The Concept
APR's Intercooler Kit for the transversely mounted 2.0T FSI was designed with maximum performance and minimal intrusion in mind. APR's unique ability to design and cast intricate aluminum end tanks allows us to make an intercooler that fits in the same location as stock, but with a much larger core size.
When moving this air to and from the intercooler, you want to do so with the least amount of resistance as possible. With this in mind, plumbing was designed for the intercooler. Silicone tubing was used to create seamless internal geometry for the air to flow through while also allowing smooth transitions between diameters. A unique CNC-machined coupler allows the silicone APR hoses to connect to the rest of the stock inlet plumbing.
Overall APR's FMIC kit is the absolute best kit you will find on the market today. We work hard to design, engineer, and test products that will last long and perform well for years to come and this product is no exception.
Several tests were done in order to prove the differences between the stock intercooler and the APR one. One test for thermal effectiveness involved placing the car on the dyno with our normal assortment and arrangement of cooling fans. The car was then run through a rigorous testing procedure that involved allowing it to idle to a normal operating temperature, and then running it through five power runs.
Intake Air Temperature Testing
During each run, the engine speed was brought to 2000 rpm for fifteen seconds. This allows the air to run throughout the system and allows the intake air temperature to normalize and negate heat soak from the car sitting at idle. The car was then taken from 2000rpm to 6800rpm at full throttle under load over the next thirty seconds. The car was then allowed to idle for one minute before the next run was started. Each lighter line on the graph above represents each power run, and the darker line represents the average over five runs.
The stock intercooler was tested on one day, the APR intercooler was installed, and the testing repeated the next day. The conditions were very similar on both days, however it was slightly hotter (3ºF) on the day the APR intercooler was tested.
Most alarming about this entire test was the fact that during the third run with the stock intercooler, the car began to pull boost and timing in order to protect itself from the high intake temperatures. The car also exhibited this protective behavior in both the fourth and fifth runs as well.
The APR intercooler performed as we expected, keeping the intake charge temps almost 40ºF lower by the end of the fifth run. Given the fact that no dynamometer test cell can reproduce the airflow that a car on the open road gets, we are confident that differences between the APR intercooler and the stock one would be even more apparent on the street or track.
During the testing on the dyno, a normal dyno power run was performed with each intercooler, and the APR intercooler recovered upwards of fifteen horsepower over the stock intercooler. The uncorrected, wheel horsepower is displayed in the graph below.
Dyno Testing (Uncorrected Wheel Horsepower)
