Racing line turbo elbow

[7MAT]

Re APR it is old news for anyone into VAG modding but good that you bring it up because it was precisely after that "scandal" I believe that APR acquired the means to do their exhausts themselves - that was what I was referring to by making stuff in-house. Now, that is a good example also in the sense that you can only imagine, if a subcontractor cheats the main company in the way it manufactures their items as in the APR case, what is possible when they are free from meeting any requirements in the case of knock-offs... As I am in the design and manufacturing business myself, I know that going with tight tolerances and TUV certified alloys can make quite a difference in price and we often get suggestions from workshops to switch to other "similar" alloys they have in stock for a lower price in exchange when we are pushing for price reductions. Maybe nothing will ever happen to a turbo elbow made from a slightly different material than VWR designed it for but you get the point. Out of curiosity do we know if VWR is supposed to make their stuff in UK/Europe/China? I mean officially.

Also, I can't see how cheaping out on a 100$ item for a 30K car makes sense for all the manufacturing uncertainties and lack of official support/warranty it brings but maybe it's just my back-ground and experience to blame for this.

PS. I agree the iPhone example can not be a 100% analogy as the OS remains a big difference that can't be copied but I was focusing on the hardware similarities.

I do think you are worrying to much, after all is it not worth a punt at £80 just to see?

These are simple mass-produced parts, which I sure will fit fine. After-all the customer reviews are all good, only poor reviews are for lost deliveries from Russian customers. If you’ve ever tried shipping product into Russia you know that this is not uncommon.

On my list of possible mods is a GFB DV+, now as this has moving parts I’d probably opt to buy an original if I go for one. But for the turbo muffler delete and inlet I have no such concerns. Just don’t see the point in spending money for the ‘branding’ when an unbranded generic part will work equally well.

Did you ever find anyone with a CSS and OBDeleven/VCDS, would still like to know if the diff setting are set to 'increased traction'?

[scanesare]

Re APR it is old news for anyone into VAG modding but good that you bring it up because it was precisely after that "scandal" I believe that APR acquired the means to do their exhausts themselves - that was what I was referring to by making stuff in-house. Now, that is a good example also in the sense that you can only imagine, if a subcontractor cheats the main company in the way it manufactures their items as in the APR case, what is possible when they are free from meeting any requirements in the case of knock-offs... As I am in the design and manufacturing business myself, I know that going with tight tolerances and TUV certified alloys can make quite a difference in price and we often get suggestions from workshops to switch to other "similar" alloys they have in stock for a lower price in exchange when we are pushing for price reductions. Maybe nothing will ever happen to a turbo elbow made from a slightly different material than VWR designed it for but you get the point. Out of curiosity do we know if VWR is supposed to make their stuff in UK/Europe/China? I mean officially.

Also, I can't see how cheaping out on a 100$ item for a 30K car makes sense for all the manufacturing uncertainties and lack of official support/warranty it brings but maybe it's just my back-ground and experience to blame for this.

PS. I agree the iPhone example can not be a 100% analogy as the OS remains a big difference that can't be copied but I was focusing on the hardware similarities.

I do think you are worrying to much, after all is it not worth a punt at £80 just to see?

These are simple mass-produced parts, which I sure will fit fine. After-all the customer reviews are all good, only poor reviews are for lost deliveries from Russian customers. If you’ve ever tried shipping product into Russia you know that this is not uncommon.

On my list of possible mods is a GFB DV+, now as this has moving parts I’d probably opt to buy an original if I go for one. But for the turbo muffler delete and inlet I have no such concerns. Just don’t see the point in spending money for the ‘branding’ when an unbranded generic part will work equally well.

Did you ever find anyone with a CSS and OBDeleven/VCDS, would still like to know if the diff setting are set to 'increased traction'?

Yes probably a small piece of piping would be ok, (although my preoccupation would dictate otherwise). And no, I didn't find any CSS owner replying to my request...  Those CSS owners are hard to reach!

[7MAT]

Well my little trial order from Aliexpress turned up last week and as promised here's my findings.



On first inspection both items looked to be spot on. The turbo muffler delete is very well made. 

