Audi

Advancements in automotive technology mean engineers can pack more power into smaller, more potent packages. At least, that's how Volkswagen sees it. The 2015+ MK7 Golf R and all other MQB vehicles are among the most compelling examples of this theory to date, inching ever closer to the 300hp mark out of an unsuspecting hatchback, complete with AWD. The drawbacks to squeezing this much power into a compact platform are the heat generated and decreased room for cooling. VW found a way around this by employing additional auxiliary coolers in these applications. Still, those asking more of their Golf Rs will need more performance from the supplemental coolers, which is where we come in.

VW delivers the Golf R with one or two auxiliary coolers from the factory, depending on your transmission

Physical health is key for any athlete's performance. The same applies to anything mechanical, such as the Audi B9. Just as our bodies have defenses against sickness, the B9 S4 and S5 came equipped with a robust system to mitigate the effects of blow-by. However, as we went over in our last post, this separator might need some backup.

When we last left off, our in-house fabricated prototype made its way onto our donor S5 and was ready for our standard 1000-mile road test. This test provides us with a benchmark on the rate of blow-by collection while also being the final check against any dreaded check engine lights.

Everyone loves a good underdog story. There's just something uplifting about the little guy persevering. If you know anyone who's a Philly sports fan, you're probably never going to hear the end of the most recent underdog story (S'go Birds). The Eagle's run might have cemented them into underdog history, but that's in the past now. The big game for Mishimoto is heating up with the MK7 Performance intercooler, and we feel like the hungry dogs on the block now.

What exactly makes us the little guy in this story, though? For the most part, it's the placement of the stock unit, and that we're still contending with the proverbial "intercooler sandwich" situation. Though, if you look through our last post, you'll notice we're not going into this entirely

We last left you off with the scaffold and tales of what our new intercooler design would be. Now it's time to put our money where our mouth is since the production sample of our new MK7 intercooler has arrived here at Mishimoto. This arrival gives us the tangible fruits of our prototyping labors.

Typically, these new intercooler production samples show up like a wrecking ball. No, not like a scantily clad Miley Cyrus, but rather with size-doubling volume increases figuratively smashing the stock unit to smithereens. This time around, though, given our extremely tight build envelope, our new design might look mostly the same to some. We can assure you that much like the subtle outward appearance of the MK7 GTI and Golf R, looks

When it comes to turbocharged cars, the flow of air through the system is just as important as keeping it cool. From the factory, the MK7s do get some extra attention in the performance category, especially when it comes to the GTI and Golf R, but they're never really pushed past what the VW engineers designed them for. Given the popularity of cranking up the boost on any turbo vehicle, especially the 2.0T found under the hood of most modern VWs and Audis, it's no wonder that the stock intercooler piping turns out to be a restriction.

Before we dive straight into how our new piping design performs, let's take a look at what it is that makes them perform. As you might recall from our last post, we went into the basics of our intercooler

Bigger is better has long since been an unofficial mantra of the automotive world. To go faster or further, you have to go bigger. Either by way of more cylinders, bigger turbos, thicker sway bars, the increase in size helps quench the thirst for speed. The Golf GTI and all its subsequent variants have been showing us since 1974 that sometimes smaller can be just as good, and plenty of speed and practicality can come in a condensed package. The same can be said for our intercooler design for the latest generation of VW's compact chassis. It's not the size that matters, but rather the innovation packed inside.

When we're talking about cooling the charged air in any forced induction vehicle, the intercooler always steals the show. To be fair, it is doing a majority of the work. No matter if you're still running a stock unit or if there's an all-aluminum core seated in the front of your car, it's the star. However, the intercooler would be nothing without the back-up band, the intercooler piping. Putting in all the effort to cool off the charged air would be useless without a method to transfer it to the intake. If the stock intercooler unit had some shortcomings, the piping was bound to end up with some flaws, too.

The safe passage for your charged air is currently left up to the combination of plastic and rubber construction that makes up the factory piping. It might seem that we're