MK5 Golf GTI

General => Product Reviews => Topic started by: pudding on February 24, 2018, 06:51:17 pm

Title: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on February 24, 2018, 06:51:17 pm
OK, VWR intake installed today, with some entirely necessary tweaks and modifications to avoid being stranded from coolant loss.

Let's start with the positives. 

I actually quite like it after sorting the installation issues.   It's VERY VERY quiet, a tiny bit louder than the stock intake.  No silly squawks, hisses, or Darth Vader dirty breathing noises, which for a daily car is very appealing indeed. Refinement is king. Shouting is annoying.   

No loss of torque off boost and from 4000rpm onwards it feels like it's adding power.  Perhaps not the masses of extra power claimed, but definitely feels stronger than stock. So that's a win  :happy2:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4723/40414670512_027873ef16_b.jpg)

Now let's discuss the negatives, and there are a lot of them, so to quote Gaskings....'Pull out your sacks, sit back and enjoy'  :popcornsoda:

Problem 1: With the intake pipe pushed into the Silicon elbow as far as it will go.....

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4695/39748231134_41c20eb901_b.jpg)

.... this section of pipe is pushed hard up against the battery.  You don't want parts that move touching parts fixed to the car because it wears things out and transmits knocks and noises into the cabin.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4625/40414738052_b863da6e6c_b.jpg)

To rectify that, I chopped this much off the elbow with a surgical scalpel (you need something super sharp and thin to cut silicon properly).  I used the clamp as a guide to ensure a dead straight cut.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/39562758305_a256c60293_b.jpg)

Loads better.  It's hard to see in the pic but there is at least 10mm clearance on the battery side now.  Note the flex joint, which is not supplied in the kit. That is my own doing. It is absolutely key to this intake not breaking the coolant elbow off, or pulling the canister out of the air guide attached to the grille.  VWR cannot be considered 'engineers' for ignoring such an obvious and vital component.  Do they think engines remain completely still when accelerating and changing gears?  :stupid:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/25587505847_a2245397b8_b.jpg)

Problem 2: This fitting required for KO4 engines.  You have to fit it yourself, and in exactly the right place.  Inexcusable at this price point.  It was sheer luck that I got it in the right place on first attempt, but I can imagine some people being less fortunate.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/40458540051_be3319be62_b.jpg)

Problem 3: Maybe it was just mine, but I had to completely reprofile the MAF mount.  As supplied, the MAF's weather seal wasn't even compressed when bolted down, which caused a huge air leak.  I also had to file out the hole as the MAF wouldn't even slide in.  Again, there is no excuse for crap like this on a £400 intake.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/39562753635_05c3180689_b.jpg)

Problem 4: No provision is provided for securing the MAF harness.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if the harness flaps about from engine movement, it will eventually cause metal fatigue and snap one or more wires off at the plug  :stupid:   So a cable tie is the only quick and dirty solution here.  I will figure out something better and more OEM looking.  Why didn't VWR notice the fact VW rigidly clipped the MAF harness into the stock airbox for this very reason?

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4712/39562755575_3e3b99c552_b.jpg)

Problem 5: And now onto the most idiotic and well known issue - the coolant elbow clearance, or complete lack of.  This is embarrassingly poor.  I know it's just an rebranded ITG intake, but either way, zero f'cks given by both ITG and VWR that customers have had this elbow snap off.

Absolutely bugger all clearance, and it also rests on the radiator hose.  Yet more abrasion related issues  :doh:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/39748230764_0ff8342eeb_b.jpg)

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4714/39748230244_e14f395db3_b.jpg)

And look how close it sits to the fuel pump bleed valve??  FFS, did VWR wear very dark sun glasses when fitting this to their development car??!  :stupid:
Also note the lack of clearance for the black plastic check valve.  I already cut 20mm off the hose to get even this amount of clearance  :confused:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/40414668862_e97c76d1b5_b.jpg)

I found a way to gain clearance.

