27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs

FC1Dawn

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Hi there!

This is a review on the 27Won Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC). I missed the first batch order and was able to get into the second batch. My intercooler was supposed to arrive at the end of February but @Vincent@27WON gave me a call and let me know that it will be postponed a week or so. I had zero problems waiting a little longer and when it did ship, it got to my local UPS location in three days.

My 2018 Civic Si Sedan has just a PRL Cold Air Intake (Street) and a TSP Stage 1 tune (MAP 3) on KTuner V2. Now, let’s begin this review and datalog session, shall we?

First off, 27Won provides very good instructions. They are very detailed and you should have no trouble following it. Removing the front bumper can be daunting but it is certainly doable. Make sure you use masking tape. An extra pair of hands helps tremendously. Let me tell you, the 27Won Intercooler is beefy. OEM is so tiny.

Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 27WonvOEM


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 27WonICin



That being said, I did run into some small hiccups along the way.

Removing the throttle body coupling was a pain because of how tight and little wiggle room it has. Reinstalling the new 27Won coupling was just as difficult. For one, using the 67-75mm T-bolt Clamp for the 27Won throttle body coupling was very very difficult to get on, it was so tight that it was impossible to get the nut on. I had to slide it towards the drivers side where I could put the nut on and then slide it back over. The T-bolt clamp needs to overcome the throttle body ridge and pushing it continuously actually cut up my hand pretty good. I had to use a couple of drops of WD40 to slide it over, but after that, it tightened beautifully. Wiped it afterward with a rag, gave it another couple turns of the 10mm and it didn’t budge.

I experienced the same issue on the hot side coupling into the 27Won FMIC. It was way too tight for the 67-75mm T-bolt clamp to fit over. I slid it over to where I could tighten the nut, put a couple of drops of WD40 on the coupling, and slid the clamp over. Gave it a good wipe, then tightened the nut down. Also, don’t worry, I tried pushing the base of the clamp to see if it would slide and it wouldn’t budge.

Word of advice, read and follow the instructions provided by 27Won! I got up to the cold side piping install before regretting my initial decision. In the beginning, I thought I could get around not taking off the PRL Cold Air Intake. That bit me back when attempting to install the cold pipe. I probably spent maybe half an hour trying to contort the 27Won cold pipe to get it to fit. After removing the PRL silicon hose that goes into the turbo-inlet-pipe, I had much more wiggle room and I got the cold pipe in within 2 minutes.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 27WonColdPipePRL


For this image above, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO PUSH THE CHARGE PIPE AS FAR LEFT AS YOU CAN. This will prevent the coupling at the throttle body from backing out and causing issues.

Besides these, installing the intercooler, piping, couplings, and clamps were straightforward.

Front bumper reinstall is absolutely terrible, I did not enjoy doing that part at all. I luckily had my father assist me as we spent over 4 hours attempting to line everything up and get it back on. Those clips will be the death of me. Luckily, I didn’t scratch my paint.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs BumperReinstall




Now onto the data. I normally float around a knock control of 0.55 to 0.60. I'll hit 0.50 when cruising on the freeway. I blame California 91 octane.

2 back to back WOT pulls on OEM Intercooler (thought I got 3, but it was actually 2) :
Ambient air temperature: ~66F


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs StartOEM1pull.PNG

This is the first pull, before I go WOT, knock control 0.59, IAT 78F, IAT2 86F.
You can see a small flat line to the right of 1:09 mark. That is where I began my pull, around 4000 RPM.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs EndOEM1pull.PNG

This is right before letting off, knock control 0.65, IAT 75F, IAT2 98F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs StartOEM2pull.PNG

This is the second pull before going WOT, knock control 0.69, IAT 82F, IAT2 102F.
Starting RPM was around 3800RPM.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs EndOEM2pull.PNG

This is right after letting off, knock control 0.88, IAT 95F, IAT2 114F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs AfterOEM.PNG

This is approximately 30 seconds after letting off, knock control 0.92, IAT 80F, IAT2 102F.


As we can see, the OEM intercooler gets heat-soaked very quickly!

