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MK7 GTI Intake Kits Compared & SCORED!

Which intakes look the best choice for looks and performance? #mk7gti #golfgti

Comparing some of the most popular MK7 GTI intakes on the market to see which looks the best for performance and looks.

MK7 GTI Intake – Scoring Parameters

The summary of the scores can be seen in the table at the bottom.

Intakes were scored for price, value for money, implied performance (the type of power numbers I think will they give), upgrade compatibility (will the intake be a restriction if power is increased dramatically and can how easily it can be upgraded without throwing the whole intake away) and bling, how serious does the intake look sitting in the engine bay.

Click the links to see the reviewed intake on ebay.


AFE MK7 GTI Intake

The AFE intake looks good quality. Almost OEM like. The mounting between the intake pipe and the air filter being a highlight.

Given the space I don’t think it’s possible to have a straighter shot into the factory intake piping. AFE have done a great job here.

A couple of issue I have with the intake.

I said the connection between the filter and the piping looks OEM like. The pipe reduces in diameter using a radius but what about the filter? It’s not clear if there is a bellmouth at the neck of the filter. Not a show stopper but why did they bother with reducing the diameter with the pipe at all? Have the filter neck will a bell mouth of the same diameter as the intake piping and the area is much simpler (read less turbulence inducing).

Close up of filter neck on the AFE intake for the MK7 GTI
Radius neck in piping. Why doesn’t filter neck just have the same diameter as the pipe and skip this complication.

AFE intake filter is said to have 6 layers of filtration which sounds great. And the air filter test here showed AFE filters (at the time) had good filtration but got blocked relatively quickly. In short, the filter is probably complicating things. It’s hard to beat a stock paper filter. (This line will be repeated a lot in this article).

Scoring

Price 6/10

Value for Money 6/10

Implied Performance 8/10

Upgrade Compatibility 7/10

Bling 5/10

Total: 32


Non Branded MK7 GTI Intake

This intake looks meat and potatoes. ie no frills.

No pics of the kit installed on the car so impossible to comment on the routing and installation. I’ll have to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Intake pipe diameter looks really thick. This manufacturer, whoever they are, are really taking advantage of the fact that the MK7 doesn’t have a MAF sensor.

Where the intake pipe necks down to the factory pipework is a bit abrupt. One silicone reducer of a short distance. A radiused bell mouth on the end of the stock piping would be perfect. But it doesn’t have that. There will be restriction in the silicone reducer. And there will be restriction from the edge of the factory pipework as it sits in the reducer. Again, bellmouth on the end of the stock piping would be perfect.

It comes with heat shielding and there are brackets on the intake pipe. Generally it looks like it’s supplied with everything you’ll need to install.

The filter quality is a completely unknown quantity but no drama. Switching to a round stock paper filter gives use stock filtration and minimum resistance.

All in all, solid. (With the addition of a stock paper filter).

You can find an appropriate size using the Mann Filter finder here, adjust it to your home country so it gives filters available to you locally.

Scoring

Price 9/10 (marked down because of the need to by paper filter separately)

Value for Money 9/10

Implied Performance 8/10 (with stock paper filter)

Upgrade Compatibility 9/10

Bling 8/10

Total: 43


K&N MK7 GTI Intake

One of the biggest players in the game have got this intake system.

First impressions is that this MK7 GTI intake hasn’t been optimised. To me it looks like they could have copied the stock intake system.

The bend after the filter looks unnecessarily sharp compared to the previous two intakes above.

K&N has also seen it necessary to add a super ugly stress relieve joiner half way down the main intake pipe.

There doesn’t seem to be a reducer required where the intake pipe meets the stock pipework which suggests the K&N piping has a much smaller diameter than the first two intakes. We all know big is better.

I expect the filter does the numbers but it seems like this is all K&N cared about. This looks like a minimum effort solution with little care taken for aesthetics (extra joiner, thin piping).

This is another filter element which may be better being replaced with a paper alternative looking at the test results in the link above.

In short it seems K&N have lost touch with the market.

Scoring

Price 1/10 (look worse than the no brand kit but three times the price)

Value for Money 2/10

Implied Performance 7/10 (thin intake pipe)

Upgrade Compatibility 2/10

Bling 2/10

Total 14


Injen

Injen have always had their finger on the pulse and this intake is on the money.

Super shallow angle from filter to intake pipe (are you listening K&N?).

The filter is nice and big as well which scores points in all aspects. It’s not clear if the filter has a bellmouth but I’ll give them the benefit.

The neck down on the reducer (connecting the Injen pipe to the stock pipe) is not large suggesting the intake pipe itself has a smaller diameter than the first two kits.

Concise instructions.

Scoring

Price 7/10 (Its Injen, they get to charge a premium)

Value for Money 7/10

Implied Performance 8/10

Upgrade Compatibility 9/10

Bling 7/10

Total 38


Mishimoto

It looks impressive. You can see they are going for the OEM+ look. A trend RacingLine started way back.

Minimal bends in the intake pipe. Probably the best so far.

Nice big filter. Possibly supplied with radiused neck.

And if I’m seeing the photos correctly, the silicone reducer from the Mishimoto pipe to the stock pipe has lips inside so the transition is smooth. The intake air doesn’t bump into the edge of the stock piping. Very, very nice. Attention to detail mixed with a bit of passion.

