S3 intercooler install Brisbane

[Big_M]

wow thats a price hike and a half. I'd be emailing them and asking what the go is. Guess you have already but.

[bugsalanko]

Did some google-ing and found a parts company based in Germany that has it landed at $535 which is only 20 more then the old ECS price, so not to bad really, so going to grab it off them.

Im assuming if the part number is the same one listed on the ECS website that it will be the same. The picture they have has the alloy end to the tanks, but the only thing that has me worried is the listing is under the 2.0l FSI instead of TSI.

[gecko2k]

Bit more to it than just that. The whole front end has to come off to get old cooler out then install the new one. Your looking at 3hrs work!

Sure thing, but the process is pretty easy/straight forward: bumper off, chop-chop, new IC+srews on, Bumper on. Not very challenging work...DIY possible...

[Brendan_A]

Sure thing, but the process is pretty easy/straight forward: bumper off, chop-chop, new IC+srews on, Bumper on. Not very challenging work...DIY possible...

Righto mate. I should have got you to install mine then hey. DIY if I had all the the tools and a hoist makes life easy.

[Dan_3MPS]

Looking into doing the S3 IC swap too, but found a post on a random forum earlier today where a guy with a South African Mk6 GTI reckons that his factory cooler was the same thickness as the S3 cooler, just with the plastic end tanks rather than the aluminium ones, and only noticed while swapping it for the S3 IC he ordered. Another guy in Malaysia said his factory hoses lined up perfectly with the S3 cooler, and didn't need any trimming to fit.

It makes me wonder if there's been a changeover to the bigger IC from the factory sometime along the MY evolution from when the Mk6 GTI was first released up until now. Can anyone confirm or provide any more info?

[Brendan_A]

My S3 cooler was 10mm thicker than my stock one and I had to cut off the stock ends.

There are plenty of good reviews of the S3 cooler on the US forums. My brother is getting an S3 cooler installed in his mk6 GTI next week.

[Dan_3MPS]

Agreed on the great info on the US forums about the S3 intercooler, that's where I found out about it.

Just wondering if VW has already done the upgrade for those of use with later Mk6 GTI's (in my case MY12) as part of their changes.

If not, then I'll be grabbing one!

[Brendan_A]

What makes you think they have upgraded the intercooler on the later cars?

I've noticed the MY12 cars still have the plastic end tanks.

[gecko2k]

You're right a set of good set of jack stands and/or ramps always help a lot.

I would be more then happy to fit your new S3 intercooler to our Tiguan.....Sorry I mean your car

Please let us know how the new intercooler feels like, a few guys have said that it takes a bit longer to charge up the system due to the front mount's bigger volume. But a lot of people also tell a lot of bs......

[Dan_3MPS]

What makes you think they have upgraded the intercooler on the later cars?

I've noticed the MY12 cars still have the plastic end tanks.

As per a previous post I made, I found some info on another forum where a guy in South Africa went to do the swap and the one already on his car was the same size as the S3 cooler, but had plastic tanks. Someone else there found the part number for the plastic tanked cooler with the S3 core (bigger than the common/older GTI core). Someone else in Malaysia found similar as there was no need for them to trim their IC hoses to fit.

So I'm trying to establish if this means cars after a certain MY iteration have a revised/larger intercooler fitted, or if I'm on the wrong track.

I'll track the info down again tomorrow.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk