AWE Intercooler Install

[wblaudi]

Added the AWE intercooler this weekend (thanks to MOPs at Nemesis) took about 4 hours to do. Does the factory weld job bug anyone else? Didnt matter much to me but had a few people on FB group hating on it (quick search online finds all AWEs seem to look this way). Few things:

1. I have the latest service manual and the AWE instructions and neither matched the reality of the 2019 SQ5 exactly. For example, there is no plastic front retainer as detailed in AWE specs, and there is no reason to cut into the radiator vent (or touch anything with radiator at all) as detailed in the Audi manual.

2. You don't need to replace the wheel covers if you are careful to use screw driver from backside to push the clips through.

3. Best to lift the car and take off the front wheels.

4. AWE is right, there are four hidden bumper fasteners you need to remove (total PITA) that the Audi manual is mute on, go figure.

5. Be brave, the bumper will come off, but you need 2 people to do it.

6. It was pretty damn physical on my old man's body to get to the point of removing the old intercooler, take a moment like I did and parade it around the garage over your head like the Stanley Cup, your on the home stretch.

7. Lots of varying opinions about if the ACC needs to be recalibrated if you remove the bumper and all I can say is in my case, the ACC works perfect without recalibration.

8. Amazingly I had no missing or left over screws, a small miracle. I will note there are some differences in the styles of screws (some with bigger washer heads, and some that are zinc, so pay attention).

9. None of this will TD1 your car (confirmed with multiple dealers), nor will an air intake.

Now all this is about as thankless as priming your house before painting as it adds zero HP, but I feel way better about adding the JB4 now that I have it done.

Please let me know what questions you have, happy to help!

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[chawski]

I've welded exactly once, so I'm far from the authority on what a weld should look like, but that looks pretty bad! As long as it works well, that's all that matters I suppose...

[TJay74]

I see nothing wrong with those welds, I mean are they perfect machine done welds with perfect moon shaped circles. Nope, they are not. Are they clean with good penetration and will they hold the I/C in place. Yes they will.

Other things to worry about than some mediocre welds.

[wblaudi]

I see nothing wrong with those welds, I mean are they perfect machine done welds with perfect moon shaped circles. Nope, they are not. Are they clean with good penetration and will they hold the I/C in place. Yes they will.

Other things to worry about than some mediocre welds.

Yeah, I agree, and it isn't meant to be a work of art, it's meant to be a workhorse!

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[phillyquattro]

Hilarious and useful write up. Saving this for sure.

[wblaudi]

Hilarious and useful write up. Saving this for sure.

Thanks man, let me know if you decide to do it too, happy to help!

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[MSq5]

I take it this is an air-to-air intercooler on a turbo 2.0 B8 or is this the new B9?

While a larger intercooler adds no horsepower, it reduces heat soak and lets you better keep the horsepower you have on long full throttle runs and in hot weather. It may increase boost lag a tiny bit, but that is usually a small price to pay to help keep your boost air temps lower.

Well-done, OP.

[HurrayFive]

I take it this is an air-to-air intercooler on a turbo 2.0 B8 or is this the new B9?

While a larger intercooler adds no horsepower, it reduces heat soak and lets you better keep the horsepower you have on long full throttle runs and in hot weather. It may increase boost lag a tiny bit, but that is usually a small price to pay to help keep your boost air temps lower.

Well-done, OP.

B9 SQ, and for sure, this has always been my first hardware mod when adding power to any of my turbo vehicles, makes a huge difference in keeping lower and consistent IAT's, and we need it on the B9. I ran AWE's IC on my S3, made a huge difference, nice work on the self install OP. The last one I did myself, I tricked my neighbor into coming over for a beer...oh and also to help me carefully lift this front bumper off

I took my B9 SQ to the track (totally stock except for a JB4 running on map 4, which adds about 6PSI over stock) and ambient temps were in the 55-60F range...I did five runs, IAT before my first run was 73F...after the end of my 5th run, IAT was at 151F...the car heroically added peak boost in every run to keep power and times consistent, but my final run almooost hit my max boost safety limit of 25PSI (hit 24.8). I doubt IAT's would have climbed much over 100F with a beefier IC like this...and had the weather been warmer, this would be a necessity for multiple runs like that!

[wblaudi]

I take it this is an air-to-air intercooler on a turbo 2.0 B8 or is this the new B9?

While a larger intercooler adds no horsepower, it reduces heat soak and lets you better keep the horsepower you have on long full throttle runs and in hot weather. It may increase boost lag a tiny bit, but that is usually a small price to pay to help keep your boost air temps lower.

Well-done, OP.

Sorry for the late reply, this is on the new B9, and exactly the reason I did it before installing the JB4

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[wblaudi]

B9 SQ, and for sure, this has always been my first hardware mod when adding power to any of my turbo vehicles, makes a huge difference in keeping lower and consistent IAT's, and we need it on the B9. I ran AWE's IC on my S3, made a huge difference, nice work on the self install OP. The last one I did myself, I tricked my neighbor into coming over for a beer...oh and also to help me carefully lift this front bumper off

I took my B9 SQ to the track (totally stock except for a JB4 running on map 4, which adds about 6PSI over stock) and ambient temps were in the 55-60F range...I did five runs, IAT before my first run was 73F...after the end of my 5th run, IAT was at 151F...the car heroically added peak boost in every run to keep power and times consistent, but my final run almooost hit my max boost safety limit of 25PSI (hit 24.8). I doubt IAT's would have climbed much over 100F with a beefier IC like this...and had the weather been warmer, this would be a necessity for multiple runs like that!

Thanks and exactly what I was worried about doing the simpler JB4 install first, that I'd get lazy and cause issues with the smaller IC.

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