VWR Intake disappointing

[MIJ_JAGGER]

Fitted it today took my time with it to make sure there's plenty of clearance and I'm happy with it the only thing I'm not happy with is where it goes into the front grille, I think it should be attached in some way instead of just resting in there I feel like it's ether going to pop out or knock with any engine movement but saying that I took it for a good run today and all is good. Also cutting the hole for the dv pipe was a pita. I still feel for £440 which I think is the most expensive intake you can buy for these cars should be made to fit better and not have to cut holes in it.

Result overall looks good matey

[pudding]

Also, the turbo intake silicone tube has enough flex to remove the rest of the intake pipe from the front grill bracket, so I think there're enough flex in the pipes for the engine to move around. Also, the canister isn't stuck to the front grill bracket so it can move a few centimetres forward and backward, if needed.

You'd be surprised.  The previous owner of mine had some kind of intake on it and there are gouge marks on the battery cover where the intake rubbed on it.  A VWR kit I reckon, judging by where the jubilee clamps sit.  Stuff like that really bugs me as it's just not necessary if things are designed properly in the first place.  And charging people nearly £500 for a bit of 'That'll do' engineering.  And Revo intake users are finding the mounting lug is snapping off, or snapping the chain cover.  Aftermarket parts makers always underestimate engine movement, and also exhaust movement when it comes to flex joint sizing.  It's VERY basic stuff 

I'm thinking of building my own intake that fits properly.  I just need to find out the internal bore of the MAF tube to get the scaling right.

[Shoduchi]

You'd be surprised.  The previous owner of mine had some kind of intake on it and there are gouge marks on the battery cover where the intake rubbed on it.  A VWR kit I reckon, judging by where the jubilee clamps sit.  Stuff like that really bugs me as it's just not necessary if things are designed properly in the first place.  And charging people nearly £500 for a bit of 'That'll do' engineering.  And Revo intake users are finding the mounting lug is snapping off, or snapping the chain cover.  Aftermarket parts makers always underestimate engine movement, and also exhaust movement when it comes to flex joint sizing.  It's VERY basic stuff 

I'm thinking of building my own intake that fits properly.  I just need to find out the internal bore of the MAF tube to get the scaling right.

I agree with you, aftermarket companies should spend a bit more time developing their parts. I know my engine can't rock as much now due to the VibraTechnics subframe and dogbone mounts. The intake jubilees are close to the battery cover but I don't think mine rub against it at the moment.

The problem with the MAF scaling is that the OEM airbox has an ovoid shape where the MAF sits. If it was round, it would be much easier to replicate.

[pudding]

You'd be surprised.  The previous owner of mine had some kind of intake on it and there are gouge marks on the battery cover where the intake rubbed on it.  A VWR kit I reckon, judging by where the jubilee clamps sit.  Stuff like that really bugs me as it's just not necessary if things are designed properly in the first place.  And charging people nearly £500 for a bit of 'That'll do' engineering.  And Revo intake users are finding the mounting lug is snapping off, or snapping the chain cover.  Aftermarket parts makers always underestimate engine movement, and also exhaust movement when it comes to flex joint sizing.  It's VERY basic stuff 

I'm thinking of building my own intake that fits properly.  I just need to find out the internal bore of the MAF tube to get the scaling right.

I agree with you, aftermarket companies should spend a bit more time developing their parts. I know my engine can't rock as much now due to the VibraTechnics subframe and dogbone mounts. The intake jubilees are close to the battery cover but I don't think mine rub against it at the moment.

The problem with the MAF scaling is that the OEM airbox has an ovoid shape where the MAF sits. If it was round, it would be much easier to replicate.

Indeed they should, but it's the whole aftermarket thing in general.  Under developed products pushed out to the public for beta testing.

Anyway.....yep, the oval MAF housing is interesting, but my plan was to leave that bit stock and develop the rest of it from there back to the grille.  Perhaps a BMC OTA mounted by the battery and some piping built into the engine cover, with the OEM plastic corrugated flex coupling for easy detachment, like stock.  Big heavy pipes flapping about above the engine only secured with 1 small bolt and no flexi is just rubbish for lifespan.

[pudding]

Something like this, but OEM flex couplings in place of the red silicon.  And the filter will be mounted to the gearbox, not onto a flimsy piece of plastic with a 10mm bolt.  Obviously there will be a pipe leading under the cover to the MAF housing.

[Shoduchi]

That might work. Not sure if you could use the pipe from a Revo intake (or from its cheaper replica from Creations Motorsport) and add the BMC OTA to it. I can tell you that the VWR intake only has 3.5% correction on the long term fuel trims, so it's under the preferable spec of <5%.

[AJP]

If you give @Dan_FR a shout he might be able to give you some starting points - he built his own intake, and I remember him talking about the MAF tube etc.

[pudding]

Cheers guys.  Good to know the VWR is tuned correctly 

MAFs and turbos.......they've always been a pain!  As long as the section of tubing the MAF bolts into is the correct cross sectional area/flow volume, you can do what you like to the pipes before and after that point, within reason.   MAFs don't like being too close to the compressor wheel either (hence the air straighten gauze upstream of the MAF), and is probably why they moved the MAF away from the engine on the EA888 installations.  After market intakes also dump that air straightener, which doesn't help.  No wonder people have so many stalling, timing pull, lean running issues with aftermarket intakes.

[grey golfster]

Got a VWR intake from Awesome about 3 years ago now, they fitted it as part of a deal including an APR map 2.

The intake itself is very good, and ideal for a daily that covers long-haul motorway trips very regularly; has the flow performance, but it is not noisy at all. Still gives a nice "turbo whoosh" when you may fancy it.

AOK for about 18 months, until it snapped off the coolant elbow nipple....

No warning at all about this potential issue from Awesome, and worse still that a "VWR dealer" should fit the intake in such a way so as to allow this to happen. Seriously NOT impressed!

[pudding]

The canister needs a dent in it where it knocks the coolant pipe for clearance.  It wouldn't hinder flow, but it would certainly reduce the risk of people losing coolant.  If I thought VWR would actually give a sheet, I would report it, but perhaps instead we should contact ITG to see if they will sell us their version of it for half the price 

[r5gtt]

If the canister needs a dent in it then that should have been done at factory as a design not a flaw for that kind of money don't you think?.

Just saying

[pudding]

If the canister needs a dent in it then that should have been done at factory as a design not a flaw for that kind of money don't you think?.

Just saying

Exactly..... it's what I was saying further back.  It was designed in a hurry to get it out to market as quickly as possible to maximize profit.  There are only so many MK5s they can sell this kit for, so the quicker they get them out of the door before people notice the flaws, the better.

Racingline constantly bang on about their methodical, extensive R&D and OEM quality approach to their products..... but the reality is they just rebadge existing products.  Like my street dampers for example, they started life orange and RL sprayed them black.  And with this air filter, they took ITG's kit made for racing (hence no real concern about fouling other parts) and just anodized the canister and pretty much changed nothing else....and added a massive tax to it.    Their "R&D" clearly missed the fact it snaps off the coolant feed to the turbo.....so not important then, really 

Sorry, not trying to offend any VWR owners...... this kind of thing just really bugs me because I can't believe such stupidity exists when £450 is changing hands.

[r5gtt]

If the canister needs a dent in it then that should have been done at factory as a design not a flaw for that kind of money don't you think?.

Just saying

Exactly..... it's what I was saying further back.  It was designed in a hurry to get it out to market as quickly as possible to maximize profit.  There are only so many MK5s they can sell this kit for, so the quicker they get them out of the door before people notice the flaws, the better.

Racingline constantly bang on about their methodical, extensive R&D and OEM quality approach to their products..... but the reality is they just rebadge existing products.  Like my street dampers for example, they started life orange and RL sprayed them black.  And with this air filter, they took ITG's kit made for racing (hence no real concern about fouling other parts) and just anodized the canister and pretty much changed nothing else....and added a massive tax to it.    Their "R&D" clearly missed the fact it snaps off the coolant feed to the turbo.....so not important then, really 

Sorry, not trying to offend any VWR owners...... this kind of thing just really bugs me because I can't believe such stupidity exists when £450 is changing hands.

yea pudding I did rear that earlier in the post and thats exactly why people shouldn't buy them imho, why fund the greedy blood suckers when they can't be asked to resolve the issues customers are having and rectify the flaw as they'll still profit from these ugly boxes  yes I don't like anything boxed but by personal choice 

[pudding]

If the canister needs a dent in it then that should have been done at factory as a design not a flaw for that kind of money don't you think?.

Just saying

Exactly..... it's what I was saying further back.  It was designed in a hurry to get it out to market as quickly as possible to maximize profit.  There are only so many MK5s they can sell this kit for, so the quicker they get them out of the door before people notice the flaws, the better.

Racingline constantly bang on about their methodical, extensive R&D and OEM quality approach to their products..... but the reality is they just rebadge existing products.  Like my street dampers for example, they started life orange and RL sprayed them black.  And with this air filter, they took ITG's kit made for racing (hence no real concern about fouling other parts) and just anodized the canister and pretty much changed nothing else....and added a massive tax to it.    Their "R&D" clearly missed the fact it snaps off the coolant feed to the turbo.....so not important then, really 

Sorry, not trying to offend any VWR owners...... this kind of thing just really bugs me because I can't believe such stupidity exists when £450 is changing hands.

yea pudding I did rear that earlier in the post and thats exactly why people shouldn't buy them imho, why fund the greedy blood suckers when they can't be asked to resolve the issues customers are having and rectify the flaw as they'll still profit from these ugly boxes  yes I don't like anything boxed but by personal choice 

As much as I don't like open cones, the Revo does at least fit in the engine properly, providing you don't have xenons!

The VWR is a good intake for performance and refinement, but I'm not paying them £450 to bug fix the product for them!  They should be paying us to do that.

[Dave J]

I agree with these comments - I would need to think very hard & do more research if buying anything VWR again. Live and learn. I'm just disappointed at the end of the day as we shouldn't be finding issues such as these. I know modifying is about compromises, but this is one too far! 
IMHO, the filter housing needs to be a bit smaller so it doesn't take up so much room, but guess there will be a reason it is the size it is.

It's a real shame as I like the subtle noise of the VWR compared to the open filter kits.

I've had a new coolant T-piece fitted today and top hose. The mounting bracket for the filter to the battery tray has now been shimmed to lift it off the coolant pipes, and the top coolant pipe rerouted also. Currently it's not rubbing on anything, so will monitor it much more closely than I have been.
Will make a decision by the next service (in a couple of months) as to whether it stays or goes.