On the one hand, it's been a long time since I revisited this project on my blog. On the other, I literally have done almost nothing new with this project anyways! However with the questions I get about this and the minor adjustments that admittedly do need to be made, it's time to give this some attention again. This is a custom-built aluminium intercooler shroud that a friend helped me build at his fabrication shop. It is designed to mount directly to the stock STI intercooler and has been measured to fit under a ViS Racing Carbon Fiber hood for a 2015-2020 Subaru WRX STI.
Does it work?
Indeed it does! While I don't have a way to gauge if this is an improvement over the stock intercooler shroud, this piece was built more out of necessity. The ViS Racing Carbon Fiber hood does not have any sort of ducting underneath to direct air to the intercooler. So, while the hood scoop itself is larger and there are vents on the side for additional cooling, the air is blown all over the engine compartment instead of directed through the intercooler like it should. I did notice that temperatures were running higher and boost was not coming on as strong as it would, which was my first indication that the hood was actually hindering performance instead of helping it. When we built this Intercooler Shroud those issues went away and the car performed normally.
Can I buy one?
That's the plan! But, as of this article, I have not built any others just yet. There are some minor clearance issues that I have noticed over time that have started to wear into both the hood and the shroud, so we'll make adjustments on this initial shroud, make the adjustments in CAD, and hopefully build a few more for those who have this same issue. However, because this is designed to work with a stock STI intercooler with this specific kind of hood, the application for other Subaru models and years will be different AND will also be different for other kinds of hoods, too.
When will you make them?
I have no idea! Could be tomorrow. Could be next month. Could be next year. I'm a busy guy and while the minor issues the shroud has are enough to stop me from attempting to mass produce these for general sale to the public, they aren't enough of an issue to keep me running it on my own car. I just finished a bunch of upgrades to my STI (for which a full write-up is coming soon) so it would be nice to tackle this next. I just need to find time to meet up with my Fabrication Friend and get crackin on it!
Stay tuned for more!
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