Racingline R600 vs Blaze ATOM – Street Data

Background:

In the last post, the Racingline R600 intake was tested with an Epman turbo inlet elbow and the Mabotech 520h hybrid turbocharger. The Epman is a knockoff of the APR inlet elbow and is also designed for use with a stock turbocharger, as is the APR inlet elbow.

That post aimed to determine the hybrid turbo’s wastegate duty cycle when fitted with a stock-size inlet elbow.

The Epman elbow has been replaced by an MST V2 inlet elbow, designed for use with a hybrid turbocharger. In this post, a test of the Racingline intake with MST elbow is discussed, and the results are compared with those when using the Epman elbow and the results when using the Blaze ATOM Race V2 intake.

In this test, the Racingline intake is attached to the MST inlet hose and the MST V2 turbo inlet elbow. Other components used in this test are:

• Russell Road & Racing E30 Tune
• Mabotech M520h hybrid turbocharger
• aFe Power Charge Pipes
• Mabotech Stock Mount IC
• MPI / RS3 LPFP / HPA HPFP
• Baun Performance 4″ GESi Cat DP / 3.5 ” mid-pipe
• AWE track exhaust

A series of full-throttle pulls in third gear will be made to record engine and vehicle performance data while the MST V2 TIP is installed.

Test Results:

The overview of the data collection session is shown below:

The outside air temperature for the session is shown compared with the Epman data collection session:

There is no significant difference in the outside air temperature between the sessions.

The intake air temperature for each session is shown below:

There is no significant difference in the IAT between sessions.

The average boost curve using each of the TIPs with the R600 intake is shown next:

When the R600 intake is paired with the MST V2 hybrid elbow, the boost curve does not drop at the top end.

The turbocharger wastegate duty cycle is shown next:

The use of the hybrid-appropriate MST V2 TIP corresponds with a substantial drop in the wastegate duty cycle.

Blaze ATOM Race comparison:

The following comparison compares the Racingline R600 intake paired with the MST V2 hybrid TIP with the Blaze ATOM Race intake.

The boost curves are shown below:

No significant difference exists in the boost curves using the Racingline or Blaze ATOM intakes.

Next, the wastegate duty cycles are compared:

Again, there is no significant difference between the Racingline R600 and Blaze ATOM Race intakes.

EQT Spin Analysis:

Previously, I reviewed an advertising post from Matt Ferreira of Equilibrium Tuning, where Matt misrepresented a comparison between the Blaze ATOM Race intake and the Racingline R600 intake with APR TIP.

In this post by EQT, they fail to disclose that the R600 intake was paired with an APR TIP, made for a stock turbo, when they made a comparison using a hybrid turbocharger.

Matt foolishly dismisses flow test data showing that the Blaze ATOM and Racingline R600 flow similarly when paired with a hybrid-appropriate TIP/flange. Or perhaps Matt is intentionally misleading consumers about the causal factor of the difference observed.

Whether due to ignorance or malice, Matt from EQT erroneously implies that the Blaze ATOM Race intake his employer sells is superior to the Racingline R600 intake.

Conclusion:

The Racingline R600 intake is fitted with an MST V2 hybrid turbo inlet elbow and installed on a hybrid-turbo-equipped Mk7 GTI to measure engine and turbo performance data on the street and compare it with an R600 using Epman TIP and Blaze ATOM Race intake.

Holding the intake constant and swapping between TIPs significantly changes the wastegate duty cycle and the boost pressure curve.

Using a hybrid turbo TIP with the R600 produces nearly indistinguishable results from those using the Blaze ATOM Race intake.

Equilibrium Tuning made a similar comparison and incorrectly concluded that the Blaze ATOM Race intake significantly outperforms the Racingline R600 intake.

Equilibrium Tuning failed to account for or disclose the significant contribution caused by a mismatched turbocharger and turbo inlet elbow, either engaging in deceptive advertising or making a gross error in its analysis.

The evidence recorded during this street comparison and prior bench testing shows that the Racingline R600 intake and Blaze ATOM Race intake perform very similarly when paired with a hybrid turbo adapter (TIP/flange) installed on a hybrid turbocharger.

References:

• Racingline R600 product page
• Mabotech M520h turbocharger
• Blaze ATOM Race product page
• Equilibrium Tuning claim analysis