Induction kit

[Dionbutton1892]

Has anyone installed a induction kit on a gti, and if so how easy is it

[steeve]

I'm never sure why any one would fit an induction kit, other than for the noise.
They actually reduce engine power by a significant percentage. The manufacturer goes to great lengths and expense to fit an intake that takes in cool air from ouside the engine bay. If it was better they'd go the cheaper induction kit way.
To have a better more dense charge you need to take in cool air, hence the reason for intercoolers. But to take in the hot air from the engine bay is just a stupid and ridiculous thing to do.
You could just fit a panel filter, but it wont make the slightest difference to performance unless you're going to heavily tune the car. Vehicle makes spec the standard intake to have spare capacity at the cleaners service interval, after market panel filters do not have the filtration capacity of the OEM filter.
Spend your money elsewhere.

[ryanponti]

Not all induction kits take warm air. It depends on what comes with the kit, some take an air feed route from lower down the engine bay in an open air flow, some use a heat shield and some such as the APR induction kit for the S3 have a mouth which connects to the front cold air feed.

It's not just about air feed, it's maintaining/improving air velocity as well.

Never have i noticed one reduce engine power by a "significant" percentage, the difference is negligible.

You will only see a larger gain when mapping with a Induction kit vs mapping with the standard system. In favor of the aftermarket.


Edit: or to of

[steeve]

An induction kit will (unless there's other significant changes, like a larger turbo) that sits under the bonnet with no specific cold air feed (which is most of them) will reduce peformance. Under bonnet temperatures can be ten or more degrees hotter than than ambient. Modern cars have a more or less sealed system of air into the engine bay, it improves cooling perfomance. The cooler the air to the intake the denser the charge.

Having worked for an OEM for forty years I can say with certainty that the stock air intake and OEM filter are designed to have more air flow capacity even at the required service interval than the engine needs. If significant changes are made to the engine that requires it to take in considerably more air then changes to the intake may well be needed. So just fitting a different air filtration method will have zero impact on engine performance.

But of course if it's your vehicle and you like the extra intake roar then go ahead. You'd be better off with a freerer flowing exhaust as due to legislation that is one area where improvements can be made.

[monkeyhanger]

^ Add to that- Unlike diesel engines, petrols don't run an excess of air - the air requirements are in stoichiometric ratio with the fuel input. A petrol engine won't make use of an abundance of air.

[Dionbutton1892]

Didn’t ask for a lecture, I simply asked a question which hasn’t been answered

[OomStu_ZA]

Is it possible you didnt receive the answer as expected?
You asked for an opinion and it was answered.
No, I have not installed induction kit myself and probably never will either.

[silverhairs]

Didn’t ask for a lecture, I simply asked a question which hasn’t been answered

From all the replies, you received, and I can say they covered the subject very well you have the pros and cons for the subject you asked.
It seems the answer is : Nobody has fitted one to their GTI

There's your answer

[The Random Dan]

I know this is an old post but I’d like to throw some pro’s into the mix

An induction kit on a standard car is indeed not really worth the time or money unless your just after the noise. However if your planning on mapping the engine then you’ll see a benefit, standard airboxes can be quite restrictive in design and you’ll need more air to go with the extra fuel being burnt. Also regarding intake temps, alot of high end induction kits are quite enclosed/shielded from the rest of the engine bay and either take air from the same place as a standard airbox or from lower down out of the engine bay area. This doesn’t really matter too much on turbocharged vehicles as the air has to then pass through a baking hot turbocharger so will get much hotter than the air in the engine bay, this is why intercoolers are so important as this is what makes the difference to the temperature of air entering the combustion chambers.

Standard airboxes are usually situated right next to or even sometimes ontop of the engine and have no protective heat reflecting shield around them so I doubt that a black plastic box offers any cooler induction than a big cone with a metal shield round it.

Just my opinion, and no I don’t have one fitted but I’m a vehicle technician at a main dealer and have tuned previous vehicles upto stage 3 in some cases so know abit about these things

[wayne10244]

You are better off fitting a upgraded panel filter as there been many test done on Induction filters kits and you don’t gain any performance gains

[The Random Dan]

You are better off fitting a upgraded panel filter as there been many test done on Induction filters kits and you don’t gain any performance gains

As I said it depends how far your going with tuning, if your going further than a stage 1 then there will come a point where the standard intake system will become restrictive and can’t get enough air in to meet demand of the engine.