Which cold air intake to buy?

[OllieVRS]

€195 Ramair standard sized intake kit it is then. It's a shame there aren't any more options at this price range though. I couldn't justify spending much more money than that if I'm only after the cool sounds.

Thanks for the advice though, I'll post some pictures once I buy it and get it installed.

[Jb55]

@OllieVRS  Iv got a over size ram air induction kit going up for sale soon , it’s about a year old if your interested pm me

[pudding]

You will definitely gain more power at the top end with any intake, that's a given, it's simple physics.

As with all of them, it depends what they do to the torque 'under the curve' and what your tolerance level is for the extra noise they make.

I've tried the Revo and the RacingLine intakes and didn't like either of them. Horses for courses really but I find the noise they make embarrassing and both of them seemed to blunt the bottom end response a bit. Some folk may not notice it, but I did as it's a daily driver.

My favourites are the HG MotorSport, but that was like £600, and the Volant, but that's American and not the easiest to get hold of.

If you just want noise, get anything!

If I was to get into all of that again, I would get someone to 3D print a copy of the OEM MAF housing and come up with my own pipework and filter arrangements, but I'm passed all that now 

[OllieVRS]

Just ordered the standard Ramair intake off Amazon.

I'll upload a pic once it's installed.

[OllieVRS]

The before:





The after:



I installed the filter with the logo facing away as I wanted it to be less 'in your face'.

As for the sound, it's exactly what I wanted, so thank you for the recommendation @breeze . Lovely sounds from inside the cabin  . No check engine lights so far after a short test drive to the petrol station either.

Redline Revs on YouTube cut back the silicone elbow where it joins the filter as it wouldn't fit, but I found with a bit of wiggling I could mine in no problem with ~3mm clearance from the coolant pipe and ~5mm clearance from the body of the car (near the bonnet prop thing). I dunno if cutting it back would increase the air flow significantly but this is something I could do in the future.

[breeze]

Looks just like mine, glad you like it.

Next step is to remove the oil filler spout, the oil cap will fit directly to the cam cover. Please remember to stuff a rag into the spout to avoid things falling inside. Ask me how I know. 

[LC5F]

Looks good  - the big question is will this get you closer to your mates GttD?

Oil funnel removal really make a big difference, best to do it when the engine is warm as it softens the plastic, the result is this:

[JoshB]

That heat shield looks scarily close to the battery +ve terminal…

I must admit, I’ve thought about an induction kit to free the top end up a bit more. After having it remapped it’s obvious it’s strangled at the top end, but then I’m not supposed to be modifying my car… never mind fitting a 3” bore exhaust and a K04 turbo…

And a bit like Pudding says, I find the noise a bit embarrassing, removes some of the class of Golf. Just my view.

[pudding]

Definitely a marmite thing. 5 minutes down the road after fitting my Revo intake, I instantly regretted it and put the factory box back on a week later It just sounded sh1t. Unsophisticated, chavvy and annoying. Definitely not worth the small gains past 5000rpm.

The worst thing about intake kits is they completely ruin the factory MAF calibration, but no one seems to care about that.

HP Tuners is now available for TFSI engines, so proper MAF recalibration as part of a DIY remap is possible, and makes a huge difference.

[OllieVRS]

The oil funnel delete is something I'll look into once I have time again to work on the car. Thanks for the suggestion.



It's just the angle of that photo that makes them look like they're touching in my previous post.

...And a bit like Pudding says, I find the noise a bit embarrassing, removes some of the class of Golf. Just my view.

That would be true were it not for the fact that it says Octavia on the back of my 'Golf'  . I've already got a poor man's GTI, never had any class to begin with.

Definitely a marmite thing. 5 minutes down the road after fitting my Revo intake, I instantly regretted it and put the factory box back on a week later It just sounded sh1t. Unsophisticated, chavvy and annoying. Definitely not worth the small gains past 5000rpm.

The worst thing about intake kits is they completely ruin the factory MAF calibration, but no one seems to care about that.

HP Tuners is now available for TFSI engines, so proper MAF recalibration as part of a DIY remap is possible, and makes a huge difference.

