More and colder air to the turbo.

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Everyone that know me, knows that when I start to play with my cars I can’t stop. It is like a drug to me. I had the Superchips Stage 2 software on my Golf 5 GTI. The software states it is a requirement to run a aftermarket intake. The intakes go under many names, dome just call it a aftermarket intake, some call it a Cold air intake. In the end it does not matter what it is called but more about what it does.

On the Golf 5 GTI the intake is built into the engine cover. The engine cover houses the Filter box and MAF sensor that controls the fueling of the engine. The MAF sensor measures the amount of air moving through the intake and the ECU will fuel according to that. It is a more precise way of measuring engine load and is used more and more these days.

The standard intake/airbox is fine for standard power levels and up to a stage 1 tune, after that the intake becomes restrictive and robs power from you engine. On a Stage 2 tune it is not that much but a dyno will pick it up. Why through away power. I have been running the stage 2 tune without an intake for a few months now and the time has come to make a change.

What intake to get?

A friend of mine bought a K&N Typhoon cold air intake for his Golf 6 ED35. He was getting good power out of his Golf. The ED35 Golf is running the same motor as the Golf 6R, so it has a KO4 turbo on it. What was nice about the K&N kit, it was cheap. If you compare the K&N intake to other intakes it is good quality for its price. The other intakes are almost double the cost of the K&N intake.

So I went and bought the kit. I got home and it was not even an hour and the kit was fitted. The car sounded great. I could hear the turbo spool up. The car did not seem to have any issues. I could feel the extra power! This is a great mod. The car sounds allot more aggressive and just drives great. What is nice about the mods that are done on the Golf, none of them affect the driveability of the car. The car drives like a standard car but has the performance of a sports car.

Ran into a problem

I have had the intake on the car for about a week now. I just love it. On my way home from work one day I decided to push the car a bit harder than usual. I was in a playful mood. Suddenly I went cold as the car lost power. I thought something broke. I let go of the gas pedal and the car was still moving, I put my foot down again as the car did not sound funny. It was almost like there was no boost. The power was gone. I kept on driving for a few kilometers and tried to see if the boost was still gone. The car recovered and the boost was back.

There was not even a hint of a problem. When I for home I opened the bonnet and there were no issues that I could see. I went and ask Mr. Google. The only thing I could find is that people seem to have an issue with stage 2 tunes. If you are running a stage 2 tune on a KO3 turbo Golf the High-pressure fuel pump is on its limit. The higher revs are fine, it is the high boost low revs that is an issue. You may run into a problem every now and again where you will get a fuel cut under spirited driving. The ECU will cut all boost until it thinks it is safe to boost again.

So what now?

Over the next few days, I experienced the same thing again. It was a bit annoying but I had to live with this. The car was still fun to drive. I spend some time on Google and it turned out that it is not an issue related to the specific brand of tune but just the stage 2 KO3 tune in general.