Absolutely

Cute , very cute : )

Generalities? $10 Million plus in research and you write them off as generalities? Yikes? How...
 

...much have you spent?

Which gets back to the PIC idea. Three thermisters (which we'll have to agree on placement) going into a PIC microcontroller's analog to digital inputs. The chip can do the math to determine efficiency and then store the result in serial RAM. Figure out a way to record MPH and RPM at the same time and we can export the data to an Excel spreadsheet. Hades, this might even allow us to not only settle the IC question definitively but optimize either setup for even better results. It could even do away with mix, match, and pray FMIC setups. :)

How game are you for this idea, lad?

Lots of quotes; no responses. [Bam!] The decision is for the plaintiff. :)
 

Bailiff, escort that man out of my courhouse. Next case.

[Imagine the preceeding as a Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, setting with Mentock as the judge.]

Well - I can think of at least half a dozen which have blown apart....
 

under higher boost pressures than stock. As a matter of fact - didn't Audi put all alloy tanks on the RS4 and RS6? I would assume that if you are upgrading the intercooler - you are not stock - therefore the stock parameters don't always apply.

This can be true with higher boosts, temperatures, and stress on the hoses.
 

But Bosch specifically writes the aluminum end tanks are for high temperature applications (read race turbos). The joining method Bosch recommends, and which both Audi and Porsche use, is good for at least 50 PSI. I admit though that while a system may be able to take and hold this as a constant pressure, successive shock waves can have a deleterious impact on long term reliability. Still, I'm putting out no where close to even 20 pounds of boost. At that level the aluminum just looks good - except you can't even open the hood and see it.

Anybody here blown an A4's IC end tank yet in day to day (not track) usage? H, how about even with track usage?

Chipped 1.8T can and will peak and hold 20+ psi - at least alot of guys on
 

Vortex do. I also think the thermal cycling and repeated stress are a big factor as well. Like I said - RS4 and RS6 use aluminum tanks and i've never seen any other performance cars - STI, EVO etc. that use plastic tanks. I'd venture to bet money on the fact that it is cheaper to use plastic in the long run as well, especially under stock loads.

I've seen radiators with the same type of plastic tank to core fasteners...
 

...come apart after several years of heating/cooling cycles. They just gave way. But the plastic and even the crimping was not up to the injection molded resin quality and robustness I see on even the stock A4 IC's. I did check out the information on AWE's website on their custom SMIC's and was very impressed with the results they've published. If to get that quality and effectiveness I have to take the aluminum end caps, well too bad for me. :) But they're not needed in the production or mildly modified 1.8T.

What I really, really liked was the "Why did we not choose a front mounted design" section. Priceless.

Oh, and yes I did send them an email asking how they were coming with the same type of SMIC for the B6 A4. :)<ul><li><a href="http://www.awe-tuning.com/pages/info/content_window.cfm?content=18">Tuner explains AWEsome IC choice</a></li></ul>