If you fit the air guide plate as you would expect, i.e. with the 'lip' on top of the grille, you can't get the canister in far enough because it fouls the grille.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4704/25587505067_40db88d218_b.jpg)

But if you fit the air guide like this, you can shove the canister in a further 10-15mm.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4715/25587508287_6e9c2f67de_b.jpg)

Which gives you a lot more coolant elbow clearance.  This is more than enough room with a flex joint.  The canister will not move.  I gave the car some very hard acceleration forwards and backwards and the canister did not move from this position.  Without a flex joint, the canister will almost certainly pull out of the air guide and snap the elbow off.   Well done VWR  :congrats:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/39562756325_b4577b7d46_b.jpg)

So in summary, it works great as a filter.  Refined and effective at freeing power off.  But as a retail product for DIY enthusiasts - costing over £400 let's not forget - it absolutely sucks. It is the worst fitting car product I have experienced in 23 years of modifying VWs. A product that can cause damage to people's engines should not even be allowed on the shelves.  It truly is awful and a complete embarrassment to British engineering.

Because of these issues, I would not recommend this intake to anyone.  However, if you are prepared to modify it in the same way I have, then I think it's worth considering because it does tick many boxes as a functional part.
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: AJP on February 24, 2018, 06:57:58 pm
Brilliant work and write-up Kev. Thanks for posting this up
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on February 24, 2018, 07:29:49 pm
Cheers buddy.  It's taken me a good few hours to upload that due to the connection drop out issues  :smiley:

It is so frustrating.  It is easily the best intake on the market in terms of refinement and power increases.  I would love to give it the full Pudding endorsement, but it requires too much hacking and pissing about to earn my full approval.  If it was a cheap £200 intake, fair enough, but this is the Rolls Royce of intakes in the current market place, with Rolls Royce pricing......but is sadly way off Rolls Royce quality.

I give it a 4 out of 10.  Good MAF trims, noticeable gains and it's quiet.

I give the Revo intake 6 out of 10.  Revo actually designed it to fit the car, and it does fit the car - perfectly.  It loses 4 points for being too noisy, killing off boost throttle response and having poor MAF trims. 

I give the stock intake 6 out of 10 too.  Perfect refinement, perfect MAF trims, perfect fit - obviously - but in remapped cars it does restrict the top end somewhat.  If people only want mild improvements at a Stage 1 level, I would not deviate from the stock intake personally.  Save your money.

VWR's crime was to simply take an existing generic-ish product, made no effort to customise it to fit MK5 Golfs properly and sold it as job done.  A true 'that'll do' approach if ever I saw one.  And boy do they big up their intake on their posh, flashy website.  Haha, well the proof is in the 'pudding' VWR, and you've failed on this occasion.

Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Bodyboarder81 on February 25, 2018, 03:46:28 pm
Good right up and mods done 👍 Shame  you had to make them though !

I have the revo setup ..... and find it er loud !

Could I ( in your opinion) put a closed filter section on the revo setup instead of the open cone ? Think bmc do one ?
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Shoduchi on February 26, 2018, 02:25:48 am
Awesome review! Wouldn't mind fitting the flexible hose to my VWR intake. If it doesn't pop out with the Powerflex engine mount bushes, I'll leave it be. :smiley:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on February 26, 2018, 03:10:52 pm
Yeah I was going to experiment with a BMC CDA on the Revo pipe.  You'll need one with a 90mm inlet though! 

Another problem with the VWR is water ingress.   Driving in heavy rain with the stock intake is fine as the water drops down into the engine bay away from the airbox inlet.  Not so with the VWR.  Everything that gets pulled in through the grille ends up in the filter canister.  Snow, water, leaves etc etc.  Yet another shoddy oversight.
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Shoduchi on February 26, 2018, 05:38:58 pm
Yeah I was going to experiment with a BMC CDA on the Revo pipe.  You'll need one with a 90mm inlet though! 

