Upgraded side mount

[swapmeat]

Iirc For years people used taco taco 1.8t side mount intercooler to upgrade mk4 tdis.Seems to have disappeared.Ebay has 2 generic models listed. From what I can tell one is cast end tanks with inlet/outlet cast together. The other appears to be welded sheet end tanks with intercooler pipe welded for inlet outlet. Is anyone here using either or have any recent experience with a cheap taco taco style side mount instead of spending hundreds or going front mount? Thanks jesse

 

[Rrusse11]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Side-Mount...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


Just bought one of these, installation was pretty straightforward,
though had to shift the pancake pipe aft an inch or so.
Noticeable improvement in air flow over my original, I suspect
it was pretty clogged up. Well worth the $100 IMO.
Used some rubber washers on the mounts, others have drilled them out
and used the original grommets.
Cheers

 

[Yourbuddysatin]

I bought the side mount kit from darkside. Thought it was reasonable

 

[WildChild80]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Side-Mount...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


Just bought one of these, installation was pretty straightforward,
though had to shift the pancake pipe aft an inch or so.
Noticeable improvement in air flow over my original, I suspect
it was pretty clogged up. Well worth the $100 IMO.
Used some rubber washers on the mounts, others have drilled them out
and used the original grommets.
Cheers

Even on my Kerma kit, the lower boost pipe part of the kit doesn't work on the stud for the mount but whatever, maybe it'll get modified one day

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[cog]

Depending on you’re goals. And set up
My Eurojet Side mount intercooler didn’t really add anything at all in terms of cooling
Just had the cast end tanks as you’ve mentioned so can be cheaper if not messy going front mount kit

 

[Nero Morg]

I have a similar cooler that Russ has, plus the 1.8t pancake pipe. Noticed zero change in performance. Don't have my scangauge connected to see any temp differences yet. Noticed a huge difference with an OMI though.

The only reason I installed a taco taco and pancake pipe was because the clip connector at my plastic pancake pipe was starting to leak, and if I had to replace, it was getting upgraded. If it weren't leaking I'd leave stock.
I also did drill out the taco taco mounting holes larger so I could install the grommets from the stock cooler into it, same with the pancake pipe.

 

[swapmeat]

I have a similar cooler that Russ has, plus the 1.8t pancake pipe. Noticed zero change in performance. Don't have my scangauge connected to see any temp differences yet. Noticed a huge difference with an OMI though.

The only reason I installed a taco taco and pancake pipe was because the clip connector at my plastic pancake pipe was starting to leak, and if I had to replace, it was getting upgraded. If it weren't leaking I'd leave stock.
I also did drill out the taco taco mounting holes larger so I could install the grommets from the stock cooler into it, same with the pancake pipe.

Almost exact reason I’m doing.

 

[smoking]

I've bought one but never got around to mount it. They seem ok.

 

[Yourbuddysatin]

https://www.darksidedevelopments.co...ler-kit-for-1-9-td-ve-90-110-pd100-pd115.html

That’s what I bought. Compete kit with upper and lower pipes. Incase you are interested in something like that.

 

[swapmeat]

I've bought one but never got around to mount it. They seem ok.

Nice inventory?

 

[PakProtector]

Looking at this, there seems to be some limit to how much air we can get into the front side. The shrouds, and the hole below the headlights don't seem like there is going to be enough for any significant improvement. Also, since they're thicker the air flowing past the last bit is already going to be warmer, and therefore less able to absorb heat from the charge flowing through it. Now if you were going to design a heater of ambient air flowing through it( using the charge air as the heat source ), I'd say that these things are worth the effort. Since we are looking at the reverse...maybe not so much.

There is one cooler I have seen that actually builds on the area of fins. That being the Tyrol, and that beast is not so inexpensive.

Get more air flowing through the 'just thicker' ones will help. Fan on the back maybe. Wish I could tie the fan power to an IAT signal, or at least a boost signal( perhaps easier with an adjustable pressure switch ), so as not to require tying into the car's central nervous system.
cheers,
Douglas

 

[Rrusse11]

Pak,
In the interest of more air flow I also installed the vented fender liner;
https://www.idparts.com/vented-fender-liner-oem-a4-p-1063.html
Clearly a FMIC is more efficient, but the additional expense and difficulty
of installation was a major factor for me. My "build" did not warrant it.

While the SMIC may not be ideal, all that I can say is it markedly improved response with my car.
IBW documents that it made a difference on the track in reducing temps.
In my case I believe 120k of a lightly used auto had the intercooler internals
gunked up.

Nero comments that it made no difference in his case, your mileage WILL vary.
Cheers

 

[PakProtector]

I do believe IBW is running the Tyrol...
cheers,
Douglas

 

[Rrusse11]

I do believe IBW is running the Tyrol...
cheers,
Douglas

I looked around for the "taco taco" et al, didn't ever find a "Tyrol".
I went for the generic I found, and like I said, it made a substantive
improvement in my case. Fit and quality was more than adequate for
my purposes, I'm happy with it.

 

[Nero Morg]

]
Nero comments that it made no difference in his case, your mileage WILL vary.
Cheers

Finally got my scangauge back in my car, my IAT is reading average about 60°F now, versus its 100°F. Mind you this was with ambient temperatures in the 40-50s. I think something was wrong with my cooler.

 

[tdi'd]

I've bought one but never got around to mount it. They seem ok.

