I fitted my PD160 intake on Saturday morning.

I was really impressed with the fit - It only took me 5 mins to do and it doesn't catch or rub agains anything.

I, Like Joel, Used a cable tie to hold the neck to the trumpet more securely, just to make sure its going nowhere!

VERDICT:

Well as I haven't changed the filter yet its not a really noticable mod but it is noticable at higher speeds in higher gears. I'm assuming this is more to do with the "Ram Air" effect.

Overall i'm pleased - The VRS now seems to want to pull at higher revs in higher gears.

Even with a boot full of stuff i clocked 3 figures overtaking with ease and had another cog to go yet!

So for the £44 it cost me inc delivery I was pleased.

Next up = New Filter

Steve

I've found mine pushes right up against the battery cover catch, which isn't a real problem, but a bit of a PITA. Could be the cable for the Dragon box getting in the way there, though...

The biggest difference is definitely at higher revs...

For me it was able to rev higher than 4k rpm

I used black electrical tape wrapped very tightly to seal the join between the trumpet and the hose as it's hard to see it's even there till you look close up.

The intake also touches one of the hoses just next to the engine so have wrapped some tape around that too so it rubs the tape and not the hose as it's a known issue and eventually can even cause the hose to leak.

Cheers

Dave.

As Wavey, I've wrapped the hose after reading about a guy on here having one wear through.

Cheers folks!

I know where the mentioned hose is so I may pop some tape on just incase

Not taken mine over 4k yet :lol:

Going to give it a good going through when I get paid.

I want to change the oil as the stuff the dealers put in was **** and then run some Millers through.

Thought about measuring up the exhaust for fabricating a decat pipe?

I know a friendly mechanic/ metal worker who made me some up for the Proton GTi forum and they only worked out at £40 each!

Would a decat help with my search for power or should I just wait and save for the full exhaust system?

My plan is to get as many bits done BEFORE the remap so that they can taylor the map to the mods and get the best out of them

Steve

Personally i think the placebo kicks in about 4k

Not done it myself, but I read on here that a decat puts a lot of strain on the OE turbo and it's better to do it along with a turbo upgrade and remap for best and safest results.

Personally i think the placebo kicks in about 4k

Nope, it really does free up the top end of the rev range, certainly on a mapped car.

Benefit is still negligibe though, but definitely noticeable.

Benefit is still negligibe though, but definitely noticeable.

neg·li·gi·ble /ˈnɛglɪdʒəbəl/ Pronunciation[neg-li-juh-buhl]

–adjective. So small, trifling, or unimportant that it may safely be neglected or disregarded

no·tice·a·ble /ˈnoʊtɪsəbəl/ Pronunciation[noh-ti-suh-buhl] P

–adjective

1. attracting notice or attention; capable of being noticed:

2. worthy or deserving of notice or attention; noteworthy.

I am so glad you cleared that up

All the the PD160 intake does it make it smoke less. I have just gone back to a standard intake and thats all the difference is and I have done 50k in mine in various states of tune. It's noticable on a remaped car, but negligible on a standard car.

See what I did there

Do you want to sell me your PD160 pipe then? PM me if so.

Personally i think the placebo kicks in about 4k

Exactly why I have resisted doing it, some say it does make a difference, some say not......so why:confused: If something is that debateable, its not worth doing.....in my opinion of course:rolleyes:

Nope, it really does free up the top end of the rev range, certainly on a mapped car.

Benefit is still negligibe though, but definitely noticeable.

I disagree, there may be a cleanness benefit, but didnt find it in the slightest bit noticable!

But your Nope seemed so firm i MUST be wrong!

Do you want to sell me your PD160 pipe then? PM me if so.

No, I wouldn't want to waste your time

No, I wouldn't want to waste your time

:really:

Right. Quick lesson on diesel combustion. And then a load of wild speculation.

Actually, before I go on, my PD160 intake was purchased for smoke reduction reasons with my Dragon box more than performance... :P

Anyway. Diesel engines run about 50% lean of stoichiometric (the 'optimum' fuel:air ratio), which is one of the reasons they're more efficient than petrol engine cars. Therefore, as they already use excess air, adding more air won't make a difference to the combustion efficiency, as it would on a petrol car (although it should make the combustion cleaner).

There is, however, one factor which may make a difference, which is that more air going into the airbox ought to mean more air going into the engine, which will be detected by the MAF. Just as the engine will run better on a cold, crisp day, therefore, the MAF may play with the timing and/or fuelling to take advantage of the greater mass flowrate of air entering the engine, and this would be especially marked at higher revs when the engine needs a higher flowrate. Therefore, the claims about revving better above 4k may in fact be true...

Me? I don't know. I tried the Dragon box before my PD160 intake arrived, and the car went faster and the engine revved better for sure, but smoked like a bee-hatch. With it, the car (still) goes faster, but doesn't smoke too badly at all. Mind you, it has had a full service in-between, which might have just as much to do with it!

On a different note, as they're £75 quid now, I'm not sure the term 'pikey mod' really applies any more! :rubchin:

Right. Quick lesson on diesel combustion. And then a load of wild speculation.

