Turbo inlet and intake upgrades

Zer0

Active Member
Jun 22, 2019
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As we all know it is a slippery slope doing performance upgrades for our lovely cars. The law of diminishing returns past stage 1 for sure, at least until you swap turbo.

I've been looking at a MST turbo inlet upgrade and possibly full intake as well but I'm starting to doubt its actual benefit. I understand the upgrades may not be very noticable but what are your experiences? Throttle response? Sound? Worth it?

Car will stay stage 1. Probably lol

https://mst-performance.co.uk/produ...-with-intake-hose-oversize-turbo-inlet-elbow/
 
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paddy6789

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I personally think the full air intake upgrade does benefit the car, even if the dyno figures don’t always show it. When I had a full RacingLine setup on my stock 290, I felt that the throttle response was better, the car felt sharper and more on point. Also the additional air suction sound was pretty nice from inside the car. The turbo whistle was much more noticeable too.

I imagine the car power wouldn’t have increased any more than 5-10bhp with it though. But if you’re adding stage 1 software to the mix, it will do wonders for the car - whether you go custom tune or to one of the big boys like Revo, RacingLine or APR.

I’m personally a RacingLine fan so would always favour those. However the full intake package for them is like £700+.

The same for Revo.

In reality, as long as the part is well made, they all do a very similar job. As long as you don’t buy cheap parts from aliexpress for things like the intake hose (will most likely collapse under any hard suction) and the muffler deletes just don’t fit well, if at all.

Progressive Parts are a forum sponsor and offer packages for RacingLine and Revo intakes, and maybe even the VAAGSPORT intake package could be for you, and is a fraction of the price of RacingLine and Revo. I run the VAAGSPORT intake hose, elbow and muffler delete with the RacingLine R600. I have no problems and it runs perfect for me.

Everyone would have a different opinion on what’s best etc - some would said get an open air intake like Ramair. I think the performance would degrade from that kind of intake in high temps though. Although they are supposed to sound amazing.

Forge and Revo offer the intake hose and elbow as the same part, to help airflow even more. I’m not sure how much benefit there is to these other than maybe a bit of cost saving?


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Zer0

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Jun 22, 2019
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@paddy6789 Many thanks for the information and your input :)

Edit: I probably should have pointed out that I already have a JB4 on the car so it will probably make for some nice improvements. :)
 
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ray

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Jan 7, 2016
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I have the r600 with the silicone hose and inlet pipe, it’s a standard 280 and the difference is definitely noticeable.

The biggest difference is between gears (manual) where the boost picks up almost instantly, where as before there was a slight hesitation. As above I can’t say how much extra oomph it’s actually given but I’d love to see a how it performs on a dyno.

I’ll be going for a stage 1 in the new year, so glad I managed to get the r600 and the extras (second hand, extremely lucky buy).


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Zer0

Active Member
Jun 22, 2019
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I have the r600 with the silicone hose and inlet pipe, it’s a standard 280 and the difference is definitely noticeable.

The biggest difference is between gears (manual) where the boost picks up almost instantly, where as before there was a slight hesitation. As above I can’t say how much extra oomph it’s actually given but I’d love to see a how it performs on a dyno.

I’ll be going for a stage 1 in the new year, so glad I managed to get the r600 and the extras (second hand, extremely lucky buy).


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It might not show too much on a dyno but If it improves the spool of the turbo and general responsiveness it should be noticeable as it gets to the power quicker. Just my theory.

Also, I’ve heard the R600 is rubbish. I’ll take care of it for you. :clown:
 

koek moek

Active Member
Apr 8, 2019
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I have a VWR600 intake + elbow and a muffler delete on my 1.8tsi
I was driving with the intake 4 months prior to mounting the elbow and muffler delete,
sound difference with intake only was noticeable at +/- 3000rpm
With all three fitted the turbo spool is definitively louder.

I would say it's only worth it if you change the whole package
 
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ray

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Jan 7, 2016
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It might not show too much on a dyno but If it improves the spool of the turbo and general responsiveness it should be noticeable as it gets to the power quicker. Just my theory.

Also, I’ve heard the R600 is rubbish. I’ll take care of it for you. :clown:

Me too, so I had to get it

Lots of reviews saying it’s not worth it etc, do the pikey r600 mod (blanking plate and snowgate removal, I had all this done pre r600 and elbow) if I was to guess a figure I’d say maybe 5bhp more, but the benefits when mapped would be much greater, a less restrictive exhaust is next.. :)


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Slickric21

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Feb 23, 2019
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I’ve got the MST elbow and intake hose combo, best one I think as it’s larger diameter.

I did originally have the Racingline elbow with VAGsport hose but got the MST kit on a Black Friday deal and it’s superior. Larger hose and elbow and hose is better quality.

Combined with snow grate removal and performance filter I think there is a slight improvement in throttle response, and a more noticeable improvement top end.

I haven’t bothered blanking off the left side of the air intake as I think the engine needs some cool air also, but I may open up the right hand side as many people have done.

Next I’m considering the Revo Carbon airscoop, as this is open left hand side for engine cooling and right hand side for airbox.... just don’t know if it will be worth it !!!
 
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KernelOkey

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Dec 18, 2018
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With my full MST intake my buttdyno says quicker spool and feels more powerful midrange :)
 
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Jordan Neill

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Nov 25, 2018
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@paddy6789 Many thanks for the information and your input :)

Edit: I probably should have pointed out that I already have a JB4 on the car so it will probably make for some nice improvements. :)
How is the jb4? Have you manual or auto? Have you been able to add good boost by gears??
 

