Turbo Celica ST185

No big updates.. Tinted the front turning lights. nothing special, simply used a cheap rear light tint spray in a can. Very simple to do! Take the turning lights off, clean, spray 3 layers with 10-15min intervals and done! Not sure how legal it is, but I have my next MOT after 10months, so I can live with that. It`s not that hard to borrow the lights for MOT from other celica owner. Or just buy another set from ebay.
Deciding the FMIC upgrade:
While I do have a subaru impreza FMIC kit by HKS, I ordered Mitsubishi EVO EOM intercooler piping kit from a forum member on www.evolutionm.net. Unfortunately I`m still waiting for the pipes to arrive, it`s already about 2 weeks. Also got a few pipes and couplers from my friend, so in the end I should have enough pipes to construct the kit just to drive it.
I still can`t decide on piping route. I`m sure I will not clock the turbo this year, I just don`t have the time and energy for all that hussle. I do plan to use the air resonator box hole for the piping. I know that someday I might use that hole for cold air intake, but I have yet to create a straight intake. So for now I will leave the hole for intercooler piping, since I don`t want to relocate radiator reserve bottle. However routing this way adds about 2 liters of air to overall piping volume - how much difference does it make? This is a test fit pic for that route:

Here are two pics of similar setups that I`m considering. Basically I need to decide wether I should route piping to the left or to the right from the turbo. To the right the passage is smoother through the fender, but much longer. To the left its short but twisted near the intercooler. It is said that the piping from turbo to IC is much more important than from IC to throttle body.

 

or this..

If I choose to route from the turbo to the right, then the piping after the intercooler would be a nice straight shot into the throttle body (see this pic: alltrac.net/images/intercooler/FrontICStyle6.jpg). But I`m not sure if this is a right thing to do, considering that a more turbulent piping could better distribute the air in the intake plenum to all cylinders. Maybe I`m wrong and the straight shot is the way to go?

Another thing to consider is the blow-off valve or by-pass valve. It is definitely much easier to install a bypass if I route the piping as in the second pic (to the left from the turbo).

I`d be happy if someone replied with advice on this! As I`m installing the cooler probably this week!

On another note, I haven`t done any repairs recently. I sawed off the muffler, cause I hated the low sound volume :D After thet the whole exhaust splitted right after the downpipe, probably from the vibration, so now I`m without any exhaust, pretty loud :D
Did a bit driving on gravel and a few drifting nights in the city while it`s raining.
Also added to modifications page: SMD 5 LED T10 parking lights
Help me out on the FMIC!