Tom_vRS

Well had one of these snazzy intakes and torque arm inserts on order for a couple of weeks, and at last they arrived and were fitted yesterday!

I arrived at JKM an hour late, yet despite this was greeted with 2 smiling young ladies, and offered a hot drink, shortly followed up with an introduction from Keith letting me know exactly what the plan was for fitting, dyno runs etc etc. Within 15 minutes the car was whisked into the dyno room to have the VF torque arm insert fitted and the pre-intake-fitting dyno run, for which I was invited to come watch.

Whilst they were fitting the intake, Steve turned up and tried to give me a wallet-ectomy , and Keith showed me some enormous brakes that look simply stunning - its nice to be made to feel really welcome , despite being really grumpy yourself due to a silly early start and 4 hr drive .

As soon as it was fitted, we (Steve and I) were called to the dyno room for the after-intake-fitting dyno run, and to have a look round the kit.

I was drawn to the VF kit primarily on grounds of the quality of their products, even just through photographs you can see the build quality is superb, and they certainly look the business!! Have to say, I am 100% impressed with it and it exceeds all expectations on these grounds!

So my feelings after comparing the Evoms and VF intakes side by side:

• The Evoms looks pretty cheap in comparison in terms of build quality, materials used etc
• The VF has a slightly smaller cone filter (20-30%?)
• The VF benefits from being one single pipe instead of several bits joined together with silicoln pipes
• The VF is more rigid in that it doesn't move about at all, and the pipework is metal.
• The install is nowhere near as tidy on the Evoms.
• It has to be said, the Evoms enclosure is little more "enclosing", but the VF allows for good access to the headlight bulbs etc.
• You can certainly see where the extra £10 goes!!!!!

Heres a pic of my engine bay to see for yourself!!



I'm curious to see the performance difference in the size of the filters, but if need be a large cone could be fitted to the VF I'm also curious to hear an Evoms kit too for comparison purposes.

The car made 198.0 bhp on the before run, and 202.3 bhp afterwards. However, I only run the car on 97RON as thats whats available to me locally . I was hoping for 5 bhp, so am pleased with the result. A similar increase in torque too . Its important to note though, that these intakes really come into their own on cars with performance software, where I would expect 10 bhp+ increase... Its also worth noting that whilst these back to back dyno runs are interesting, the ECU needs time to adapt etc, so that needs considering also.

The noises the intake makes are bloody awesome!!! Lots of sucky induction noise, whoosy noises when backing off the throttle, nice throaty noise when the rpms pick up etc - LOVE IT!!! The sucky induction noise sometimes makes a noise similar to a flute being played on a constant note which isn't a great noise tbh, but only occurs under max throttle at about 4k to 4.5k rpm, and seems to be common amonst other manufacturers induction kits too.

So am I pleased? - YOU BET I AM!!! After some good hard driving, the car feels so much more free revving, and notably quicker too. Fuel economy seems unaffected so far, and it looks stunning! Can't wait to get a remap now to make the most of it!

The torque arm insert is an absolutely brilliant mod too - the engine movement is probably restricted by atleast 50% now, and as a result the car seems vastly more responsive to throttle inputs - awesome!!! Its certainly less vulnerable to wheelspin now, which tbh suprised me as I'm sceptical of such claims!

So thanks to the guys & gals at JKM for making me feel welcome and doing a great job on the car, and a massive to VF Engineering for a couple of extremely nice products!!!

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97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green.

VRStu

Nice review Tom.

I only got round to fitting my Torque arm insert yesterday too, had one in the last car so I had experienced it already but after fitting it to this one I realised how much I missed it.

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Stu

Stu's Websites - http://www.fabia-vrs.com & http://www.octavia-vrs.com

Stu's Car - 2008 Audi S3 - Ibis White, Black Optics Pack, Privacy Glass, Auto Bi Xenon Headlights, Rain Sensing Wipers, Bose Sound System, Ipod Prep, GSM Phone Prep, Flat Bottom Multi Function Steering Wheel, Electric Folding Mirrors, Acoustic Parking, Cruise Control, Interior Light Pack, Non Smokers Pack.

SWMBO's Car - 2008 Seat LEON TDi Stylance, Black Magic, Sports Pack, Rear Parking Sensors.

Something for Weekend - A Patio

mluton

Nice one, Loving the new engine bay toy.

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Tom_vRS

Indeed Stu - I wasn't expecting any difference with the insert tbh, but there definitely is one!!!

Oh, and another thing worth noting is that the Evoms engine cover is not compatible with the VF intake due to the mounting bolt being the wrong side of the cam cover bracket thing .

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97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green.

TrevorB33

looks like a good bit of kit, just a quick question
does this bit ive circled have a rubber grommet in around the pipe, as surely hot air will be coming through this gap, or is it just that i cant see properly lol

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"Impossible to say"

Tom_vRS

The gap is there to allow for engine movement I think

I think the quantity of hot air coming through there will be minimal, especially considering the pressure of cold air being forced into that area.

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97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green.

TrevorB33

i know it would be minimal, but surely a rubber grommet in there will allow for engine movement too and not allow any hot air at all in then, just my 2p, still looks good though and bet it sounds great

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"Impossible to say"

Makefish

Nice review Tom

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Superchips Bluefin only £390 @ JKM

http://www.jkm.org.uk/performance/bluefinxmas2008.htm

RobClubley

Good review Thanks for posting!

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sibart

Looks good Tom .Cant wait for mine to go on mate.
In agreement on the torque arm insert as well, suprised me with the difference it made.

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Car: Factory freebies, JKM Performance K04 Turbo Upgrade, JKM Performance BIG Brake Upgrade, Koni / Eibach Suspension, Eibach ARB's, Revo Map, KMD fuel pump, Columbus toy+ BT Kit(cheers Stu) ,light assist, maxidot,rear park sensors,cruise control.

gmaster

Looking good mate! so thats what yours was in for, and you got offered a hot drink! alright for some.

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Black octy mk1 VRS... with some mods.

Tom_vRS

I can confirm that after a week I'm still totally in love with this mod!!! Car feels so much punchier at the top of the rev range, and the noises are great!!!

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97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green.