fiestaturbo.com

[Fezzy Turbo]

I am undecided on what to go for ... GRS or Pro-Alloy. Now before people start ranting on about .... "searching the board" ..... no one gives real evidence on the reasons why you should buy either one. I dont want to pay out £400ish on an intercooler and then be told, "you should have bought this one as its better"

At the moment, the Pro-alloy is out in front due to being less hassle to fit and needs less cutting on the front bumper.

But thats not exactly why i would buy an intercooler. Im wanting to know if anyone has taken ACT's with either intercooler running a T3 ? and which one flows better ? and how bad does your water temperature get with the intercooler in front ?





(if there is real evidence on the board, can some please pop up a link, because i couldnt find it, thanks)

[Pez]

I noticed a thread yesterday of GavStyli's intercooler set up, with ACT figures, should be fairly high up in the members gallery. And i would guess Mr Heeman has done this, because he does everything, very industrious kinda chap

[heeman10]

Ello Gregory You're right, easy/tidy fitment is pretty important with intercoolers, which usually makes for good serviceability, another important factor. Of course on top of that, it's nice to have something that looks good, which would bring us onto the looks of the two intercoolers you've mentioned.

As we all know, Pro Alloy take a great deal of pride in making all their products worthy of showcases. On a more fussy note, I'd have to say the vertical cores of their Fiesta intercooler aren't as appealing as the conventional horizontal tubes, and that's not just because it's "different". I know for a fact that if you were confident enough to measure up (or keen enough to go down and do it in person) for a custom intercooler that they'd make one up with a horizontal core. Graham's intercoolers, on the other hand, are quite boxy, not as pretty, and may (can't back this up, I'm not 100% sure of the Pro Alloy cooler's fitment) be a bit trickier to fit. Most fairly capable people with a few brain cells to rub together could fit a GRS I'm sure.

Onto performance, well...who knows?! As with fitment, it's hard to know precisely what you're going to get till you've mounted and used it, much like suspension. So in terms of power, pressure drops, lag and ACTs, it's impossible to compare two or more products without a bolt on, bolt off day of testing in identical conditions. The Pro Alloy cooler is a single pass affair, the GRS a twin pass, but I haven't seen the core design either of them use so that's not much help.

All in all, both companies have done a useful amount of development on their Fiesta intercoolers, so neither would be a bad choice in terms of performance I'm sure. That probably brings it down to cost and appearance. Both are very good to deal with and have spotless reputations, so it's a tough one! My Radtec intercooler performs extremely well, and is a simple, boxy design like the GRS. Good low ACTs, the lag's fine, I can't complain. But then again, I haven't driven my car with a GRS or Pro Alloy intercooler on, they could potentially both eclipse mine!

So, that was conclusive wasn't it?

[Xr_Dub]

i was recommend pro alloy one from ian howell for day to day, like driving town to town and mainly traffic its allrounder

the grs are good for track but some times run hot in traffic etc....

[heeman10]

I forgot to mention water temperatures. I don't know what sort of power you're going for Greg, but if it's over 200bhp or so, make sure your coolant system's good for it. I had the biggest radiator I could possibly fit into the front of the car made for mine, as I didn't EVER want to have to "take it easy" due to high coolant temps. As a result, my car's quite happy to take a full on thrashing on a hot summer's day, then pull up at the tail end of a traffic jam with a mild rising of the needle (just up to the O in NORM), bring the fans on and cool itself without drama. My intercooler sits fully below the bumper line for two reasons; a) I didn't want the intercooler taking over the front of the car for aesthetic reasons and b) it allows more air to the radiator and into the engine bay in general. The Pro Alloy one does a similar thing, so that may be something to consider if you weren't aiming to go big on a radiator.

