I'm looking at installing a sti7 engine bay mounted I/C spray kit into my bug wrx and wondering if it's genuinely something that's needed and has anyone else with a wrx bothered to fit one?

The cars going for mapping this week and guessing it'll make around the 310-330 bhp range I have the sti intercooler & undertray already fitted but haven't bothered to get the I/C spray. Just want to see what the general consensus is?

 

It has very limited effect, if any. The bottle which comes with the kit is small and fits in the engine bay, unlike the Spec C one which holds around 12 litres and sits in the boot. Also the single jet concentrates around the front part of the intercooler, would be more effective if it soaked the whole surface.
I rigged up a spray boom which sprayed water from a tank in the boot up into the bonnet scoop, so the airflow took the spray down across the intercooler. That was quite effective, the problem was I wasn't allowed to use it at Santa Pod so it now sit's in the garden shed lol
Trev

 

I've not seen the I/c spray operating on a Impreza & after installing the sti under tray that has the spray jet positioned at the front I wondered how effective it really would be. I was thinking like the set up you've made is to add another 1 or 2 jets along the tray to evenly spray the I/c it wouldn't take much to alter it to suite. The reason I was going to go for the engine mounted bottle was ease of instalment but with the extra jets the bottle is going to empty out allot quicker so would be looking at going boot mounted & I don't know how the pump would cope with the delivery of the extra spray to make it effective.

Trev did you use the boot mounted tank & was the pump man enough or did you adapt it?

 

as well, the engine bay mounted one would warm up eventually and spraying lukewarm water would be less effective.
I rigged up a tank and pump in the boot feeding three nozzles, the jet size was small but the pump was relatively big, so I had good pressure but low flow because of the small jet size, which created more of a misting effect. It wasn't what I would call a neat install, so I wouldn't recommend my design openly lol.
The spec c tank in the boot is the way to go, it fixes to the back of the rear seats securely. The pump it has would be adequate I'm sure and of course you could always fit another pump further up if you wanted more, but I'd try two jets to start with if possible.
Trev

 

That's a good point & something I'd over looked with the engine bay temps having a warming effect on the stored water which kinda defeats the object of the cooling spray to start! lol. Like you say boot mounted is the only real way forward. It'd be good to get some before & after results to see how effective it is