Rev9 Intercooler Civic SI Install Review

Hollywoo0220 said:

Not certain that REV9 is incorporated with Agency Power, but it looks very much like their product.
It has a “high wall” front with 3 addt’l rows and is “step laddered. No fins to direct the airflow. So, the air stream will be bouncing all around inside.
It uses stock tubing.
The one advantage that the unit has is that it is Bar & Plate vs the Stock Tube & Fin.

In 65deg ambient the stock IC would keep IAT2 at the same level as this model under boost. IAT is not controlled by an IC, only IAT2.

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Sounds like you are familiar with this rev9 or agency power ic. I'm looking for a cheaper option that helps a little and looks nice. Looks a lot nicer then my bug and debris riddled OEM and I imagine it has to cool a little better right? I read even some expensive options don't net much hp gain anyway and I live in cooler iowa so this is attractive. Thanks for any insight.

bbeem said:

Sounds like you are familiar with this rev9 or agency power ic. I'm looking for a cheaper option that helps a little and looks nice. Looks a lot nicer then my bug and debris riddled OEM and I imagine it has to cool a little better right? I read even some expensive options don't net much hp gain anyway and I live in cooler iowa so this is attractive. Thanks for any insight.

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Mishimoto’s is of excellent quality! Shop around and see if there are any discounts this coming 4th of July.
An IC doesn’t produce power, you simply gain back what you would be losing from heat w/o an upgraded one. Plus, a more seamless transition from heat soak (after a stop/standstill).

Hollywoo0220 said:

Mishimoto’s is of excellent quality! Shop around and see if there are any discounts this coming 4th of July.
An IC doesn’t produce power, you simply gain back what you would be losing from heat w/o an upgraded one. Plus, a more seamless transition from heat soak (after a stop/standstill).

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Yeah, I've looked at the mishimoto and prl options but reluctant to spend $500-$1000. I was hoping something like this might be decent enough for cheaper. At least it looks a lot nicer to replace my road grime dinged oem.

bbeem said:

Yeah, I've looked at the mishimoto and prl options but reluctant to spend $500-$1000. I was hoping something like this might be decent enough for cheaper. At least it looks a lot nicer to replace my road grime dinged oem.

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For the dependable quality I’m afraid not. To include fitment and the R&D.
If you can locate a 10% discount over the holiday, you could get BOTH the Mishmoto IC (w/o charge pipes) and the PRL upgraded charge hose kit for a mere $640 or $530 for just the IC alone.
Takes $ to play the game.

Looks good considering the price vs other no-name brands on eBay. And seller accepts best offers too. Decisions.

I believe I have a PRL charge hose setup at home. I was on the pre-order for their intercooler when they first came out and I received the charge hose setup. Not sure if it has changed since but it's just sitting around in my house at the moment.

Just wanted to bump this up here and share, it looks like the REV9 is literally the exact same as the Agency Power... down to the packaging it comes in!

I bought an AP intercooler because I was tired of waiting on MAPerformance and I live on the surface of the sun (AKA late summer in Phoenix) and Agency Power is local to me. I was kinda surprised to see it came in the same exact style of box with the same exact blue packing bars and everything:


So, this makes me think that either AP could have licensed out the design, or they could have subcontracted it out and their subcontractor is selling Rev9 branded units. Either way, looks like you are getting a "genuine" product not a knock off if you decide to go Rev9 or AP.

Now, a few words on the design & quality of the unit... I am actually pretty impressed at the thought that appears to have gone into this IC.

It's pretty obvious that the smaller "top" core is there to increase overall frontal surface area without increasing the core volume to the point where you would start to encounter lag. What you'll notice if you look closer though, is that the fin pitch actually changes when you get up there!

The fin density gets much tighter on that extra bit of core, which means that someone was paying attention to their CFD- or at least, I doubt they would just randomly change their fin pitch in an area that the stock IC does not normally occupy...

Then, looking inside the cooler you can see that the internal fins are an offset style- this is to further increase the cooling efficiency- you want the charge air to get a lot of heat transfer in there.

And finally, one last thought about the endtanks... I know some people are dubious about the tanks not having a fin present to guide the air upwards to that extra core, however to me the overall ratio to inlet/height does not look like it would require much of a guide if any... my eyes are no substitute for a CFD but I'm just going by dead reckoning here, and if they paid enough attention to the fin pitch, they probably paid enough attention to the end tanks.