Did you ever mount this? If not wanna sell it? Ha

 

[Andyinchville1]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Side-Mount-Turbo-Upgrade-Intercooler-for-1999-2004-VW-Golf-VW-Jetta-MK4-1-8T/161798783910?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


Just bought one of these, installation was pretty straightforward,
though had to shift the pancake pipe aft an inch or so.
Noticeable improvement in air flow over my original, I suspect
it was pretty clogged up. Well worth the $100 IMO.
Used some rubber washers on the mounts, others have drilled them out
and used the original grommets.
Cheers

HI,

I bought one of these too after seeing the link to it previously.... looks like a really nice unit ... solid / good welds

It was way cheaper than the Darkside Intercooler BUTslightly SMALLER ( at least by my measurements).

Here are the size differences :

Darkside dimensions Ebay Intercooler dimensions

57 MM pipe opening (nor sure if ID or OD) 62 mm od , 52 mm id
130 mm thick 119 mm thick
207 mm tall 209 mm tall
180 MM wide 182 mm wide

NOTE: Thickness , length and width are cooler area NOT incl side tanks

Intercooler VS intercooler I would imagine the darkside unit flows better (larger? pipe opening MAYBE their dimesnion here did not say ID or OD opening), the darkside unit is a bit thicker too (about 11 MM) .

Darkside unit is way more expensive tho .... BUT that's maybe the price for performance ?

By chance does anybody have measurements for the stock intercooler and maybe the one from the company that sells the magnetic glove box fix (spanish sounding company but for the life of me I cant come up with the name .... maybe AM Rodrigues or similar?).

It would be neat to see a comparison of the different side mount intercoolers.

Andrew


PS - I had a nice looking chart BUT when I posted it the chart (at least nice columns for the numbers got all messed up) .... not sure why and can't seem to fix it :-(

 

[Nuje]

Tunemyeuro.com (AA Rodriguez)

Spaces / tabs seem to get removed when we hit the POST REPLY; plus, kerned fonts make aligning things difficult.
You might have better luck if you change to a monospace font (choose Courier New in the font picker ("A" in the formatting bar here)).

Of course, (just noticing this now on the formatting bar), there's also the INSERT TABLE button at your disposal.

Intercooler Comparison	Darkside (mm)	Ebay (mm)
Pipe opening	57	62/52
Thickness	130	119
Height	207	209
Width	180	182

 

[Andyinchville1]

Tunemyeuro.com (AA Rodriguez)

Spaces / tabs seem to get removed when we hit the POST REPLY; plus, kerned fonts make aligning things difficult.
You might have better luck if you change to a monospace font (choose Courier New in the font picker ("A" in the formatting bar here)).

Of course, (just noticing this now on the formatting bar), there's also the INSERT TABLE button at your disposal.

Intercooler Comparison	Darkside (mm)	Ebay (mm)
Pipe opening	57	62/52
Thickness	130	119
Height	207	209
Width	180	182

WOW beautiful chart! You da man! ;-)

Andrew

 

[Fahrvegnugen]

With IATs reaching ~150°F /58°C I’m contemplating adding a darkside smic and can’t tell if it’ll fit without modifying my dieselgeek skidplate.
I wanted to do like IBW and get Tyrol smic but it hangs too low for skidding.

By chance does anybody have measurements for the stock intercooler

“oem” core dimensions from Amazon

8.08 x 7.21 x 3.35 inches
= ‭52.578‬ x‭183.1 x‭85.09 ‬mm

 

[Judson]

my Eurojet intercooler does fit even with the FMJ sideskirts.

For better airflow I installed a vented wheel well liner. That seems to help.

 

[dieseldonato]

I have a godspeed smic, while it helped a bit it still gets heat soaked on hot days. (Anything 80*f and over 90*+ days it's not any better then the oe cooler) they just don't seem get enough airflow tucked in the corner. Whenever I get some spare time and money I'll be swapping in a front mount intercooler.

 

[kiwibru]

I think the key to better cooling with these is the vented fender liner. I run a Godspeed but modded it by tapping out and threading the hole for screwing in a drain valve in the low corner. Works great too and never had it blow out.

 

[Judson]

Agreed. The air inlet vent on the passenger’s side does throw a lot more air at the intercooler with the vented fender liner.

 

[Votblindub]

I had one from TacoTaco on ebay. It was good and the fitment was just 100%.

 

[Fahrvegnugen]

I don’t see tacos anymore. I find with vented liner I am running cooler. Maybe 20°f less. I’m going to install a darkside smic eventually with the pipes it replaces. And fix my shroud. If successful, I’ll report an update.

 

[Nuje]

The taco taco one I had had fitment issues with the inner plastic of the bumper cover lower fascia. Had to cut a notch in the plastic to get it to fit around the IC. This was on a Golf. From what I recall at the time, they did not have those same fit issues on the Jetta (slightly different shape / rounding to the Jetta bumper cover).

 

[Fahrvegnugen]

Darkside smic with modified air pipes went in without modifying the diesel geek skid plate. It does touch the inner plastic bumper but seems fine. Took me one day to install it. I found 7/32" grommets from the hardware store will fit in the smaller mounting holes.

 

[Fahrvegnugen]

today was 86ºF and with upgraded smic and vented liner it ran at about 110º and got as high as 121º. I'm satisfied with it as my goal was to keep it under 120º. It's running 30-40ºF cooler

 

[454k30]

I find with vented liner I am running cooler. Maybe 20°f less.

That much from just having a vented liner? If so, I need to get louvres cut into my liner ASAP.