Sadly the 'CTS type' turbo inlet fitted okay but the bracket didn't line up correctly see image below. 



Which is a shame as its obviously a second, have been in touch with the vendor and have accepted a refund.

Went to re-order the Mertop 'VWR type' inlet but these have now been removed from sale? I wonder if VWR had anything to do with that?

So in the end I went for the Creations Motorsport turbo inlet @ £59 with Black Friday discount, being delivered tomorrow.

[scanesare]

Well my little trial order from Aliexpress turned up last week and as promised here's my findings.



On first inspection both items looked to be spot on. The turbo muffler delete is very well made. 

Thanks for posting the pic of the turbo elbow as it pretty much clears it up for me. It looks identical in shape to the VWR but it's obviously not the exact same thing. Compared to the VWR item (below) it lacks the clean polished finish (has a grainy texture instead), possibly the hard anodization also, and the welds also seem less tidy especially around the small pipe and the bracket. I would also bet it's not made from 6061-T6 Al but from a lesser alloy. Does it matter for the particular application? Maybe not, it just confirms my original assumption that we are talking about a copycat and not just the same item in de-branded form, hence the great price difference.

[7MAT]

I didn't purchase the VWR type, I purchased the CTS Turbo version! So unfortunately proves nothing.

I have mention that twice now, the CTS inlet looks identical to the one I received.

Even found a post online with a guy who purhased the CTS Turbo inlet direct from CTS with the same fitment issue.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7886593-CTS-turbo-inlet-pipe

[Watts]

Thanks for posting that up Matt, very interesting, good of you too to give it a go. Keep us posted with your findings with the replacement.

[scanesare]

I didn't purchase the VWR type, I purchased the CTS Turbo version! So unfortunately proves nothing.

I have mention that twice now, the CTS inlet looks identical to the one I received.

Even found a post online with a guy who purhased the CTS Turbo inlet direct from CTS with the same fitment issue.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7886593-CTS-turbo-inlet-pipe

Sorry I thought we had been talking about the VWR item so far, I missed the part that you said you bought the CTS version, I read back some posts and found it now. Was actually puzzled as to how you didn't mention the obvious differences between them. From the post you quoted seems their turbo inlet is known to have fitment issues though. Would be interesting to actually have the VWR style and check quality but it's not an option any more.

[7MAT]

I didn't purchase the VWR type, I purchased the CTS Turbo version! So unfortunately proves nothing.

I have mention that twice now, the CTS inlet looks identical to the one I received.

Even found a post online with a guy who purhased the CTS Turbo inlet direct from CTS with the same fitment issue.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7886593-CTS-turbo-inlet-pipe

Sorry I thought we had been talking about the VWR item so far, I missed the part that you said you bought the CTS version, I read back some posts and found it now. Was actually puzzled as to how you didn't mention the obvious differences between them. From the post you quoted seems their turbo inlet is known to have fitment issues though. Would be interesting to actually have the VWR style and check quality but it's not an option any more.

Yes I do wish now that I had purchased the VWR type from Mertop originally, as you say it would of been interesting to see.

It's still for sale on Alibaba, but I believe the minimum order qty is 10 units. 
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/MERTOP-Golf-MK7-GTI-Golf-MK7_60696420126.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.18.37bdb133EkRWMv

Will report back once again when I fit the Creation Motorsport Turbo Inlet.

[7MAT]

Finally received the Creation Motorsports Turbo Inlet, unfortunately they shipped it to my home address and not my work address so only picked it up at the weekend.

The good news is the quality of the Creation Motorsports turbo inlet is superb. I really like how they have branded the product in a discreet way. Once fitted you can't see the logo's which I prefer, as the engine bay still looks stock.



Only driven a few miles with it fitted, all of which has been in wet and rainy weather. That said I can't really feel any difference (butt dyno) nor can I hear any increases in induction sound. 

Only other changes are a Pipercross drop in filter and snow guard removed.

Now just waiting for a dry day so that I give it a proper test, but not expecting much to be honest ....

[Watts]

That does look a well engineered part though Matt, especially next to the standard plastic part. Looking forward to your further observations. Have you fitted the muffler delete yet?