Nora2004

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Oct 15, 2017
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Luckily the stock airbox on our cars flows quite well, so simply fitting a bigger turbo elbow, intake hose and panel filter will still result in good power, I've combined the above setup with a jb4 and made 373hp, so it works!
 

Zer0

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Jun 22, 2019
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How is the jb4? Have you manual or auto? Have you been able to add good boost by gears??

It's awesome :) I had it for 2.5 years on my GTI before that. I'm running Map 3 right now which has peak 6 PSI more than stock but will do some logs when I have time so I can fine tune a map 6, my best guess is around 360 hp at the moment. I have the 7 speed DSG. You can limit boost by gear for the first gears IIRC if you are struggling for grip but mine is AWD.
 
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Dannnnn

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Dec 9, 2018
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I have the Ramair panel filter and Intake hose and a turbo elbow from AliExpress.

Don't really notice any difference.

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paddy6789

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@paddy6789 Many thanks for the information and your input :)

Edit: I probably should have pointed out that I already have a JB4 on the car so it will probably make for some nice improvements. :)

Ah nice! I’ve heard good things about JB4. On the Dyno day organised and hosted by Progressive Parts, the JB4 cars were putting out some decent numbers!

@adogillo Cupra 290 is stock with the pikey R600 mod, VAAGSPORT panel filter, intake hose, turbo elbow and muffler delete. He put out 311bhp on the dyno day.


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ray

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Jan 7, 2016
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The one I used had the part number the same as this but A at the end, maybe they used the same one im not sure...
148c57c64cfb3d1b5dc38c380059626f.jpg



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Bee_GEE_B2

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Jan 26, 2020
13
4
For intake if you want a cheap solution, take the factory intake, remove the snow guard, block of the resonator chamber ( a piece of hst will do), block off the pax side air inlet back (with the factory plastic piece for the Golf GTE(thats exactly the part in this thread), and dremmel open the driver side inlet), then install a direct panel filter (KN,Pipecross, Racingline, or a dry one like AFE Pro S etc), and buy a silicone duct to replace the factory one. Same effect as an R600, at a fraction of the cost.
For the rest of the engine bay ducting the more and colder air the better for your engine, so generally you could swap out all the ducts, but bare in mind that if you change the factory diameter to a larger one, you will have a larger mass of air but at flowing through a larger diameter, ultimately reducing pressure in the system ,and flow as a result.
 
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paddy6789

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For intake if you want a cheap solution, take the factory intake, remove the snow guard, block of the resonator chamber ( a piece of hst will do), block off the pax side air inlet back (with the factory plastic piece for the Golf GTE(thats exactly the part in this thread), and dremmel open the driver side inlet), then install a direct panel filter (KN,Pipecross, Racingline, or a dry one like AFE Pro S etc), and buy a silicone duct to replace the factory one. Same effect as an R600, at a fraction of the cost.
For the rest of the engine bay ducting the more and colder air the better for your engine, so generally you could swap out all the ducts, but bare in mind that if you change the factory diameter to a larger one, you will have a larger mass of air but at flowing through a larger diameter, ultimately reducing pressure in the system ,and flow as a result.

The Pikey R600 mod is cheap and great. Plus who doesn’t like locking themselves away and cutting up car parts and refitting it all - is there a more manly feeling thing to do, other than taking a chainsaw to trees? Haha. I was running this mod for about 3 months and did feel some slight improvements, not to mention more turbo/suction noise outside the car. But I replaced the hose, elbow and muffler delete at the same time.

Just to add to your post, if anyone is looking at an upgraded turbo intake hose - make sure you don’t just buy the cheapest china one from AliExpress or Wish etc. When they arrive, you’ll see why. The hose collapses so easily under the smallest of suction. Yeah RacingLine, Revo, TT, Forge are all expensive, but their hoses are so much stronger. Do your research and you’ll possibly find an unbranded one, that’s strong, for 50-75% of the price of the branded ones. Or buy a branded one second hand :)


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Bee_GEE_B2

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Jan 26, 2020
13
4
The Pikey R600 mod is cheap and great. Plus who doesn’t like locking themselves away and cutting up car parts and refitting it all - is there a more manly feeling thing to do, other than taking a chainsaw to trees? Haha. I was running this mod for about 3 months and did feel some slight improvements, not to mention more turbo/suction noise outside the car. But I replaced the hose, elbow and muffler delete at the same time.

Just to add to your post, if anyone is looking at an upgraded turbo intake hose - make sure you don’t just buy the cheapest china one from AliExpress or Wish etc. When they arrive, you’ll see why. The hose collapses so easily under the smallest of suction. Yeah RacingLine, Revo, TT, Forge are all expensive, but their hoses are so much stronger. Do your research and you’ll possibly find an unbranded one, that’s strong, for 50-75% of the price of the branded ones. Or buy a branded one second hand :)


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Haha yeah man, totally agree, was good fun (Plus if i am allowed to this on planes i might as well on my car too :p), its also an interim for me, I'll be taking the car to Wolf-Power in the spring for an R600 and ducting, turbo inlet, muffler delete, and a DV+ fitment complimented with a OEM stage 1 and DSG TCU map - as ABT from factory was not an option over here, and its insanely expensive as an aftermarket part, It actually costs the same to go full racingline- . I hope ill get the 350-360HP from all this stuff too :p
 
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