Intercooled HDI Without MBC Question

[MY95]

Whats the max bhp and torque you can get without having to faff on with an MBC and Boost Guage with an intercooler hooked up?

Would like to have a bit more than a stage 1 but not have to faff on with the above while staying as reliable and mpg ish friendly as possible

[pro_steve]

There's probably not a reliable answer to this because nobody goes to this effort and skips the MBC, this is so much easier than fitting the whole intercooler.

With the intercooler fitted you're going to be down a couple PSI on boost, there are always losses through an intercooler no matter what people say. You do have the benefit of much cooler air entering the engine so you can fit more in, but you're down a tiny bit on boost pressure.

So basically my answer would be 130 ish, but take out the wheel arch lining, snip the pipe on the turbo actuator and fit an MBC. then you can go straight to stage 2 levels or whatever you want.

[MY95]

Thanks for the info Steve, appreciate it!
At 130 bhp there wouldnt be much point in fitting the intercooler without mbc as thats not much more bhp than a stage 1
Doesnt sound too difficult to fit an mbc now youve explained it
Going to get the Rallye fully on the road and will see about going full stage 2 after that
Thanks again Steve!

[Jtrigga]

An mbc isn't really that hard at all to fit just a bit fiddly.
Jack up the car on drivers side take off the wheel and drivers wheel arch liner.

Lay with your head in the arch and look up you should see a blue pipe that goes to the actuator.

Undo the 13mm banjo that is on the easiest end of the pipe, cut the clip that holds the pipe to the banjo, then with the banjo removed attached your new pipe to the banjo drop it down from the top if the bay,

The pipe remaining on the actuator put a 5mm pipe joiner on and your new pipe fix it with a good cable tie bolt the banjo back in and feed both of the remaining ends of the new pipe to the mbc.

I did lots of reading and everyone said it was really hard, I did mine in an hour first time I'd ever done one.

[MY95]

Nice one, cheers!
Great write up, repped

[jammapic]

They can be fiddly and a bit of a knuckle scuffer, but really not that hard.

Like Steve says, I would argue if you didn't do it you'd be missing a trick. Much better to get a gauge and controller on, set the right boost and just run a limited torque map.

JP

[MY95]

Fair points made there James
Id does sound worth the extra expense and hassle to go the full whack when putting an intercooler on

[jammapic]

The big expense / ballache is the fitting of the clutch. If you've got the ability to do it at home, covered area, ramps etc then great... otherwise for the masses, buying a clutch and then getting someone to fit it can become really expensive..

JP

[MY95]

Id agree, the clutch costs a fortune to buy and then get fitted if they cant fit in themselves
Although id rather safe £300 and the hassle and go limited torque in which your only going to really lose 30lb ft really, still pretty much the same bhp too
Water pump and cambelt to be bought and fitted on the Rallye before I can go Stage 2 on the HDI