandle it on there. It WILL go using this method.
Almost done!!
Now place a 72mm t-bolt clamp on the large end of the 90 degree silicone reducer and take the pipe with the bracket welded to it and insert one end in the reducer and place the bracket on the stud located on the intake manifold. Re-use the nut that held the stock intercooler in place on the stud. Making sure that the tube is fully inserted into the reducer and that the orientation is correct, you may now fully tighten the 12mm nut, as well as the 72 and 62mm t-bolt clamps. Be sure to really torque this clamp down since it is coming off the turbine housing.
Install the lower left side pipe by using a straight coupler and 2 - 72mm t-bolt clamps on the tube you just installed, and another straight coupler and 2 more 72mm t-bolt clamps on the left side of the intercooler outlet. With all the piping loosely installed, you may now tighten all the related t-bolt clamps. While tightening the clamps you will need to pay very close attention to a few key areas, as rotation of the pipes, and the amount the pipes are inserted into the couplers will drastically affect the overall fitment of the pipes. I found it easier to install the silicone coupler to the end of the top charge pipe first, than dealing with it below the bottom of the car.
There are a couple of areas that it may be possible for the charge piping to contact the shift weight or the frame. The first critical area is between the shift weight on the shift linkage and the intercooler pipe that goes from the throttle body to the right side end tank. Put the car in reverse as this places the shift weight in the closest possible position to the intercooler pipe. By playing with rotation of the pipes and sliding the pipes in and out of the silicone you should be able to get at least 1/2" of clearance between the shift weight and the inter cooler pipe as shown.
The second critical area is between where the front bumper beam mounts to the chassis and the intercooler pipe that runs from the turbo outlet to the left side end tank. With proper pipe orientation you should also be able to get at least 1/2" of clearance in this area. I do recommend to Cobb that they should include a few more of those rubberized pads used for the power steering lines for this. Although I was careful installing these, I did get a few scratches on the pipe and those pads would of helped prevent it.
If you followed the above correctly, your pipes will look like this from the underside...
If you haven't done so already, now would be the time to reconnect the bypass valve hose and vacuum line and all related clamps. Also take time to re-check all your t-bolt clamps to make sure everything is secure. One last thing to check is to spin the fan blades by hand to be sure that nothing is coming in contact with the fan blades.
It is now time to reinstall the factory front bumper. Before you install the bumper there are a couple of slight modifications that need to be performed. The first step is to remove the ambient air temp sensor (AATS) from the inside of the front bumper by removing the phillips head screw that holds the bracket in place.
With the AATS removed you will need to remove the sensor from the bracket by using a pair of needle nose pliers to squeeze the plastic clip. You will now need to remove the plastic clip from the AATS connector as shown by inserting a small flat head screwdriver in between the connector and the clip.
You will now need to remount the AATS in a hole in the left (driver) side frame rail as shown.
Before installing the front bumper Cobb suggests the two plastic areas that used to retain the AATS wires will need to be trimmed with a razor blade or similar cutting device as shown. Personally, I did not have to do this, so you may want to try attaching the bumper before doing this to see if your car needs to the trim.
At this point the front bumper and under belly pan may be reinstalled in the reverse order of removal making sure to reconnect the fog lights.
Double check all connections, nuts, bolts, and screws that you used/touched/installed to make sure everything is tight.
It is now time to test drive. Upon returning from the test drive be sure to recheck all of the critical clearance areas as to be sure none of the piping has shifted from where it was when it was first installed. In our experience we have found some motors move around more than others due to the Mazdaspeed's possibility of soft or broken motor mounts. If you find this to be the case Cobb suggests checking with the dealer to see if you car may be a candidate for the recall Mazda has had on two of the mounts, or invest in some stiffer after market engine mounts. We all know the dealer will probably shit themselves and go blind if you drive in with a front mount, however I think the look on their faces would be priceless. Its a known issue and I would suggest doing this before installing the FMIC. I would also recommend once again, to get yourself a better rear mount. There are many flavors out there to choose from.
I had no known issues on my test drive.. I also had no noise, pipes banging, nothing. It should also be noted that I purposely installed this kit using the Mazdaspeed CAI. Although tight, it does fit without issues. I also recommend doing an ECU reset for 15 minutes by disconnecting the battery.
I have to say, I was VERY impressed with this kit. I was personally waiting for this kit to decide which I was going to purchase. For the price, this can't be beat. I had virtually no boost loss and very little turbo lag. I saw less than.5 amount of boost loss after installing this kit. Boost temperatures plummeted like a jet with no engines. Whether I was sitting idle or WOT, the numbers dropped incredibly quick. I would say, Cobb did their homework pretty damn good and being last to release a FMIC has definitely payed off for them. Not to mention, the customer service you receive behind Cobb and all of their staff. At $999, their competition is going to have a hard time competing with their kits. I had no CEL's on first start with this FMIC installed. I would suggest disconnecting the negative battery terminal for 15 minutes so the computer can learn the new boost curve.
You will need to set aside a good 6 hours to do this correctly. Be sure to go over the install instructions Cobb supplies as well as referencing back to this review. It will help you immensely. I would like to thank both Christian and Josh at Cobb for a job well done and for supplying us this kit.
List of recommendations for Cobb which they have acknowledged: - I would like to see you send a total of 3 of those rubber pads, like what's used on the power steering line. They will really protect the pipe by the bumper support core as well as between the cold and hot charge pipes just south of the BPV pipe. - I did NOT have to cut my plastic tabs holding the AATS to the bumper. It fit without a hitch including the belly pans. Mileage may very per car on this. - You may want to tell people what that big ass looking Cobb decal is! If they don't read my review, they wont know that is for branding the core if they want to. - You may want to add that tightening the 3/16" hex bolts that hold the core into place should really be done last during the completion of the install. The will solve any binding issues with the hot charge pipe at the bottom of the core. - if possible, adding a lip on both sides of the core for the silicone sleeves to adhere to better. - Add to reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery so the car resets the low/high fuel trim values with the new airflow and cooler temps and new boost trims.
In Part 2, which will be discussing the boost air temps compared to the stock TMIC along with engine coolant temps and efficiency of the kit. We will also be removing the ducting that grabs the outside air into the stock tmic scoop. We will also get into some technical overviews of the kit. I will also be making my own air diverters which will guide more air into the FMIC core. So, standby for that real shortly.
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