Background:
The Integrated Engineering V2 intercooler replaces the V1 for the Mk7 GTI / Golf R. Bench testing has been performed to evaluate pressure drop and cooling efficiency, now with the V2 intercooler installed on my GTI street operating performance data can be measured.
Test Procedure:
Data is recorded continuously during a drive that includes several periods of full throttle acceleration. The acceleration takes place in third gear, starting around 2,500 RPM and continuing until around 6,500 RPM. Air temperatures of interest are the outside air, at the turbocharger outlet, the intercooler outlet, and the intake manifold. Pressures of interest are of the air at the compressor outlet and the intake manifold.
Test Results:
An overview of all temperature readings along with boost pressure and vehicle speed for V2 are shown on the next chart:
The next charts focus in on the period of time during the drive when the 3rd gear pulls were conducted. Noted on the chart is the IAT above ambient temperature at 6,000 RPM.
Note: The steady rise of IAT delta during successive pulls is evidence of heat soaking.
The next chart shows Version 1 intercooler data under similar (but not exactly the same) conditions:
Pulling the IAT rise data for each of these intercoolers to compare requires eliminating some of the data points collected using V2 to make a fair comparison. The V2 was subjected to a higher number of pulls in series which the data shows leads to a higher outlet air temperature. Of a total of twelve observations three were discarded to produce a comparison under more similar conditions. The results of a t-test performed on the data indicates there is not sufficient evidence to believe the V1 and V2 intercoolers perform significantly differently on this test. Temperature rise data (degF over ambient) from this comparison is contained in the table:
Measure of the pressure difference between the turbocharger compressor outlet and the intake manifold (pressure drop in psi) is shown on the next chart. V1 is blue and V2 is red.
Bench airflow and operating pressure drop for all tested intercoolers is shown on the next chart:
Overall intercooler standings based on flowbench airflow and 3rd gear temperature rise is contained in the next chart:
Conclusions:
Overall the difference in performance between the V1 and V2 is not large.
The V2 has a decent increase in airflow over V1 that translates to about a 1.2 psi maximum difference in pressure drop in the tested operating conditions.
The V1 has a slight edge in the street cooling numbers, but they are close enough that the conditions come into play.
Guessing as to why the V1 seems to cool slightly better; 1) it could be the conditions while recording the data. The recovery time between pulls was not controlled down to seconds. 2) It may relate to the small advantage the V1 showed on the bench cooling efficiency test. V1 seems to be a little more efficient at offloading heat from the core.
The performance edge goes to the V2, but the additional half an inch of core depth is not inconsequential in terms of the affect on engine compartment real estate.
Note: Conditions when testing these intercoolers can significantly affect the results. Time under load is a significant factor and this test subjected the intercoolers to 3-5 seconds of continuous load, time enough to accelerate from 25-30 mph up to ~90 mph.
Will you please also try wagner intercooler in the future?
Hi, it will depend upon how easily one is made available for testing. I don’t have plans to purchase one to test.
I contacted Wagner and they declined to make an intercooler available for testing.
Please do a comparison between IE V2 and do88 intercoolers🙂
Hopefully the charts on this page give some idea about how they compare.
Hi Jeff. Any differences in the two as far as ease of installation?
Nothing that stood out, they both installed without any problem for me.
Great, thanks you!
You wouldn’t happen to have the manual for the V1 by chance? Contacted IE and they literally removed if their system….
Nevermind, I found it. After a ton of digging….. https://pbie.s3.amazonaws.com/guides/IETPCI1%20INSTALL%20GUIDE.pdf
Hey Jeff, wanted to say I greatly appreciate your site! I had gone through countless forums and websites trying to determine the best intercooler options for my MK7.5 and your data by far is the best and most in-depth that I’ve come across so far. I ultimately decided on getting the IEv2 which I’m actually getting installed this Friday so definitely can’t wait to see the results! Do you still have the IEv1 installed on your car considering the negligible gains or did you go with the IEv2?
Hey Caleb, thanks for that feedback. I don’t have either IE installed as I went back to stock to test the ARM FMIC. I probably would choose the v1 only due to being less thick and that makes it easier to fit other parts around it, switching things out as much as I have been I value ease of install. I couldn’t fit the ARM FMIC with the IEV2 installed.
Yeah based off your assessment I probably would’ve gone with v1 but couldn’t get my hands on one and IE is thin on v2 already so I was lucky to get that lol. So being the differences are minimal I’ll ride with the v2 for now since it’s a huge improvement over the stock IC. Got any recommendations for CAI that would pair well? I saw that APR put out the new Open Carbon Fiber Intake which sounds and looks great but there hasn’t been much data put out there since I think it just dropped in October.
Based on the numbers that APR posts it looks like their open intake would perform on par with a modified stock intake. If they did a good job with the partition it probably doesn’t have any issue with ingesting too much engine compartment air.
It’s Black Friday weekend I been looking to finally purchase an intercooler.
DO88 – $625.36
IE v2 – $809.99
APR – $809.96
UNI – $699.99
Im going IS38 Spring of 2021.
Also plan to purchase the Majesty ebay FMIC.
DO88 seems to be best bang for buck. Don’t know about fitment and your the only person I can find with info running this intercooler. The lack of info and people running this on GTI makes me want to stick with known brands. I wonder about fitment and long-term reliability. Company is outside if US.
IE v2 – seems to be best performing intercooler but at the highest price. Everyone says good things about the customer service which is a +. I would feel a bit more secure if something happens I can contact IE and get an answer possibly same day. Also more people have this intercooler which makes me feel safer in its reliability.
If you were to do weekend track runs? Would you run DO88 or IE?
If the track is a road course I’d choose the do88, if the track is a drag strip I’d choose the IE.
I didn’t have any problems with installing either of them. I’ve been in contact with IE and do88 about their products and both companies responded satisfactorily. Given the setup description you gave I don’t think you’ll go wrong with any of the options you list.