Originally Posted by The Toy
I know the intercooler is needed, I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't, I'm just not to sure if we would see more hp from a better cooling system. I hope that you will be able to put something together that will improve the cooling and find a few "free" or "lost" ponies along the way. I still think the biggest benefit would be keeping the hp we already have when the engine is run hard.
I have a TDI Jetta, and it has a major heat soak problem with the factory intercooler. With it having bigger injectors and chipped it takes nothing at all to heat soak it and feel a power loss. I just haven't wanted to spend the $1,000 for a FMIC or to upgrade the side mount intercooler. The ones that have upgraded didn't see any power gains, they just didn't have anymore heat soak and power loss.
If you can find a way to better this factory system and gain a few ponies, I know you'll have everyone's attention here. Good luck and please keep us informed.
http://forums.mbworld.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=164163
Here is a Mercedes forum where an owner of a C32 did what I was talking about (I guess I wasn't the first one to think of this possibility). It was pretty thorough but he neglected to have the car dynoed before and after. The air intake temp records where promising though. I believe they (the cooler temps) should be worth some power.