You don't seem to understand cores very well which puts you in the group with just about everybody so don't feel bad. A similar sized Ebay core and a Evo core will do about the same amount of cooling. Almost every ebay core made, the ones that sell in the 100-200 dollar range, GhettoChrome, Mishimoto, etc, all trace back to one of a few core manufacturers in China. The cores are mass produced under the leanest of quality standards for export to the gullible US buying public. They have uneven fin density between bars, generally use the thinnest top and bottom cap they can find to cut down on cost, often the braise on the fins isn't even complete, with the fins separating directly from the bar under pressure, etc. The bottom and top cap and the weld attaching them to the endtanks is what really holds the core together. I am yet to see any of the cores come with anything more than 1/8 sheet which I can bend holding the ends with my baby hands.
I am not sure why the automotive public sees fit to rag on the clearly sub par quality of Chinese mass produce auto performance parts in general, but willingly buys up these piece of junk intercoolers without a word. They almost exclusively come with universal pipe kits, which are the thinnest walled aluminum pipe they can get. No one wants to weld that crap. You end up making some convoluted coupler pipe snake thing to get the IC connected and use 3 times as many couplers as is required, each one a failure point. You still need a BOV flange put on no matter what you do so there's another 50.00 down the drain. If you do spend the money to get the pipes welded up at a shop the cost skyrockets to around what the cost of a decent kit would have been anyway.
I know these ebay things work better than stock. However I have seen hundreds of them, and not been impressed by any of them. I have seen them bowed out from 20 psi, I have seen the bars separate from the fins, I have seen powerstroke diesel fin densities in one row and 14 per inch on the next for 2 inches and then 4 per inch the next 6, I've seen one row have the inner fins offset so far it blocked flow through the external channel entirely, I've seen external second row fins in a straight line with no turbulence at all. If you want to get a halfway decent core, get a Treadstone TR-8 or TR-10. I am not paid by these people or care if you do, but their cores are vacuum braised, have regular fin density, and have a 3/16 top and bottom plate. They get their cores from a manufacturer in China but get them to a very good specification. A TR-10 would be more than enough for your goals. When you get the pipe kit, think about if you plan on having it welded up or not. If so, DON'T get the thin wall, shiny, oooh, it looks so good, polished aluminum crap they sell on ebay. Just go to a place that has the mandrels and straights and use a decent wall unfinished aluminum. Keep the couplers to a minimum. In the long run, it will be about the same price and you'll have a better product.
Don't cheap out on your front mount. Don't get one that is just "Good enough". It should be able to handle more than you throw at it. FMIC's need to be thought of like injectors. You always calculate for some overhead. Think the same way here.
/brox
