Thanks to Prodigy, I've got a set of DO88 "Big Pack" intercoolers with y-pipe that I will have installed soon. Up until now I've been using .2 intercoolers which have worked well with my Champion 68vtg turbos. My current Cobb tune has a linear boost curve all the way to 7k rpm and on longer pulls (which admittedly are rare) you can see the intake temperatures climb steadily. For 99% of my use it isn't an issue at all. I was going to see what happened at the track but my coolant hose blew a couple of days before that session so I never got the data.

Anyway, I seized the opportunity of getting the DO88 Big Pack after reading a bit about them. I have the DO88 turbo inlet pipes already. The DO88 website is the only one I've seen that actually compares the .2 I/cs with their own intercooler. The construction and design look solid. I plan on keeping this car so I figure while I'm fixing my coolant lines and doing a few other things I will have the intercoolers installed. If I ever get bigger turbos these intercoolers should still work well.

Anyone else out there have these and have an opinion on them?

I will provide some user data when I get them installed and start datalogging.

I will put my .2 intercoolers up for sale soon, if there's anyone looking for a set then you can PM me with an offer if you like.

 

Would be great to see some real world data. I need to replace my ICs in my 997.1, and need to find an alternative to the .2 units due to a stock issue. Would be great to know if these are any better.

 

Bogg, where are you going to get the work done? About to purchase the same from Prodigy but your story about BT and their line pinning has me spooked. Congrats on the new coolers!

 

they do good work. Pick up and drop off car for u also

 

Imi, the hardest I push things is at a track here with a long back straight. I can get up to around 240-250km/hr. Starting intake temps at the beginning of the straight were around 65F (18C) and at the end of the run they would be around 130F (55C). My car has Champion 68s and running a linear boost curve of 1.6bar (22.6psi) all the way up, so pretty much a worst case scenario, lol.

Next year I will do more DE sessions and in the summer the starting temps will be much higher so I would anticipate the final temps would be much worse. I will definitely get and post data from the new intercoolers and try as much as possible to compare the .2 with the Big Pack. If you go to DO's website they actually show their own data comparing the .2 with the Big Pack and it looks worthwhile, if you take the data at face value. So far, they are the only company that has posted that comparison....

 

As Faiz noted, I will be getting MVS to work on my car. They are nice people, and I know it is either Nick or Mario actually working on my car. They bring in a Porsche Master Mechanic when they need to for complex jobs. They have the timing tool for the car which apparently is expensive but it gives me the impression that they know the car reasonably well. I try not to read into things but if someone has gone to the trouble of getting a specialized tool then I assume they know how to use it. I was debating whether to go the extra mile and get them to take out my camshafts and have them pinned but I think I will just get them to drop the motor, replace the coolant lines, inspect everything else etc.. There are a number of other things I'm getting changed too which I will itemize in my other thread. Many guys have said things like "change all hoses, gaskets, and O-rings" but that is too open ended. I will try to post details just like jpflip did in his 996 turbo thread.

If you need your coolant lines pinned I would say that it would still make sense to go to BT and have your intercoolers put on at the same time, and everything else you have on your to-do list. I was the third set he pinned. I think that someone made a bad decision to replace an oem part with a non-oem part because replacing the oem part would have meant dropping the engine again. It was the coolant return line from the turbos and I don't think it can be replaced without either dropping or partly lowering the engine.

Mistakes happen and BT would have made it right. As I mentioned in the other thread, things kind of went sour when I asked for shop credit as I had decided to get the work done elsewhere when I thought I might get my camshafts pinned...

 

What do you mean a "stock" issue? The .2s were quite good and certainly met most of my needs. I bought the DO set because an opportunity came up and I figured it would future proof me....

 

Oh I wish I had meth or e85 but just pump gas. We have different types here with up to 10% ethanol in it. I thought this was a good thing but I'm not sure now after talking to some guys.

 

I can add some data as I have had the DO88 big pack on my car for several months.

Setup:
-2008 6MT stock turbos
-Cobb AP (stage 2 OTS tune)
-Fabspeed intakes
-DO88 inlets
-DO88 intercoolers (large cores with carbon fiber shrouds)
-DO88 y-pipe
-FVD headers
-Kline catless exhaust

IATs:
Cruising IATs stabilize 7~10*F above ambient. In traffic, temps will rise. After parking the entire engine bay will heatsoak, so it does takes a few minutes to get the temps back down, but this will be true of any IC setup. All of my data is from 3rd gear pulls or 3rd-4th pulls. On a 3rd gear pull, IATs will trend toward ~10*F above ambient at the top of 3rd gear. 3rd-4th gear pulls will trend toward 17~20*F above ambient at the top of 4th gear. By "trend toward", I mean that regardless of the initial IAT vs ambient delta, it will move towards the delta mentioned above. So if the car is heatsoaked from traffic or being parked, the IATs would actually drop during a pull and trend towards the deltas of ~10*F at the top of 3rd and 17~20*F at the top of 4th.

Airflow:
I typically see g/s air flow readings in the 480s, often in the 490s and have seen a max of 500 g/s. I'm sure these will increase once I get a custom tune.

