For such an expensive kit that is truly awful quality.
One good aspect of it is the MAF scaling is spot on with these kits from everything I have read about them over the years, so it doesn't ruin the drive. The RamAir however does not and has a detrimental affect on off boost and part throttle driving. Been there and tested it
Was it the 70mm or 90mm Ramair you tested? And were the scaling issues tangible during driving?
90mm, but it makes no difference, both use the same MAF pipe which results in the same issues. And yes very much so, turned my car from feeling spritely and eager to feeling sluggish and lethargic during day to day off boost driving..... Like how the car feels after having sat in traffic on a hot summers day... It lasted less than a day before i removed it and went back to my other intake which has long term fuel trims within 1%
Hmmm. I've never really felt any loss of torque or response that I could categorically attribute to the 70mm version I've got - although I'm not saying you're wrong (in fact, I'm probably more receptive to reasoning against the thing, than for it).
There have been odd occasions coming onto boost where I think "Is that it?", where it just feels a bit limp and not producing the thump of torque you expect, but this has been both before, and after the Ramair went on, so something I'd probably put down to heatsoak at the time and not given a second thought.
One thing that is consistent, is a marginally stronger pull from around 4k. So it's doing something. I'd give it maybe 10bhp/10lb/ft at 5252 going by the seat of the pants.
I like the noises on full chat, but rolling around - especially on a cold engine - can get tiresome. It's all a bit wheezy and chuffy.
I'm inclined to ditch it. Certain elbows are uncomfortably close to coolant hoses and other more important bits. I think if I went k04 and back to a standard box I wouldn't miss it.
Anyway, here's the real question. Why don't you and Pudding co-develop an intake that ticks all the boxes? You've both got the ability to make it happen. And I'd buy one. Undercut VWR for a start.
I bet if you put the OEM airbox back on, you would feel a difference. You get used to changes and forget what OEM was like. The quietness and smoothness would be immediately welcomed, and then you will think to yourself, what was the benefit of the RamAir again?
If I had the relevant test gear, I would see what the pressure drop is through the OEM airbox. If it's more than 2psi (with filter) I would be very surprised. 4-5psi drop and I can see a benefit in ditching it, but VW wouldn't make something that restrictive as it would muck up their pressure ratio calculations for the turbo.
And as Dan said, it's not as simple as just plonking the MAF into a pipe. VW were very specific about how and where they mounted the MAF. Personally I would not have put it there. Too much turbulence from these raspy little turbos. Probably why they moved it off the engine on the MK6&7. And how many aftermarket intakes have laminar flow correctors (the wire mesh upstream of the sensor)? NONE. It's a critical part. Imagine a whirlpool inside a pipe. Where is the majority of the flow? On the outer diameter of the whirlpool, with a hole in the middle. That's what laminar flow grids do.....straighten out the maelstrom, otherwise the sensor would be in that hole, reading way less air mass than it should be. Without it you will get very wayward MAF readings at certain rpms/loads. But of course, aftermarket tuners know better, right? Nah, sod that, let's just take a random bit of guttering pipe, drill a hole in it, shove the maf in, shove a sponge on the end. Job done. £400 please.
As I say, I bought this out of curiosity, and as usual, the small benefits are exaggerated and the negatives completely ignored. I know I've stood steadfastly in favour of the OEM airbox on here for 2 years now, and sampling the VWR just compounds my original thoughts and experience even more!
I've played with many intakes over the years, and my crowning glory was running my VR6 Turbo with the factory airbox, and factory paper filter. Everyone thought I was mad and it would kill the power. They were wrong. It worked brilliantly.....and this was a GT3582R turbo on a 3 litre engine, not a piddly little K04 on a 2.0
I would love to make an intake but I would never make any money because my standards are too high
I would never sell anything I wasn't happy fitting to my own car, and had real, tangible, repeatable, proven gains. None of this "Up to 20hp gain". "Some cars have seen a 500rpm reduction in spool". None of that wishy washy ifs buts and maybes. Fit this, you get this. Simple.