Below are snippets of the data log after 27Won FMIC install :
These values were taken right before letting off the throttle. Ambient temperature: ~64F


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 1st Pull.PNG

First pull, knock control 0.62, IAT 73F, IAT2 72F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 2nd Pull.PNG

Second pull, knock control 0.75, IAT 82F, IAT2 75F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 3rd Pull .PNG

Third pull, knock control 0.73, IAT 68F, IAT2 77F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 4th pull.PNG

Fourth pull, knock control 0.75, IAT 78F, IAT2 82F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 5th pull.PNG

Fifth pull, knock control 0.75, IAT 82F, IAT2 82F.


Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 6th pull.PNG

Sixth pull, knock control 0.66 IAT 64F, IAT2 82F.


My knock control dropped significantly with the 27Won intercooler. Even after 6 pulls (there is some 3rd gear pulls in the mix, but I just counted the ones up to 4th gear), it stayed in the mid 0.70 knock control range with IAT2’s in the low 80's. Over the course of 10 minutes, the 27Won intercooler was able to do the job much more efficiently than the OEM intercooler.

Now taking a look at the last pull I did with the OEM intercooler, we can see that my knock control spiked to 0.92 and IAT2’s skyrocketed to 114 F. Comparing the last pull with the OEM intercooler and the 2nd pull with the 27Won intercooler, there was a 39 F difference. A very drastic difference in temperature. Even comparing the last pull on the OEM intercooler and the 6th pull with the 27Won intercooler, it is still a 32 F difference.

The 27Won Front Mount Intercooler works great in keeping the knock control and temperatures down.

Also, my shifting on the 27Won intercooler pulls weren't the greatest, I was taking it easy :cry: Just wanted to make sure everything was okay!

Power is consistent, it doesn’t fall flat on its face after the 2nd pull, unlike the OEM intercooler. Even after the 6th pull, it still felt very strong. I mentioned the concern of turbo lag with the upgraded larger pipes in the original R&D / testing thread that 27Won posted. I happily say that I do not feel any turbo lag, if any. Do recall that I am running the TSP Stage 1 tune on KTuner V2 so that may play a part.

Overall, I am very impressed with this product. Easy instructions and very high-quality materials. The performance is there too! Future plans include grabbing the 27Won W1 turbo and truly seeing how well this FMIC works with a larger turbo. If anyone wants the above data logs so they can look at them in closer detail, let me know and I'll post them, as long as I can figure out how to link the entire .kdlg file.

Now, time to figure out where I should put this 27Won sticker :)

Many thanks to the 27Won team. I hope this review helps!

Edit: I apologize for the formatting, no idea how attached images worked.

UPDATE: Getting a whistling noise when hitting 14 psi and above / hard boost. Been trying to troubleshoot and figure it out. Found that the T-Clamp on the pipe immediately post-turbo becomes loose and backs out. I've tightened it down all the way where it doesn't budge and two days later, the nut is loose (takes 6 cranks to feel resistance). Used VibraTite 125 Gel Theadlocker on the connections I had issues with and currently letting it cure. Will update later.

UPDATE 2: Whistling noise RESOLVED. T-Bolt clamp that connects the lower hot side pipe to the lower hot side silicone (the hot pipe from post-turbo to silicone coupler immediate pre-intercooler) was off centered. Clamp was seemingly tightened on the edge of the pipe, so there was some sort of pinching going on, which resulted in the whistling noise.
 
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fenix-silver

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Fantastic info thanks! Really making me want to upgrade my IC. Keeping intake charge temps low is so important and it really seems like an upgraded IC makes a big difference on this platform. On the stock turbo it might not provide much in the way of gains, but it definitely helps w/ heatsoak and more consistent charge temps.
 


Jes_si562

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wow i like how the cold pipe dosent hit the thermostate housing and how big the cold pipe is, impressive. My injen piping is not big like 27won and it rubs against it :nono:

Honda Civic 10th gen 27Won Front Mount Intercooler Review with Datalogs 27WonColdPipePRL
 

LilToTo17

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Hi there!

This is a review on the 27Won Front Mount Intercooler. I missed the first batch order and was able to get into the second batch. My intercooler was supposed to arrive at the end of February but @Vincent@27WON gave me a call and let me know that it will be postponed a week or so. I had zero problems waiting a little longer and when it did ship, it got to my local UPS location in three days.

