Ebay Charge Pipes + Turbo Muffler Delete
- Andrew Wei
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
When talking to my local Revo tune provider, he asked if I had done my charge pipes. Charge pipes, huh? I'd never really thought about doing them, but I am now. There's actually not a lot of info about these... some say to change them, some say don't. Given that these are on eBay for $180, why not, right?
I ordered a set and quickly found that the stupid turbo muffler did not fit. The ad for this one said it was suitable for EA888 Gen 3, including Golf R Mk7's and S3's. Unfortunately, upon fitting it to the turbo, you can immediately see it does not fit.
DO NOT BUY THE SILVER ONE
Initially, I was content to give up and stay with the stock charge pipes. However, while browsing AliExpress for turbo mufflers, I noticed there seemed to be two main styles listed: a silver one and a black one. All the black ones had great reviews saying they fit perfectly, while the silver ones all had bad reviews saying they did not fit.
Sure enough, when you look on eBay and AliExpress, most charge pipes that claim to be compatible are sold with either a black turbo muffler or a silver one. This made me order another set of charge pipes where I could visibly see a black turbo muffler with a "flare" design.
Comparing the pipes overall, they are more or less the same size. The biggest difference is in the elbow right after the turbo. The turbo muffler that comes as part of the kit is significantly larger than the stock one, and the elbow is significantly less restrictive.
Clearance isn't perfect; while the pipes clear most things, they do rub on the DSG oil cooler. I also needed to trim the turbo outlet silicone pipe to get it perfect; however, it overall seems fine.
The throttle side is basically identical to the stock one. I feel like it might not even really be worth changing the throttle side. Additionally, the throttle side pipe had three holes in it. They provide bolts to fill up those holes, but I have no clue what they are for.
How does it sound and drive?
Honestly... it sounds almost exactly the same... the turbo is very marginally louder and only audible under specific circumstances. At wide open throttle, you can't hear a difference.
While the sound difference was a letdown, you can definitely feel the turbo come on harder. Rather than full boosting at around 3000 rpm, I felt like boost was pretty much full on at 2500 rpm, and when boost comes in, it comes on hard. It doesn't feel like a taper; it feels more like a step input now, straight on and hard.
Was it worth it?
For $180 AUD, I can't really fault it. If this was being sold for any more, I'm not sure it would be worth it.
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