Another problem with the VWR is water ingress.   Driving in heavy rain with the stock intake is fine as the water drops down into the engine bay away from the airbox inlet.  Not so with the VWR.  Everything that gets pulled in through the grille ends up in the filter canister.  Snow, water, leaves etc etc.  Yet another shoddy oversight.

When it rains the engine gets water injection to cool the air intake temperatures... :signLOL:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on February 27, 2018, 09:43:24 am
Yeah I was going to experiment with a BMC CDA on the Revo pipe.  You'll need one with a 90mm inlet though! 

Another problem with the VWR is water ingress.   Driving in heavy rain with the stock intake is fine as the water drops down into the engine bay away from the airbox inlet.  Not so with the VWR.  Everything that gets pulled in through the grille ends up in the filter canister.  Snow, water, leaves etc etc.  Yet another shoddy oversight.

When it rains the engine gets water injection to cool the air intake temperatures... :signLOL:

At the expense of a dead MAF  :wink:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Shoduchi on February 27, 2018, 09:05:14 pm
Yeah I was going to experiment with a BMC CDA on the Revo pipe.  You'll need one with a 90mm inlet though! 

Another problem with the VWR is water ingress.   Driving in heavy rain with the stock intake is fine as the water drops down into the engine bay away from the airbox inlet.  Not so with the VWR.  Everything that gets pulled in through the grille ends up in the filter canister.  Snow, water, leaves etc etc.  Yet another shoddy oversight.

When it rains the engine gets water injection to cool the air intake temperatures... :signLOL:

At the expense of a dead MAF  :wink:

I was just joking. But yeah, shoddy design. :wink:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on March 01, 2018, 12:24:15 pm
And finished off with a TTS engine cover.  Much tidier than the ugly engine!

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4713/26682532868_30dbd0621e_b.jpg)

The other benefit of using this cover with aftermarket intakes is it's lined with foam, so absorbs a lot of the injector and fuel pump noise  :smiley:

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4761/40510996732_4479dda082_b.jpg)

Fits perfectly, but you just need to trim a bit off this area for clearance.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/26682533568_0fccc3d996_b.jpg)

Overall I am happy with it, now that I have got over the shoddiness.  There are a few more refinements I want to make to bring it up to my standards, and I will update this thread accordingly  :smiley:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: teo_parvu on March 01, 2018, 12:50:17 pm
Even trimmed it looks like the intake is touching the cover, that could generate some noises. I believe you've checked that. it looks good, factory like.  :congrats:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on March 01, 2018, 01:02:51 pm
Ah yes, I have trimmed it already but that picture is the 100% stock cover, showing how close the clearance is, before I modified it.  It's just a warning you will need to do it  :happy2:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: teo_parvu on March 01, 2018, 01:03:36 pm
oh, that explains it.  :laugh: :thinking:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: horsemeat on March 13, 2018, 05:00:57 pm

there is no excuse for crap like this on a £400 intake.

That's the long and short of it as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for posting your experiences, sorry it has been such a sh*te one!

I've always liked the look of the 42DD intake, OTOH it is even more expensive than the VWR!
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on March 15, 2018, 06:58:40 pm

there is no excuse for crap like this on a £400 intake.

That's the long and short of it as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for posting your experiences, sorry it has been such a sh*te one!

I've always liked the look of the 42DD intake, OTOH it is even more expensive than the VWR!

Racingline have got in touch and acknowledged this kit needs improvement.  They didn't get defensive about the harsh comments either, which in my book shows maturity in dealing with negative feedback. Problems do occur but it's how they are dealt with that counts  :happy2:

I've been invited to their HQ on the 23rd to work through the problems together.  Can't say fairer than that!

Yes the 42DD kit has some nice features, namely this piece.  An exact replica of the OEM MAF housing to guarantee 100% accurate fuel trims  :happy2:  The MAF is the primary load sensor, so the cross sectional area of the housing has to be calibrated to factory spec, otherwise the entire rpm range is affected. 
Making something like that requires a lot of R&D, pre-production testing, tooling and development costs.  Having said that, China are well setup for this kind of low volume prototyping with a quick turn around, at a far cheaper cost than domestic prototyping companies.

