3.3T Agency Power Intercooler - Install + testing + thoughts

[Toddasaurus]

Almost two months ago I placed an order from VividRacing for an Agency Power intercooler for my G70. This intercooler is designed for the Stinger, but I read that another member here was able to install it onto his G70 without any problems, however this was quite some time ago. More on that later.

Anyway, after several phone calls to Vividracing/Agency Power (they're the same company) I kept getting excuse after excuse, all of which saying that they're supposed to get them back in stock any day now - give us one more week! I figured I didn't want to push the issue very hard because of two big reasons... 1) VividRacing gave me a significant discount ($490 shipped, new) and 2) No other intercoolers of interest (for me) are available either. I was planning on calling them the next day, when suddenly I hear a knock at the door. It's my intercooler... Lol. No stock confirmation, no shipping confirmation, no tracking number - just a well packaged, beautiful new intercooler at my doorstep. Haha.


Take a look....



And a closeup of the intercooler's core (exterior)...




Outlet...




Inlet...



I used my borescope to take a look inside the end tanks so I could take a peek at the core's interior...





Last, but not least, is the weight... My scale showed 22.2lbs (same scale showed stock at 10.4lbs)...






Next up is the install. I'm gonna tell ya, the G70/Stinger intercooler is probably the easiest to remove and install out of anything out there. First up, remove the bumper. If you don't know how to do that, then check out Velossa Tech's install ( HERE ) for instructions. It's simple and straightforward! Anyway, here is my car with the bumper removed...




Next step is to remove the charge piping couplings from the OEM intercooler. Pop off the clamp bolt caps, and then loosen them like any other hose clamp...







Continued....

 

[Toddasaurus]

Next up, you are ready to remove 2 of the 4 mounts so you can remove the intercooler from the chassis. This can be done by unbolting the top 2 mounting brackets, via 10mm nut and 12mm bolt on each...



Once loosened, go ahead and remove each bracket (2)....





Notice that there are rubber grommets attached to the mounting posts. Don't lose those! Now, go ahead and remove the OEM intercooler, just lift a little bit and then bring it out....





With the OEM intercooler removed, you must transfer those rubber grommets to the new intercooler. Keep the exact same orientation.





With the original grommets transferred over to the new intercooler, simply put the new intercooler back in the same way you removed the old one. I found that if you tilt the top towards to while putting it in it will give you a little more room to work with. Tilt it towards you, line up the bottom posts/grommets with the brackets, then tilt the top towards the car and into place. It will be a close fit underneath that crashbar, but it certainly fits without any fuss. Next up, line up your two top bracket mounts with the new intercooler posts/grommets, and tighten them back down...




When you have both top mounting brackets back on, you can take a step back and look at your new intercooler in all its glory. Lol. The Agency Power core is approximately 30% larger than OEM, just FYI.





Anyway, once that is complete you're ready to reattach the outlet and inlet hoses to the new intercooler... First, the outlet hose is as simple as it gets. Slide on the hose, then clamp, just like stock..







(Continued)

 

[Toddasaurus]

Now to attach the inlet hose/coupling. This is where things don't go so smoothly for us G70 owners. You see, the Stinger, evidently, has a different style of intercooler inlet hose/coupling. It uses a heavy duty spring clamp instead of the standard, worm gear type hose clamp that we have on our G70's. That said, you get this goofy looking inlet designed for the Stinger....




Notice how there is no lip at the end of the inlet? So, to keep the inlet attached you have two choices. 1) You can order an inlet hose from a Kia Stinger. Other than the coupling that attaches to the intercooler, it's exactly the same as the G70's coupling. Or, 2) you can MAKE IT FIT.

Slide on your hose passed the big end with the groove, and clamp it down after it so that it acts like the lip.... Lol.



Obviously I went the second route, for now. I have ordered a Stinger inlet and I'll replace it when it comes. Why? Mostly just to satisfy my OCD. Also, there is a slight chance that there is a tiny bit of misalignment on the coupling relative to the inlet, so in theory there could be a tiny bit of turbulence there with all that airflow rushing through it. Or not. I don't know. Anyway, so far the way I have it attached has lasted through my testing without popping off.

Anyway, take a look at the completed install with the bumper back in place. You don't even notice that new intercooler! Black intercooler = sleeper.














Now, my install wouldn't be complete without some testing with datalogs to provide objective information. So what I did is before the install, I started up the car (cold) and went out to my usual testing/datalogging road. I did 4 back to back 1st through 3rd gear runs @ WOT. As in, I would do a run, slow down, turn around in a designated spot in the median (2 separate road highway), wait for traffic (a few seconds), then turn on the other road - stop, use Auto Hold, then floor it until the top of 3rd gear. Rinse and repeat, without giving the engine time to cool down. After installing the new intercooler, I waited until the next day to repeat the tests, as I wanted to start with a cold engine and repeat the tests in the same environment, doing the exact same runs.

For the record, my config is as follows...
JB4 on Map 2 using 92 octane pump gas. AEM intake. VT Snorkels. Dual catch cans. ARK midpipes. MF catback exhaust. Brisk Silver spark plugs (1 step colder than stock). And now the AP intercooler.