Actually, before I go on, my PD160 intake was purchased for smoke reduction reasons with my Dragon box more than performance... :P

Anyway. Diesel engines run about 50% lean of stoichiometric (the 'optimum' fuel:air ratio), which is one of the reasons they're more efficient than petrol engine cars. Therefore, as they already use excess air, adding more air won't make a difference to the combustion efficiency, as it would on a petrol car (although it should make the combustion cleaner).

There is, however, one factor which may make a difference, which is that more air going into the airbox ought to mean more air going into the engine, which will be detected by the MAF. Just as the engine will run better on a cold, crisp day, therefore, the MAF may play with the timing and/or fuelling to take advantage of the greater mass flowrate of air entering the engine, and this would be especially marked at higher revs when the engine needs a higher flowrate. Therefore, the claims about revving better above 4k may in fact be true...

Me? I don't know. I tried the Dragon box before my PD160 intake arrived, and the car went faster and the engine revved better for sure, but smoked like a bee-hatch. With it, the car (still) goes faster, but doesn't smoke too badly at all. Mind you, it has had a full service in-between, which might have just as much to do with it!

On a different note, as they're £75 quid now, I'm not sure the term 'pikey mod' really applies any more! :rubchin:

Nice bit of info there

Well i'm happy with the £44 I spent on it and feel it has made a difference to my car.

I'm happy with it and thats the main - it cant do any harm having a little more air in there!

Steve

Therefore, as they already use excess air, adding more air won't make a difference to the combustion efficiency, as it would on a petrol car (although it should make the combustion cleaner).

Bit confused by that last comment - if the combustion is already taking place in excess air, how can it be made cleaner by adding more air (as surely it should burn completely as it is?). It's probably something I've missed too, but while I'm being a thicko, can you also explain why diesels smoke if they always burn in excess air?

Chris

My understanding is that the reason diesels are smoky (or DPM-y, really) is down to the means of ignition rather than the efficiency of the combustion. As I guess you know, a petrol engine draws in both air and fuel on the induction stroke, compressed both on the compression stroke, ignites the mixture with a spark, leading to the expansion and exhaust strokes...

Because a diesel engine injects the fuel into a nearly-fully-compressed cylinder of air, it doesn't have the advantage of having the whole expansion and compression stroke to increase the homogenity of the air/fuel mixture. Therefore, there is much more reliance on the effectiveness of the injector in atomising the fuel in order to allow good mixing. Because a diesel engine therefore burns lots of fuel droplets rather than a nice fuel/air mixture, the droplets can't always burn completely in the time available, thus creating the soot / DPM. As such, it's not that there isn't sufficient oxygen available 'on paper', it's just that there isn't enough time for the relatively-coarse diesel droplets to burn completely.

As far as I can tell, the PD160 intake helps this as a by-product of the fact that diesel engines have no throttle as such, and just take in however much air is available on each induction stroke. By allowing more air into the air box, and thus into the engine, more air enters the cylinder on each induction stroke, which will mean that there is a higher air density at the point where the fuel is injected. AIUI, this will aid the atomisation of the fuel upon injection, and thus reduce the creation of soot / DPM. I suppose this is more efficient as well as cleaner, as a greater mass of the fuel has been fully oxidised rather than just 'charred' (hence less soot / DPM), so maybe I'm not right in saying it's less efficient. What I was getting at was that it's not really possible for an intake alone to give you any significant power hike...

[Prepares for flaming from someone who knows more about this than I do...] :sofahide:

Well I've learned something, Thanks!

One question - if there's no throttle as such, how is the engine controlled and stopped from overrunning? Is it purely by controlling the amount of fuel injected? If so how is turbo boost controlled or is it simply a passive process?

"turbo boost" I'm KnightRider me!

:ne_nau: on the over-running - presumably it's like you say. I seem to remember someone suffering an over-running fault (something to do with the fuel pump not shutting off IIRC), and I think all that could be done was to deliberatly stall the engine... :eek:

As for the turbo boost, a simple turbo is completely passive. The exhaust turns the rotor, which is on the same shaft as the compressor, which compresses the inlet air. With variable geometry turbos, it's a bit more complicated, and controlled by the ECU. This is why a remap can increase your boost levels, whereas a tuning box / PRoD can't!

HTH

Wow, a lot of handy info there mate, cheers for the heads up

I fitted my PD160 intake on Saturday morning.

I was really impressed with the fit - It only took me 5 mins to do and it doesn't catch or rub agains anything.

I, Like Joel, Used a cable tie to hold the neck to the trumpet more securely, just to make sure its going nowhere!

VERDICT:

Well as I haven't changed the filter yet its not a really noticable mod but it is noticable at higher speeds in higher gears. I'm assuming this is more to do with the "Ram Air" effect.

Overall i'm pleased - The VRS now seems to want to pull at higher revs in higher gears.

Even with a boot full of stuff i clocked 3 figures overtaking with ease and had another cog to go yet!

So for the £44 it cost me inc delivery I was pleased.

Next up = New Filter

Steve

Hi there,

I could be tempted at £44 incl dely - up here it's almost +£20 on that price. Which supplier?

Thanks, in advance.

Hi there,

I could be tempted at £44 incl dely - up here it's almost +£20 on that price. Which supplier?

Thanks, in advance.

I got mine for £44 incl delivery/vat from vag parts a few weeks ago but i think they've increased the price now due to SEAT's price hike, i think everywere selling them for £70+

Unless you get a used one:thumbup: