Re: i dunno, has anyone ever really done any tests on aftermarket FMIC's and reliability W/stock tur
 

By puting a bigger intercooler with stock turbo (A4)you decrease the life of that turbo by alot but the reason you put a bigger cooler is that you can put a bigger turbo and run a high boost and keep the intake charge in the safe temperature. So you might wonder why put a bigger cooler why not a bigger turbo cause if you put a bigger turbo and leave the stock cooler the intake temperature will go sky high and that my friends causes pinging and detonations. So the ideal thing for more power is to go bigger with both but if you cant aford both it is smarter to go with the cooler first.

The conclusion
 

Like the woman say BIGGER IS BETTER!

Re:FMIC Probs.
 

Now lets think about this scientifically folks. First of all you must realise that a turbo is not a positive displacement pump. It's a fan, so any restriction in the system will mean the fan has to spin faster to push the air thru. If there is in fact a restriction the turbo will have to spin faster to overcome this. A harder working turbo will increase oil temp more than coolant temp (ever seen what oil looks like when it comes out of a turbo- white froth). If the IC is large enough to cool the air THAT HAS BEEN PREHEATED BY BOTH THE RESTRICTION (FRICTION) AND THE HARDER, HOTTER WORKING TURBO, and that air is cooler than a stock set up, then yes a benefit will be felt, albeit a very inefficient one. There may also be greater exhaust pressure (and heat) between the exhaust port and the turbo, not good. A good test would be to measure the air temp. on the inlet and the outlet of the IC and compare them to stock. If the air temp on the inlet of the new IC is greater than stock setup, You may have further troubles.

it's the one on the eropeanspeed.com project A4
 

It looks like it's the same size, but the Evo may be thicker.

A turbo is not a fan - A fan just moves air, a turbo pressurizes it. BIG difference.

Stick it on a racetrack and drive it HARD for 15 minutes...
 

...your oil and coolant temperature gauges will go very high then; front mount OIL cooler is what these turbos Audis need for anyone that tracks them.

After making 4 back to back runs at the drag strip...
 

my oil temp was in the 240-250 range. During normal street driving I'm lucky if it hits 200.

it many ways it is like a fan
 

A ducted fan. A fan will compress air also if you fan it into a restricted space. Conversely, a turbo won't compress air much if you give the air an easy exit.

It's the intake system (and cylinders) stopping the air from escaping that produces pressure from the volume of air being pumped.

As t_mike said, a turbo isn't a positive displacement pump, so if you give it too much backpressure more air will "slip by" the blades and it won't pump as much air and thus compress as well. It won't stall like a positive displacement pump would, instead as it slows down in becomes an inefficient pump at slow speeds.

Now imagine 15 minutes where 75% of the time you're at wide open throttle.