Having had the Neuspeed installed for several months I've been checking intake air temps. Even though the size difference is considerable the Neuspeed can drop intake temps to within 5 degrees of ambient. This has been repeatable in temps from 60 to 113.
Not being an expert in the theory behind intercooling I can only guess that the location is the main reason. It seems that using the stock location requires significantly more volume to achieve similar results.
Yes the front mounted location means the cooling effect can be achieved with a smaller overall core volume. That said, a mate tried mounting the forge as a single unit but the cooling effect was not that good presumably cause the forge is too small and was not initially intended to be used as a stand alone unit. So size will still matter. How do you like the Neuspeed, I read about the cooling effect being great but did you notice any increase in lag?
Help me out, would an upgraded intercooler help with acceleration by decreasing air temps, or would it make it worse due to the increased volume of airflow required? I have searched, but have read conflicting information. Any info would be appreciated.
I am not really an expert but generally speaking, an intercooler helps drop the intake temperatures post turbo and before the intake manifold, so it is supposed to give you better performance as cooler air = denser air = more oxygen = more fuel + less timing pull = more power. The larger the intercooler the more heat it will dissipate and yield a better cooling effect. However a larger intercooler means also a larger volume to pressurize which takes slightly more time, this is felt as turbo lag. This lag can be noticeable and impact the daily drivability of the car, and it can be very minor and go completely unnoticed, this really depends on the setup of the car, how it is being driven and of course the climate. IMHO an upgraded intercooler should be appropriately sized in comparison to your level of tune, many of the available options are rated for power levels beyond 500hp and are way too large for a KO4.
The internal construction of the intercooler also plays a role, I am no expert but I know that some constructions will aim at slowing down the air while passing through the cooling bars so that heat is dissipated more effectively while others will on the contrary try to make it flow as fast as possible to minimize the lag effect.
A good starting point before spending your money is to check whether your car needs a better intercooler than stock or not, you can do this by checking your timing pull with a VCDS. I have polar FIS installed and my KWs stand at 0.0 on all cylinders practically always even in the summer heat, so I don't really need one :thumbsup: