ALH Jetta intercooler upgrade options??

panthers89fan90

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
Location
North Carolina
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI
Depends on what mods you have. The TacoTaco intercooler is what I have also. If you are already highly modded, a fmic would be a better option. If you're stock and are only going for a mildly upgraded car, the TacoTaco intercooler can't be beat for the price.

If you do go the TacoTaco smic route, you may need to modify a few things. I rigged up rubber spacers to go on the mounts for the intercooler using parts at Lowe's Hardware. Let me know if you want more info on that. The other thing is another map sensor for your intercooler. That intercooler takes the smaller map sensor. What I did was buy a BEW map sensor and it worked perfectly. Good luck on whatever you decide to do!
 

speed185187

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Location
Hartland, MI
TDI
Case 580 Super M,
My tacoTaco will be delivered on monday. All reviews say it's decent, just some mounting fabrication required in some instances.
 

VWBeamer

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Location
GA
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon
My .02. I'm sure the tacotaco cooler is a good value, but it's not going to add much more cooling. It's basically just a bigger heat sink, so you IAT don't swing as high or as low. On average it will be a little cooler and prevents the big high swings in IAT.

A front mount offers more cooling area and better air flow, in addition to providing a bigger heat sink.

While it's a lot more work, cost wise an Ebay FMIC setup is not much more, under $200. Several threads on here on installing the FMIC. The downside is a lot more work to install. I think it took me a few days to do mine.

Again, just my thoughts.

The original ebay FMIC thread- http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=281762
 

Bczuk

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Location
Mission, BC
TDI
LWB Samurai - 2001 Jetta
I went with the taco intercooler with Kerma piping and have been very happy with the results. Only thing I plan on doing is welding on a small piece of aluminum pipe on the turbo side of the intercooler since the taco one has a really short attachment point on mine and every couple months the hose likes to pop
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
Anybody know when the stock one starts spitting off the end tanks? I know volvo FMICs with the crimped on plastic end tanks are only good for around 20 PSI. I'm running spikes of 25 psi with my stock SMIC...
 

alphadrex

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Bonnyville, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS
There are many more areas where a "cheap" upgrade would be more beneficial. What mods do you have (or are you planning to have) that would require an intercooler upgrade? In my case I'm building the base for a big upgrade and want to have everything in place first, so that my benefit is maximized when I make the leap. I know it's a more expensive option, but I went with the Darkside FMIC. The fit is quite good actually (not a strict bolt in, but the mods are not extensive). Me and a buddy did my intake manifold (with EGR & cooler delete) and my FMIC in 12hrs (and I'm more particular than anyone you know for fitment). The other issue in my case is that I don't live in an area where I can get things fabbed up easily or have access to a place where I can leave my car for several days while I figure out a plan. That's why I needed something that was more drop-in.
 

bmwM5power

Veteran Member
Joined
May 3, 2007
Location
Rochester NY
TDI
15 GSW TDI S 6MT / 02 JETTA TDI GLS 5MT 15 GOLF TDI 6MT
is there any similar alternative to TACOTACO intercooler? its no longer available to buy
 

Curious Chris

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 11, 2001
Location
Pineview GA
TDI
Jetta Wagon 2003 RIP Rockford IL
I did a test for Jeff when he was developing RC2: Full throttle monitoring fuel per stroke for 15 seconds: 4th gear. (PP520's in my car then). After 6 seconds the fuel per stroke started to fall and around 12 seconds it had dropped from 52 to 35. Now I have a big FMIC and the fueling does not drop anymore. My engineering assumption is that the small intercooler heat soaked and could not cool so the air temperature went up and the MAP measuring the temperature dropped the fuelling.
 

hey_allen

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Location
Altus, OK
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI
I've heard some talk about fitting a 1.8t side mount intercooler, and the one that I looked at in the wrecking yard looked larger (thicker), but I don't have any experience with this.
 

Caddy 16v

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Location
Hazelton, BC
TDI
2000 Jetta, 2000 Golf
All the aftermarket aluminum SMIC are the same for the 1.8t and the TDI, I bought one off eBay from China only thing different depending on the year of your car is the map sensor probe is probably the smaller one. You can either drill it out or change to the smaller one.
 

CNGVW

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Location
Bob Mann Auto, 111 High St, Pembroke MA 02359
TDI
Many TDI Jettas and a Beetle Race car run 2010 jetta tdi cup car build roadrace
I ran a upgrade side mount then a big front mounted on the race car .
Last year installed a water to air on it ran 28 LB boost lovered it .
One test we would do is come off the track and grab the tube off the turbo. It would burn the skin off your hand .then grab the tube going in the the intake it still would burn you.
With the water to air you could grab the tube going to the intake and hold it cool.
And we dumped 10+ ft of tubing
 

flee

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Location
Chatsworth, CA
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS wagon
My latest AWIC setup has less than 1 ft of tube from turbo outlet to the IM/AWIC.
'Nuff said.
 
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