After letting the car cool down, we decided to do a second test resembling a drag race rip from zero to 115 mph. Our goal was to reach 120 mph, but the length of time it took to accelerate any faster raised concern. With the intake starting at 100 degrees again, it rose to 155 by the end of the pull, and by 105 mph in fourth gear it was evident the heat had already gotten to it with a significant drop in power again.We came to find out that our APR software's safety parameters were likely the culprit of the large power losses, but not in a bad way. While APR claims to be a very aggressive tuner for maximum power, the company also prides itself on providing engine longevity by reducing ignition timing and further controlling the car's drive-by-wire throttle system to electronically start to close if certain temperatures get too high.
Conclusion
As hoped, the AWE intercooler saved a hefty amount of horsepower from vanishing into thin, hot air by limiting the IAT spike. With just a simple comparison between two cool runs, power rose to 203 whp, with a peak gain of 20 whp at 6500 rpm. Even with a 5 degree higher ambient temperature and nearly twice the humidity, this dyno pull took exactly 0.7-seconds less to accelerate the car from 30-88 mph than the baseline run.
While significant, the most impressive difference was in the consistency between runs. By the end of the third back-to-back run, power had only dropped to 196 whp, with the IAT up just 15 degrees. Unlike our baseline run, the peak loss at redline was only 10 whp, or 5 percent-six times better than our baseline.
Comparing the third heat-soaked run of each test, the difference became staggering. How does 171 whp versus 196 whp sound, with a peak horsepower recovery of 60 whp? This makes a huge impact on acceleration at highway speeds. In fact, while that third gear baseline acceleration from 30-88 mph took 15.0 seconds, this run bettered it by exactly 3 seconds.
In the 0-115 mph test the IAT stayed pretty consistent, starting from 100 degrees and only getting up to about 108. Compared to our baseline, whose temps rose from 100-155 degrees, this translated yet again into a 44 whp difference up top (6400 rpm/114 mph), with significant gains starting right into third gear. Looking at the ignition values, thanks to the colder air the DME allowed an extra 1.5 degrees of ignition timing at the top of fourth gear with 16.5 degrees, which surely contributed to a few ponies.
What does this mean on acceleration? Given the fact that the first two gears were nearly identical with the car running cool, we took a look at the 60-115 mph times where intercooling played a larger role. The stock setup clocked in at 17.5 seconds while the AWE setup did 15.9 seconds.Even though AWE is reluctant to take all the credit for this car's newfound performance given the ECU's sensitive adaptation, it's safe to conclude that a large intercooler upgrade like the AWE unit is a must-have for any 2.0T FSI owner who drives aggressively. Regardless of what the ECU was doing to adapt to the higher inlet temperatures, we have no control over its parameters. Therefore, we expect the high inlet temperatures and massive horsepower drops to continue as long as the factory intercoolers are used.
Colder air means consistently more power and, more importantly, greater engine longevity. In fact, a larger intercooler should probably be the first upgrade to any 2.0T FSI motor.
Test Data
AWE Intercooler System
Peak wheel-horsepower:
203 hp @ 5200 rpm
Peak power gain:
23 hp @ 5600 rpm
Parts: Intercooler core, power steering hard line relocation kit with heat exchanger, T-bolt clamps, silicone boots, all necessary hardware, installation instructions
Installation time: 4 hours
Price: $1,199
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