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Intercooler?

QDog
in Skoda Octavia Mk1 (1996-2004)

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If I want to upgrade my intercooler, what's my options?

Will a standa IC from a MK2 2.0 TDi fit my MK1 VRS?

I know there would need to be some pipe work needed but has anybody done it?

I've no idea about that don't think it would, way I see it your main options are:

A golf 4 intercooler: slightly bigger, marginal gain.

A turborevs type oversized side mount, which I found pretty effective at reducing temps although I fitted it to a mapped car that had plenty of boost and had no lag issue.

Both the above require no extra work and go straight in.

Fmic options obviously require a lot more work but give the biggest gains, ideally you'd get a remap to make the most of it. Single pass would require less pipework.

All in all if you're looking for a cheap gain for minimal work I'd go for an uprated smic, like this.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/352298-proper-mod/

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    I've been thinking about getting a FMIC ... kits with piping on flea bay start from about £150.... £190 for the proper mount for the pressure sensor! a SMIC upgrade would be good.... and maybe cheaper!

     

    I was talking to Pete at the west midlands meet, about intake temps, so hooked up my OBDII port app on th eway home...

     

    I was suprised how well the smic works anyway!

     

    highest temp was in the hours of ques on the M^ on th eway home 44C in the standing traffic.....

     

    however on full boost when moving and getting air in , (1.1-1.4 bar) It never got higher than 35C , so it seems to be performing pretty well! wasn't too hot outside (about 7C) but it did its job....

     

    I have simply been told "for stage 2 , you need a FMIC" ....

    Edited by sharkrider

    Have you done the 'inner arch mod' too?

    • Author

    Inner arch mod?

    nope, haven't been in there, the car is modded though, so it may have already been done... is this like the pikey mod for the mark I fabia vrs?  cut a big chunk out, and add some wire to improve airflow?

    Have you done the 'inner arch mod' too?

    Ah yeah I forgot to mention that, well worth doing. Get a TT arch liner cut the vent out, cut a hole in existing arch and tiger seal it in. Good mod. Or cop hold of any decent looking vent from a diy shop, vent slats down and away you go. My Ibiza has one standard ;)

    Edited by YellowCar

    Just get a large drill bit on it :)

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    Just get a large drill bit on it :)

    That's the classy way to do it, certainly the cheapest and easiest

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    Smic will be never anywhere near a good fmic

    But the word good is important

    Lots of crap fmic that don't work well

    Smic will be never anywhere near a good fmic

    But the word good is important

    Lots of crap fmic that don't work well

    True that but the uprated smic is a decent improvement for the money and minimal hassle

    I've done the arch mod a while ago on my old girl, actually made a hell of a difference.

     

    Been looking on Ebay and I've found this uprated side-mount, brand new, for 80 quid:

     

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A3-S3-SKODA-OCTAVIA-1-8-1-9TDI-SIDE-MOUNT-ALUMINIUM-INTERCOOLER-17MM-SENSOR-/181048896659?fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Model%3AOctavia|Cars+Type%3ARS+1.8+T&hash=item2a275aec93:g:WloAAMXQ1d1TIE4W

     

    What do you guys reckon? My dear old girl is 15 years old now, with 160k up - so going down the road of a full FMIC is a pointless expense. However I am more than happy to drop 80 quid in exchange for a few extra horses - what does everyone reckon? Anyone fitted one of these? Any good?

     

    Thoughts appreciated as always :)

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    I've done the arch mod a while ago on my old girl, actually made a hell of a difference.

     

    Been looking on Ebay and I've found this uprated side-mount, brand new, for 80 quid:

     

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A3-S3-SKODA-OCTAVIA-1-8-1-9TDI-SIDE-MOUNT-ALUMINIUM-INTERCOOLER-17MM-SENSOR-/181048896659?fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda|Model%3AOctavia|Cars+Type%3ARS+1.8+T&hash=item2a275aec93:g:WloAAMXQ1d1TIE4W

     

    What do you guys reckon? My dear old girl is 15 years old now, with 160k up - so going down the road of a full FMIC is a pointless expense. However I am more than happy to drop 80 quid in exchange for a few extra horses - what does everyone reckon? Anyone fitted one of these? Any good?

     

    Thoughts appreciated as always :)

    That's what I fitted (same pattern it seems anyway, see link above). Gave me a few clicks of torque but basically they are about less losses more than gains, it will help intake temps especially in summer and when 'pushing on' with lots of pulsing on the throttle. As said it's not fmic territory but I found it a good mod for the money. Requires no extra plumbing apart from some good rubber/neoprene washers to mount it. Is yours mapped?

    Did you log before/after temps to show an improvement?  Also curious about these and their effectiveness.  They look on paper better but a poorly made one could perform worse than stock.

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    Did you log before/after temps to show an improvement? Also curious about these and their effectiveness. They look on paper better but a poorly made one could perform worse than stock.

    Some info in link above on the log, this was compared to an aftermarket standard golf 4 pattern cooler, which wasn't as good as the oem one so I had a big improvement over that.

    Plus my actuator was weak at the time so the turbo was working a bit harder than it should have to so could potentially drop temps a little more.

    Edited by YellowCar

    been wondering about the above,   but dnt most of these route over the engine?  i have tt strut brace so will never get it under it!

    lol... thats a point! so do I ....

    Some info in link above on the log, this was compared to an aftermarket standard golf 4 pattern cooler, which wasn't as good as the oem one so I had a big improvement over that.

    Plus my actuator was weak at the time so the turbo was working a bit harder than it should have to so could potentially drop temps a little more.

     

    Ah nice, is this the same one? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bolt-On-Side-Mount-Intercooler-For-VW-02-05-JETTA-Golf-GTI-MK4-1-8t-Turbo-Kit-/350788526575?hash=item51aca021ef:m:m7NcaLNpPQdCAa04ErZDiWA

     

    Was any other chopping needed to fit it?

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    Same pattern I think. Mine was turborevs which apparently come off the same line as forge and Godspeed (more expensive ones). No chopping needed but it is a squeeze and there are no rubber damping washers for the mount holes so I improvised with very thick neoprene washers. Don't forget to double check the size of the MAP port as I believe there's basically 2 different sizes for the same part. Depends which size was fitted to your car at the factory, I put a new MAP in while I was there, Darkside usually have both sizes available.

    been reading the R-tech page in detail..... think I will go with their recommendation when the time comes "wellycooler" a big generic FMIC with piping to suit..... they made some comments about both the cheap ebay kits (loss of flow with 90o bends, and 2" piping etc) and bigger capacity smic's..... its £200 to sort a wellycooler that will genuinely cope with 400bhp, but more to the point maximise stage 2 with a target of 250 bhp.... you can go stage 2 with them, but wouldn't be likley to hit 250bhp...

     

    http://r-techperformance.co.uk/vag/1-8t-20v-tuning-info-golf-audi-seat-skoda/1-8t-stage-2-tuning-guide/

     

    I have a proper oversize tip, and de-cat 3" exhaust, so I just need the wellycooler and cai... (I have a pipercross panel filter for now) .....

     

    gonna save up, and get them to fit and test it all before they custom map.... get them to do the hardware, so I know they are happy with what they are mapping....

     

    £200 + fitting wellycooler

    £130 + fitting cai

    £250 custom mapping.....

     

    should see 240-250bhp on my car going on their web page details.

     

    hopefully befoe the end of the year... watch my build thread for details!

    Edited by sharkrider

    Uprated smic are no better than oem ones

    Fmic need a decent core to be good

    • Like 1

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