[xrsi]

with the t3 that you are fitting i would recomend going for a radtec item or a pro alloy item.

the GRS from what i can see and have read from few different replys on here cuts the airflow to the rad quite a bit, thats why alot of people have the alloy rads at the same time to help cooling alot.

i ran a std rad with the std radtec cooler and the temps of the coolant got pretty hot with it going up alot standing and after a bit of a drive, so to rectify this not only did i get a rad that was only just a bit smaller than i could comfortably fit into the gap at the front like heman, but also i chose for radtec to modify the pipework on the cooler to move it down to nearly touching the towing eye and moved it out as much as i could with the cossie bumper, this has meant that not only will the cooler be getting lots of cold air passing through it unrestricted by a blockage behind it but also i will be getting lots of cool air flowing through the rad as well, which i have also managed to mount both of the fans provided with the kit on to it which is not an easy task normally!!!

i havent tried it in spirited driving de to the gearbox being knackered, but from sitting on the drive for 15 mins at idle and fast idle it gets up to temp well and doesnt go as high as it used to.

the main reason i went for a radtec item was the price they were offering compaired to pro alloy's cooler at the time, was too good to miss and have been really pleasently supprised, it is well amde and very nice to look at with very neat welds, but not quite as pretty as the pro alloy one, but for the money i know which i would choose if i were to get one now, the radtec one i really cant fault it!

ring them and have a chat and say what you want and see what they can do.

[ianFRST]

grs one looks sooooooo much better tho thats what swayed my decision

had a pro alloy rad just to make sure the water temps were ok. (not that oll ever find out )

[heeman10]

with the t3 that you are fitting i would recomend going for a radtec item or a pro alloy item.

Not quite the view Sunny took!

[Fezzy Turbo]

heeman .... cheers for replying .... and its Greg

Im hoping for 190 @ wheels, so the T3 i have should be pushing 16psi .... maybe a wee bit more (going by the previous use of the turbo). But that obviously cant be known until its all built and set-up/mapped.

I actually never thought of radtec, but its another option.
I know guys on here have GRS intercoolers and all the cutting in the bumper and drilling holes! Drilling holes in my brand new front panel is NOT an option, so i think i have now answered my questions on GRS intercoolers.
But im always a typical "canny Scotsman" when handing over lots of cash i would hate to go and buy the pro-alloy fiesta intercooler and find out they are not as good as GRS or radtec.
I have seen pics of the new pro-alloy intercooler and it looks great, but does it actually do the job ?
How much hassle to fit a radtec cooler ?

On water cooling, i already have a Pace alloy rad (cheers Sunny ) but i will "upgrade" from the std Ford fan.

[Excursion]

Greg I would get the pro-alloy for 16 psi on a T3. This isn't opinion based on scientific fact (I asked the same question as you in the past and got no hard evidence!)

My reasons are:

• The Pro will be more than adequate for the boost you want to run
• It's easier to fit
• It doesn't cut airflow to the rad as much

This is not to detract from the GRS, I'll be using one! I think its a case of the pro being more suited to your setup.

[wildheart]

Maybe worth asking Tony Turbo over on passionford or the rsoc board.

His cars pushing out over 300bhp and he tried both pro alloy and grs and he stuck with the grs.

[Fezzy Turbo]

I think its going to have to be pro-alloy.

I am NOT away to start cutting holes into brand new body panels after i have spent thousands getting them replaced, to fit a GRS cooler.

[MarkRS2K]

but dont you have to cut away the front valance for either of them anyway?

Never had a problem with my grs, running a standard rad and the car will push out 200 horses all day long

[Fezzy Turbo]

Forgot about this post ....

i havent heard of people cutting away the front valance, just the bumper. Im very concerned in cutting or making holes in my brand new panels.

How are the pro-alloy intercoolers fitted ?

[heeman10]

How are the pro-alloy intercoolers fitted ?

They tell you on the flipping site!

http://www.proalloy.co.uk/cgi-bin/shopw ... d=proalloy

[ianFRST]

you pretty much have to cut the panel which ever front mount you get

not alot of room behind the bumper

[Richard_xr2i1800]

Yeah you have to cut the front panel sadly, pro alloy are very good never had high temps on mine

Rich

[Fezzy Turbo]

How are the pro-alloy intercoolers fitted ?

They tell you on the flipping site!

http://www.proalloy.co.uk/cgi-bin/shopw ... d=proalloy

*hangs head in shame* ........ sorry

[sexy-aRSe]

It depends what power your running Greg me and Alex have issues with high act's on the pro cooler as did Tony Turbo and Christian and beccy.

But Alexs car has been up at pro for the past month, being used for testing and development of a new cooler for bigger bhp cars

[Fezzy Turbo]

Hello trouble

Im not going for BIG power, im looking for 190 @ wheels. So im sure the pro-alloy cooler will work fine. I think their new one is better than that old odd shaped one.

Im just hating the thought of having to cut holes into my new panels. But i suppose some sacrifices have to be made.