PRL Motorsports 1.5T Civic Billet Intercooler Upgrade

[PRL Motorsports]

See I was about to get all cranky that I wasn't gonna be able to put this on for another week or two but you post these pictures...

And the dash numbers for the O-rings and everything!! Dude, the engineering that went into this is awesome. I'm so happy I went with PRL.

We're glad to hear that!

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[Nitori]

Just got it, super stoked but... small problem.

FedEx was equally hyped to admire the billet endtanks that they kicked open the corner of the box and ripped all the box staples fully out.

Fins are all OK, there's a small nick in one of the end tanks but it's small sub 1/8" size cosmetic damage because PRL packed it so well.

Gonna shoot you guys a PM real quick to make sure everything inside is accounted for.

 

[PRL Motorsports]

Just got it, super stoked but... small problem.

FedEx was equally hyped to admire the billet endtanks that they kicked open the corner of the box and ripped all the box staples fully out.

Fins are all OK, there's a small nick in one of the end tanks but it's small sub 1/8" size cosmetic damage because PRL packed it so well.

Gonna shoot you guys a PM real quick to make sure everything inside is accounted for.

Sorry to hear this, we have replied!

 

[Nitori]

Alright, time for an update / write up / review of this IC!

First off, PRL replied to me very promptly and made sure all the box contents were present and accounted for.

So then, after taking off my bumper we see... the old IC, an Agency Power unit that fits well enough and I am happy with:

Cast end tanks, fits well enough, I would say a solid 7/10 product. Nothing amazing, interestingly designed with a thin top section to add a lot of surface area.

Well, it's a night and day difference when you lay it down next to the PRL unit:

(Keep in mind that at this perspective you are only looking at the thin top section of the Agency Power)
There's absolutely no comparison with the end tanks and weld quality, PRL comes out on top.
First thing I noticed was that despite the way beefier core, the PRL unit only weighs about 1/2 a pound more than the Agency Power.
Breaking down the frontal surface/volume numbers, the PRL unit has 106% of the AP's internal volume, but only 86% of the frontal surface area.
Frontal surface isn't the be all end all though, because as far as cross section for airflow to go through the PRL is ~117% of the AP's airflow cross section.
I won't bog this any further down into the theory of Intercooler design, but basically what this means is while the Agency Power has the potential to catch more ambient air across the front, the PRL unit is going to flow better and has more air in contact with cooling fins.

Just look at how smooth the airflow transitions into the core though:

And on exit it's the same story:

Agency power's offering kind of falls flat compared to the PRL. As a result I am almost certain pressure drop across the PRL unit is going to be remarkably better than Agency Power, which is already better than stock.

Installation itself is trivial, PRL has really paid attention to all the details here. Nothing needs to be "massaged" into place, nothing rubs, and this little detail blew me away:

PRL even paid attention to the fact that the A/C Condenser gets close to the endtank here and there's a little cut in relief to make sure clearance is plentiful. I've been around the automotive aftermarket long enough to know that little details like this are often overlooked or just straight up ignored in favor of an "oh well, it might rub" attitude.

Possibly the most questionable thing about the whole install was my quick and dirty rattle can of bedliner on the air guides to black them out:

I didn't realize until after painting and as I was installing that there was one small casualty of the shipping, and it was a little mounting tab on the airguide being slightly bent. A gentle pull with some channel locks sorted it right out.

But, now my bumper is ready to go back on:

I can't say enough how awesome this intercooler turned out, I am so happy with the results and PRL!!

I'm gonna go ahead and say it. 10/10 product and hands down the best, absolute best intercooler on the market right now.

 

[P51]

Just finished up my install, with a few pieces of constructive criticism. I followed the installation instructions at: https://prlmotorsports.com/document...Civic 1.5T Billet FMIC Installation Guide.pdf

1. The two stock M6 bolts shown on step 13 cannot be reused with the PRL kit because they are too long. I used two M6x10mm hex bolts out of my parts bin. I am not sure if the PRL kit includes bolts of the correct length.

2. Steps 18 and 19 provide almost no guidance for assembling the upgraded charge pipes. For the hot side pipe, there was no good way to tell which end goes to the turbo and which end goes to the IC.

3. Some of the silicone hoses were very difficult to slip on. For me, it was the upper hot side coupler to the hot pipe, and the charge pipe adapters. I resorted to one or all of the following: molybendum grease, heat gun to the silicone, carefully chamfering the mouth of the silicone, and herculean strength.

4. Considering the difficulty above, I recommend you slip on the adapters before you put the piping into the engine bay. The pictures shown on sheet 12 of 15 suggest that you should install the adapters onto the intercooler first, then slip them into the silicone.


The following is for those trying to use this kit in conjunction with a 27Won cold air intake:

27Won has stated in their sponsor forum that the airbox and the cold side pipe will be a tight fit, but workable together if you "massage" things. The conflicts are more significant than that. I managed to create a tiny bit more room by redrilling the ECU holder to shift it slightly more towards the drivers side. I also replaced the included M6 male x male rubber vibration mounts with male x female. I could only bolt the brackets to the airbox at 2 places instead of 4. In my opinion, these items will not go together unless you deviate from the standard parts/installation procedures.

 

[PRL Motorsports]

Alright, time for an update / write up / review of this IC!

First off, PRL replied to me very promptly and made sure all the box contents were present and accounted for.

So then, after taking off my bumper we see... the old IC, an Agency Power unit that fits well enough and I am happy with:

Cast end tanks, fits well enough, I would say a solid 7/10 product. Nothing amazing, interestingly designed with a thin top section to add a lot of surface area.

Well, it's a night and day difference when you lay it down next to the PRL unit:

(Keep in mind that at this perspective you are only looking at the thin top section of the Agency Power)
There's absolutely no comparison with the end tanks and weld quality, PRL comes out on top.
First thing I noticed was that despite the way beefier core, the PRL unit only weighs about 1/2 a pound more than the Agency Power.
Breaking down the frontal surface/volume numbers, the PRL unit has 106% of the AP's internal volume, but only 86% of the frontal surface area.
Frontal surface isn't the be all end all though, because as far as cross section for airflow to go through the PRL is ~117% of the AP's airflow cross section.
I won't bog this any further down into the theory of Intercooler design, but basically what this means is while the Agency Power has the potential to catch more ambient air across the front, the PRL unit is going to flow better and has more air in contact with cooling fins.

Just look at how smooth the airflow transitions into the core though:

And on exit it's the same story:

Agency power's offering kind of falls flat compared to the PRL. As a result I am almost certain pressure drop across the PRL unit is going to be remarkably better than Agency Power, which is already better than stock.

Installation itself is trivial, PRL has really paid attention to all the details here. Nothing needs to be "massaged" into place, nothing rubs, and this little detail blew me away:

PRL even paid attention to the fact that the A/C Condenser gets close to the endtank here and there's a little cut in relief to make sure clearance is plentiful. I've been around the automotive aftermarket long enough to know that little details like this are often overlooked or just straight up ignored in favor of an "oh well, it might rub" attitude.

Possibly the most questionable thing about the whole install was my quick and dirty rattle can of bedliner on the air guides to black them out:

I didn't realize until after painting and as I was installing that there was one small casualty of the shipping, and it was a little mounting tab on the airguide being slightly bent. A gentle pull with some channel locks sorted it right out.

But, now my bumper is ready to go back on:

I can't say enough how awesome this intercooler turned out, I am so happy with the results and PRL!!

I'm gonna go ahead and say it. 10/10 product and hands down the best, absolute best intercooler on the market right now.

Awesome, thank you so much for your support and feedback. We hope you enjoy it!