The one issue with this is later upgrades. It looks like the main pipe reduces in diameter as it gets close to the joiner. This could turn into a restriction on big power car and it would necessitate dumping the intake. I think they should have had a uniform diameter in the main pipe and let the silicone reducer do the heavy lifting ie changing pipe diameter.

Filter is completely enclosed and the ducting looks adequate. Again. Impressive.

All in all this looks like a filter designed by people who car and who are passionate about what they are doing. The exact opposite of K&N (IMO).

Score

Price 5/10

Value for Money 8/10

Implied Performance 7/10

Upgrade Compatibility 7/10

Bling 8/10

Total 35


AMS Performance

This kit looks the business. Carbon is a cheat code to getting things to look the business.

The diameter of the exit of the enclosure looks impressive as well. Until you realise it’s the same size as the filter ie not the size of the filter neck.

Generally the air filter size looks a bit puny. Bit it could be the big enclosure making it look a bit small.

Again, minimum bends in the intake pipe. And the intake pipe looks to have a good girth. But it has the same flaw as the Mishimoto. It necks down in diameter which could make the intake a restriction on big power cars/cars with big turbos. And the only solution would be to bin the intake.

I have no idea on the quality of the filter itself. I’ll assume it’s as good as most performance filters ie average.

It hits a lot of the right notes and it looks a serious bit of kit but the intake narrowing in diameter could be a problem.

Score

Price 4/10

Value for Money 7/10

Implied Performance 7/10

Upgrade Compatibility 5/10

Bling 9/10

Total 32


Integrated Engineering

First impressions? Not a nice looking intake. A bit pieced together. Silicone pipe to rigid pipe to silicone pipe. Too many jubilee clips and the silicone hoses don’t look amazing either.

Bend is a bit tight exiting filter and the filter itself looks a bit stubby. Pipework looks a decent diameter though.

This is another kit where the silicone hose from the intake necks down gradually to the stock piping. This could make it a bit of a headache if you want big power. A straight reducer is easy to change. A custom hose with a bend not so much.

All in all an average kit but I think times have moved on.

Score

Price 3/10

Value for Money 3/10

Implied Performance 7/10

Upgrade Compatibility 4/10

Bling 2/10

Total 19


RamAir

Before getting into this kit. A bit of background on RamAir. Up until the 90s the were focussed on supplying motorsport after which they started to sell their filters direct to the public and to make more mainstream products (like the MK7 intake). I think the key to their recent success has been their prices coupled with their reputation in motorsport.

Their MK7 GTI intake looks serious. The filter shape is unique and says motorsport know-how. Intake pipe is a big diameter. But I’m not sure what sort of voodoo RamAir are doing because there does not appear to be a reducer to connect their pipe to the stock pipework.

Heat shield looks great and intake has minimum bends.

The kit looks simple and effective.

Score

Price 6/10

Value for Money 7/10

Implied Performance 8/10

Upgrade Compatibility 5/10

Bling 7/10

Total 33


RacingLine R600

I believe RacingLine are factory approved manufacturers of performance parts for VW, so their MK7 kit should be half decent.

It looks the business. Another kit going for the OEM+ look. Filter looks plenty large enough and with a radiused neck.

Like the RamAir intake there is no reducer and the intake pipe looks to be large diameter. Again, I’m not sure how that works.

Enclosure is joined to the factory pipework with one hose, this may cause issues if you run big power later.

In summary, a professional looking kit.

Score

Price 4/10

Value for Money 6/10

Implied Performance 8/10

Upgrade Compatibility 5/10

Bling 9/10

Total 32


Scoring Table

PriceValueImpliedUpgradeBlingTotal
AFE6687532
Non Branded9989843
K&N1272214
Injen7789738
Mishimoto5877835
AMS4775932
IE3374219
RamAir6785733
RacingLine4685932
Some surprising results

Scoring Analysis – MK7 GTI Intake Comparison

A surprise winner

First Place

The non branded intake (assuming it’s fitted with a decent filter/stock type paper filter). Good intake pipe diameter, looks understated and business like and it’s easy to upgrade.

Second place

Goes to the Injen. Upgradability counts for this kit and also the looks of the kit. The brand name is also a bonus. Might be a bit flash for some or perfect for others.

Third Place

Mishimoto, great points across the board. The intake has a lot to it, so the price is obviously higher which counts against it versus the cheaper intakes. If we ignore the price aspect and just look at what we get, I think the Mishimoto could come out on top. OEM type looks and shouldn’t be too bad to upgrade if the stock power gets bumped up by 100bhp.

Biggest Disappointment

Without a doubt the K&N. It looks like it was designed by people who make intakes for a job not because they are passionate. I’m sure on an engineering front it’s a great intake but the intake also has to look good. And the price in my opinion is simply far too high.

Which would I choose?

-For an OEM plus intake the Mishimoto. I choose the Mishi over the RacingLine because the filter in the Mishi should be easier to upgrade to a stock type paper filter element if you want the maximum filtration quality. And it should be relatively easy to upgrade for bigger power, just change the silicone reducer. Not as easy to upgrade as the no name filter but better than the others.

-And my choice for a simple intake, to give me the flow for big power? The non-branded intake with a paper-type filter looks a no-brainer.

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This page was last modified Jan 22, 2025 @ 11:08 am

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