From my preliminary tests the turbo chatter is mostly audible from the inside of the car. I had two people tell me what it sounds like from the outside while flooring it past them, someone who knows nothing about cars and the other an average amount.

The former only noted the engine being loud (from the revs) and nothing else, while the latter said it sounded like the 'pssh' the neighbour's A4 1.8t with a blow off valve makes. And this is with the bonnet sound insulation removed.

Unsophisticated? Maybe. Chavvy? probably not if a non-car person doesn't even hear it. But maybe this is as I've got the standard Ramair one and not the oversized one so it's a bit quieter.

And it hasn't gotten annoying yet, driving today I was constantly looking for excuses to drop a gear and floor it just to hear the sound again

I've not noticed a drop in performance or MPGs, so I'm not too worried about the MAF for now. I am ready to put the stock engine cover back on if things take a turn for the worse though.

[pudding]

Give it time. You will soon get sick of it 

I heard the horrendous racket my Revo made bouncing off the walls as I drove alongside them, and my missus immediately noticed the heavy breathing Darth Vader noises.....and she knows less than nothing about cars 

Maybe the RamAir isn't as obnoxious as the Revo but happy you're happy with it.  The RacingLine one isn't too noisy either actually.....but still noisy enough to get on my wick after 50-60 miles.

[JoshB]

That would be true were it not for the fact that it says Octavia on the back of my 'Golf'  . I've already got a poor man's GTI, never had any class to begin with.

Ha! I actually wanted a Mk1 Octavia 4x4 estate to build into a 400bhp sleeper, but then I realised I’m too old… and I couldn’t find one. There’s plenty of Mk2’s about.

I actually bought a ram air induction kit for my Mk3 TT as soon as I bought it, that was more for the turbo elbow though as it releases quite a few horses on the EA888 gen3 engine. I did like the sound for a bit but then it just started to get on my nerves.

[Shoduchi]

Give it time. You will soon get sick of it 

I heard the horrendous racket my Revo made bouncing off the walls as I drove alongside them, and my missus immediately noticed the heavy breathing Darth Vader noises.....and she knows less than nothing about cars 

Maybe the RamAir isn't as obnoxious as the Revo but happy you're happy with it.  The RacingLine one isn't too noisy either actually.....but still noisy enough to get on my wick after 50-60 miles.

If the RacingLine intake was too noisy, no open intake would meet your criteria. I can hear it the intake whoosh when pushing, but not much while pottering around. It's the DV+ recirculating that can be more easily heard.

[OllieVRS]

Another thing I noticed is that the engine's sound itself (not the turbo) as also changed since getting the intake, what I could best describe as being 'more pronounced', as if the sound quality has increased or something. Or maybe it's ever so slightly louder. Or maybe just placebo 

On a side note, the cone filter must be bouncing of the hot coolant pipe right next to it, as the plastic body of the filter looks like it's melted a tiny bit there.

Speaking of diverter valves, I still have the original diverter valve on the turbo (the rubber seal one), I was offered by the mechanic who rebuilt the turbo a Chinese Rev D one for €50 to 'hold boost better'. I declined his offer after he said there was nothing wrong my current one, and I also wasn't confident the one he was offering was good quality.

I read that the rev D one hold boost a bit worse but is much more reliable, so why would he suggest Rev D has better performance? I'd be more inclined to get the Rev G if I have performance in mind. Is the original diverter valve really that bad?

[pudding]

Give it time. You will soon get sick of it 

I heard the horrendous racket my Revo made bouncing off the walls as I drove alongside them, and my missus immediately noticed the heavy breathing Darth Vader noises.....and she knows less than nothing about cars 

Maybe the RamAir isn't as obnoxious as the Revo but happy you're happy with it.  The RacingLine one isn't too noisy either actually.....but still noisy enough to get on my wick after 50-60 miles.

If the RacingLine intake was too noisy, no open intake would meet your criteria. I can hear it the intake whoosh when pushing, but not much while pottering around. It's the DV+ recirculating that can be more easily heard.

Nope, hence why the standard airbox is back on.  An enclosed system like the BMC CDA is a lot quieter than the RacingLine due it's thicker, plastic barrel.  The RacingLine barrel is cheap, thin gauge metal and resonates badly.