Wagner Tuning Competition Intercooler

Wagner Intercooler Street Data

Overview:

The Wagner Tuning intercooler installed on the Mk7 GTI with an IS38 turbo produced an intake air temperature 14 degF above ambient at 6,000 RPM during a third gear WOT pull on the street.

Wagner Intercooler Street Data

Background:

The Wagner intercooler is the latest system to be subject in a series of tests that help me to assess relative ranking of the numerous intercooler options available for the Mk7 GTI.

Wagner Tuning Competition Intercooler
Wagner Tuning Competition Intercooler

Previously a flow test was conducted with the Wagner intercooler and the flow results ranked the product second of all the stock location intercoolers that have been tested.

This post addresses cooling performance when installed on the GTI.

Test Procedure:

This test involves a wide open throttle third gear pull that starts at approximately 2,000 rpm and continues past 6,000 rpm. The Intake Air Temperature (IAT) above ambient temperature (OAT) at 6,000 rpm is used for comparison with other intercooler products. A minimum of four data points are recorded to calculate an average temperature value.

New to this comparison is an evaluation of the intercooler outlet temperature (IC_Out) ten seconds after letting off the throttle. The IC_Out is recorded with an RTD sensor that is placed in the cold side charge pipe between the intercooler discharge and intake manifold throttle body.

Mk7 GTI Throttle Charge Pipe Temperature Sensor
Throttle Charge Pipe Temperature Sensor

Test Results:

The typical IAT profile during this test is shown on the chart:

Wagner Intercooler Temperature Curve
Wagner Intercooler Temperature Curve

A total of twelve (12) pulls were made over a period of multiple days which produced an average temperature delta of fourteen (14) degF above ambient at 6,000 rpm. This result is compared with the APR intercooler in the following chart:

Wagner vs APR IAT Delta
Wagner vs APR IAT Delta

Two of the Wagner pull series are shown on the next two charts:

Wagner IC Pulls
Wagner IC Pulls

Wagner IC Multiple Pulls
Wagner IC Multiple Pulls

The 10 second recovery data for the Wagner and APR intercoolers is shown on the next chart:

Wagner vs APR 10 Second Recovery
Wagner vs APR 10 Second Recovery

On average the Wager temperature is ~4 degF warmer than the APR temperature.

Combining the Wagner street data and flow bench airflow puts the Wagner versus other intercoolers as shown on the summary chart:

Wagner Tuning Competition Intercooler

Conclusions:

The Wagner Tuning intercooler produced a 14 degF intake air temperature above ambient on the third gear pull test. This is near the upper end of stock location aftermarket intercoolers that have been tested.

The 10 second recovery temperature was 11.4 degF compared to 7.1 degF for the APR intercooler.

Overall the Wagner intercooler performed similar to other stock location intercoolers and is a significant improvement over the stock GTI IC in the measures evaluated.

References:

Wagner Tuning product webpage

Wagner Intercooler flow test

13 thoughts on “Wagner Intercooler Street Data”

    1. If an opportunity to test something I was interested in came along I might, but I’m not looking to buy anything to test.

      1. Well I have an afe momentum air intake with the pro 5 r filter coming. If that sounds interesting you can let me know. I wouldn’t mind letting you borrow it for the testing.

        1. I don’t mind sticking it on the flow bench to find out how it performs. Airboxes are usually around $30 to ship, so $60 total in this case. Is the information worth the shipping costs?

          1. Sounds like it to me. Plus it would be a contribution to the VW performance world, and all the others like me that spend countless hours researching performance parts. The design seems to make sense to me but the only true way to know is to pay the price and see how good of a decision I made.

              1. Once I get it. I will. Thanks for the interest, and how do I get your email?

  1. Very nice indeed.
    Just waiting for the DO88 real trail test.
    Then i know witch to get. DO88/Wagner.

  2. Do you have a similar test for the Mishimoto intercooler? Seems like it did really well in the bench cooling test.

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