Just finished up my install, with a few pieces of constructive criticism. I followed the installation instructions at: https://prlmotorsports.com/documents/instructions/2016 Honda Civic 1.5T Billet FMIC Installation Guide.pdf

1. The two stock M6 bolts shown on step 13 cannot be reused with the PRL kit because they are too long. I used two M6x10mm hex bolts out of my parts bin. I am not sure if the PRL kit includes bolts of the correct length.

2. Steps 18 and 19 provide almost no guidance for assembling the upgraded charge pipes. For the hot side pipe, there was no good way to tell which end goes to the turbo and which end goes to the IC.

3. Some of the silicone hoses were very difficult to slip on. For me, it was the upper hot side coupler to the hot pipe, and the charge pipe adapters. I resorted to one or all of the following: molybendum grease, heat gun to the silicone, carefully chamfering the mouth of the silicone, and herculean strength.

4. Considering the difficulty above, I recommend you slip on the adapters before you put the piping into the engine bay. The pictures shown on sheet 12 of 15 suggest that you should install the adapters onto the intercooler first, then slip them into the silicone.


The following is for those trying to use this kit in conjunction with a 27Won cold air intake:

27Won has stated in their sponsor forum that the airbox and the cold side pipe will be a tight fit, but workable together if you "massage" things. The conflicts are more significant than that. I managed to create a tiny bit more room by redrilling the ECU holder to shift it slightly more towards the drivers side. I also replaced the included M6 male x male rubber vibration mounts with male x female. I could only bolt the brackets to the airbox at 2 places instead of 4. In my opinion, these items will not go together unless you deviate from the standard parts/installation procedures.

Thank you for your feedback as well!

Unfortunately there were a few kits that managed to get shipped that were missing (2) M6 x 12mm flange bolts for the charge pipe bracket, and it sounds like your kit was one of those. If anybody is in need of either of these, feel free to reach out to us via email or phone to receive them. However, any M6 x 1.00 x 1.25 bolt will work in a pinch.

We apologize about any confusion/difficulty, but thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will make a few revisions to our instructions to add clarity! And yes, the silicone is a very snug fit.

Also, thank you for the feedback regarding fitment with the 27Won Intake.

 

[P51]

I'm very happy with the interoocler and I appreciate all the clever touches that @Nittori and others pointed out. The butt dyno says there's a nice difference.

 

[trapbryan]

Probably a really dumb question
But how do I go about getting the prl logo on my intercooler? Do I just spray paint it on through the stencil ?

 

[Eleon]

Probably a really dumb question
But how do I go about getting the prl logo on my intercooler? Do I just spray paint it on through the stencil ?

Chad Miedel at PRL gave me some pointers:

We suggest going with a high temp ceramic engine enamel. Duplicolor DE1635 is the brand and number we use. The black is the Ford Semi Gloss Black.

This will be the most resistant to temperature and wear. You can choose any color you wish, but black usually is the go to. Recommend taping the stencil on and masking off the end tanks to avoid any overspray. If you make any mistakes or get runs/drips acetone or brake cleaner can be used to remove any paint from the intercooler. Thanks for representing us, we appreciate it, if you have any further questions or seeking guidance with your vehicle let us know!

-Chad

 

[trapbryan]

Chad Miedel at PRL gave me some pointers:

We suggest going with a high temp ceramic engine enamel. Duplicolor DE1635 is the brand and number we use. The black is the Ford Semi Gloss Black.

This will be the most resistant to temperature and wear. You can choose any color you wish, but black usually is the go to. Recommend taping the stencil on and masking off the end tanks to avoid any overspray. If you make any mistakes or get runs/drips acetone or brake cleaner can be used to remove any paint from the intercooler. Thanks for representing us, we appreciate it, if you have any further questions or seeking guidance with your vehicle let us know!

-Chad

Thank u so much!

 

[PRL Motorsports]

There is now small step by step instructions on every intercooler and stencil listing on our website

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