Re: TT225 intake manifold *please help* (Jolf)
That is on a dyno, though. How many of us drive standing still? Lets think about this for a second... any air/air intercooler requires air flow over it to work. If you are going to tell me that standing still your car made more power, that is just because there was more aluminum to soak up the heat. Eventually, you'll still be able to soak it up, if you are not moving air over it.
My point is simply that you cant rate your intercooler based on power gains (you could look at losses maybe, but not exclusively). If you add an FMIC to a car and standing still it takes longer on a dyno to soak, great. But when you are moving, the question is does it cool the air more than it would have stock? And by how much?
It has been proven that the stock IC runs 70% efficient. My dual-IC on a stock K03 managed to be 90%+ efficient, and never soaked even when pre-IC temps right at the end cap were over 200º F. I'm not trying to disagree with you, Jolf, I am just saying that I feel there is more to the gains than just power.
Let me note, though, I totally agree about the stock turbo being fine with an IC upgrade. One could argue the core of the FMIC or dual-IC is a bit big and puts extra stress on the little K03 (or even a K04) and that is true. Which is why for most people I feel the Forge SMIC is a good purchase. Regardless, a good FMIC or dual-IC format, such as this thread's TT225 manifold w/custom FMIC, is a great approach too... because of cooling improvements of course!