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Gen 2 Upper Intercooler Pipe Project Complete.

31K views 48 replies 18 participants last post by  Blasirl 
#1 · (Edited)
I just completed my DIY intercooler Upper pipes for 2016+ Gen2 Cruze.
No one has it available, so i did it myself.

I currently own a Cobalt SS and my wife has a Gen 2 Cruze Sedan Manual Shift. The ZZP upper and lower pipes on my Cobalt SS were measured and saw that it was close and angles were very similar.
I emailed ZZP and asked if they had plans for the Cruze. They said they had no plans.

I did notice that the upper pipes on the Cruze are the Cold Side air. Yet on the Cobalt these same pipes would be the Hot Pipes. At any rate, without a BOV connected, they pretty much look identical. the only difference is the throttle body on the cruze is a 2 inch opening. The same goes for the exit on the intercooler. This is why i had to find a 2 inch to 2.5 inch silicone elbow which I purchased off of eBay.
I found some Hahn Cobalt pipes someone was selling and started the project yesterday (Sunday).

Before this mod: The Cruze has been Trifecta Tuned for the past couple months. Other than that, it is still stock.

Seat of the pants Result? The first gear lag in my wife's Cruze is almost gone. Not 100 percent, but 85-90 percent better. The pull to 3500 RPMs feels good. I can also hear the turbo. I have never heard it before.

Time from start to finish 3 hours due to cutting and re-cutting to make it fit.
Cobalt Pipes are longer and needed to be cut shorter. The 90 elbow pipes had to be cut down shorter also.
But other than that, it fit perfectly.


Ingredients:
1. Cobalt SS Upper Hot pipes from ZZPerformance or Hahn.
2. 2" to 2.5" 90 degree silicone elbow pipes x 2 <----- You need two of them Bought off of eBay.




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#6 ·
Man i really wish you guys did dyno or track results with your DIY mods. The oem cold pipes dont look very restricting and going out of the FMIC at 2 inch up into a 2.5 inch pipe up the engine bay and back down into 2 inch at the TB... I would guess, hurt performance and airflow. I don't know for sure but I'm guessing keeping it a 2 inch pipe from FMIC to TB would be best. But again, the stock piping doesn't look bad.

You are feeling better low end power but are you seeing any difference in total boost? Im surprised you are hearing the turbo more also

Errrrr lmao
 
#7 · (Edited)
My thinking was this is a closed loop between the FMIC and throttle body. Without a vent or BOV air can't escape. After coming out of the FMIC from a 2.0 to a 2.5 inch tube, air velocity would slow down as it decompresses into the larger diameter. (Bad) However, heat would instantly lower as a byproduct of the pressure decreasing. (Good). Then as the air travelled the length of the metal (not plastic) upper tube towards the throttle body, heat would further dissapate since metal loves to attract heat. (good--even if it was milliseconds). And again because of the closed loop.....right before the throttle body, air velocity would have to increase back up as it went from 2.5 to 2.0 tubing. (good). So the engine would see the same velocity. That was my thought process.
Also, with metal tubing, sound will bounce differently then plastic which is why I'm probably hearing the turbo.
 
#21 ·
To the OP, now you need to do the lower charge pipe. Mine made a good improvement according to my log data. Spool time decreased and starts sooner. More low end torque and top end. I attribute the gains to the rigidity of the tube and removal of that goofy resonator thing connected to the compressor outlet.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Hot charge pipe off the turbo(Bottom side)is: 1.75 to 2.5 silicone coupler. Then a 90 degree black 2.5 inch aluminum pipe. A long extended one about 18 inches. Then a 2.5 to 2.5 silicone coupler. Then a 90 degree aluminum pipe. Then a 2.5 to 2.5 silicone coupler. I bought the ones with the clamps included on the couplers.
 
#32 ·
Topside recommendation: don't buy tight 90 degree piping. Buy the 90 degree 2.5 inch piping that is an easy bend. In other words it takes it's time before it gets to the 90 degree mark. Hopefully, that makes sense. Also, you need a 90 degree 2.5 to 2.0 inch silicone coupler for the final connection at top. The intercooler exit is 2.0 inch. So you will need a 2.0 to 2.5 exit coupler.
 
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