Almost done.

Today we swapped out the mechanical rail pump for the VF high-flow version, as well as the new high-flow injectors. A few words about the pump and injectors: The GTI' FSI fuel delivery is radically different than anything previously employed by any volume manufacturer. For example, whereas most current fuel injection systems operate at anywhere from 45 to 120 psi of pressure, VW's FSI system operates at up to 1600 psi of pressure. As a result, the FSI fuel pump and injectors are also radically different than anything currently available on the aftermarket. What does that mean? It means that to increase the fuel flow to suit a bigger turbo, we can't just call up an aftermarket supplier and order up some "bigger" injectors and a high-flow pump. No doubt these parts will someday be available, but the fact is they aren't right now. VF has been working on these issues for over a year now, and their solutions meet the bigger turbo's requirements while maintaining an OE approach to the job.

Bleeding the fuel pressure from the pump before removal is critical, as the above-mentioned fuel pressure is enough to slice off a finger or worse. After the pressure is released, the removal and installation of the VF unit is quite simple - not so with the injectors, though. As the pictures illustrate, quite a bit needs to be removed in order to access the injectors. Once done, removal requires the use of a special tool specific to the VW FSI injectors.

With the last of the kit's hardware installed, we turned our attention to the optional intercooler. This part of the job couldn't have been easier, as the core fits perfectly and with almost no trimming to the stock front bumper needed, and all the connecting tubes and hardware also fit very nicely.

We finished the intercooler sooner than expected, so we chose to install the VF engine mounts. OE GTI mounts are designed with as much attention addressed to mitigating noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) as toward performance. The GTI has three engine mounts and these mounts are tasked with holding the engine and transaxle in place while effectively getting the engine's output to the front wheels. Simply put, the stock mounts are too soft to adequately handle the second part of the above job description. The VF mounts are machined from solid billet aluminum and integrate polyurethane bushings as a way of isolating NVH from the driver. It's a shame they're hidden by other components, as they're really quite impressive to look at.

You'd imagine a set of stiffer mounts would equal a pretty major compromise on the NVH issue in exchange for better performance, but this is a case of having your cake and eating it too. The VF mounts do transmit a little extra bit of engine noise into the cabin, but the effect is minimal. There is no noticeable added vibration at idle or at speed. Needless to say, we recommend these mounts to any enthusiast with a Mk5-chassis 2.0TFSI.

We ran out of time before finishing the entire installation, so next time we'll install the VF intake and trim the engine cover to fit the new components.