660 Cubic inches with jakes vs 928 cubic inches on IE. 1 has fresh air and is stand alone, 1 is sandwhiched between hot components and doesnt have direct air flow. The variables are just too great to say 100% one is better.
EDIT: Wait a second, the I.E website says their intercooler is a FMIC.... do we have everything wrong? Nope... nope, it replaces the OE unit, the marketing just calls it a front mount intercooler. I guess they are technically right as it does mount in the front of the car, instead of the front...side of the car like some older intercoolers (and maybe new ones) which were SMIC (side mount intercoolers).
I thought the FDS system was the draw for the I.E intercooler. Also it mounts in the stock location which is better for some people. It's only sandwiched between hot components if the A/C is on, and that only has any effect when idling in traffic, when you aren't using boost. Then there is quality of welds and product support / warranty. Honestly its an apples to oranges comparison.
Jake's work is amazing and works amazingly well and is far cheaper. I.E works amazingly well, mounts in the stock location, but is expensive. So it really depends what you are going for.
As far as I know there are no charts showing that a FMIC on the MK7 has increased airflow over the stock position. Really not a lot of comparison has been done at all for the MK7. FMIC's look cool, but also haven't proved by charts that they are better then an equivalent stock location intercooler. Obviously by that same logic, and your own statements, an upgraded stock location intercooler hasn't shown that it is better then an equivalent FMIC.
Edit: Not an I.E fanboy. Bought the Dogbone mount from them and wow, what a POS. "Minimal NVH" my ass. I'll give them one more shot when I get their open intake (assuming I can even order it to CA, seems like companies are cracking down due to CA regulations), but if that goes poorly I will never buy from them again, just like me and hundreds of others gave APR a chance with their A4B5 silicone TIP and TBP only to be extremely let down (so I'll never buy another APR product).
