Once upon a time I had my MAF tube in an awkward possition due to a boost leak and a rearanging of my intercooler piping to convert the car back to NA so I could limp home.
I saw 150F air intake temps cause the filter was right by the radiator fan and I got a check engine light for "Air Intake Temp too Hot" or something like that. Odds are you could see 200F+ temps before the intercooler and a resistor will probably make that worse.
At least go for a timing box like, or better yet exactly like the J&S Safeguard. It can retard your timing when under boost and/or at certain RPMs. It can also retard timing when it senses deto. Every Focus guy who has one swears by it.
EDIT: What a chip "gains" you is safety. Also the ability to be in total control of your ECU. You can move the rev limiter, the speed limiter, get rid of check enginelights for no CAT, EGR, etc... Up to 50hp more the Zetec is fairly sturdy. I just slapped my first turbo setup on with no tuning, a crappy intercooler(same as yours) and a lousy downpipe and still ran it for over 20000mi. More than 50hp and 5psi though, and you need serious tuning.
Last edited by Seawulf; 05/05/05 12:21 AM.
2000 Rio Red I4 Cougar
200whp & 210wtq at 9psi
254whp & 276wtq with NX 35shot
WRX TD04 Turbo, Cut Short Shifter, Strut Tower Bar, 17" ZN Wheels, Roush Springs, Starion Intercooler, NX 35 shot, HKS SS BOV, Full 3" exhaust,StreetFlight Chip
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