Golf Mk5 Gti Intercooler vs Edition 30

[Shoduchi]

IMO, a 350 BHP Ed. 30 only needs a S3 IC. If you're looking for more than that (stage 2+), I'd save a bit more to get a Peron/Wagner/Airtec stage 2/Forge FMIC that cost around £ 550.

For a cheap upgrade the Chinese THS replicas seem good enough (I've seen people saying that they got 365 BHP with them, if I'm not mistaken). Mine from Darkside Developments was £ 300 with discount. The only advantage I can wonder they have over the S3 IC is that they cool very fast. At WOT the temps rise likewise. That was what my tuner said and he has a lot of experience with the S3 IC.

[jacobrownoly]

I got a airtec stage 2 for £500 and was one of the best mods I did. It's a big job but worth it. With stock IC I lost 41 bhp on back to back dyno runs on stage 2+ which was useless! Soon as I got the airtec stage 2 I made 277 bhp and lost 1 bhp on back to back runs!

[Shoduchi]

I got a airtec stage 2 for £500 and was one of the best mods I did. It's a big job but worth it. With stock IC I lost 41 bhp on back to back dyno runs on stage 2+ which was useless! Soon as I got the airtec stage 2 I made 277 bhp and lost 1 bhp on back to back runs!

A K03 doesn't need more than a S3 IC. Ask Niki Gower about it.

The S3 IC has the size and the flow that compliment well the K03 performance.

[ROH ECHT]

I agree the K03, if tuned, should only need a larger oem location fmic or an additional twin cooler by Forge coupled with the oem fmic. If you upgrade the turbo to a K04 I'd suggest the S3 or other oem location fmic and if you run it hard for a good duration in a day from time to time...add an additional twin cooler. I have the Audi S3 coupled with the Forge twin cooler along with a K04. Boost-actual peaks within 600 to 700 rpm of the start of a 3rd gear pull when data is collected. I'd say no boost lag there. Any amount of throttle at any time is so very responsive as well. I run 12.8s 1/4 mile ET's all day at the track...so no heat-soak either. If I did long road track events I could comment and share those results, but I don't do that. Hoping to get into hill-climbs soon though 

[dronners]

or keep your stock intercooler and add a twintercooler

Not sure if a S3 IC wouldn't be better due to the lag and pressure drop... Personally for what I know I'd choose a S3 IC over that option. For BT you can add a twintercooler to a S3 IC, I guess.

i have the airtec twin cooler. there is no noticeable increase in turbo lag from what i can feel

How is the fit? is there any bumper trimming?

a little bit around the fog light mounting for the hose's to clear but otherwise a very good fit

[Paradox1]

I agree the K03, if tuned, should only need a larger oem location fmic or an additional twin cooler by Forge coupled with the oem fmic. If you upgrade the turbo to a K04 I'd suggest the S3 or other oem location fmic and if you run it hard for a good duration in a day from time to time...add an additional twin cooler. I have the Audi S3 coupled with the Forge twin cooler along with a K04. Boost-actual peaks within 600 to 700 rpm of the start of a 3rd gear pull when data is collected. I'd say no boost lag there. Any amount of throttle at any time is so very responsive as well. I run 12.8s 1/4 mile ET's all day at the track...so no heat-soak either. If I did long road track events I could comment and share those results, but I don't do that. Hoping to get into hill-climbs soon though 

Thanks for this.

I did think of one of the EBay OEM style coolers along with a ebay twintercooler (still cheaper than most on the market) thought this would futureproof me incase I ever decided to change to a BT setup.

[r5gtt]

We wish it was bigger, indeed. Put a TBE with sports cat (or decat), fit a bigger IC (S3 or bigger) and fit an upgraded HPFP (LOBA, APR, Autotech internals) and with a stock map you can see 270 BHP, which is the same as the S3 engine makes from factory.

are you saying @Shoduchi that the above parts fitted to a standard gti can produce an extra 70 bhp without having to Map it?.

[Paradox1]

No way, you'd definitely need a map

[r5gtt]

No way, you'd definitely need a map

@Paradox1 that's what I thought as how would fitting parts alter timing fuelling and air.

[Paradox1]

Yeah that's it. you could have all the bolt on but would make any noticeable power I don't think.

As you know a map makes the biggest difference

[Dan_FR]

He's talking about the Ed30 - not the GTI

FYI the Darkside cooler is no different to the £170-200 china THS copies - work plenty fine on a K03 car. I have a china copy and mine and can hit peak boost below 3k rpm.  What is totally overkill are the massive wellycoolers people fit. Be warned - china couplers do NOT fit. The best fitting one I have found is from SFS

The standard cooler is not good at all. 20 degrees C + above ambient is a LOT. Mine on WOT is always less than 10 degrees above ambient with the meth off (Still have a/c rad). Switch the meth on and its within 1-2 degrees either side of ambient.

[pudding]

Mine on WOT is always less than 10 degrees above ambient with the meth off (Still have a/c rad). .

Even after 10 pulls to the redline on a 28 deg summer's day?  I'm calling BS on that, pending VCDS logs as proof 

[Paradox1]

He's talking about the Ed30 - not the GTI

FYI the Darkside cooler is no different to the £170-200 china THS copies - work plenty fine on a K03 car. I have a china copy and mine and can hit peak boost below 3k rpm.  What is totally overkill are the massive wellycoolers people fit. Be warned - china couplers do NOT fit. The best fitting one I have found is from SFS

The standard cooler is not good at all. 20 degrees C + above ambient is a LOT. Mine on WOT is always less than 10 degrees above ambient with the meth off (Still have a/c rad). Switch the meth on and its within 1-2 degrees either side of ambient.

How is your meth nozzle setup?

TB spacer or Throttle body pipe?

[Shoduchi]

We wish it was bigger, indeed. Put a TBE with sports cat (or decat), fit a bigger IC (S3 or bigger) and fit an upgraded HPFP (LOBA, APR, Autotech internals) and with a stock map you can see 270 BHP, which is the same as the S3 engine makes from factory.

are you saying @Shoduchi that the above parts fitted to a standard gti can produce an extra 70 bhp without having to Map it?.

You can compare my dyno runs before and after mapping. The engine was pretty consistent achieving the 270 BHP on that BAPRO dyno.

[Dan_FR]

Mine on WOT is always less than 10 degrees above ambient with the meth off (Still have a/c rad). .

Even after 10 pulls to the redline on a 28 deg summer's day?  I'm calling BS on that, pending VCDS logs as proof 

Can't say I've ever tried 10 back to back runs on a summers day. Lot of variables to consider too, but whenever I logged my car before fitting the meth, which included leaving the thing plugged in and logging the entire 'session', on a WOT run the IAT at the top of a gear was within 10 degrees of ambient. On the standard cooler it went a lot higher

Don't get me wrong the cooler will heatsoak in slow moving traffic/town cruising the same as any cooler will, but when theres plenty of airflow at 'motorway speeds' then it does its job very well

How is your meth nozzle setup?

TB spacer or Throttle body pipe?

Meth is in a TB spacer. Temps given are again at the top of a gear. The second you lift off (while there is some meth still injecting), the super cooling effect makes the indicated IAT plunge to 10-15 degrees below ambient for a few seconds