Snailmeat in sunny Singapore

I like what you did with the engine cover. I was looking at my engine bay this weekend after installing my IE intake and was thinking how I could spruce it up. Nice work.

Couple of Remus boxes arrived.



Out with the old...



And in with the new. BTW the stock exhaust is heavier than it looks. Nearly killed myself trying to lift it onto the top shelf of my storage locker.



Went with the straight edged 102mm exhaust tips. The carbon ones were too expensive and the ones with rolled edges reminded me too much of the stock tips. 102mm tips are a little on the large side, but fill up the diffuser nicely.



View from the underside. The Remus muffler looks a lot smaller than the stock one.

Sound wise, it's very civil, especially with the windows up. Below 3000 rpm there's just more bass and a hint of a growl. You only truly hear it when you're driving hard. My favourite bit has got to be the DSG farts, which are a lot more explosive now.

Ordered a Clubsport diffuser from cars245.com about a month ago. Slight delay in the processing of my order due to the incorrect shipping amount that I was charged (so it wasn't that good of a deal as I originally thought it was), and I had to top up for additional shipping, but in their defense they gave me what they claimed was a discount on the additional shipping so at least it wasn't that bitter of a pill to swallow. But who knows, maybe that's their modus operandi to get people to purchase from them?

Anyways, they are legit, but their tracking sucks, because after making the additional payment, I waited the stated "7-10 working days for processing" with no change in status to my order. No notification after that, but they did reply my email enquiry rather promptly to say that yes everything was in order and that I would get a notification email once the item shipped. Then radio silence for around one more week, and just as I was about to send them another email chaser, this huge 6 foot tall box turns up in the office unannounced. In fact, I've just checked, and on their site, it still says my order status is "preparing" so if you've ordered from them and you're waiting, don't get too fixated on that.



Packing was top notch, with both diffuser pieces individually held in sealed, somewhat padded envelopes (I suspect this is the original factory packaging), with lots of bubble wrap in between.

Entertained the thought of some DIY work for around 5 seconds before I wisely decided to leave it to the experts, and thankfully I managed to book some hoist time that very day.

I'm really pleased with how this diffuser turned out. I mean it's an OEM part so there was never really any doubt that it would look ok, but somehow it ties in very nicely with the other glossy black bits like the roof and mirror caps.

Tried to take some close up pics so that all its angles can be seen. While I was researching, I tried to find detailed pics, but due to the fact that it is black, you don't really see much. Pretty pic heavy from this point on, so here goes....


You'll need to recycle this rubber bit in order to mount the new diffuser.


Compared to the stock diffuser, it sticks out a little more all over, especially at the ends.


Looking down from when you're standing around the rear bumper, it's the most obvious, as the original diffuser doesn't have that flare.


Close up of the middle part. There's an interesting angular bend/kink in the larger piece which I've never noticed before. You can see it in this pic, around where the smaller diffuser piece is closest to the largest piece.


I like the added dimension the smaller diffuser gives. It sort of reminds me of a tamer, more OEM version of the Alpil diffuser from Japan.


One new problem that has arisen is that the side skirts don't match now. So I will have to either paint or wrap them in gloss black. Will likely also get a gloss black Rieger front lip to complete the look.


Final ass shot. I think with the Badgeskins, the larger exhaust tips, and now this new diffuser, the rear view of the car is my current favorite view.

A couple of months back I picked up a used oil cooler which was previously used on one of the Pacific German cars. I really liked their oil cooler placement in the fog light area, so when it was time for me to install it, I decided just for fun to do something similar.

Sure, that would mean losing a fog light, but the entire country is a well lit city; it's usually bright enough that people sometimes forget to turn on their headlights, so there's really no practical reason for having functional fog lights.

Started first with mocking up the position of the core, using bendable metal strips for ease of adjustment. Once everything was firmed up, proper brackets could then be fabricated



Fog light removed from bumper, and some safety mesh mounted at the opening to protect from any stray stones.



The fender liner had an existing access panel, so that was removed to aid air flow, and safety mesh was also placed at that end.



New brackets made from a more rigid material.



Cooler coil mounted on in its final position.







Here's the view from the front with the bumper back on. Air guides were also fabricated from sheet metal to channel the air from the open toward the core.



And here's the view from the wheel liner.



Overall, a very clean install, hardly noticeable unless you bend down and shine a torch into the fog light opening.

I have not driven too much since the install, but initial impressions aren't too promising. My oil temps have already been very much lower than stock or Unitronic since the is38 map from Steath Tuned was loaded in (average driving 95-96 degrees Celsius, hooning 99-103 degrees Celsius), so the addition of this oil cooler doesn't seem to have done much.

Peak temps when driving hard are no lower than before, and while I don't have numbers to back me up, based on gut feel, oil temps during normal driving are at most 3-5 degrees Celsius lower than before, hovering around the 85-95 degrees Celsius mark depending on the length of the drive. Oddly enough, I feel the oil temp seems to climb up faster now, from 50 to 60 degrees, so I'm really not sure if the oil cooler is helping or hindering.

On the flip side, there is a very audible whine from the oil pump which makes me uncomfortable. This can be heard even at idle, and gets louder when the engine is under load.

The installation of the iABED take off plate also required the remove of a intake manifold support arm, which also makes me nervous.

