I noticed in the on line installation instructions, that the intercooler is sandwiched between the supercharger and intake manifold using silicone RTV that is prone to blowing out with 15 psi of pressure. Then there is an electric water pump that circulates water which needs to route around with hoses. You know what happens if there is a water leak into the intake from the exchanger. Kaboom.

It raises the top of the engine 2", requiring new fuel lines, hood liner elimination, aluminum hood paint damage from heat, etc....

.....not mention a $6000. trani upgrade.

As far as the RTV goes, maybe you misread it. It uses two factory UIM gaskets, one on the bottom and one on top of the IC. The silicone seals the two pieces of the IC core together (assuming you are using the ZZP unit), but we've had absolutely no problems with it leaking since there is a LOT of surface area to apply it to, and 1.5 years later we've had no problems with it on the GTP with 15+psi. It would be pretty hard for it to leak due to it going over the core for at least and inch all the way around, and the fact that it is being held closed with the SC bolts anyways. As far as a water leak from the exchanger, I can't see how the water leak would develop unless its after a very long period of time or the exchanger was bad to begin with. You are running coolant through it which is supposed to prevent/resist corrosion, so its not like its gonna rot out, and its not like a raditator where there is easy access for debris to get to it, so its unlikely that its gonna go, but I guess I could see that possibly being a reliability problem after a number or years. As far as the hood goes, you might know more about this than I do, but on a GTP it fits fine, is the SSEi hood closer? I can't see how you would have to take the heat insulation off of it to make it fit, but maybe.

The only potential problem I can see with the IC setup for daily driving is the IC pump going out. If you have a pump failure you will have a MASSIVE loss of power as the computer sees all the KR you are getting. If you have the wastegate mod done then the computer won't be able to pull boost in this situation either. The only problem we have ever had with the GTP was the fuse for the IC pump blew, causing the pump to quit running, and we couldn't figure out why it was SO slow and only getting a couple psi boost. Put a new fuse in and its been fine since. But all of the safety features of the PCM should be able to resolve any problems that would arise as far as KR and boost and all that if the pump quits.

The tranny I can see being a problem, but thats the case with any mods done on these cars. The GTP'* tranny lasted 23k just fine and was still working perfectly when we had the ZZP tranny put in. And the GTP had the **** beat out of it its entire life, and it wasn't lacking in power either. (as I'm sure you already know) You just never know with these trannies. Our SSEi has ~125k on it on the original tranny, and that car has been driven hard and has a decent amount of mods and has for most of those 125k miles, and it seems ok. (knock on wood) Some just get lucky I guess.

I can DEFINATELY understand you not wanting to mod due to the tranny, but i really don't see too many reliability problems with the IC. And if you keep an eye on it, you should be able to catch any problems you do have before they become big problems. But I understand where you are coming from being worried about that stuff too, anything is possible.

Shawn