(https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn3.bigcommerce.com%2Fs-79qhm1%2Fproducts%2F3585%2Fimages%2F849%2Ffsi_maf_002__77750.1446477736.1280.1280.jpg&hash=8ba6d1a0d1fc1f1dcacc0ab30b9bba35509baa50)
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: absolute on April 09, 2019, 11:38:09 am
So how did your meeting go with them, or did they send you some further parts?

I am interested in an Intake but this review is absolutely scathing and puts me off massively.
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Dan_FR on April 09, 2019, 12:31:14 pm
@Pudding (https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10733)

Ha ha whole thing was a bit of a joke to be honest. They promised the earth and delivered nothing at all
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 09, 2019, 01:43:40 pm
Lol, yep!

It's been over a year since they promised to improve it, and apart from an initial spurt of enthusiasm at the start, absolutely nothing!

What a way to run a business, eh?  Google searches will take people to this site and Racingline have done zero damage limitation.  The last comms I got from them was Autumn last year, pointing the finger at ITG, but when companies start with the whole blame game thing, I lose interest.  Take ownership of the problem and deal with it, or get lost and waste someone else's time.

I suggest building your own intake around the 42DD MAF housing as you know you won't have any fuel trim issues with that.  The Racingline kit is just a generic filter canister and a 90 degree pipe, made by ITG.  Anyone could cobble that together for a fraction of the cost!  And unlike Racingline, you would be savvy enough to make sure it fits in the available space properly without rubbing on things and breaking water elbows off  :doh:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: absolute on April 10, 2019, 09:04:42 am
Ah, I think I may have read something about your experience on another post. Wow, sounds like i'll be staying well clear of that system.

Are you saying that it's best to come up with a frankenstein of parts with he 42DD MAF housing? It comes in either through or non-through, which I have no idea what the difference would be. It just looks smaller.

.. Or is it designed to be used with intake systems that are already out there?
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: absolute on April 10, 2019, 09:56:46 am
So basically I've spent all morning reading up online rather than working  :ashamed:

You can get a full system from 42DD, mounting hardware, heatshields, everything... however it's $520.

Or Pudding might have been eluding to the fact you could get all parts yourself, individually and save some cash. So a velocity stack, filter, heatshield, some aluminium piping and just buy the 42DD MAF housing.

Both sound quite fun projects  :happy2:

Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 12, 2019, 01:49:05 pm
Yeah I meant buy the 42DD MAF housing and source the pipework and filter yourself.   The MAF reading is critical.   I have no idea why it's oval shaped on the MK5 and round on the MK4, 6 & 7, but it's what VW used and deviating from that seems to cause less than satisfactory running at light loads.

I have a suspicion it's because the turbo is so close to the MAF on the MK5, and an oval would reduce swirling vortexes, which MAFs don't like......or something.

I think if we mounted the MAF far away from the turbo like the MK6, we could use a round one.  Dunno, it needs some experimentation!   The car runs so well with the factory airbox, there's not much incentive to mess with it  :smiley:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Dan_FR on April 13, 2019, 01:07:14 pm
The round MAF pipe can work on the TFSI, but it has to be exactly right, both pipe diameter and mounting depth/position. I'm happy with mine and my fuel trims (both idle and LTFT) are within 1-2%. Most aftermarket intakes see an LTFT north of 10% and they really do ruin off boost light load driving, the car feels lethargic and less eager to 'get up and go'
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 14, 2019, 12:02:11 pm
This is how to build an intake!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaUCHyXZew
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: absolute on April 15, 2019, 11:15:49 am
Nice - doesn't look the prettiest but who really cares eh?

I think building your own intake is quite a class project to do. My main concern or frustration though is finding the right parts for mounting properly.

For example the front moulded heatshield / hardware that sits near the battery, looking OEM'ish and containg the air filter and potential velocity stack.

