MrConflicted
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Salt Lake City, UT
Hello all,
Wanted to do a quick write-up on the Spulen V2 catch can. It's new to the market and the V1 got a pretty bad rap, so hopefully this review will help out some people in the market. If you're impatient -- the TL;DR is it works. It's well made.
Alright so first off, do I need a catch can? Is it right for me? Two perfectly valid questions. In fact, NOT everyone needs to run a catch can on their mk7. If you live in really cold climates for instance, it can actually cause issues. Without getting into too much detail... water freezes? But for those of us who track our cars, this mod is a must.
So what is a catch can, and why is it a must? So basically what happens is as your pistons compress air, it's not a perfect seal. Some of that air slips by into the crankcase. If we didn't let that air escape somehow, we'd build up pressure in the crankcase and the car would cease to run. What we do (primarily for emissions purposes is my understanding) is circulate the crankcase pressure back into the intake system. Because the air is coming from the crankcase, it is dense with oil vapor. Obvious we don't want to add oil into our fuel mixture, so we want to separate the oil vapor before putting the air back into the intake tract. The factory system is designed to separate recirculated air such that the oil returned to the crankcase, and the engine is provided with fresh clean air.
But... it doesn't exactly work perfectly. In normal conditions it's fine, but under high-G loads, particularly braking, the OEM PCV system can no longer separate the oil and air, and starts dumping excess oil into the intake tract. For most Mk7 owners I've talked to, this issue starts to become very apparent around the time we move to 200TW or stickier tires (ex. RE71R). In fact, the issue seems to go from being non-existent on 300TW tires (like Michelin PSS), to loosing 1/2QT of oil in 30 minutes with RE71Rs. I run Maxxis RC-1, which are similar in grip, and have experienced this first hand. Plumes of smoke could be seen after hard braking -- oil had been circulated into the intake, and then burned off. This is bad for so many reasons. 1) Coating the entire intake and valves in oil. 2) loosing oil extremely quickly. 3) ruining the air-fuel mixture, to name a few.
Before the Spulen V2 came out, the only catch can that was proven to work was the VWR Racing Line Catch can... an awesome kit with full PCV replacement, but, a lofty price tag. Thankfully I'm hear to report that the Spulen V2 is cheaper and equally functional! I ran a hard track day on my R-Comps with downhill brake zones with no issues whatsoever. Unfortuately, the system is a little biased towards removing more than needed from the system, so the catch can will fill up with oil in a track day (2 hours of driving, 1/2 qt of oil, approximately). However, for me that is a perfectly acceptable trade.
Kit Hardware Thoughts:
The adapter plate is beautiful CNC'd aluminum and looks great. No complaints. It even comes with a new hose attached that goes to the N80 valve. This is super nice because that hose has one of those non-reusable devil clips. It also comes with new screws and loctite. Awesome!
The spherical "can" itself is pretty basic, and to be honest I questioned the baffling. But after seeing the performance I can't argue. It comes with a bracket that was a little confusing for me because I make simple things hard. But, it perfectly positions the can such that it doesn't make contact with anything. The can also has a quick release valve to empty it. In addition, it mounts with just one bolt on the engine mount, so taking it off to gravity drain it is a piece of cake. Like that!
Lastly, the lines and inlet connector are great. High quality hoses and nice looking fittings. The attachment to the factory elbow is also really nicely thought out and i appreciate it. Overall, a kit that doesn't feel like it cuts any corners.
Point is -- if you track -- and are decently serious about it, consider this kit. It's awesome piece of hardware in terms of both form and function.
Wanted to do a quick write-up on the Spulen V2 catch can. It's new to the market and the V1 got a pretty bad rap, so hopefully this review will help out some people in the market. If you're impatient -- the TL;DR is it works. It's well made.
Alright so first off, do I need a catch can? Is it right for me? Two perfectly valid questions. In fact, NOT everyone needs to run a catch can on their mk7. If you live in really cold climates for instance, it can actually cause issues. Without getting into too much detail... water freezes? But for those of us who track our cars, this mod is a must.
So what is a catch can, and why is it a must? So basically what happens is as your pistons compress air, it's not a perfect seal. Some of that air slips by into the crankcase. If we didn't let that air escape somehow, we'd build up pressure in the crankcase and the car would cease to run. What we do (primarily for emissions purposes is my understanding) is circulate the crankcase pressure back into the intake system. Because the air is coming from the crankcase, it is dense with oil vapor. Obvious we don't want to add oil into our fuel mixture, so we want to separate the oil vapor before putting the air back into the intake tract. The factory system is designed to separate recirculated air such that the oil returned to the crankcase, and the engine is provided with fresh clean air.
But... it doesn't exactly work perfectly. In normal conditions it's fine, but under high-G loads, particularly braking, the OEM PCV system can no longer separate the oil and air, and starts dumping excess oil into the intake tract. For most Mk7 owners I've talked to, this issue starts to become very apparent around the time we move to 200TW or stickier tires (ex. RE71R). In fact, the issue seems to go from being non-existent on 300TW tires (like Michelin PSS), to loosing 1/2QT of oil in 30 minutes with RE71Rs. I run Maxxis RC-1, which are similar in grip, and have experienced this first hand. Plumes of smoke could be seen after hard braking -- oil had been circulated into the intake, and then burned off. This is bad for so many reasons. 1) Coating the entire intake and valves in oil. 2) loosing oil extremely quickly. 3) ruining the air-fuel mixture, to name a few.
Before the Spulen V2 came out, the only catch can that was proven to work was the VWR Racing Line Catch can... an awesome kit with full PCV replacement, but, a lofty price tag. Thankfully I'm hear to report that the Spulen V2 is cheaper and equally functional! I ran a hard track day on my R-Comps with downhill brake zones with no issues whatsoever. Unfortuately, the system is a little biased towards removing more than needed from the system, so the catch can will fill up with oil in a track day (2 hours of driving, 1/2 qt of oil, approximately). However, for me that is a perfectly acceptable trade.
Kit Hardware Thoughts:
The adapter plate is beautiful CNC'd aluminum and looks great. No complaints. It even comes with a new hose attached that goes to the N80 valve. This is super nice because that hose has one of those non-reusable devil clips. It also comes with new screws and loctite. Awesome!
The spherical "can" itself is pretty basic, and to be honest I questioned the baffling. But after seeing the performance I can't argue. It comes with a bracket that was a little confusing for me because I make simple things hard. But, it perfectly positions the can such that it doesn't make contact with anything. The can also has a quick release valve to empty it. In addition, it mounts with just one bolt on the engine mount, so taking it off to gravity drain it is a piece of cake. Like that!
Lastly, the lines and inlet connector are great. High quality hoses and nice looking fittings. The attachment to the factory elbow is also really nicely thought out and i appreciate it. Overall, a kit that doesn't feel like it cuts any corners.
Point is -- if you track -- and are decently serious about it, consider this kit. It's awesome piece of hardware in terms of both form and function.
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