Stock muffler

[Sharkie]

You have to remember as well that a FMIC sits right in front and not on the side with restricted airflow. On the road the difference to a Dyno test is even greater as you get a lot of cold fresh air shoved straight at it and the faster you go the more air it gets.

More and cooler air = more power due to lower intake temps ... and longer life out of the whole engine.

To me a FMIC is a no brainer .....

[RhysQ]

Scott,

my car was used for both the 'completely stock' and 'just chipped' runs, which consisted of 3 runs for each setting. the stock run was done first with a heatsoak test done just before the last run (which is when they get the car running up to about 4,000rpm for a few seconds and then drop back off....do this a few times and voila, heatsoak!).

the chipped runs were done next so the car really didn't get a good chance to cool down but 123.8kW at the wheels given the circumstances i was very happy with. same thing this time, first two runs being 123.8 and ~121-2kW, then after heatsoaking i think there were one or two more runs done which saw my car drop way down to ~100kW atw....

sharkie had just the APR ECU and FMIC and each of his runs were consistent at ~129kW...no heatsoak effect as the intake temp stayed cool throughout each run thanks to the FMIC.

as for time heatsoak takes to set in, i'd say give the car about 4-5 decent punches from a standstill and your power will be significantly less. driving conservatively maybe about 5 mins, about the time it takes for your car to really heat up.

Cheers,
Rhys

[Sharkie]

Also, I have spoken to Guy a while ago and the TDI Polo also has a very restrictive SMIC. An upgrade to a FMIC will realise more power as well as other benefits.

[Adam]

Lol. was reading the 2nd page of this post.. and after reading most of it.. I actually thought the post was about intercoolers...and had to think twice and look at the title again..oh mufflers..

[Sharkie]

Yeah, isnt it amazing how a thread can be diverted ....

[pologti18t]

If I am not mistaken the characteristics of a intercooler for a diesel car is different to a petrol one. Simply because a turbo diesel is on boost for far longer proportion of the time. Having an intercooler with high thermal mass is detrimental for turbo diesels.

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_109423/article.html

[Buller_Scott]

thanks pologti18t for that link- interesting reading! deffo gonna play it safe on that front until ive learned more.

thanks alot to vwgti, spec83, bubu, sharkie, rhys and any others for all the info- this is hugely valuable. i know that there are certain differences between my car and your guys' that might change the game a little, but the info is farkin great!

interesting what you say about heatsoak, rhys- i've never tracked the pog, and i dont drive very aggressively in the city (middle lane, sticking to the limit, no matter what pressure from assholes behind me), and the only time i ever thrash it for pure pleasure is up the hill to buller- but as vw gti said- during winter the base of buller is always around -2 to 8 (middle of winter to spring) deg celcius, getting colder the higher you go ..... funny how the major reason for which im doing my mods, also provides colder air temperatures by default- my decision to make there.....

sorry for hijacking the thread- cant help my curiosity (when i had my vr6 i was so fuggin' clueless that i thought that a way to get abit extra power was to get upgraded spark plugs and new cams, instead of simply making sure im running good oil, better air filter, better tires, and maybe exhaust).

and out of respect for the founder of this thread- yes, down pipe is definitely a confirmed on-the-cards mod for me, too.

[Spec83]

Glad we could all help.. I have found this to be one of the most informative forums I have ever been a member of..

With regards to the exhuast, we have gone over many times the fact that once chipped, the gti cannot make much more power from bolt on intake/exhaust mods due to the turbo's design (e.g. it is sm-all). The down pipe and then an intercooler would be the only two mods you would consider after a chip IMHO when using the stock turbo...

I say this because at 1bar of boost, the stock turbo is just as efficent (as is heat output transfered to the intake air) as it is at the stock 0.5bar setting. If you ran higher than 1bar for prolonged perioids then an intercoler might be an advantage.

The $150 spent changing the rear muffler would be better spent on getting a new downpipe made