My 2018 Civic Si Sedan has just a PRL Cold Air Intake (Street) and a TSP Stage 1 tune (MAP 3) on KTuner V2. Now, let’s begin this review and datalog session, shall we?

First off, 27Won provides very good instructions. They are very detailed and you should have no trouble following it. Removing the front bumper can be daunting but it is certainly doable. Make sure you use masking tape. An extra pair of hands helps tremendously. Let me tell you, the 27Won Intercooler is beefy. OEM is so tiny.

27WonvOEM.jpg


27WonICin.jpg



That being said, I did run into some small hiccups along the way.

Removing the throttle body coupling was a pain because of how tight and little wiggle room it has. Reinstalling the new 27Won coupling was just as difficult. For one, using the 67-75mm T-bolt Clamp for the 27Won throttle body coupling was very very difficult to get on, it was so tight that it was impossible to get the nut on. I had to slide it towards the drivers side where I could put the nut on and then slide it back over. The T-bolt clamp needs to overcome the throttle body ridge and pushing it continuously actually cut up my hand pretty good. I had to use a couple of drops of WD40 to slide it over, but after that, it tightened beautifully. Wiped it afterward with a rag, gave it another couple turns of the 10mm and it didn’t budge.

I experienced the same issue on the hot side coupling into the 27Won FMIC. It was way too tight for the 67-75mm T-bolt clamp to fit over. I slid it over to where I could tighten the nut, put a couple of drops of WD40 on the coupling, and slid the clamp over. Gave it a good wipe, then tightened the nut down. Also, don’t worry, I tried pushing the base of the clamp to see if it would slide and it wouldn’t budge.

Word of advice, read and follow the instructions provided by 27Won! I got up to the cold side piping install before regretting my initial decision. In the beginning, I thought I could get around not taking off the PRL Cold Air Intake. That bit me back when attempting to install the cold pipe. I probably spent maybe half an hour trying to contort the 27Won cold pipe to get it to fit. After removing the PRL silicon hose that goes into the turbo-inlet-pipe, I had much more wiggle room and I got the cold pipe in within 2 minutes.


27WonColdPipePRL.jpg



Besides these, installing the intercooler, piping, couplings, and clamps were straightforward.

Front bumper reinstall is absolutely terrible, I did not enjoy doing that part at all. I luckily had my father assist me as we spent over 4 hours attempting to line everything up and get it back on. Those clips will be the death of me. Luckily, I didn’t scratch my paint.


BumperReinstall.jpg




Now onto the data. I normally float around a knock control of 0.55 to 0.60. I'll hit 0.50 when cruising on the freeway. I blame California 91 octane.

2 back to back WOT pulls on OEM Intercooler (thought I got 3, but it was actually 2) :
Ambient air temperature: ~66F


StartOEM1pull.PNG

This is the first pull, before I go WOT, knock control 0.59, IAT 78F, IAT2 86F.
You can see a small flat line to the right of 1:09 mark. That is where I began my pull, around 4000 RPM.


EndOEM1pull.PNG

This is right before letting off, knock control 0.65, IAT 75F, IAT2 98F.


StartOEM2pull.PNG

This is the second pull before going WOT, knock control 0.69, IAT 82F, IAT2 102F.
Starting RPM was around 3800RPM.


EndOEM2pull.PNG

This is right after letting off, knock control 0.88, IAT 95F, IAT2 114F.


AfterOEM.PNG

This is approximately 30 seconds after letting off, knock control 0.92, IAT 80F, IAT2 102F.


As we can see, the OEM intercooler gets heat-soaked very quickly!

Below are snippets of the data log after 27Won FMIC install :
These values were taken right before letting off the throttle. Ambient temperature: ~64F


1st Pull.PNG

First pull, knock control 0.62, IAT 73F, IAT2 72F.


2nd Pull.PNG

Second pull, knock control 0.75, IAT 82F, IAT2 75F.


3rd Pull .PNG

Third pull, knock control 0.73, IAT 68F, IAT 77F.


4th pull.PNG

Fourth pull, knock control 0.75, IAT 78F, IAT2 82F.


5th pull.PNG

Fifth pull, knock control 0.75, IAT 82F, IAT2 82F.


6th pull.PNG

Sixth pull, knock control 0.66 IAT 64F, IAT 82F.


