Hi everyone,
Admittedly I didn't read the whole thread so maybe I'm saying things that have already been said...don't know.
I'm looking into upgrading to stage 2 on my GTi.
It looks like intakes are a bit of a crap shoot. Yes cooler air coming into the engine sounds like a good idea, but then everything I have seen is that the difference between an after market intake and the factory intake is very small and nearly negligible. In pure seat of the pants "feel" the best numbers I have seen is 6-12 hp gains with just an intake. I get breathing well, but the difference in temperatures between the factory and closed intakes is small and therefore air density improvements are also going to be small. Before I drop $500 into a CF closed intake, wouldn't I do better to get a better down pipe or intercooler? After all the intercooler is the real place that air is cooled down before it gets pumped into the engine, not the intake. AND a better breathing down pipe will keep me from wasting engine power pushing exhaust out the tail pipe. There's quite a few videos that bust the myth that an intake is really worth the trouble. I saw a couple of videos where they cut holes in the hood so that air from outside the engine was pumped directly in. The gains were negligible when the car was dyno'd. So other than looking cool, what's the point?
For the cost of an after market intake, I can buy lots of replacement air filters!
I'm not trying to be contentious or to start an argument, just that I'm not seeing benefits or only very small ones. However all the shops and online stores try to hype the daylights out of intakes like they are amazing performance boosters. I get it, they want to sell stuff. What's your personal opinion on intakes? With the hood closed no one can see my factory or after market intake so the coolness factor is not very important. I'd rather have nice wheels instead.
Yes, yes, and yes (re: the bold font).
Intercooler first. APR, Unitronic, IE, Forge, Wagner, etc. all have a good product.
Downpipe second. You'll enjoy it the most if you can get a Stage 2 ECU tune.
However, if you want to leave the ECU tune stock, you could get a downpipe that the maker guarantees will not throw an O2 code.
Replace the stock air filter more often, and you'll have plenty of flow and turbo/engine protection.
The stock intake front duct piece also appears to be designed to also help seal up against the hood, and force air through the open slats to help heat dissipation in the overall engine bay.
I'm not against aftermarket air boxes, but if you are trying to prioritize when and where you spend aftermarket $$, I think intercooler first is a good way to go.
My .02, fwiw.
