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Project mk4
Jetta 1.8T - Part 5 - Intake
With
the APR chip now providing unbelievable power for such a low cost
the addition of an upgraded intake seems quite mute, but in the
long run a better breathing engine will perform much better. With
all things considered I actually first had a simple drop in K&N
filter that gave me NO noticable gains from the butt dyno. After
running with this setup for about 10,000 miles I decided it was
time to step up to the plate and get a CAI. After doing much
research on which one to purchase I found that nobody had any complaints
with the Carbonio
cold air intake kit. There were many kits out there that
did the same thing but the unique look of the Carbonio and the excellent
customer service won me over!
Product
Review
Installation time: 2hrs
Price: $259
From
start to finish this product shines all the way through! Beginning
with the call to place the order the guys at Carbonio are a class
act and delivery of the intake was made quickly and without delay.
Opening the box to find the one piece carbon fibre tube with
the color of my choice coupling, I got the blue to match my car!
Inspecting the carbon fibre tube I found it to be a little
thinner than I thought it would be. Being carbon fibre
the strength of the intake will surely hold up.
The
installation was much more involved than most simple bolt on intakes.
Removal of the battery and inside fender liner was required
to properly install the intake which adds a lot of time to the installation
process but nothing that gives you any problems. Installation
went very smooth with the only hitch being trying to remove the
plastic piece behind the headlight where the intake will sneak down
to the refreshing cool air behind the bumper cover! In addition
I cutout the front lower bumper grill piece to allow more air to
flow in where the filter is located. Much like the passenger
side is where the intercooler is located.
With
installation complete it was time to go out and test things out...
PHSSSSSST!! hello mr. diverter valve! The once
low low sounding DV is now amplified to rival that of a genuine
blow off valve! In my opinion the sound is nice, especially
when trying to freak out pedestrians walking down the street. Come
up fast and let off the gas and you'll get all sorts of looks from
people saying, "What in the world was that!?!??" After
getting over the new DV sound you can certainly notice a nice growl
from the intake while accelerating, my 1.8T now screams when cluncking
through the gears. The sound is not TOO loud though especially
when compared to say a VR6 with an intake. But we all know
that a VR6 just blows the 1.8T away when it comes to sexy sound
of the smooth 6!!
Power increases come
on in the high rpms for sure, lower rpms remain the same. The
engine simply pulls harder up top now! Its not a HUGE difference
but a difference none the less. Probly the biggest change
in performance is the cold air being sucked in all the time now.
Espeicially down here in HOT florida where heat soak and turbos
are not the best of friends. After a long drive around town
the car STILL pulls as it did when it was cold. I think with
the addition of a downpipe and exhaust the intake will further enhance
and make more of a difference!
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Panel/Cone/Cold Air Induction
There
are endless options when it comes to replacing the filter element
for your 1.8T. Heres just a short list of the possibilities:
- Stock airbox, stock filter
- Stock
airbox, panel filter
- Stock airbox, panel filter,
cutout side of airbox
- No airbox, cone filter,
NO heat shield <-
worst setup
- No airbox, cone filter, heat shield
installed
- No airbox, cold air induction, cone
filter
- No airbox, no filter <-
not recommended!
Stock airbox, stock filter
Highs
- cheap to replace, comes factory equipped, sucks in cool air
Lows
- restrictive filter and airbox, no diverter (DV) sound
Stock
airbox, panel filter
Highs - cheap filter lasts long time,
slightly louder DV sound, sucks in cool air
Lows - restrictive
airbox, minimal gains
Stock airbox, panel filter, cutout
side of airbox
Highs - cheap filter lasts long time, much
louder DV sound, sucks in more air
Lows - still retains restrictive
airbox despite larger inlet, sucks in warmer air
No airbox,
cone filter, NO heat shield
Highs - much louder DV sound,
sucks in more air than panel filter
Lows - sucks in HOT air which
hurts performance
No airbox, cone filter, heat shield
installed
Highs - much louder DV sound, sucks in more air
than panel filter
Lows - sucks in warm air despite heat
shield
No airbox, cold air induction, cone filter
Highs
- loudest DV sound, sucks in COOL air, looks good installed
Lows
- most expensive, longer installation time
No airbox,
no filter <-
not recommended!
Highs - no filter = no restriction, its
FREE
Lows - can lead to major engine/turbo damage
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...check
out the project mk4 disucussion forums 
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