Before anyone buys one of these you should note it doesn't connect all the way up to the EGR and they give you jubilee clips when on the pictures they use it clearly shows the better clips with the bolt forgot what there called. And u have to use your old c clip things that slide over the coupling that goes in to the turbo. I just thought it's cheap of them when there charging £495 for the intercooler and hard piping kit. The silicone bends aren't as good quality as auto silicone hoses or samco either. They can charge what they like really though as there only competitor is samco which is about £800. Anyone else bought one an feel a bit ripped?

I have the Airtec FMIC and thought it was reasonable value for money.

 

To use the standard turbo you need a coupler as a regular silicon pipe won't fit over the turbo outlet, it would have been nice if the pipework went all of the way to the EGR valve but not not the end of the world, the couplers fit nice and tight with no signs of leaking.

To be fair they don't state that the piping goes all the way up to the EGR. All the photos i saw have the Jubilee clips that comes with the kit and they hold my pipes fine at 2bar. I cant complain about the quality of the silicone pipes or the cooler itself, works fine for me running 212bhp

I'm gunna fit it on Friday thanks for replys. Do you still need to use them c clip things with the new bayonet fittings they supply?

I'm gunna fit it on Friday thanks for replys. Do you still need to use them c clip things with the new bayonet fittings they supply?

 

 

you need to use the c clip connectors where the pipework links up to the turbo and to the top pipe with the bayonet fittings, cant remember if the kit comes with new C clips but deffo comes with new bayonet connectors

Yeah comes with bayonets but no c clips. I've got an oversized 90 bend to a stainless pipe coming off EGR on mine so hopefully I can marry them together. I changed all the standard pipes a while back they kept blowing apart. I threw the c clips though so gunna have to buy some. Unless the one off the bottom of the old side mount will fit over the turbo outlet

Anyone else bought one an feel a bit ripped?

If I'm honest, no.

I could see that I would need to retain the top boost pipe. Yes, the silicon isn't the best, but stop does the job. You can buy just the 'cooler, but. Couldn't be arsed with trying to get the individual pipes, connectors and silicon so just paid my money.

The most important bit, IMHO, is the actual 'cooler itself, which I have to say seems very good, especially compared the the Seat Sport 'cooler had originally bought to put on.

.... the clips that come with the pipe kit are crap, I'll give you tha!. I replaced them all with Mikalor clamps.

Mikalor I couldn't think what they were called for the life of me. I bought the whole thing for that very reason as well I've been weighing it up for a while. Then the other day heading back home the pipe popped off again so took the plunge and bought it. I should be ok joining on to what I've replaced the top pipe with was just having a whinge lol ????

The Airtec intercooler is perfect, I didn't buy their pipe kit though just the intercooler, too many joints for my liking, went with Darkside's pipe kit

The dark side hard piping kit is steep. I was toying with buying some stainless steel tube and hiring the pipe bender for a day but I'm to busy with work at the moment

Luckily I managed to get my hands on a THS cooler with a Darkside pipe kit included for a very good price. However I wouldn't of paid the ~£275 for a brand new DS pipe kit.

How many joints does the Airtec kit have? There's only four in my setup. I have had enough problems with just those!

Ps: the 'T Bolt clamps' that Mikalor produce are great for boost pipes!

JRJG

I'm going to go and fit it now so will let u know how many joints there are as I've got everything in the yard and not at home

They don't supply the screws that reach through the surround to the air con brackets either :-(

They don't supply the screws that reach through the surround to the air con brackets either :-(

Must have forgotten to include them as I had everything I needed to install when I bought mine?

Luckily I've got some 40mm tech screws liying about they should do the job nicely. I can't believe there only held on like that tbh

Here's were I got up before the heavens opened

Slam panel off next - make sure you tie the rad up to stop it dropping off! Then you can see where you've to cut parts off the slam panel to fit the boost pipes in.

JRJG

I thought the pipe work let the kit down value wise, i chose was a seat sport cooler, and darkside hard pipes. Think it worked out about £100 cheaper, for better pipes, and negligible performance difference as im only about 190bhp. 

I previously ran a Forge intercooler setup. Which is far more expensive to buy new. I switched to the Airtec, and immediately noticed a difference in performance (which is odd for an intercooler!). I personally think that the kit is very good quality, and very good value for money too.

 

I personally don't like Mikalor clamps. I think Jubilee ones tighten up better, and they look neater too.

 

The pipework in the kit is functional, and allows for some adjustability of the kit if needs be - which is always a good thing. As great as the Darkside pipes may look (if you like shiny parts!), I think they are far from a perfect fit and are very awkward to fit. If you ever need to do some work that involves removing the top part of the pipe, then you'll have to remove the whole bumper, loosen the headlight and then faff about trying to squeeze the pipe out of the way!! I agree that there could be a top pipe with the kit, but as stated, that isn't advertised and it would only add to the cost. I just made a custom pipe up to match.

 

If you want a better idea where to cut, have a look in my project thread here...

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/324414-alexs-red-mk1-fabia-vrs-bmnblt-16v-hybrid-gtbvklr/page-3

 

Good luck!

Edited 11 November, 20169 yr by alex_e3

Finished it all took about five hours in the end. I'm off to my mates on Sunday so he can sort a map out for me. Thanks for all the help if you wouldn't of told me about tiying the rad up it could of got messy. The jubilee clips are quiet good quality compared to some I've used you can get a good twist on them.

Sooo my mates asked do I want launch control. Is it proper launch control on a fabia vrs or just a rev limiter protector thing that doesn't let u over rev the engine when stationary? Is it worth having? Probably not going to be launching off at traffic lights at 30 years old but could be fun

Finished it all took about five hours in the end. I'm off to my mates on Sunday so he can sort a map out for me. Thanks for all the help if you wouldn't of told me about tiying the rad up it could of got messy. The jubilee clips are quiet good quality compared to some I've used you can get a good twist on them.

Thought I'd mention about tying the radiator up

Regarding the launch control:

If you're still running the standard clutch then playing at launch control will hammer it, chew it up and spit it back out. Even if you're on an uprated clutch and flywheel you're still throwing a hell of a lot of torque and power until a clutch that was never designed to take those levels of abuse.

My basic opinion:

Save launch control for a GTR / something with a forged engine and serious clutch setup.

Tell your mate focus on a smooth smokeless map instead.

JRJG

Smooth and smokeless sounds good to me. He specialises in mercs I think so I think he was just getting excited because he's never fiddled with a fabia before he's been at it 20 odd years though. His company's called aintre remaps if you've ever heard of him

Smooth and smokeless sounds good to me. He specialises in mercs I think so I think he was just getting excited because he's never fiddled with a fabia before he's been at it 20 odd years though. His company's called aintre remaps if you've ever heard of him

If he has been in the tuning business for 20 years he will have tuned endless PD engines as they are one of the most tunable Diesel engines around. Probably just getting excited at what gains he can make.

Enjoy