Let’s talk heat exchange upgrades... what makes a good one. What is the prevailing a

[wrcardon]

Let’s talk heat exchange upgrades... what makes a good one.

I have seen a couple different manufactures out there. Some replace the stock intercooler... some add to it.

I think I read that the SQ5 has some additional tiny cooling system as well. I really don’t know much about intercoolers and heat exchange at all.

What is the prevailing advise for B8.5?

[bajan01]

Let’s talk heat exchange upgrades... what makes a good one.

I have seen a couple different manufactures out there. Some replace the stock intercooler... some add to it.

I think I read that the SQ5 has some additional tiny cooling system as well. I really don’t know much about intercoolers and heat exchange at all.

What is the prevailing advise for B8.5?

I’m running an AMS heat-exchanger with reservoir on my 2016 SQ5. The AMS kit also has a booster pump on the reservoir. IATs are under control at my high pulley ratio (3.52). Yes I also have the smaller heat-exchanger from the factory which is left as is. I have also replaced my factory CWA50 supercharger cooling loop pump with a CWA100 pump but I wouldn’t worry about the pump for a mild tune.

[wrcardon]

I’m running an AMS heat-exchanger with reservoir on my 2016 SQ5. The AMS kit also has a booster pump on the reservoir. IATs are under control at my high pulley ratio (3.52). Yes I also have the smaller heat-exchanger from the factory which is left as is. I have also replaced my factory CWA50 supercharger cooling loop pump with a CWA100 pump but I wouldn’t worry about the pump for a mild tune.

[mowse]

I recently installed the AWE Cold Front system on my 2016 SQ5. I haven't finished yet, still need to install the 2nd reservoir and divorce the system. But as of right now I'm definitely loving it! My SQ5 seems a little more responsive, etc. I know it's not a major jump in numbers or anything by any means, but cooler IAT's is always a good thing. I do plan on upgrading my pump to the TDI CWA100 pump as well.

There are definitely cheaper options out there, yes. But I got the full AWE setup for a great price from a forum member, so I couldn't really complain. Where in SoCal are you located at?

[BG SQ5]

@wrcardon Increasing your water ratio in the s/c loop is the best bang-for-buck mod you can do to improve your cooling. I set the platform 1/4 mile record with just an additional small h/x (https://mercracing.net/shop/air-to-w...eat-exchanger/) added to the stock system and 90% water. What you need or will work best for you depends on your pulley ratio, the goal of the build/budget, your climate, intended use, etc...

TONS of info around h/x's and cooling in the B8 S4 forum though, and if you don't understand what bajan01 said, you should do some research and educate yourself on the topic.

[wrcardon]

Where in SoCal are you located at?

Northern San Diego coastal.

[wrcardon]

TONS of info around h/x's and cooling in the B8 S4 forum though, and if you don't understand what bajan01 said, you should do some research and educate yourself on the topic.

Thanks, I guess I should have thought of that. Will check there and get myself edumacated.

[bajan01]

TONS of info around h/x's and cooling in the B8 S4 forum though, and if you don't understand what bajan01 said, you should do some research and educate yourself on the topic.

Let me add that I’ve only been on this forum for a short time compared to others but I have to say that most of the information that I have learnt has come directly from the B8 S4 forum and also the “3.0tfsi 06E technical group” on Facebook. There’s tons of information out there so start reading.

I posted a DIY for the Q5/SQ5 AMS heat-exchanger/reservoir somewhere in AZ (probably this forum) so take a look at that and you’ll have an idea of what’s involved if you decide to install yourself. I chose AMS as there was a group buy that EPL had put on if you purchased a tune from them so at the time the price was right. It’s a quality setup but one of the more expensive routes so explore the other options.

[JD S4]

What he said is that he has the gold standard for currently available cooling.

He has the best kit (AMS) with their increased coolant volume capacity and a high volume (C-100) coolant pump to keep up.

The other options to consider are to use a Chiller Killer (this works better for certain applications than others) as well as a icebox (hasn't been played with much on this platform) and finally, the actual intercooler cores inside of teh Supercharger (no one makes a better than OEM replacement today, although a company has been flirting with it for over a year).

More coolant volume, more coolant pressure, larger surface heat exchanger. That's the mix you're after.

[mowse]

Northern San Diego coastal.

Nice. I'm over in El Cajon, I've probably seen you before I'm sure. LOL!

[Silver_Bullet]

What is the prevailing advise for B8.5?

The existing intercooler is a known weakness on the platform as you raise power levels over stock. The baseline solution is to just upgrade the intercooler with a larger one. Upgrading pumps, separating circuits, adding reservoirs are all optimizations but for most just an upgraded intercooler is going to solve the problem and be the most reliable. Two of the most popular intercooler only options include:

MercRacing M3 on sale for $430 with install kit. "Peoples Choice Award" as in a lot of do it yourselfers are installing them - very cheap and seems to be providing solid performance. $430 and some wrenching is a great deal, but there is a 30 page thread on the unit and installing it - that's a lot of discussion around what should be a straight forward job.

https://mercracing.net/shop/air-to-w...-exchanger-m3/

APR CPS V3 for $1000, available on a good sale for $800. This has a self bleeding function that they say is valuable. This is an engineered solution where they tested multiple variants with thermocouples in a variety of settings and chose this unit. This was optimized against their latest DP Ultra Charger tunes so it should be good for most uses. It's their third version, and it seems earlier versions had issues due to complexity (pumps, reservoirs, etc) or lack of self bleeding.

https://www.goapr.com/products/cps_30t.html

[tmoe]

Thanks, I guess I should have thought of that. Will check there and get myself edumacated.

As you're reviewing all of the different information out there, like everyone has suggested, ask yourself what you want to do with your SQ5? DD, 1/4 mile, take to a road course or max performance for the street, that will lead you to a cost effective solution. Cost no object AMS and can take on a road course, APR a good solution that will fit DD and 1/4 mile times, cost effective MercRacing and many in between. One other solution is Killer Chiller for max 1/4 mile times,there's a thread in B8 S4 forum.

Also concerning your question about the secondary HE that the B8 S4's had, in that design the OEM HE was single pass so Audi put in that second small single pass HE, when the B8.5 came out Audi changed the OEM HE to a small dual pass unit and eliminated that secondary HE. All S/Q/5's have the dual pass OEM HE so no secondary HE. Lots of speculation which was better but in the end it really didn't matter as neither was, by itself, able to reduce IAT's for increased boost of a faster spinning TVS1320 and/or closed bypass valve.

Enjoy.