MST Performance supplied their Mk7 GTI Cold Air Intake System for testing. As with other intake systems that I have tested for the GTI this system was first placed on the flow bench for air flow measurement.
The turbo inlet elbow and intake hose are the same products that were evaluated during the TIP Ranking tests. This particular elbow is the v2 that has a slightly larger inside diameter at the outlet.
Setup:
The air filter housing has a removable cover that will be in place for this test.
The MST intake system is attached to the flow bench using an adapter that simulates the turbocharger compressor inlet.
Results:
The MST intake was tested at 28″ of H2O as have other intake systems that have been tested. The airflow measurement for the MST intake is shown on the chart along with other air intake systems that have been flow tested.
The MST intake produced the highest airflow reading of the intake systems that have been tested flowing 401 CFM, a 19% gain over the Mk7 GTI stock intake system.
thank you for the work on this!
At this point, do you still believe that the Ultimate MK7 Air intake is the Mod intake + AFe & MST Hose/TIP?
For me, the extra $$$ for the full MST intake may not be worth it unless people want the additional sounds from the full intake.
Otherwise…Thank you for all your work. I’ve enjoyed following your blog.
When I wrote that title I was thinking of cost to performance. It’s tough to beat the modified stock intake on the basis of value. For the most part they all do well and to an extent the cost differences aren’t all that great. I recommend sticking with your own criteria and just use the data as one input for your decision.
Good info! I imagine the temperature tests are next. But do you still do them when it’s cold outside? Or do you prefer to wait until the heat returns for a “seasonal” test? Keep up the good work!
Thanks! Yes, I was planning on conducting the temperature evaluation next but it’s looking like I will need to wait, it’s quite a bit cooler now than when I measured the other intakes.
It doesn’t appear that the MST Hose/TIP are available separately from the full kit. I imagine you just tested what you had on hand. Is it reasonable conclude that a modified stock air box, AFe, and a TIP w/silicone hose from elsewhere would yield similar results to you Ultimate Mk7 Air Intake? Thanks!
The hose and TIP are available without the rest of the airbox.
https://www.mst-performance.com/products/vw-mk710v2
I’ve tested with a more typical inlet elbow and the APR CF intake pipe and it flowed a little less, but close.
Hello, many thanks for your amazing work on all parts.
We are many to read you from France.
I am asking about the two square holes we can see on pictures.
the first near the entry of the box and the second on the underside.
do you think these holes improve the airflow?
If this improve the airflow, this generate certainly a aspiration in the engine compartment isn’t? so hot air suction.
Thanks for your light on this item
Regards
Damien
Hey Damien, the holes may help a little. Since they are smaller they would not be the primary source for air into the airbox. I have plans to test the MST airbox for temperature performance once the weather becomes warmer.
could you please try to contact moutune52 for a test?
A lot of people saying their intake is better then wr600…
https://www.mountune52.com/products/x3-intake
I’ll ask.
Thanks
Looks similar to the R600 intake other than the additional vents on the cover and the supplied massive cotton filter (although VWR is now offering that as an option). Price is competitive to other intakes plus it appears that it comes with a new silicon coolant line to run under the intake. You would have to pay extra for that on the R600. Would be nice to see results if you pair this with the higher flowing turbo inlets/hose.
The X3 is almost identical to the R600 from what I can tell. I very much doubt there is any significant difference between the two if each was equipped with the cotton filter. I used the message form to inquire about testing the X3, waiting for an answer back.
Which one do you prefer? Cotton or sponge?
I’m more comfortable with the idea of using cotton due to how common it is. Other than that I don’t have any good reason to prefer one to the other.
well Racingline itself is saying sponge offers more air flow but it requires a lot more maintenance
Do they quantify how much more? That isn’t a surprise, I wonder though if the difference is significant or not.
Not a big difference while new, the gap increase on using
I am genuinely impressed. I’ve seriously been reading your pages for the past hour at least. I’m in complete awe. Nice work
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! Glad to hear you are finding the information on the site useful.
After a week I’ve not received a response from mountune52 about my request to test the X3 intake.
Did you had the chance to test the forget intake system with mst tip / hose?
That combination was not one that I tried testing.
Your general opinion on forge intake?
I like the design, large openings at the front and smooth transitions to the filter and outlet. I didn’t use it on my GTI so I can’t comment on how it fits. It looks nice.
Thanks again
Hi Jeff, kudos to all your work! I have three questions:
1) Some intake systems suck in air directly from within the engine bay; others are connected to the grill and suck in the air from outside (e.g. APR). And according to APR’s advertisement (https://www.goapr.com/products/intake_ea888_gen3_mqb.html, under “pressure” and “Temp” tab), outside air is higher pressure and cooler than air inside of engine bay. Do you think this difference will affect the intake performance in real world, and why?
2) Will mods over stock intake system actually improve performance for stock power? What about for stage 1 ECU tune?
3) Are there posts available on what you’ve actually moded to your own GTI? I don’t see such post here.
Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback!
1) I took measurements of the air temperature going into the turbo with a variety of intakes and there is a slight increase with the open style intakes during routine driving. I haven’t measured temps when under heavy acceleration, which would be the time you’d really care about. Based on the relatively small difference in intakes, compared to how much the turbo heats the air and the IC cools it, it’s unlikely you’d notice a performance difference. It’s still on my to-do list to try and compare the airbox types under heavy acceleration. As for the air pressure, I tried measuring that as well and with my test there was a tiny increase in air pressure at the inlet, but it was minuscule compared to the vacuum at the entry to the turbo pulling air in.
2) The majority of the flow test comparisons show how much resistance one part causes to airflow compared to another. These differences will grow at higher airflows, and decrease at lower airflows. It’s not been often that there is a large difference between a stock part and an aftermarket part, and you need a large difference to reach a level that is noticeable to a driver. So you need a part that starts with a large difference and then to operate at a high airflow. The stock inlet elbow is a part that seems worthy of changing out.
3) I haven’t made a post with what I’ve done with it, I probably ought to, but I’m changing out parts routinely.
Thank you for this informative answer! Do you have plans to do similar flow test for DP + catback combo?
I don’t have plans to, but that could change. I’ve got my stock DP in storage so that would be easy to test, beyond that it gets complicated and getting exhaust parts is not as easy as some of the smaller stuff.
Which DP are you running on? :]
I have a CTS downpipe with catalytic converter. I purchased my GTI used and the previous owner had installed the exhaust parts.