# Opinion on vrt's running air/water intercooler setups



## rjbvrt (Jan 24, 2008)

Thinking about switching my turbo setup from a front mount to air/water. Who runs air/water on here and how well has it worked for your vrt? What brand do you recommend? I have checked out the kits at frozenboost.com and found kits for cheap. Please post up pics of your VRT's with air/water. Thanks for any input.


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## bonesaw (Aug 8, 2004)

If you have a good air/air core I would not downgrade to a frozenboost.


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## AceWaters (Sep 2, 2008)

I am running the Frozenboost 600HP air/water core, which I bought used. No issues whatsoever. I can drive the car, boost the hell out of it, stop, get out and put my hand on the intake manifold. Warm, but not hot. The intercooler itself is cool to the touch. Frozenboost gets a bad rap because SOME of the products they choose to sell truly are junk. I have purchased A LOT of stuff from them, and I have learned my lesson on whats good and what's bad. Don't waste your time on their "kit". The pump and fan are junk. Buy the core, heat exchanger and lines/fittings. I would avoid their AN fitting products. Some work, some don't, especially when you get into the larger diameter stuff. Get a small SPAL fan and an Attwood Aerator pump (800gph) off of amazon.com. Plumb it all up and it'll work like a charm.


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## wabbitGTl (Jan 2, 2007)

I'm running the same frozenboost core, heat exchanger, and the Rule pump. I've put maybe 10k miles on the setup with no issues whatsoever. The pump is a little noise, but it's under the car so I can't really hear it. My core was actually pretty nice, we modified it a bit for my setup, but we welded 6061 to it for the BOV and a different outlet and it looks great. 

I wish I could comment more about effectiveness. I have data logs from last summer when the ambient temp was over 100 and high 80s humidity. The car got hot, of course, but the intake temps stayed in check. Unfortunately I have lost all the logs when my computer crashed :facepalm:


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## rjbvrt (Jan 24, 2008)

Thanks for the great input. *Anymore pics of engine bays would be cool. *


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## Norwegian-VR6 (Feb 6, 2002)

More air/water pics. Think it used to be a long thread somewhere. Cant seem to find it.


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

I just picked one up. The noise does not bother me at all. This is the schimmel set up. I would like to see how folks ran the lines under the car (will do some searching on that). I also am curious, if your not running the car all the time, how folks are maintaining the tanks? Flushing them out? Empty them for the winter?


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## Highbeam2 (Jan 25, 2012)

Frozen Boost 600hp core, heat exchanger, and cobra pump, 
Was a daily driver. No Issues.


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

Dang that drop top is packing a little more than expected! Looks sweet. Do you have any shots of the lines running under the car? I like how you have your PFR mounted on there.


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## Highbeam2 (Jan 25, 2012)

MK3.OT said:


> Dang that drop top is packing a little more than expected! Looks sweet. Do you have any shots of the lines running under the car? I like how you have your PFR mounted on there.


The link should have all the information you seek.


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

Thanks. No updates on that since 2012? It looks fun. 

Any maintenance to that tank?


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## wabbitGTl (Jan 2, 2007)

MK3.OT said:


> Thanks. No updates on that since 2012? It looks fun.
> 
> Any maintenance to that tank?


I've always ran antifreeze and water wetter in my system to fight corrosion so I never do anything special for winter.


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## Highbeam2 (Jan 25, 2012)

MK3.OT said:


> Thanks. No updates on that since 2012? It looks fun.
> 
> Any maintenance to that tank?


Quarter bottle of G12 (cause I had it), water wetter, and 5 1/2 +/- of water no maintenance of sorts. 2 frozen Poland spring bottles where thrown into the reservoir when I was running sometimes to ensure temperature drop.
It definitely was fun, Hurricane Sandy, and a move put the breaks on it. It's going thru a complete rewire and rebuild currently.


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## wolfens_golf (Dec 30, 2009)

I'm also considering this setup. Does anyone have a picture of the water to air setup with a totally stock intake manifold? 12valve?


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

That first picture is pretty close.


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## wolfens_golf (Dec 30, 2009)

Very close, but it looks like the intake/tb on the stock manifold would have to make a sharp turn using the Intercooler piping possibly interfering with the turbo.


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

I agree. It would be hard to pipe efficiently.


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## AceWaters (Sep 2, 2008)

Really the only way to run and air/water setup without modifying the stock manifold or using a short runner is by using an EIP style exhaust manifold to drop the turbo down out of the way. Without that, there is really no way to efficiently route the piping. You could MAYBE flip the turbo so the compressor housing is on the driver side, but I personally have not experimented with that. Another option I have not explored is using an ATP style exhaust mani with the offset outlet. Either way, its going to be super tight.


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

Good call. What is the reason for wanted the stock manifold?


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## AceWaters (Sep 2, 2008)

For me it was looks. Not really a fan of the way short runners look on VR's, just personal preference. Secondly there is the possibility of retaining the low end torque that the stock manifold provides.


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## MK3.OT (May 4, 2010)

Care for a very shiny almost stock manifold? Right on. I am in for not looking like I have a front mount (or jacking up my rare bumper), so I hear you on the looks preference. 

Right now I am trying to figure how the tail end of the car will look with all this back there and what the medium should be, carpet, aluminum etc.


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