Guys,

Here is my DIY for installing silicone turbo inlet pipes. The kit includes two 5 ply silicone hoses (really thick and strong),necessary clamps, and aluminium adapters to fit the hose onto the turbo. It was a direct swap. Difficiulty level was moderate. If you have thin girly fingers like me, it makes things a bit easier.


Total install time took about 4 hours without rushing myself, and numerous brakes, ice cream runs, and changing of music playlists.
I dont know if one can do this without a lift. A second pair of hands is a good idea (but not necessary). I Did the install by lowering the transmission instead of the engine. The reason was because i was doing a shifter cable swap as well.

so here's how to replace it step by step.

Step 1: Disconnect the y-pipe and remove the air box.











Step 2: take a break.
Step 3: Get both rear wheels off the car, then remove fender liner that covers the turbos/intercoolers. Disconnect the hose from diverter valves. (good time to check them and grease them if need be)






Step 4: Remove under body panels.

Step 5: Remove the sway bar, cross braces, and cross member support, and the three metal beams. (btw, this is what ceramic coated headers look like after 1 winter driving season). these things were almost white when i got the car)


Step 6: remove front drive shaft, and lower the transmission until the rear axle is resting on the cont. Also, look at all the parts on the floor, and tell yourself "i got this"...


Step 7:The factory pipes have to be cut out (unless you want to drop the motor). It took 2 minutes to cut each pipe and pull them right out.

Step 8: Push the silicone pipes up through the bottom of the car and attach the supplied adapters in order to connect them to the turbo. Tip: i would connect the the pipes onto the airbox first and then secure them on the turbo (you'll get a a perfect fitment.

Step 9: Put everything back together. and make sure you remember to clip the sensor thats on the drivers side hose. Put the airbox cover back and reattach the silicone hoses.and put everything back together. youre done !




So how does the car feel ? Better. The mod was definately worth it.The turbos spool quicker and feel stronger up top.Note that lag isn't reduced nor is it increased. My MPG did increase however, which is always a good thing, especially on a DD. All in all i'm really happy with the mod. The silicone units look to have at least 100-150% more volume compared to the factory pipes. I think the hoses have a compounding impact on HP gains. For instance a car with stock vtgs will see gains, a car with hybrid vtgs will see more gains, a car with big turbos will see even more gains etc.

If anyone has any questions about the pipes or install, please PM me.

As usual, HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to Tim for guiding me and giving me a helping hand, and letting me use the lift. I really enjoy working on my car, rather than just washing it. It makes me feel like more of a man. In fact next week i'll be slaughtering my own cows for steaks, and milking my own goats .



Side note. I think it would be a good idea to do a throttle body adaption/reset (https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...tle-reset.html ) after installing the hoses. I noticed that my exhaust tips were white for about the first 50 miles. I assume this is because the car was learning that the turbos don't need to work as hard to get the same amount of air into the engine.

 

Nice write up bro.


It would be nice to hear more about the performance side of the pipes.

 

Thx Nick.
The performance increase was definitely noticeable on my butt dyno. I'm not sure if anyone has this issue, but if i would gun it in 3rd or 4th, i would feel the power delivery being "choppy". I don't know if thats the right word, but it felt like the turbos would hit their peak, then get choked up. After changing plugs, coils, and air filter the issue still remained.

After installing these, i the issue disappeared. My tune (supposedly) holds 1.4 bar. I don't know how to verify this though, because my factory gauge only goes to 1.0 lol.

I wonder if porsche uses the same inlet pipe on the gt2rs ???

 

Sounds good.


I have had my set sitting here for well over a year. So I might put them on.


I think the GT2 RS does run the same stock pipes.

 

I wonder if the stock hoses are part of the restriction with the GT2rs intercoolers.

I definitely felt an improvement when I put on the CMS intercoolers over my stock intercoolers (997.2), but I didn't have any prior #s to back it up so I decided not to post a thread about it. Just my butt dyno. I also felt something similar with my car to what you described and the CMS intercoolers completely removed it. Of course they come with larger silicone hose as well.

You found a tangible benefit from the hoses where it cured a drivability issue. That's great news.

 

Nice work Steve! I guess I overpaid to have mine put on...but they didn't cut the oem ones. I wouldn't have cared either way but since I'd agreed on the price before knowing how long it would take I am happy to have the oem pipes intact, in case I want to put them back on (haha, where is the sarcasm smiley?).

 

Oh, and to add insult to the injury from the price, my installer forgot to tighten the y-pipe connection. First time I dipped into the throttle I heard this WHOOOSH with no acceleration. I immediately knew what the problem was thanks to this forum and got off the gas right away to avoid overspinning the turbo.

 

Steve has a Vbox of his car before inlets but it was wet out after he had finished so no data on after yet.. Steve has a date with my vbox...

 

These are different silicone hoses. The ones that come with the intercooler kit are from the turbo compressor outlet to the intercooler, and from the intercooler to the y-pipe.

These hoses go from the airbox to the turbo compressor inlet. I'm not sure what the story is on 997.2, but with 997.1 these hoses make a big difference around ~550whp or higher.

 

Thanks a lot for posting the pictures and your impressions! Threads like these are what people need to see in order to separate the hype from the results. What you describe with the power delivery being choppy is is very consistent with what happens when you collapse a factory inlet pipe, or begin have more flow capacity than it can provide.

What turbos do you have on your car?

 

Nice write up Steve and well done on doing these without taking down the engine , im doing it next week as im lowering the engine anyway to replace a very cheap leaking gasket (funny story) ,

So where do you feel the gains of power is it in low/mid range ?

 

Steve, Your on to something this the pulsing you have felt with the ECU upgrade. I still have the same symptoms with my car.


This is something that I have considered since my tune. Power has been great but not consistent on the upper end of things especially under high torque situations (5th, 6th gear pulls.) I thought that this flex in tubing was a safety feature (like a fuse.) Thoughts?


Question: Before; If you give full throttle in 5th gear, did you feel a pulsating power? If yes, how is this now??

 

Thanks guys,

Yes the pulsing, choppy, sputtering feeling FEELS EXACTLY like the factory tubes flexing/pinching.

As far as power, the biggest gains that I felt were mid range and up top. It pulls more in midrange and doesnt pull less up top like it did on the factory tubes (where I could feel the car not pulling as hard after 5800-6k rpm.


I have factory vtg's w/ evoms diverter valves with 85k miles on them, however i've got newly rebuilt 65mm vtg's with clipped hot sides on their way back.


Elite,yes, i always felt that pulsating in 4th and 5th gear from 3500-ish rpm. I am heading out in about an hour and will test it again to confirm im not getting it anymore.


btw i might remove my fabspeed headers (they sound amazing btw) and go back to stock headers. Apparently i'm giving up 300 rpms of spool
this is from Kevin at UMW: "I noticed your headers.. I really don't know if I'd use that large of a primary on a stock VGT turbocharger (keeping the stock turbine section). You are slowing down the gas velocity with them. Hence, why you might not see the lag reduction with your turbochargers.. With my car I lowered the spool up at least 300 RPM's with the hoses. Porting the stock headers yield good results to 700HP. If you are over that, turbine housing porting (hybrid turbochargers) and larger headers would be in order..."

 

Steve, were you able to get any vbox data with your factory vtgs (before your 65mm upgrade) WITH the upgraded inlet pipes? I noticed that it's very smooth now with the inlet pipes but the turbos have been changed so I can't say how much is from each component.

 

i'll get some before i put the new vtgs in.