How necessary is an intercooler upgrade??

I just purchased an upsolute stage II and .205 injecters for my 03 jetta. and I am really curious to see what everyone thinks about the addtion of a better intercooler. From what I have seen the intercooler upgrade more than doubles the price of the power upgrades. all in all I am looking to see if anyone has any inexpensive intercooler upgrades they have seen, if it is even worth the money, or if I should just bite the bullet

Thanks,

~Kevin

Seems as if there must be some ways to help our stock ICs work better than they do as well. They sit off in the wheel well out of the way and seem to get little cool air across them. Maybe something as simple as better air managment would help bridge the gap between poor stock performance and a more spendy solution.

An IC will not add power, it will prevent you from loosing it after more than 5-10 seconds or so at full boost by preventing hot intake air temps. A larger IC wil also keep your EGTs below the meltdown point longer, if you are really using your power consistently, actuall racing for example.

Search forum as there is information on getting a splash cover from an Audi TT wheel well that has vented slotted area. You cut that slotted area out, remove the non vented one from your VW, cut a hole then epoxy the Audi one into it.

What this does is allow air to move from bedind the IC into the wheel well.

On my list of mods to research further.

How effective is this mod actually? Anyone done any testing? The slits in the wheelwell from the TT or Beetle TurboS are tiny..

I'm not sure if anything has come back conclusive as the intercooler is one of many factors that is not always easy to isolate. Still, it'd be nice to get an EGT reading and intake temperature, before and after the mod under the same weather, road, and driving conditions.

After looking at the Audi vent, it made me wonder what the harm in drilling or cutting your own vents into the stock fenderliner...a lot cheaper than $40 and you can always opt to buy and install the audi vent later. BTW, I thought the OEM SMIC was pretty efficient for most of us.

it made me wonder what the harm in drilling or cutting your own vents into the stock fenderliner...

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You cannot just drill holes or cut slits and expect any type of similar performance to the TT louvers. Without something that angles over the hole or slot (louver like on TT) road debris could be thrown into it by the rotating tire. There may also be a possibility that air being caught up and over by the rotating tire would stop, minimize, reverse, or even form turbulence with the air passing through the fender liner.

With the downward facing TT louvers those things can’t happen, and perhaps a vacuum could even be forming by the rotating tire helping to suck the air out from behind it.

I tried making angled slits out of the existing plastic but ended cutting all the way through the very tough plastic on accident anyway. It now has an open hole vent just behind the intercooler (since last October.) Despite the usual rain and mud around here, no observed buildup of junk in there. I check it every other week or so. It looks as clean as original. I guess debris can't make it that far around the wheel...

Hoping to locate a good fan that fits...I've tried dozens of websites which supposedly specialize in intercooler fans, but most are horrendously expensive, too large to fit, or otherwise fail to cut it. If I ever find a good fan with temperature controlled on/off switch, I'll borrow a laptop to do some vag-com runs and see if it makes a difference.

I did a test for Jeff while he was working on the right chip for my car: 10 seconds at 100% throttle logging fuel per stroke. With RC II ASV the max fuel per stroke IIRC is 52mg compared to stock 35 mg. So on a warm engine, in the fall in MN maybe 60 degrees F, I hold it at 100% throttle for 11 seconds. The file is on my computer in MN, but IIRC the fueling held at 52mg for about 6 seconds and then faded to 35 at the 11 second point. This indicates to me that the stock intercooler heat soaks under these conditions after about 6 seconds and a larger intercooler would allow you to stay at 100% throttle longer.

Of course, for me, how often due I hold it at full throttle for more than 6 seconds in 4th or 5th gear as those are the only gears that I can stay in that long without hitting fuel shut off?

If you do some searching, you'll find that some have done what I call the 'dryer vent' mod on their fender liners. What it amounts to is a trip to Home Depot (or the like) and buy a round/square attic vent. These are about 4"-5" in diameter (or rectangular), made of galvanized steel and have both screen and down-pointing louvers. You cut a hole in your liner, mount the vent and sit back and grin at your ingenuity. Is this mod actually effective? Who knows... I am unaware of any data.

If you have a Beetle you can buy a louvered liner for a TurboS for about $35 and it will install in place of the old one.

the upgrade really helps. my stock is usless after 2nd gear at wot. in third gear temps hit 80 deg cel . and over 90 in fith b4 hitting limp mode b/c of heat . and no you dont have to spend the money i put on a sec. intercooler for 200 and it works great! but it took time and effort. im still not done i think im going to a junk yard to get a mach 1 shaker scoop that will mount to the intercooler and the rubber will seal to the hood when it closes. but for now its a frankenstien monster..