aFe Power Charge Pipe Flow Test – Part 2

Background:

The aFe Power charge pipe kit is a replacement for the Mk7 charge pipes that connect the turbocharger to the intercooler, and the intercooler to the intake manifold.

From the manufacturer:

Directly replace your VW’s restrictive plastic intercooler tubes with aFe’s BladeRunner free-flowing, heat-resistant aluminum tubes.

aFe Power

Previously the aFe Power charges pipes were tested using an inlet hose that joins to the stock Turbo Muffler. aFe offers a Turbo Muffler Delete (TMD) as an option for this kit.

For this test, the hose that is slightly larger for attachment to the aFe TMD is being used.

A bellmouth is placed inside this hose instead of the turbo muffler delete. Because the hose has a slightly larger opening it is expected that the flow rate through the charge piping should be slightly greater than when using the smaller diameter stock-size hose.

Test Procedure:

Two configurations of the charge piping will be tested.

The pipe and hoses that connect the turbocharger compressor outlet to the intercooler inlet will be tested first. An adapter for the aFe intercooler hose connects the piping to the flow bench.

Next, all of the aFe Power piping is joined using a short straight silicone coupler in place of the GTI intercooler. This configuration is attached to the flow bench using an adapter that fits with the aFe Power silicone hose that attaches to the GTI throttle body.

The silicone hose between the aFe Power IC hoses is used to eliminate the influence of the intercooler on the flow rate measurement.

All flow testing is conducted at a depression of 28″ of H2O.

Test Results:

The aFe Power turbo side charge pipe flows 419 CFM.

The full charge pipe setup flows 366 CFM.

The overall flow rate is compared with two other charge pipe products that have been tested similarly.

The three aftermarket options showed similar increases over the stock GTI charge pipes.

Note: The differences between the aftermarket charge pipes are negligible. Although there is a small difference in the flow rate measurements the contribution of the test apparatus factoring into these results cannot be discounted. There was an interval of months between products being tested. For example, the DBV2 test took place in late 2020 and the VTT testing took place in early 2022. Differences in how the silicone hoses were attached to the piping or placement of hose clamps can cause changes in the flow rate of a few CFM. For example, the separate aFe turbo charge pipe flow rate and throttle body charge pipe flow rates were both higher than the same DBV2 components, even though the combined flow rate of the DBV2 is greater than the aFe. The small difference in measured values cannot be attributed solely to the products.

Conclusion:

The aFe Power charges pipes for the Mk7 GTI were subject to a flow test.

The turbo to IC charge pipe flowed 419 CFM @ 28″ of H2O, a 52% increase versus the stock Mk7 GTI turbo side charge pipe.

The full aFe Power charge pipe setup as configured above flowed 366 CFM @ 28″ of H2O, a 35% increase over the stock GTI pipes.

Previously the throttle body charge pipe was flow tested and showed a 21% gain over the stock charge pipe.

The aFe Power charge pipes flowed similarly to other aftermarket charges pipes that have previously been tested in the manner described above.

References:

• aFe Power Mk7 charge pipes
• aFe Charge Pipe Flow Test – Part I