# APR Intake... Meh



## fundulz (Jul 9, 2012)

Just installed my APR Intake and I'm very impressed with the product. However, I am kind of disappointed with the fitment. It doesn't seem to sit flush and I had to adjust it several times. Also, there is no place for me to bolt the intake to the car and I had to zip tie it down. I am worried that it will 'bounce' around in the engine bay. I cannot seem to find a way to really bolt it down either. I may try and adjust it more this weekend.


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## Chimera (Jul 6, 2002)

Any noticeable performance gains? How's the sound?


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## fundulz (Jul 9, 2012)

Chimera said:


> Any noticeable performance gains? How's the sound?


I notice, only slightly a noise difference. I can hear a little more of the turbo but not as much as I had thought. Will have to take it out this weekend to see if I feel a difference in power. So far (highway) driving I don't notice much of a difference.


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## sevenVT (Aug 18, 2004)

fundulz said:


> I notice, only slightly a noise difference. I can hear a little more of the turbo but not as much as I had thought. Will have to take it out this weekend to see if I feel a difference in power. So far (highway) driving I don't notice much of a difference.


IMHO This is such a hard thing to do, for more than a decade of CAI threads on different VAG cars only the most modified of cars seem to show any real world performance benefit from a new intake. 

There's always whisperings of maybe increased throttle response and turbo noise, but without a larger turbo the original intake was most likely getting the job done, and unless you are opening the throat of the entire system from front to back, the bottle neck will be the turbo first... and every subsequent piece afterwards. 

As much as the pretty new piece of carbon under your hood may add to the SOP dyno effect, I think on average its performance gains are about as much as a new stereo and a few stickers add. 

Audi would have to be intentionally starving the turbo for air to gain anything truly noticeable from a new intake alone. 

I'm not saying don't do it... but definitely don't expect anything as far as real world application aside from noise and a lighter wallet. (Especially if the CAI is still in the stock location which is what APR designs for.)


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## fundulz (Jul 9, 2012)

Here's how it looks plus being zip tied.


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

fundulz said:


> Here's how it looks plus being zip tied.


Why does it look like the plastic is broken there? I mean, it looks like there's a screw hole there in the intake, like they expected to have something to bolt it to?


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## fundulz (Jul 9, 2012)

It was a small piece. The intake is suppose to slip underneathe it but the intake portion is so thick that it broke. Also, the holes didn't line up for me to even try and bolt it on.


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## [email protected] (Sep 28, 2005)

I think the only issue here, is that the plastic tab on the radiator support got broken during install. 

The intake should just be pushed into that tab, then held by the plastic clip on the other side - there is also a rubber grommet on the bottom of the intake for the factory location as well. On the A3 and S3 nothing gets screwed in, the bolt hole is for fitment on the GTI..

It seems like its floating a bit when you install it, but it cant go anywhere.


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

sevenVT said:


> I'm not saying don't do it... but definitely don't expect anything as far as real world application aside from noise and a lighter wallet. (Especially if the CAI is still in the stock location which is what APR designs for.)


If your car is otherwise stock.. The above is all correct. If you're tuned, it depends on the tune. On the gen 1 ea888, APR stage 1 tune could get slightly better gains with an upgraded CAI. But without a tune that accounts for it, there were no measurable gains.

The stock intake is already a pretty good CAI, and the stock engine software is designed with that intake in mind.


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## [email protected] (Jul 29, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> I think the only issue here, is that the plastic tab on the radiator support got broken during install.
> 
> The intake should just be pushed into that tab, then held by the plastic clip on the other side - there is also a rubber grommet on the bottom of the intake for the factory location as well. On the A3 and S3 nothing gets screwed in, the bolt hole is for fitment on the GTI..
> 
> It seems like its floating a bit when you install it, but it cant go anywhere.


Joe, 

I think you're correct. The intake should slip into place but in this image, it's clear the factory mounting tab has broken off. Because of that, it's preventing a clean install as intended.


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## JGreen76 (Aug 25, 2012)

Mine arrives tomorrow. I have confidence in APR product's fit,finish, and function.


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