My knock control dropped significantly with the 27Won intercooler. Even after 6 pulls (there is some 3rd gear pulls in the mix, but I just counted the ones up to 4th gear), it stayed in the mid 0.70 knock control range with IAT2’s in the low 80's. Over the course of 10 minutes, the 27Won intercooler was able to do the job much more efficiently than the OEM intercooler.

Now taking a look at the last pull I did with the OEM intercooler, we can see that my knock control spiked to 0.92 and IAT2’s skyrocketed to 114 F. Comparing the last pull with the OEM intercooler and the 2nd pull with the 27Won intercooler, there was a 39 F difference. A very drastic difference in temperature. Even comparing the last pull on the OEM intercooler and the 6th pull with the 27Won intercooler, it is still a 32 F difference.

The 27Won Front Mount Intercooler works great in keeping the knock control and temperatures down.

Also, my shifting on the 27Won intercooler pulls weren't the greatest, I was taking it easy :cry: Just wanted to make sure everything was okay!

Power is consistent, it doesn’t fall flat on its face after the 2nd pull, unlike the OEM intercooler. Even after the 6th pull, it still felt very strong. I mentioned the concern of turbo lag with the upgraded larger pipes in the original R&D / testing thread that 27Won posted. I happily say that I do not feel any turbo lag, if any. Do recall that I am running the TSP Stage 1 tune on KTuner V2 so that may play a part.

Overall, I am very impressed with this product. Easy instructions and very high-quality materials. The performance is there too! Future plans include grabbing the 27Won W1 turbo and truly seeing how well this FMIC works with a larger turbo. If anyone wants the above data logs so they can look at them in closer detail, let me know and I'll post them, as long as I can figure out how to link the entire .kdlg file.

Now, time to figure out where I should put this 27Won sticker :)

Many thanks to the 27Won team. I hope this review helps!

Edit: I apologize for the formatting, no idea how attached images worked.
How’s your IAT2 on stop and go?
 
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FC1Dawn

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Fantastic info thanks! Really making me want to upgrade my IC. Keeping intake charge temps low is so important and it really seems like an upgraded IC makes a big difference on this platform. On the stock turbo it might not provide much in the way of gains, but it definitely helps w/ heatsoak and more consistent charge temps.
Definitely look towards getting an upgraded intercooler! After reading up on several posts and heeding the advice of several reputable members, upgrading the intercooler really does help. It feels miles better than the OEM intercooler. I do plan on getting a dyno session to see what my power numbers are, but will be put aside for the time being.
 
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FC1Dawn

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How’s your IAT2 on stop and go?
I didn't really keep an eye out for that, but if I recall, IAT2's slowly creep up when stopped. When moving, IAT2's either plateaued or slowly began going down. When going WOT, IAT2's drop much quicker.
I'll do some more data logging soon and will update on that.
 
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FC1Dawn

FC1Dawn

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Quick update, I've noticed a small whistle once I hit around 10 psi of boost. I still hear the whistle until I let off. However, my AFR's are normal and LTFT is at the -1% to -3% range.

I'll be rechecking all the clamps again. I've checked the turbo hotside, cold up to charge pipe, charge pipe connections and throttle body clamp. Only ones I haven't checked are the clamps connecting to the actual intercooler.
 


fenix-silver

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That's just your car whistling at itself over having such a sweet IC.

Are the IC clamps accessible w/o removing the bumper?
 
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FC1Dawn

FC1Dawn

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That's just your car whistling at itself over having such a sweet IC.

Are the IC clamps accessible w/o removing the bumper?
Yes, you can remove the front fake vents to access the IC clamps. I just haven't set aside some time to do so.
 

highroller

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very detailed and nice review.
want PRL FMIC users to guide me whether they get similar results or slightly better stats so that I may make an informed decision to purchase one.
 

Fit2Hatch

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Quick update, I've noticed a small whistle once I hit around 10 psi of boost. I still hear the whistle until I let off. However, my AFR's are normal and LTFT is at the -1% to -3% range.

I'll be rechecking all the clamps again. I've checked the turbo hotside, cold up to charge pipe, charge pipe connections and throttle body clamp. Only ones I haven't checked are the clamps connecting to the actual intercooler.
So, did you pop off the fake vent to check clamps?
 


 


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