5 / 5 stars - “In short, this product does what it states!” Working with Litchfield and their Technical Partners (Forge) I have conducted extensive testing to support the development of Litchfield tuning packages for the Audi RS3 8V. Whilst the OEM intercooler is “OK”, very rapidly on repeated road and dyno Wide Open Throttle (WOT) sweeps, the air charge temps quickly rise to levels that impact performance (pulling ignition). To extract the full potential out of the tuning packages and increase repeatability of results and improve overall reliability, I turned to Forge and their upgraded front mount intercooler. Not one for just using a product because of “sales speak”, I extensively tested the Forge offering. The conclusion based on the data logging, mapping and final results was clear. Monitoring charge temps with back to back tests instantly showed us that the cooling efficiency with the Forge product was significantly better. Comparing OEM intercooler charge temps for the coolest first run, against the Forge intercooler on it’s third repeated back to back run (really pushing this comparison with heat soak), the Forge intercooler saw a drop of 18degs peak over the OEM unit (on it’s coolest run with no heat soak). Repeated runs on the OEM intercooler saw the difference widen even more by up to 34degs higher (peak) than the Forge intercooler. Repeated runs between the OEM and Forge intercooler (all completed on the same day) saw the following peak values: OEM - 60degs Forge - 26degs The Forge intercooler also held the lowest charge temperature for longer. This sounds all fine and dandy but what does all this mean in relation to performance? First off Litchfield was able to develop their ECU calibrations without needing to worry about charge temperatures impacting performance. The car spent many hours on the dyno and completed many back to back runs. Over 30 different calibrations were created and tested. Not once did Litchfield need to let the car cool down between runs. The end result was a solid and repeatable 450+bhp achieved with only their ECU calibration, Forge Intercooler and secondary cat removal. Recently (March 2017), the car at this level of modification (Litchfield Stage 2) achieved a stonking 11.5s @ 118+mph quarter mile run at Santa Pod. This is the quickest time that we are aware of in the UK, for an RS3 8V at this level of modification using normal pump fuel, no weight reduction and on stock tyres. The car also achieved the 60mph sprint in 3.2s, the 100mph sprint in 7.9s and 100-200kmh sprint in 8.9s on this same run. I look forward to seeing how the Forge intercooler will complement Stage 3 development. Watch this space!