Will drive a little more to evaluate, but will most likely either:
1) add an auxiliary fan to the cooler to aide with cooling
2) relocate the cooler front and center
3) revert to stock

Impulse buy of the week, for the cornering lights:


Quick 5-10 min DIY. Twist to open the round access cover, wiggle a bit to get the old bulb out, unplug the connector and then repeat in the opposite order.

Here's the old bulb.


And the new one:


Comparison of the two diff bulb colour temps.


Comparison of the light it casts.


I don't really like the results. Obviously the Phillips Diamond Vision bulb, being 5000k color temp, would be less bright than the stock bulb. That part is ok, because the point of the bulb swap is not about a higher output, but rather having a color temp that matches the main headlights and the DRLs.

But for some reason, my eyes are perceiving a bluish/greenish colour, which isn't that nice looking. The jury is still out on this mod, good thing it's easily reversed.

snailmeat said:

Impulse buy of the week, for the cornering lights:

Quick 5-10 min DIY. Twist to open the round access cover, wiggle a bit to get the old bulb out, unplug the connector and then repeat in the opposite order.

Here's the old bulb.

And the new one:

Comparison of the two diff bulb colour temps.

Comparison of the light it casts.

I don't really like the results. Obviously the Phillips Diamond Vision bulb, being 5000k color temp, would be less bright than the stock bulb. That part is ok, because the point of the bulb swap is not about a higher output, but rather having a color temp that matches the main headlights and the DRLs.

But for some reason, my eyes are perceiving a bluish/greenish colour, which isn't that nice looking. The jury is still out on this mod, good thing it's easily reversed.

Click to expand...

I do not like the blue bulbs as much.
Can not remember the type I installed but was the best clear bulb Auto Zone sells. In the $50 range. I would try a 5000K clear bulb if you can find one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Love the black roof. That and black wheels are on my list.

I commend you on your oil cooler fab, even if your results were negligible.

Very nice - Any more updates on this?

Bringing this thread back to life.

Any updates on the oil cooler setup? I feel adding some fore/after ducting would aid in volume moving through the core and not around it.

I'm considering something similar and curious how it had worked since the install.

Bryans12v said:

Bringing this thread back to life.

Any updates on the oil cooler setup? I feel adding some fore/after ducting would aid in volume moving through the core and not around it.

I'm considering something similar and curious how it had worked since the install.

Click to expand...

Not likely he'll see your post. He was last in the forum October of 2019.

snailmeat said:

A couple of months back I picked up a used oil cooler which was previously used on one of the Pacific German cars. I really liked their oil cooler placement in the fog light area, so when it was time for me to install it, I decided just for fun to do something similar.

Sure, that would mean losing a fog light, but the entire country is a well lit city; it's usually bright enough that people sometimes forget to turn on their headlights, so there's really no practical reason for having functional fog lights.

Started first with mocking up the position of the core, using bendable metal strips for ease of adjustment. Once everything was firmed up, proper brackets could then be fabricated

Fog light removed from bumper, and some safety mesh mounted at the opening to protect from any stray stones.

The fender liner had an existing access panel, so that was removed to aid air flow, and safety mesh was also placed at that end.

New brackets made from a more rigid material.

Cooler coil mounted on in its final position.

Here's the view from the front with the bumper back on. Air guides were also fabricated from sheet metal to channel the air from the open toward the core.

And here's the view from the wheel liner.

Overall, a very clean install, hardly noticeable unless you bend down and shine a torch into the fog light opening.

I have not driven too much since the install, but initial impressions aren't too promising. My oil temps have already been very much lower than stock or Unitronic since the is38 map from Steath Tuned was loaded in (average driving 95-96 degrees Celsius, hooning 99-103 degrees Celsius), so the addition of this oil cooler doesn't seem to have done much.

Peak temps when driving hard are no lower than before, and while I don't have numbers to back me up, based on gut feel, oil temps during normal driving are at most 3-5 degrees Celsius lower than before, hovering around the 85-95 degrees Celsius mark depending on the length of the drive. Oddly enough, I feel the oil temp seems to climb up faster now, from 50 to 60 degrees, so I'm really not sure if the oil cooler is helping or hindering.

On the flip side, there is a very audible whine from the oil pump which makes me uncomfortable. This can be heard even at idle, and gets louder when the engine is under load.

The installation of the iABED take off plate also required the remove of a intake manifold support arm, which also makes me nervous.

Will drive a little more to evaluate, but will most likely either:
1) add an auxiliary fan to the cooler to aide with cooling
2) relocate the cooler front and center
3) revert to stock

Click to expand...

Loveb the setup! I've been looking relocate my oil cooler to this location from the front bumper. Mainly to help the IATs out. Also running a 16 row setrab cooler. Was curious though, is the hot oil coming in to the bottom and leaving though the top or vice versa or does it matter?

Rossmonster said:

Loveb the setup! I've been looking relocate my oil cooler to this location from the front bumper. Mainly to help the IATs out. Also running a 16 row setrab cooler. Was curious though, is the hot oil coming in to the bottom and leaving though the top or vice versa or does it matter?

Click to expand...

That post was from 7 years ago.

Daks said:

That post was from 7 years ago.

Click to expand...

And yet here you are.

Funny, this thread has been resurrected 3 times now.