Also I'm not a welder so buying a steel pipe and getting mounting points made up isn't realistic.

I wonder if i'm worrying about nothing, and need to just find a decent local machine shop.
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: rich83 on April 15, 2019, 12:08:55 pm
I hate the look of that one but love how it uses all the original mounting points. Really well designed.
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 17, 2019, 11:52:38 am
Can't do much about the ugliness of a pipe with a red sock on the end, but the construction quality and the intelligence to use a flex coupling and original mounting points = aces of basses  :happy2:   

By the way, ECS do a black version, and also an enclosed carbon airbox version of that intake for better looks.
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Shoduchi on April 18, 2019, 06:45:12 pm
I really like the look of the enclosed intake sold by ECS Tuning and made by Kohlefaser Luft-Technik.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRdRR0ZWwAAx6UW.jpg)

As I said before, I like this enclosed intake from HG Motorsport, but very expensive too :sad1: :
https://www.hg-motorsport.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p28061_HFI-Air-Intake-Kit-Gen-2--Plus--for-VAG-2-0TFSI-Models.html (https://www.hg-motorsport.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p28061_HFI-Air-Intake-Kit-Gen-2--Plus--for-VAG-2-0TFSI-Models.html)
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 18, 2019, 07:09:52 pm
Yep both great intakes  :happy2:

One small problem with both though.....they draw air in through the tiny letter box opening, which is not sufficient at high rpm.  With the ECS one, I would feed a 3" duct from the fog light grille into the bottom of it for more air flow  :happy2:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Shoduchi on April 18, 2019, 07:47:32 pm
Not sure if the area of that scoop is smaller than the intake tube section. :thinking:

Are you sure it isn't enough? What's the size of the TTRS intake scoop for the OEM air box which is perfect for our engines to work at +400 bhp?
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 18, 2019, 07:53:08 pm
Pretty sure the cross sectional area of that rectangle is smaller than a 3" pipe.   Remember the OEM intake doesn't draw all it's air in through that rectangle opening.  There's a big hole (snow/water drain) underneath where it draws the bulk of it's air in. 

Colesey on here blocked off that hole so that it pulled all of the air in through the letter box, and he said the engine felt less responsive.  That's how I know  :wink:

With an additional cold air supply from underneath, the airbox would have plenty of air volume for the engine to draw in  :happy2:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Shoduchi on April 18, 2019, 08:02:48 pm
Ok. I didn’t know that. The cold air feed would be an improvement, yes.  :happy2:
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on April 18, 2019, 08:21:39 pm
Also, the intake on the VWR is huge compared to the little letterbox, which definitely helps achieve it's almost 10% hp gain!
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Roskotek on November 02, 2019, 11:33:37 am
Hi Pudding

Just got one these vwr kits of a mate, not fitted it yet, I wanted have read up on them before fitting and I come across your review a couple of days ago which is very good and has highlighted some bad design flaws.

The one that I'm struggling to solve is where to purchase a flex joint like or similar to the one you have, been trawling the net for last 2 days with no joy, can you point me in the right direction to where I can purchase one, it would be much appreciated. 

It is definitely a must have on a fixed intake like the vwr, just like the oem air box has one.




Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: pudding on November 07, 2019, 03:34:34 pm
@Roskotek (https://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=51960) Hello, I'm glad you found the info useful!

I also struggled to find a suitable flex in the UK so in the end I bought one of these from VW and modified it  :happy2:  Basically just cut the rectangle bit off and with a heat gun you can make a lip for the hose clamp to fit.  1K0 129 618 AH

(https://wolfautoparts.com/media/catalog/product/cache/9f88c6aea5e3a215989c2121bf8e1653/I/M/IMG_269157_1651183_1.JPG)
Title: Re: RacingLine TFSI intake kit for K03/K04
Post by: Roskotek on November 07, 2019, 10:38:16 pm
Cheers for that

Good thinking, I will have one of them spare when I fit the vwr  :happy2: