My new front mount intercooler

[Lito]

So I've been wanting to front mount my golf for a while now but have always been put off by the perceived price of such an upgrade, I was right to be wary. After doing alot of research I decided to go for one of the godspeed intercoolers that are all over ebay. I considered forge and APR but they seem very overpriced and I'm not a fan of how either of them look. The godspeed kit seemed to be priced quite competetively and seemed a fairly simple installation. I considered a DIY and read alot of threads on vortex and other forums with instructions on how to do it. In the end I decided to get the kit installed at proffesional shop, this is where the fun starts.... It turns out that the piping that came with the kit was pretty much useless and didn't fit nearly as good as I hoped it would. I went to check it out when he had it all "together" and it looked pretty shyte to say the least. To cut a long and expensive story short I eventually got the car back with all custum polished stainless steal piping. Here are a few pics off the installation process and the final result.....

On the lift


Horns remain in stock location


After much hacking and butchering of the bumper and valance the bumper fits back on... sort of


Close up of the bumper


Slightly chopped up engine cover


At a mates house before it was clean

[Dyldo]

whats the result in terms of drivability?

[Lito]

I was a bit dissapointed initially, driving it away from the work shop left me feeling dissapointed but when I drove it the next day it was completely different, I dunno if the ecu had to adapt or whatever but it felt much nicer the next day and got progressively better the more I drove it. boost comes on about 500rpm sooner and alot smoother, this combined with my APR tip has gotten ridden of the surging I had before. The engine feels stronger all over the rev band and pulls alot stronger up top. Its fun to get out of the car after a good drive and have the hot pipes of the intercooler almost too hot to touch and the cold side the same tempeature as ambient. I really want to get it dyno'd again, it made a fairly dissapointing 143whp before the tip and intercooler.

[Greg Roles]

A lot of work went into that!!

Any plans to heatwrap the cold side?

[Dyldo]

time to upgrade the sig too

[Lito]

time to upgrade the sig too

haha, oh yeah

[Lito]

A lot of work went into that!!

Any plans to heatwrap the cold side?

Yeah I know the guy who did it did a great job and really looked after me in regards to price but it still wasn't cheap. I dont think I want heat wrap it, I'm to lazy plus it'd be a shame to hide the shiny piping. I do however want to replace the throttle body hose, the only stock hose left in the intake

[Manaz]

Kinda surprised that boost comes on earlier, given most people complain about an increase in turbo lag due to longer pipework and larger overall internal volume with an FMIC (over the stock SMIC). What I'd imagine you should be getting is cooler charge air, which will result in the ECU being able to add more fuel into the mix (and thus giving you more power for a given amount of boost)...

[McDub]

what's that air box? and where does it get it's air from?

[Lito]

what's that air box? and where does it get it's air from?

It's an afe stage 1 dry POD filter the right hand side of the box is open and gets air from the stock snorkel and surrounding engine bay air. This is a photo with the cover off


And to Manaz you're probably right about the boost thing but the car does feel alot better down low

[parso_rex]

Actually with the stock POS intercooler the ECU pulls quite a bit of timing with even a small amount of heat and especially if it has been tuned and the timing increased over stock. With the front mounts on these even with the stock tune in place you'll definitely notice a difference just due to the increased amount of timing you'll be able to run compared to before. Ontop of that your running a cool charge too so you gain there as well. I've seen this on every 1.8T so far. Cold air is always good.

[BI65ND]

Yeah I purchased one of those Godspeed ones but upon inspection of it I knew I was going to be out of my league installing it. So I bit the bullet and ordered one from THS performance in UK which is basically the same as the Forge ones but a lot cheaper. Was alot easier to install because the pipes follow the factory pipe work. Plus ordering from the UK saved 17% off the price after the VAT was taken off. Check them out for anyone else considering: Golf 1.8GTI 1.8T Intercooler Kit - THSINT-18T

[McDub]

If i ever upgrade my intercooler, i'd just go something like the eurojet sidemount.
no need to get a frount mount if you're not upgrading your turbo, from what i've read

which reminds me, i need to open up the back of my wheel liner!

[Lito]

Yeah I purchased one of those Godspeed ones but upon inspection of it I knew I was going to be out of my league installing it. So I bit the bullet and ordered one from THS performance in UK which is basically the same as the Forge ones but a lot cheaper. Was alot easier to install because the pipes follow the factory pipe work. Plus ordering from the UK saved 17% off the price after the VAT was taken off. Check them out for anyone else considering: Golf 1.8GTI 1.8T Intercooler Kit - THSINT-18T

Yeah that would probably be a cheaper alternative but my main goal in getting the fmic was to eliminate that damned pancake pipe. I know you can get replacement round pipes for it but many people report problems with wheel rubbing at full lock. Plus I've never really been a fan of the same side end tank look. And just on a side note if anyone wants the pipes I got with the kit (maybe you can work some magic to get them to fit) or any of the stock intercooler piping or the cooler itself the can have it for free, as it's taking up space and I'll probs throw it all away soon anyway.... Now that I think of it the stock airbox and tip can also be had for nothing (or perhaps a carton of beer, if you're feeling generous).

[Lito]

I guess it's up personal preference, a good side mount with decent ventellatipn would be plenty for a stage 1 K03 but as I am planning to go bigger in the (distant) future I didn't want to upgrade twice. Plus I was sick of people (especially girls) calling mt car cute, I think this mod makes the front look quite a bit more aggressive.