Which fmic is best for polo gti??? Apr, forge or seat????

[robihe]

hey guys, im looking to get a FMIC installed for my Polo Gti real soon, and just wanted some of you opinions as to which is best suited for the Polo.
Im choosing between 3 front mounts which are most talked about, that is the Apr, Forge and Seat, however can not make up my mind...
im interested in one that gives out the most gains and value for money. and where can it be purchased?
also if your from VIC, can you direct me to someone who can do the job for a good price.
Thanks guys

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I'd personally be going for the APR or the Forge myself.

The SEAT is just too big IMO (and hence, will give you more lag)

[noone]

Good timing on your question.

- The APR one is very expensive for what it is. It should flow very well, if you don't mind the extra spend and are thinking you may change the turbo down the track, this is worth considering.

- The Seat one is designed for the diesel engine. I don't think its really bolt on, needs a fair amount of custom piping. Its also hunge and there have been some concerns raised over its restricting the radiator (and adding weight). Also not cheap by the time you get custom piping, likely modified crashbar, etc. I reckon you'd be up for most of 2K by the time you get it here and have someone fit and make all the custom connections.

- Forge. The Forge unit is quite well priced, but costs a bit to get here. It CAN be had for under $1000, but if you just buy it direct through the website, its more likely to be about 1200-1300. I have been speaking to someone who chooses to remain anonymous, and apparently the Forge unit is causing restriction, robbing possible boost / power. This has been noted previously, but the measurements seem to vary...

The Forge unit comes with all the clips, pipes, silicone hoses, brackets, etc. It even comes with a modified crash bar which would need to be altered to fit most coolers.

I've got the forge unit, it was a great project IMO and the DIY guide was fantastic. The boost / power loss was not evident when I installed the unit, but the lack of heatsoak was. There are quite a few Forge Coolers going around.

Option 4, is going somewhere who can get a quality cooler and do the custom piping for you. For this I think you need a recomendation and someone who does not charge the world.

Before you do the cooler, I'd get it chipped, get the seat intake section / pod filter and maybe a dump pipe. The Front mount is not going to make as much of a difference in Winter as it does in summer.

[break]

Another option to consider is buying a decent core and getting a reputable exhaust shop to do the fitting and piping for you. I've seen some excellent examples like this for around $1k including fitment.

[team_v]

I would say the forge kit is probably the best bang for buck.


However if you are planning on further mods, teh Seat one has been tested in South Africa and is more than capable of handling the further mods with very minimal heatsoak.
It also showed no real loss of air flow to the radiator.

So it really depends what furhter mods you want to do and if you want a cheap/good one or an expensive/excellent one.

[robihe]

thanks for advice the fellas. ive already got a BMC pod in. i was told getting it Chipped would be the last thing to do? because they run a dyno and tune your car, instead of having to tuned it each time. i think i might just go APR, the price tag on those things r hefty compared to others. but its godah be done.

[pogo_55]

I have a Forge one and from the latest dyno day my car seems to be down on boost compared to another K04 Polo with a different intercooler. The upside was that the power was consistent across 3 runs. There are plenty of people with the stock turbo who feel that the Forge works fine. So I am going to sell mine, see http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f24/...tml#post495871

[philthy]

thanks for advice the fellas. ive already got a BMC pod in. i was told getting it Chipped would be the last thing to do? because they run a dyno and tune your car, instead of having to tuned it each time. i think i might just go APR, the price tag on those things r hefty compared to others. but its godah be done.

You won't need a re-tune for a FMIC, intake or exhaust. Pretty much everyone here runs off the shelf maps. Once you start playing with bigger injectors and tubos etc. you might need to look at custom tuning, but I think most of the companies can supply maps for those too (without dyno tuning).

[noone]

Agree with Philthy, you don't really get the car tuned on a dyno with most tunes. The company develops a tune, its customized locally for Aus peramteters (temps, humidity, fuel quality, etc). Some companies customize the tune to the individual car more than others, I'll leave it at that...

You've got a BMC? did you relocate the battery or get a smaller battery?

Some have more adjustment by the tuner, but for a brand like APR tune, there are 2 options for the tune and don't have anything to do with the supporting mods.
There are additional tunes available, but these are based around different turbo's.

Some tunes have a 'Stage 2' which is based around intake, dump and intercooler, but the power difference is not massive. If you are considering going straight to one of these Stage 2 tunes, it will likely be cheaper to get the mods done first.

Have a read of some of the chipping threads, lots of opinions in there.

