My Experience Installing VRSF 7.5" Race Intercooler (with log results)

[suspenceful]

I ordered a VRSF 7.5" Race intercooler to help cool things down a bit. At high boost, these MMP Stage 3 turbos really heat things up and I was starting to see some really bad heat soak.

It came with new couplers, t-bolt clamps, and the lower hard pipe upgrade. Luckily, I already had my hard pipe upgrade installed with couplers from my previous VRSF intercooler. I left them all in place to save time and was able to just swap out intercoolers after trimming plastic to fit the larger intercooler. I kept the new supplied hardware to sell with my previous intercooler.

Let's first compare intercoolers. Stock vs. standard VRSF 7" vs. VRSF 7.5" Race intercooler.

Definitely larger and definitely heavier. Let's take a closer look at the fin density and cooling bar size.

Standard VRSF 7" intercooler:

New VRSF 7.5" Race intercooler:

Much better now let's get this thing in the car!

It required A LOT of cutting and trimming. Seriously.

I thought this would be enough, but I was wrong. I had to cut even more before I could stuff this intercooler up in there. At least I was combating the weight of the heavier intercooler by removing tons of plastic, right?

Now that it's in, does it work?

My previous intercooler saw a 54° rise in intake temperature during a 28psi 60-130mph pull. The new intercooler only rose 5° during a similar pull with similar ambient temp. See light blue line on my logs.

Before:

After:

Overall, very happy with the results! I'd highly recommend the VRSF 7.5" Race intercooler to anyone looking to cool things down a bit. Aside from the trimming, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't choose this intercooler over their other options.

 

[doublespaces]

Nice!

 

[Edson]

Does it still only bolt up with the 2 screws in the bottom and the couplers?

 

[335i_lou]

^^^ that's a good question. At nearly double the weight... is it all just hanging on by those screws and how tight you can get the clamps?

 

[longnvu]

Yes its only held by those two bolts, they supply new bolts with the intercooler that will get the job done.

 

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

Great post!

 

[suspenceful]

Does it still only bolt up with the 2 screws in the bottom and the couplers?

^^^ that's a good question. At nearly double the weight... is it all just hanging on by those screws and how tight you can get the clamps?

Yes its only held by those two bolts, they supply new bolts with the intercooler that will get the job done.

Yeah, it's still just mounted with those two bolts. @longnvu is correct, the kit comes with two heavy duty screws that can be used. It's heavy, but sturdy. I don't expect it to go anywhere, especially with the piping clamped on. I have my clamps very tight.

Great post!

Thanks Chris!