Tdi big intercooler performance differences?

[Chicken Drumstick]

For many years I've been running an Allisport front mount intercooler on my 200Tdi. Which has been great, but some bugger has stolen it!!! And I'm in need of a replacement.

Allisport still sell the same intercooler, but it is £451...............

£451 seems an insane amount of money.

Sadly I can't find anything similar currently available. There is what looks like a clone on eBay for £229 which i'd go for. But it is out of stock and the seller doesn't seem to know when they will have it again, they've said 70+ days. Which is no help at all.

 

And I just can't see any other full width offerings. I can find a few of these standard size double thickness ones. Does anyone know of any dyno testing or similar between these and the front mount intercoolers? My Tdi is fairly well juiced up and with other mods. So I'm not really wanting to compromise performance just because some scrote has stolen my intercooler.

Any other options anyone can think of?

[Snagger]

That seems a really unusual thing to have stolen.  Access is not easy unless the bonnet is open, and who would even know it was there?  My sympathies, anyway.

A full width unit should work better, but may foul e diagonal braces and would need extensive re plumbing.  It might need the radiator moving to a central position for a right hand side hose connection, which brings coolant plumbing issues of its own, but a TD5 intercooler would physically fit, and you should be able to find a decent used one cheaply (I have one I got free sitting in the cupboard here as one of the engineers at work was throwing it away and could bear to see it wasted, but that isn’t much use to you with the cost of intercontinental shipping).

[Chicken Drumstick]

22 minutes ago, Snagger said:

That seems a really unusual thing to have stolen.  Access is not easy unless the bonnet is open, and who would even know it was there?  My sympathies, anyway.

A full width unit should work better, but may foul e diagonal braces and would need extensive re plumbing.  It might need the radiator moving to a central position for a right hand side hose connection, which brings coolant plumbing issues of its own, but a TD5 intercooler would physically fit, and you should be able to find a decent used one cheaply (I have one I got free sitting in the cupboard here as one of the engineers at work was throwing it away and could bear to see it wasted, but that isn’t much use to you with the cost of intercontinental shipping).

Thanks. The vehicle is quite custom, it is actually an 88 coiler. The mounts are all setup for the intercooler I had and moving the rad sounds easy, but would require different oil cooler pipes, which would likely entail different water hoses and probably a different cooling fan.

If I could find a version of the clone in stock I'd buy it, as it looks like it would fit without needing to mod anything: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313619776666?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11051.m43.l1123&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=51c4cb06d34a4eb981198b41cb0ecd4c&bu=43426604250&osub=-1~1&crd=20230417020454&segname=11051

Not sure I can afford getting one from Allisport at present, hadn't really planned on spending out on a new intercooler.

 

I see a few offerings like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195693883976?hash=item2d9043b248:g:riAAAOSwMmlbT-m6

https://www.airtecmotorsport.com/product/airtec-motorsport-intercooler-upgrade-for-land-rover-200tdi-platform/

 

Which would be easier to fit over something completely custom, but I'd like to know how much performance I'd be giving up.

[Snagger]

I think the Airtek one is the best looking in terms of quality.  In black with no logo would suit me! 😂. The eBay one looks ok but I can’t get past that sharp 90 degree elbow.

[L19MUD]

Mo had one for sale in the for sale section for £200...but just checked and it has sold. Very bad timing!

[Les Brock]

Mine will be coming out at some time

Edited April 18, 2023 by Les Brock