QC issues:
I was an early adopter (purchased in March of 2017), so hopefully these teething issues have been overcome, but just a couple issues to be aware of and look for before installing yours. One of my intercoolers had an issue inside the end tank. There was some slag and a few fins were damaged. They promptly replaced it. I also had an issue with a silicone elbow that mounts to the compressor outlet. The molded lip was slightly out of alignment. I knew it wasn't 100%, but I tried it anyway as I was excited to get the car back on the road. It held for several pulls, but eventually popped off. Once notified, they promptly sent a new set of hoses. However, they inadvertently sent a set of 997.2 hoses, not the 997.1 hoses. I again let them know, they sent a new set of 997.1 hoses.

I am not bashing DO88, rather quite the contrary. No matter the product or business, you will always have issues that arise. This is virtually impossible to avoid. I judge the company based on how the issues are handled. They handled the issues immediately and without question. Parts were delivered from Europe (shipped out of Sweden or Germany) to Georgia within 48 hours of notification. You couldn't ask for better customer service after the sale.

One more thing to be aware of is mounting the sensor in the y-pipe. The OEM y-pipe uses a very coarse screw to secure the sensor. The DO88 y-pipe uses a fine thread machine type bolt. Of course I realized this after forcing the OEM screw in and wondering why it wasn't fitting very well.....

 

I’m in a .1 with stock coolers on 140k kms, and after a slight excursion into the kitty litter and subsequent clearing the ICs of gravel, cigarette buts, candy wrappers and a rock hard piece of bread (I kid you not), I found quite a few bent fins. Have gone through and bent them back one by one with a pair of tweezers, but I’d expect they’re not running as efficiently as they should.

I actually ordered the OEM .2 set but they’ve been on back order for 4 months now...

 

Great post Ted. Your maf flow numbers are actually pretty insane considering you are still on an OTS map.

 

Thanks Ted for the info. Did you have stock intercoolers before this set? I opened my boxes today and didn't see any obvious damage. The installation manuals for the intercoolers mentioned that it was for the .2 turbo from 2010-2012, I hope I have the right intercooler hoses. Is there any way to tell? The installation manual for the y-pipe has a picture of the .2 y-pipe with 2 more hose attachments but it looks like the actual y-pipe is the correct one for my .1 car.

Imi, did your car hit 72c on the 0-300 runs or even at more modest speed at the track? I don't think I ever hit that high on my car but ambient temps were fairly low when I was at the track, usually October annually.

 

Yes, I had stock ICs before teh do88s. My instructions were also for .2. I don't think they have a .1 specific set of instructions.

The .2 turbo to IC hoses are much shorter than the .1. See comparison below.





It is a bit hard to determine which side is which for the IC to y-pipe hoses. A trick I used is to stand them up next to the stock hoses and their similarities in shape become more apparent. See pictures below of stock and do88 .1 hoses. Also make sure to smear a bit of oil inside the IC to y-pipe hoses. With the increased diameter of the y-pipe and hoses, everything is very tight in the engine bay, and trying to assemble it with no wiggle room and fresh/clean couplers is very difficult. The turbo to IC hoses are easier to work with and shouldn't give you any trouble.







Here is picture of all the .1 parts laid out.

 

I know you said you didn't see any obvious damage, but my issues weren't readily apparent either. Make sure you take a look inside the end tanks. This is the IC I sent back.


I honestly don't think it would have ever been a problem, but better safe than sorry.

The issue I had with one of the hoses was that either the seating lip was improperly formed, or the hose was improperly cut. As you can see in the pictures, the lip is not square in the hose (closer to the end on one side). This resulted in the hose not being able to fully seat on the turbo outlet and eventually blowing off.







Again, this is no way meant to bash do88. They took care of the issues immediately and without question. I'm still happy with my purchase, but it wouldn't hurt to inspect everything with a idea of what to look for.

In case anyone is wondering why I bought these over the AMS kit, my reasons were:
- Metal y-pipe: If I add water/meth injection, I'd rather drill and tap (and add bungs if necessary) to a metal y-pipe than the AMS carbon fiber pipe. I just looked looked up the AMS kit, and it now comes with a cast aluminum y-pipe, so this advantage for the do88 kit is now a wash.
- Longer y-pipe: At the time of purchase, I liked the do88's longer y-pipe and shorter couplers vs the short y-pipe and long couplers of the AMS kit. I figure, even with multi-ply reinforced silicone, I'd prefer to keep the amount of pressurized silicone to a minimum. However, after installing the do88 kit, the flexibility offered by the longer couplers in the AMS kit would make installation easier.
-Connections for stock turbos: The AMS kit was originally designed for aftermarket turbos and adapter rings were required for use with stock turbos. These adapter rings proved problematic for a lot who used them. At the time they had recently developed hoses specifically for the stock turbos, but they did not have them currently in stock. Again, this issue appears to have been rectified and is now a wash.
-Price/logistics/local economy: A local shop was able to give me a very good price on them, and I like to support my local economy

 

Had been mulling around the idea of getting a set of these and decided to order after Ted pointed out they are on sale until the 10th. Now to look into some bigger VTGs