Manufacturers are switching to front-mount because top-mount are problematic in terms of heat soak.

The big problem of a TMIC is that a hood scoop usually does not effectively route cold air through the TMIC. In fact, some tests have shown hot air goes out of a poorly designed hood scoop... further heating the TMIC. Even Scooby hood scoops don't flow very much air into the intercooler, despite being pretty tall.

The extra length of pipe for the FMIC is more than offset by the superior cooling of the FMIC... and with a bumper designed for an FMIC, it should be safer than if you shoehorn it in front of the bumper reinforcement bar, as in that Corona conversion.