How don't you have to smog your car?

 

There are still a few places in CA that don't have to smog, he's probably living in one of them?

 

Yup, exactly.

My car is regged in Tuolumne county.

 

I dont have to smog either and I have my cars registered in california. I register them in el dorado county/california side of SLT

 

I wish I had they money to blow over $1k to remove a functional part of my car.

IMHO, heat soak won't make a difference, since if you're sitting in traffic, who cares about lag, you're going 5 mph.

 

FWIW, i went from stg. 2 TMIC to stg.3 FMIC, and now I'm going from FMIC back to Perrin TMIC with my 18g on e85.

The spool/turbo lag with the FMIC was minimal, since the power was only a downshift away, but I was missing the snappy throttle response that I need for mid turn throttle modulation. Spool/turbo lag is very different from throttle response, especially with the FMIC/TMIC.

During my research, if you do go FMIC, getting rid of the scoop is actually functional. Going scoopless with a FMIC reduces engine bay temps, and it also helps to decrease understeer.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...l+intake+temps

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/2-5-lite...il-cooler.html

There's lots of pros and cons between TMIC vs FMIC, if you ever want to talk more about it feel free to PM me your questions.