RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04

[absolute]

So how did your meeting go with them, or did they send you some further parts?

I am interested in an Intake but this review is absolutely scathing and puts me off massively.

[Dan_FR]

@Pudding

Ha ha whole thing was a bit of a joke to be honest. They promised the earth and delivered nothing at all

[pudding]

Lol, yep!

It's been over a year since they promised to improve it, and apart from an initial spurt of enthusiasm at the start, absolutely nothing!

What a way to run a business, eh?  Google searches will take people to this site and Racingline have done zero damage limitation.  The last comms I got from them was Autumn last year, pointing the finger at ITG, but when companies start with the whole blame game thing, I lose interest.  Take ownership of the problem and deal with it, or get lost and waste someone else's time.

I suggest building your own intake around the 42DD MAF housing as you know you won't have any fuel trim issues with that.  The Racingline kit is just a generic filter canister and a 90 degree pipe, made by ITG.  Anyone could cobble that together for a fraction of the cost!  And unlike Racingline, you would be savvy enough to make sure it fits in the available space properly without rubbing on things and breaking water elbows off 

[absolute]

Ah, I think I may have read something about your experience on another post. Wow, sounds like i'll be staying well clear of that system.

Are you saying that it's best to come up with a frankenstein of parts with he 42DD MAF housing? It comes in either through or non-through, which I have no idea what the difference would be. It just looks smaller.

.. Or is it designed to be used with intake systems that are already out there?

[absolute]

So basically I've spent all morning reading up online rather than working 

You can get a full system from 42DD, mounting hardware, heatshields, everything... however it's $520.

Or Pudding might have been eluding to the fact you could get all parts yourself, individually and save some cash. So a velocity stack, filter, heatshield, some aluminium piping and just buy the 42DD MAF housing.

Both sound quite fun projects 

[pudding]

Yeah I meant buy the 42DD MAF housing and source the pipework and filter yourself.   The MAF reading is critical.   I have no idea why it's oval shaped on the MK5 and round on the MK4, 6 & 7, but it's what VW used and deviating from that seems to cause less than satisfactory running at light loads.

I have a suspicion it's because the turbo is so close to the MAF on the MK5, and an oval would reduce swirling vortexes, which MAFs don't like......or something.

I think if we mounted the MAF far away from the turbo like the MK6, we could use a round one.  Dunno, it needs some experimentation!   The car runs so well with the factory airbox, there's not much incentive to mess with it 

[Dan_FR]

The round MAF pipe can work on the TFSI, but it has to be exactly right, both pipe diameter and mounting depth/position. I'm happy with mine and my fuel trims (both idle and LTFT) are within 1-2%. Most aftermarket intakes see an LTFT north of 10% and they really do ruin off boost light load driving, the car feels lethargic and less eager to 'get up and go'

[pudding]

This is how to build an intake!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaUCHyXZew

[absolute]

Nice - doesn't look the prettiest but who really cares eh?

I think building your own intake is quite a class project to do. My main concern or frustration though is finding the right parts for mounting properly.

For example the front moulded heatshield / hardware that sits near the battery, looking OEM'ish and containg the air filter and potential velocity stack.

Also I'm not a welder so buying a steel pipe and getting mounting points made up isn't realistic.

I wonder if i'm worrying about nothing, and need to just find a decent local machine shop.

[rich83]

I hate the look of that one but love how it uses all the original mounting points. Really well designed.

[pudding]

Can't do much about the ugliness of a pipe with a red sock on the end, but the construction quality and the intelligence to use a flex coupling and original mounting points = aces of basses     

By the way, ECS do a black version, and also an enclosed carbon airbox version of that intake for better looks.

[Shoduchi]

I really like the look of the enclosed intake sold by ECS Tuning and made by Kohlefaser Luft-Technik.



As I said before, I like this enclosed intake from HG Motorsport, but very expensive too :
https://www.hg-motorsport.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p28061_HFI-Air-Intake-Kit-Gen-2--Plus--for-VAG-2-0TFSI-Models.html

[pudding]

Yep both great intakes 

One small problem with both though.....they draw air in through the tiny letter box opening, which is not sufficient at high rpm.  With the ECS one, I would feed a 3" duct from the fog light grille into the bottom of it for more air flow 

[Shoduchi]

Not sure if the area of that scoop is smaller than the intake tube section.

Are you sure it isn't enough? What's the size of the TTRS intake scoop for the OEM air box which is perfect for our engines to work at +400 bhp?

[pudding]

Pretty sure the cross sectional area of that rectangle is smaller than a 3" pipe.   Remember the OEM intake doesn't draw all it's air in through that rectangle opening.  There's a big hole (snow/water drain) underneath where it draws the bulk of it's air in. 

Colesey on here blocked off that hole so that it pulled all of the air in through the letter box, and he said the engine felt less responsive.  That's how I know 

With an additional cold air supply from underneath, the airbox would have plenty of air volume for the engine to draw in