Cold Air Intake Query

[Sharkie]

I'd definitely prefer to be in the Stage 1 tune boat and deal with a clutch replacement in future, rather than staying with the standard tune.

I'm almost certain a wise man once said "better to have loved your stage one tune and lost your clutch, than to never have loved at all"

Unless you drive like an idiot everywhere, a Stg 1 tune will not break a clutch (at least not immediately). I'm on Stg 2+ on my manual Golf R and still on the stock clutch. 25,000km since going Stg 1 and 5,000km since Stg 2 and no problems, not even any signs of it going such as taking high ....

Some mechanical sympathy goes a long way to extend the life of your clutch regardless of the state of tune.

BTW, tested and proven that a CAI does indeed make a difference, but only once the car is tuned, on a stock car, very little difference other than noise.

[guile]

revo are worth considering for stage 1 too, i have it on my gti and would recommend it...

There's a revo dealer in the west end if thats anywhere near you...

i went with the silicone intake hose to the standard air box with K&N panel filer. it might be worth considering but probably won't give you the induction noise you want. Saying that i have an induction kit on my s3 and can't really tell any difference noise wise...

[petemac110]

Unless you drive like an idiot everywhere, a Stg 1 tune will not break a clutch (at least not immediately). I'm on Stg 2+ on my manual Golf R and still on the stock clutch. 25,000km since going Stg 1 and 5,000km since Stg 2 and no problems, not even any signs of it going such as taking high ....

Some mechanical sympathy goes a long way to extend the life of your clutch regardless of the state of tune.

Ah, that's good to hear! It seems that on the US forums (who perhaps drive like nutters?) they are needing to upgrade clutches before long. Glad to hear that's not the rule.

BTW, tested and proven that a CAI does indeed make a difference, but only once the car is tuned, on a stock car, very little difference other than noise.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that they don't make a difference. What I'm saying is that there's not an enormous difference between a properly modified factory airbox and an aftermarket intake on any factory turbos (whether IS20 or IS3. There's really bugger-all between the two - maybe a handful of hrspwrs which the best calibrated bum dyno will never feel, although it might make a squiggly line on a dyno graph appear a tad higher.

[Pineapple_162]

Thanks sharkie appreciate the input.

Revo were in my shortlist as their price range is appealing, so good to hear you have had a great experience guile

[Pineapple_162]

So what kind of black magic can be worked on the stock box to get it to a similar place?(obviously minus the neat looks)

[petemac110]

So what kind of black magic can be worked on the stock box to get it to a similar place?(obviously minus the neat looks)

Remove the snow grate

Removing Snow Screen / Grille – MK7 Golf R | AutoInstruct

Open up the factory intake on the passenger side with a drill/hacksaw blade/sandpaper or a dremel (this section is blanked-off from standard)





Buy a blanking plate which covers the big gap on the driver's side of the factory intake:

5Q0129849 - Air Intake Blocking Plate - VW Golf MK7 GTI/R & Audi S3/TT/TTS– VAGPARTS Australia

Add a turbo inlet elbow - around $200 for a name brand e.g.

034 - Turbo Inlet Elbow - Volkswagen Golf MK7 GTI/R & Audi 8V S3/TT/TTS– VAGPARTS Australia

or $40 for an Aliexpress special (I run one of these) New Turbo High Flow Inlet Pipe For Golf MK7 GTI Adui S3 A3 Leon MK3 EA888 Tube Performance turbocharger Intake Hose (aliexpress.com)

Some advocate adding an aftermarket panel filter, but recent testing has shown how close in flow the factory filter actually is to aftermarket panels. Personally, I stick with stock given that they filter much better than aftermarket items. Plenty of good reading on this website Panel Air Filter Flow Test | My Golf Mk7 GTI (very interesting to see how the large surface area of the factory filter means that flow does not drop off even when dirty!)
More Modified Stock Airbox Testing | My Golf Mk7 GTI

You can replace the factory 'accordian' hose between the airbox and turbo inlet with a silicon version if you like - around $150-200 for a name brand item. The difference in flow is minimal though.

Essentially, you can do this on the very cheap (circa $100 retaining the OEM filter) or use name-brand bits.

[Pineapple_162]

Amazing, thank you.

[Pineapple_162]

or $40 for an Aliexpress special (I run one of these) New Turbo High Flow Inlet Pipe For Golf MK7 GTI Adui S3 A3 Leon MK3 EA888 Tube Performance turbocharger Intake Hose - AliExpress

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...Cquery_from%3A

Surely this cannot be right. I have never had an issue with things I have purchased from AE, but have never gotten any vehicle parts from there.

[guile]

From memory I got this lot for less than $200 excluding the Pedalbox…

[petemac110]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...Cquery_from%3A

Surely this cannot be right. I have never had an issue with things I have purchased from AE, but have never gotten any vehicle parts from there.

I seem to be having issues with aliexpress links. However, there are a couple of matt/satin black painted turbo inlet elbows on aliexpress which are a good part and perform well. Where do you think the parts are manufactured and sourced from in the first place? Hint - it's not the USA, Europe or Australia

aliexpress also sells a lot of OEM VWAG parts which are supplied for the Chinese VW market. If you can confirm compatibility and shop smartly, you're golden.