Looking forward to installing it!

Nitori said:

Just wanted to bump this up here and share, it looks like the REV9 is literally the exact same as the Agency Power... down to the packaging it comes in!

I bought an AP intercooler because I was tired of waiting on MAPerformance and I live on the surface of the sun (AKA late summer in Phoenix) and Agency Power is local to me. I was kinda surprised to see it came in the same exact style of box with the same exact blue packing bars and everything:

...

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What's their return policy? That AP IC costs twice as much the Rev9 and now Redline360 carries the Rev9: https://www.civicx.com/threads/rev9-front-mount-intercooler-kit-civic-1-5-turbo-redline360.39898/

TypeSiR said:

What's their return policy? That AP IC costs twice as much the Rev9 and now Redline360 carries the Rev9: https://www.civicx.com/threads/rev9-front-mount-intercooler-kit-civic-1-5-turbo-redline360.39898/

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Meh, I'm not too fussed about the price difference.

The main reason I'm not gonna do a return is I don't know if Rev9 is "approved" to make them... See, I confirmed that it is physically essentially the same product (save for the logo stamping) but I don't really know if it's above board and licensed, or if it's a "lol our offices are in China so what are you gonna do about it gwailou" situation where a supplier contracted to make a product turns around and makes the product for other people.

It's pretty much a given those castings were outsourced, unless Agency Power has a very tiny foundry in the back.

i have been using this black coated rev9 intercooler from last 8months, bought directly from supplier thru aliexpress. Fitment was perfect on oem charge pipes, so far i have not seen IAT going above 45c even in summer 30-32c temp.

salik990 said:

i have been using this black coated rev9 intercooler from last 8months, bought directly from supplier thru aliexpress. Fitment was perfect on oem charge pipes, so far i have not seen IAT going above 45c even in summer 30-32c temp.

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Do you have pics with this installed? I'm curious to know what a blacked out intercooler would look like

PiYauD said:

Do you have pics with this installed? I'm curious to know what a blacked out intercooler would look like

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i havent took pictures of my car lately but i have few pictures while installing, bumper were not fitted yet

ko2performance said:

For sale! $250

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You're selling the intercooler already? Does the bumper fit with this intercooler?

ko2performance said:

Rev9 Intercooler for 2016+ Honda Civic 1.5T.

I will be installing this is my 2018 Honda Civic SI.
I wanted an upgrade solution over the factory intercooler, while keeping factory intercooler piping and looks. (Sleeper)
Living on the central coast I saw some ridiculous IAT temps last summer.

After hearing from a few users using this intercooler with good results but not much info out there I decided to make the purchase.

Here is what $300 gets you.
Overall quality and appearance looks great. Arrived well packaged with no bent fins or dents. Welds look suffice. The end cap castings look to be of good quality and are nicely deburred. It does appear to be aluminized painted. There are a few runs but no big deal.

Update: Install:

Install went smooth. Remove the front bumper. This video is a great guide.

After the bumper is removed it's as simple as remove the hold down mounts on each side. Remove the intercooler piping. Rotate the intercooler forward and out. Installation in reverse. Everything mounted well. I did have to trim some of the plastic shrouding as the intercooler is larger.

Unfortunately my data did not turn out. However I can say that I drove the car and got some temperature into it. I then made four 2nd and 3rd gear wide open throttle pulls. I then turned around and made four 3rd gear wide open throttle pulls. I finished this up with some start and stop traffic. Ambient temperature was 65 degrees temperature post intercooler never exceeded 85 degrees during any of this testing. For the price I'm happy with those results.
I will be doing some autox the next following weekends and will see how the improvement is there.

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I noted on Amazon & Ebay they have 2 different types ones black and the one you own. Whats the difference and which one you recommend we use for better performance and get longer use out of? (1. REV9 UNIVERSAL TYPE-F ALUMINUM INTERCOOLER WITH AIR DEFLECTORS BAR AND PLATE.)(2: REV9 UPGRADED FRONT MOUNT TURBO INTERCOOLER FOR 16-20 HONDA CIVIC 1.5L FC LARGE)

One more question: can i add plastidip to keep them pesky bugs and rocks from ruining my IC?