[robihe]

i see. nah we didnt bother relocating or downsizing the battery, everything is pretty squished.
so do youz recommend getting the car chipped then getting the fmic and full exhaust? or it doesnt realy matter which comes first.
also i heard from someone today that when installing a FMIC there may be issues with some functions of the car, like the
air con...is this true??

[Blitzen]

i see. nah we didnt bother relocating or downsizing the battery, everything is pretty squished.
so do youz recommend getting the car chipped then getting the fmic and full exhaust? or it doesnt realy matter which comes first.
also i heard from someone today that when installing a FMIC there may be issues with some functions of the car, like the
air con...is this true??

The tune is by far the best bang for your buck mod you can do to the Polo GTI, whichever tune you go for (I have the APR V2 tune). I have never heard of the aftermarket intercooler having an effect on the A/C.
I have heard of people getting up to 10kw with a Dump Pipe, and with the removal of the heat soak that the I/C adds, these are both very worthwhile mods.
First and foremost, go with the tune first (shop around), and then go from there.

[robihe]

yeah sweet will do. how much u pay for ur apr chip? i was browsing through the site and its 1400 + 500 for an additional 2 programs.
do you need to purchase the Fault Code Erase/Throttle Body Alignment?
i guess this will be the first major mod ill be doing to my Polo, ive had enough fun with the stock turbo.

[Blitzen]

yeah sweet will do. how much u pay for ur apr chip? i was browsing through the site and its 1400 + 500 for an additional 2 programs.
do you need to purchase the Fault Code Erase/Throttle Body Alignment?
i guess this will be the first major mod ill be doing to my Polo, ive had enough fun with the stock turbo.

I got my chip for about $1450 about 18 months ago, then I got all of the aditional programs added for about $400 (Security lock out, throttle body alignment, Fault code erase, during a sale).
My next mods for the Polo are Coilovers (looking at AP Coilovers, frount mount, and dump pipe.

[instigator]

it's allways better to get a custom mapping than off the shell maps.
so youre upgrades will be tuned specified for your car.
when you want this, it's better to do all the hardware first, then software.
standard mapping is cheaper and will also do just fine, APR, REVO etc.
if you do this, i won't matter what you do first.

about the FMIC,
i personally have the seat one.
weight is good, not heavy at all, off course i think the forge one will be a bit lighter, but it won't be 5Kg's.
i think there won't even be 2Kg difference.
Turbolag wll be a bit more than the smaller forge, pretty obvious!
but turbo still spools @ 2000RPM but when you go to 2700-3000Rpm you will notice the extra kick that hold power strong untill 6000Rpm.
specially i higher RPM it become's alot stronger.
and no, i don't have problems with the aircon or whatsoever

The IC comes from a diesel but that doesn't mean that it is "not good" on a petrol car.
that doesn't make a diffrence at all.
i've seen alot 1.8T's with the seat IC and never heard a complain from it.
if you chip the car afterwards you'll see what i mean
you will have no turbolag anymore because the K03s can flow it perfect when it's on higher pressure.
the reason why i choose the seat FMIC is because in future, you can upgrade the turbo to a GT28RS or a IHI VF34 without again changing the IC for a bigger one.
i know the forge is good for the stock turbo, but i don't know how much power it can handle to flow.

last but not least is price.
i have looked around for Forge, Motorcade, APR and seat IC.
and BY FAR the seat was the cheapest, incl. the pipework! (wich is from forge btw)
Forge is perfect for stock turbo and running higher boost.
apr is about the same and has the same problem as the forge, expensive...
Motorcade is just rubbish...
not a good system how it's placed.
fitting of the seat is pretty easy and also bolt on.
even the pipes from seat will work fine but they don't have verry good flow

ps: i don't say Forge or APR are bad, i just don't have personal experience with them. (only in price)
this is just my opinion why i took the seat IC.
but my plans might be alot different with my polo than he has with his polo.
depends also what direction you will go to tune it, base your IC choise on that.
and look wich one will be cheapest for you

[robihe]

@blitzen
im looking at getting coilovers too. let me know if you find some. how much you looking on spending? im planning on
joining the group buy going around for a Full SS Exhaust system for the Polo gti's. just waiting on the host to get
back to me with prices..

@instigator
ive decided to do the APR Upgrade first, as most people have convinced me to get my car CHIPPED first. and then
make up my decision on which IC, i am tight on money atm but i also want the job done properly with quality.
but i must say the look of the Seat IC is tough.