Monday I ventured up 70 miles to Pro-Alloy to get my intercooler fitted and Forge Throttle body pipe.
First off I they gave me a tour of the workshop and build/design processes. I didnt actually realise what they did from a motorsport perspective. Basically they have their fingers in a lot of pies, but some big recent jobs have been with Ford, building the upgraded IC for the ST that is now being installed by Ford at the factory when the customer upgrades the IC (its a build option) and they also do the Focus RS IC. Other than that they work on a lot of Lotus kits, Vauxhall, Ford, VW etc.... They also do fuel tanks and catch cans etc. There was some Noble and Jag pieces about too. Everything else was special pieces for customers. Ive got to say I was impressed with the quality of the work.
Here is the kit:
I then got to see the build of my IC, they took me through the design and how they got to that being the better option. Basically, they believed the Audi OEM design was good (size etc) but the flow was poor with large areas of turbulence. They wanted to keep it quite stealth so they have only made the actual IC a little larger, and 1cm thicker with larger a surface area and the core is much bigger, they showed me how and at the time it all made sense. Everything about the IC build was top dog! Despite the fact it will never be seen behind the bumper, it looks great, every weld is perfect and finished off really well with a brushed alloy finish.
Down to the install, I left the car there and headed off to town for some lunch and a walk about. They basically needed to perfect the install notes from the initial install on Tobys.
Everything went to plan and the car was ready at 4pm, they have changed the throttle body pipe for me too. The air con gas was back in and I took the car for a quick drive. It felt a little different, wasnt sure what but I didnt give it big beans! So I got back, we checked the water levels etc and everything was good, So I left and went on my way
.
First thing I noticed, the car seemed to idle better and when slowing down it coasted better whilst in gear, a lot smoother and easier, like when you have the car mapped. As I got to the motorway and pulling on I slowed and dropped it into 4th and hoofed it! The best way of explaining it is, where before the torque band used to be at the max mid 3.5K it now starts building boost sooner by about 300rpm and holds on to that a lot further up the rev range very strong, (probably increased the big surge by about or mare than 500rpm). The restriction after that initial sure has reduced and the torque band is a little more aggressive, a lot stronger further up the rev range as well as down below. Now Im not sure what the IC has done or the throttle body pipe, but whatever it is, its been well worth it! To top it all off, the car feels a lot more aerodynamic, I know that sounds silly, but thats exactly how it feels. Well impressed with the transformation!
Im going to run some data logs at some point and let you know the temp differences. Not stuck it on the dyno yet, Id quite like to as I have done so throughout the tuning process, so watch this space, but on the road it feels very lively!
Only bad thing.... Although it hasnt slipped yet, my clutch is starting to feel a little sloppy....
It may just be me but well have to see how it goes!
First off I they gave me a tour of the workshop and build/design processes. I didnt actually realise what they did from a motorsport perspective. Basically they have their fingers in a lot of pies, but some big recent jobs have been with Ford, building the upgraded IC for the ST that is now being installed by Ford at the factory when the customer upgrades the IC (its a build option) and they also do the Focus RS IC. Other than that they work on a lot of Lotus kits, Vauxhall, Ford, VW etc.... They also do fuel tanks and catch cans etc. There was some Noble and Jag pieces about too. Everything else was special pieces for customers. Ive got to say I was impressed with the quality of the work.
Here is the kit:
I then got to see the build of my IC, they took me through the design and how they got to that being the better option. Basically, they believed the Audi OEM design was good (size etc) but the flow was poor with large areas of turbulence. They wanted to keep it quite stealth so they have only made the actual IC a little larger, and 1cm thicker with larger a surface area and the core is much bigger, they showed me how and at the time it all made sense. Everything about the IC build was top dog! Despite the fact it will never be seen behind the bumper, it looks great, every weld is perfect and finished off really well with a brushed alloy finish.
Down to the install, I left the car there and headed off to town for some lunch and a walk about. They basically needed to perfect the install notes from the initial install on Tobys.
Everything went to plan and the car was ready at 4pm, they have changed the throttle body pipe for me too. The air con gas was back in and I took the car for a quick drive. It felt a little different, wasnt sure what but I didnt give it big beans! So I got back, we checked the water levels etc and everything was good, So I left and went on my way
.First thing I noticed, the car seemed to idle better and when slowing down it coasted better whilst in gear, a lot smoother and easier, like when you have the car mapped. As I got to the motorway and pulling on I slowed and dropped it into 4th and hoofed it! The best way of explaining it is, where before the torque band used to be at the max mid 3.5K it now starts building boost sooner by about 300rpm and holds on to that a lot further up the rev range very strong, (probably increased the big surge by about or mare than 500rpm). The restriction after that initial sure has reduced and the torque band is a little more aggressive, a lot stronger further up the rev range as well as down below. Now Im not sure what the IC has done or the throttle body pipe, but whatever it is, its been well worth it! To top it all off, the car feels a lot more aerodynamic, I know that sounds silly, but thats exactly how it feels. Well impressed with the transformation!
Im going to run some data logs at some point and let you know the temp differences. Not stuck it on the dyno yet, Id quite like to as I have done so throughout the tuning process, so watch this space, but on the road it feels very lively!
Only bad thing.... Although it hasnt slipped yet, my clutch is starting to feel a little sloppy....
It may just be me but well have to see how it goes!
