My new front mount intercooler

**Lito** · 27-02-2011, 07:45 PM

So I've been wanting to front mount my golf for a while now but have always been put off by the perceived price of such an upgrade, I was right to be wary. After doing alot of research I decided to go for one of the godspeed intercoolers that are all over ebay. I considered forge and APR but they seem very overpriced and I'm not a fan of how either of them look. The godspeed kit seemed to be priced quite competetively and seemed a fairly simple installation. I considered a DIY and read alot of threads on vortex and other forums with instructions on how to do it. In the end I decided to get the kit installed at proffesional shop, this is where the fun starts.... It turns out that the piping that came with the kit was pretty much useless and didn't fit nearly as good as I hoped it would. I went to check it out when he had it all "together" and it looked pretty shyte to say the least. To cut a long and expensive story short I eventually got the car back with all custum polished stainless steal piping. Here are a few pics off the installation process and the final result.....

On the lift

Horns remain in stock location

After much hacking and butchering of the bumper and valance the bumper fits back on... sort of

Close up of the bumper

Slightly chopped up engine cover

At a mates house before it was clean

**Dyldo** · 27-02-2011, 07:48 PM

whats the result in terms of drivability?

**Lito** · 27-02-2011, 08:01 PM

I was a bit dissapointed initially, driving it away from the work shop left me feeling dissapointed but when I drove it the next day it was completely different, I dunno if the ecu had to adapt or whatever but it felt much nicer the next day and got progressively better the more I drove it. boost comes on about 500rpm sooner and alot smoother, this combined with my APR tip has gotten ridden of the surging I had before. The engine feels stronger all over the rev band and pulls alot stronger up top. Its fun to get out of the car after a good drive and have the hot pipes of the intercooler almost too hot to touch and the cold side the same tempeature as ambient. I really want to get it dyno'd again, it made a fairly dissapointing 143whp before the tip and intercooler.

**Greg Roles** · 27-02-2011, 08:10 PM

A lot of work went into that!!

Any plans to heatwrap the cold side?

**Dyldo** · 27-02-2011, 08:11 PM

time to upgrade the sig too

**Lito** · 27-02-2011, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by Dyldo

time to upgrade the sig too

haha, oh yeah

**Lito** · 27-02-2011, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Greg Roles

A lot of work went into that!!

Any plans to heatwrap the cold side?

Yeah I know the guy who did it did a great job and really looked after me in regards to price but it still wasn't cheap. I dont think I want heat wrap it, I'm to lazy plus it'd be a shame to hide the shiny piping. I do however want to replace the throttle body hose, the only stock hose left in the intake

**Manaz** · 27-02-2011, 09:11 PM

Kinda surprised that boost comes on earlier, given most people complain about an increase in turbo lag due to longer pipework and larger overall internal volume with an FMIC (over the stock SMIC). What I'd imagine you should be getting is cooler charge air, which will result in the ECU being able to add more fuel into the mix (and thus giving you more power for a given amount of boost)...

**McDub** · 27-02-2011, 09:23 PM

what's that air box? and where does it get it's air from?

**Lito** · 27-02-2011, 09:34 PM

Originally Posted by McDub

what's that air box? and where does it get it's air from?

It's an afe stage 1 dry POD filter the right hand side of the box is open and gets air from the stock snorkel and surrounding engine bay air. This is a photo with the cover off

And to Manaz you're probably right about the boost thing but the car does feel alot better down low