I combed through all the logs, 1-4 with the OEM intercooler, and 1-4 with the AP intercooler, and compared graphs side by side. I compared boost curves, ignition timing, and IAT's. The most telling information was found on the last (4th) run of each day, as that is when the engine was hottest. I'm gonna summarize everything, but I figured I'd at least post a screenshot of my notes so you can see most of the details I found. You can skip past this if you don't care and just want the summary...




In addition to this, here are links to my data logs.

Run 4, using OEM intercooler...
datazap.me | Toddasaurus | OEM IC


Run 4, using Agency Power intercooler...
datazap.me | Toddasaurus | AP IC (next day, 3-6 runs)


Summary:

-There was no significant difference in boost curves. Which should mean that the new intercooler isn't flowing significantly worse than the OEM cooler, nor is it experiencing any significant pressure drop.
-Ignition timing advance values remained consistent before vs after. When looking at the log, especially with the AP intercooler, 3rd gear shows very consistent timing between all 6 cylinders. This is where the engine is getting very hot and the combustion chamber is very volatile, increasing potential for knock. That said, no timing drops are an excellent sign that the engine is dealing with the boost, heat, and stress well.
-IAT's are approximately 16ºF cooler at the top of 3rd gear with the new interooler. Keep in mind that it was also 5ºF cooler outside that day, but even if you say that the IAT's would also be 5ºF cooler on the OEM intercooler if I had run the same tests that day (it wouldn't), the new intercooler would still prove to be cooling air to 11ºF cooler than that of OEM.
-The new IC is 11.8 lbs more than stock.


All things considered, I think for $490 shipped to my door this is a good upgrade. Hope this helps!

 

[mrcleeaan]

Another awesome write-up by the man himself!

I do like that it's black too.

 

[KusaKusa]

You obviously went through a lot of effort to picture document all of this process for us. Thanks!

 

[tarhoosier]

Project car. Archived modifications here. Perhaps Todd archives all his posts elsewhere, safe and lasting, other than this site?

 

[joschneider]

Shit, @Toddasaurus could start a YouTube channel documenting his build and I would watch!

 

[Toddasaurus]

Project car. Archived modifications here. Perhaps Todd archives all his posts elsewhere, safe and lasting, other than this site?

Pretty much just here! Sometimes the Stinger forum as well, but I don't go into as much detail over there.

 

[pulsar]

Excellent write up. With more surface area I assume it has better cooling ability to allow maybe more boost without air temp changes to hinder performance? Are you going to do some tweaks to your JB4 to see if you can crank things up some from settings used with the stock intercooler?

 

[Toddasaurus]

Excellent write up. With more surface area I assume it has better cooling ability to allow maybe more boost without air temp changes to hinder performance? Are you going to do some tweaks to your JB4 to see if you can crank things up some from settings used with the stock intercooler?

I certainly will, but not with how it is right now. I have a WMI kit waiting to be installed, along with JB4 EWG connectors. Once those are in I'll begin tuning. The intercooler will give me a little more of a buffer to keep things relatively cool, so I can push it just a little bit harder.

More to come!

Also, I will update this thread once I receive the Stinger inlet coupling.

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[Aquineas]

Fantastic write-up! (Yoda voice) Envious am I of your toys!

 

[Cashby]

Solid review!

 

[Toddasaurus]

Stinger inlet coupling arrived. Will install soon.

 

[Toddasaurus]

Installed the Stinger coupling.





It slides and pops right on very easily...too easily, in fact. It's all wobbly and doesn't feel very snug, despite reseating it several times. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not holding boost like the OEM hose was. I'm seeing roughly 2-4 psi lower boost values on my logs.

I'm gonna swap back.

 

[Toddasaurus]

Swapped back to the OEM coupling. Take a look at what's holding all that boost pressure in with the Stinger coupling...



Now, if that thin little rubber lip were VERY snug up against the inlet, then I think it would be just fine. But, considering how loose and wobbly it felt while attached I really can't trust it.

Considering everything, just stick with the OEM G70 coupling and don't waste your time/money with the Stinger coupling! $100 of wasted money on my part.

 

[mrcleeaan]

Damn, that sucks man.. Sorry to hear that. Maybe you could Macgyver it somehow to make it fit better.

 

[Toddasaurus]

Damn, that sucks man.. Sorry to hear that. Maybe you could Macgyver it somehow to make it fit better.

Nah, the stock coupling works just fine! Haha, just looks a bit goofy is all.

 

[Aquineas]

Hey Todd, what is the "VT Snorkel" you list in your mods? Is that non OEM turbo?

 

[joschneider]

Hey Todd, what is the "VT Snorkel" you list in your mods? Is that non OEM turbo?

3.3T - Velossa Tech Snorkels

Installed my G70 specific VT snorkels a couple days ago. This system is more complicated than on the Stinger GT because our cars use radiator aero flaps that open and close under certain conditions (FSM states that they close when at "high speeds," though I don't know if it's only speed...

genesisowners.com

 

[Toddasaurus]

^What @joschneider said!