Getting the GTI to breathe better!

By Clinton HulleyGolf 5 GTI Project Car
S3 Intercooler
Disclaimer

We may earn a commission when you use one of our coupons/links to make a purchase at no extra cost to you. Please support the site by using the links.

Till now I haven’t changed out big parts on the Golf 5 GTI. The car runs really well but you get used to the power very quickly. My one friend is driving a Golf 6 GTI Edition 35, he too likes to scratch around on the car. As standard, the Golf 6 GTI 35 Edition has the detuned Audi S3 engine and all the goodies of the S3 engine. My friend decided he wanted to upgrade his intercooler on his golf. The colder the intake charge the better for the engine, the more power you can make.


So what about his old intercooler

My friend asked me if I didn’t want to buy his S3\R\ED35 intercooler from him. I didn’t even think about it, I just did it.

The part number for S3 intercooler 1K0145803BP

I got the intercooler from him. Now it was just to fit it. There is a few step by step documents I could find on the internet. This was a 2 man job so I asked my friend to come and help me as he did his intercooler replacement as well. Always better to have someone around that has done it before. There isn’t much difference between the MK5 and the MK6 nose of the car.

The install

As there are so many documents on the install I am not going to do a step by step on this. I will just give you the main differences between the two intercoolers.

Standard Golf 5 Intercooler

One of the things I hate the most about the standard intercooler and boost pipe set up on the golf 5 GTI is the clip-in system. On the intercooler, they have the clip in pipes in the inlet and the outlet of the intercooler. There are another 2 clip-in points on the standard system. When the cars are new they work fine but as they get older they start to leak. The easiest way to see if they are leaking is to see if they are wet with oil underneath.


If they are wet with oil they are leaking boost. This means your turbo has to work harder to maintain a boost level. On the upgraded boost pipes kits, they usually get rid of most of the clip in joints.

The standard intercooler on the golf 5 GTI is very thin. For a standard GTI that is fine but as soon as you start running aftermarket software it is a good idea to go to the S3 intercooler. The S3 intercooler is a lot less restrictive than the standard one but also as it is thicker the core has a bigger surface area resulting in more cooling.

Standard Intercooler thickness
S3 Intercooler thickness

Only issue

The biggest issue with fitting the S3 intercooler is to cut the sleeves off the standard intercooler pipes. The S3 intercooler has hose tails on it so the pipes get fitted on with hose clamps. This is not a reversible modification unless you bought the S3 intercooler pipes to go with the S3 intercooler.

Cutting of sleeve on boost pipes.

When cutting the sleeves off the boost pipes be very careful not to cut into the rubber of the pipe. If you do cut into the pipe that can cause the pipe to burst under boost.


Good modification\Bad modification?

This is definitely a good modification. If your plan is to run stage 1 or 2 software this is a great modification. If you are planning to run stage 2+ or higher I would recommend going straight to an uprated intercooler. I will discuss the uprated intercoolers in a future post.

After fitting the S3 intercooler in my stage 2 Golf 5 GTI, the car felt more responsive and even on a hot day. On hot days the car used to feel a bit flat. With every modification I do to the Golf it just becomes more fun to drive. So what is next…


« | »


Ad Space B for rent


MyUS Shopping

eManualOnline

One thought on “Getting the GTI to breathe better!”

  1. Thank you for another informative site. Where else could I get that kind of information written in such a perfect way? I have a project that I am just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such great information like yours. Thanks!

Comments are closed.