3.3TT Review of Jonny Tig and their Intercooler

[DaJackson]

Since I’ve had the Jonny Tig intercooler on the car for a few weeks now I figured I’d give my review of the product and the company.


First off I heard a lot of praise for the JT parts when doing research. After a few answers from Tash at JT I decided to place my order. Then I had to wait, and wait.


Below is an outline of the communication on my order.


11/21 - Order placed. Told it would ship in 3 weeks

11/28 - Ask for install instructions

11/29 - Told there are no instructions to share but Jonny will get to it.

12/2 - Sent a You Tube video that does little more than say “remove bumper, install intercooler”

12/12 - Ask for a status update

12/17 - Told the pipes are just about done but the powder coater closes 12/21 for the holiday and doesn’t open again till 1/7

1/9 - Ask for a status update

1/14 - Told the pipes should be back today or tomorrow and then it will ship.

1/22 - Ask for a tracking number

1/22 - Told the powder coater is backed up, hope to have it by the end of the week.

1/29 - Ask for an update

1/29 - Told it will ship tomorrow

1/31 - Ask for tracking number

2/3 - Ask for tracking number

2/3 - Sent tracking number


In the end it took 75 days or nearly 11 weeks for my order to ship when I was originally told it would be 3 weeks.

When it would be shipped was changed 4 different times.


At one point I asked for some kind of compensation for the lengthy delays and was told “Unless the powder coating company gives us discount for them dragging their feet I cannot afford to offer a discount for something we haven’t been in control of” Needless to say I never got a follow up on if the powder coater offered a discount.


As for the quality of the IC itself everything looked fine and it was packaged well for the long trip from AUS. However the clamps included in the kit are pretty cheap and I had a charge pipe blow off after a few days. I replaced it with a better clamp and haven’t had any issues.


As mentioned before the kit comes with no instructions. I had heard that the tow hook threads on the crash bar had to be cut for fitment, however we didn’t have to do that. Did we install it incorrectly or did they change the design? Without instructions how are we to know?


I didn’t notice any dramatic butt dyno power increase but that’s not really the point of an IC. It’s not really been hot enough here yet to really feel any improvement in heat soak.


Overall as the most expensive IC on the market right now with terrible customer service and follow through, I really don’t recommend anyone purchasing this IC


Unless you are planning on pushing significant HP (more than what current high HP cars are pushing now) any of the other ICs on the market will suffice.


I know the JT fanboys will come in and say all their parts are the best ever. But I wanted to share my experience.

 

[oddball]

Meh. Agreed, customer service could use some major work, but I don't think JT initially planned to do this kind of job. He's a custom fabricator and tuner, not a production shop.
I went into it with eyes open. Total install, including other intake mods, was maybe 4 hours? No complications. Also could tell the clamps weren't the best so I bought proper turbo clamps. Extra cost, sure. I also modified several of the parts a bit to tweak the fitment and clean up a few things.
For what it is, the price is fair. It's high quality, low production stuff.

 

[DaJackson]

I also modified several of the parts a bit to tweak the fitment and clean up a few things.

For what it is, the price is fair. It's high quality, low production stuff.

These two sentences don’t go together. If it’s high quality he shouldn’t be skimping a couple dollars on cheap clamps or have such tight margins that he can’t afford to make a customer happy when there is an issue with his production or not provide instructions on instal months after releasing the product or require tweaking and clean up.

 

[STINGER]

Maybe there aren't enough core options with the brand JT is using, but I dont understand why he chose to go higher and have a 1/3 of the core behind the crash bar, I would rather it was shorter and thicker.

 

[Sabz]

Lol price is fair!!!! I would never spend money on what they offer... 800 dollar intake lmao it’s a joke

 

[Kamauxx]

Lol price is fair!!!! I would never spend money on what they offer... 800 dollar intake lmao it’s a joke

It's closer to $650. Exchange rate changes it daily but I've never seen it close to $800.

 

[Sabz]

It's closer to $650. Exchange rate changes it daily but I've never seen it close to $800.

Still way too much... even the other companies selling for 400

 

[Kamauxx]

Still way too much... even the other companies selling for 400

I wasn't saying it is or isn't expensive. That's up to the interpretation of who's buying it.

I was just pointing out it isn't $800.

 

[terrelltechsup]

Just to comment on this a bit. I have reached out to no less than 5 custom fabrication shops around my area that specialize in other brands and every single one of them have told me they have no interest in this platform. I for one will take what I can get, say thanks may I have another, and send them a gift basket from Costco.

 

[DiabloStinger]

JT stuff is solid, and you'll pay for what you get. As far as clamps, well, people have their preferences, but I agree you should get the best with this kit.

 

[James christiansen]

well I just saw this post and is scaring me...

I ordered an intake on Jan 14th and was told 2-3 weeks to ship.

its been over 7 weeks and they haven't responded to my last two emails asking for updates.
I sent one the beginning of last week and another one on monday this week.

I was planning on calling them tonight.

I personally (looks the most finished to me) like the JT intake the best of any available but I really hate that they have quit
responding to my emails.

I think at this point if it doest ship next week i am going to cancel my order and do the agency power intake with big mouth snorkel

 

[terrelltechsup]

well I just saw this post and is scaring me...

I ordered an intake on Jan 14th and was told 2-3 weeks to ship.

its been over 7 weeks and they haven't responded to my last two emails asking for updates.
I sent one the beginning of last week and another one on monday this week.

I was planning on calling them tonight.

I personally (looks the most finished to me) like the JT intake the best of any available but I really hate that they have quit
responding to my emails.

I think at this point if it doest ship next week i am going to cancel my order and do the agency power intake with big mouth snorkel

Try facebook messenger. They responded to me there. I think they all got the flu at the end of last year and are really behind.

 

[DaJackson]

I did have some success with FB messenger as well.

However I did get a couple “sorry I forgot to hit send on this email” type responses after not hearing from them for a few days.

However, even if they come back and say it’s shipping tomorrow, from my experience that doesn’t mean anything.

 

[robz32]

Agree with you on the lead time to get the parts shipped (mine took roughly the same time), and it is one of the down sides of a small shop operation like @Jonnytig. However once it gets shipped it takes only a few days to get to your door.

As far as the quality of the kit it self and fitment, no doubt it is great, could the IC kit come with instructions, yes absolutely, it could've helped make things easier on the installation, it did not take me long to figure out what goes where. The intake kit however does come with detailed instructions that includes photos.

@DaJackson if you have additional photos of the install send them over PM to compare them with mine and make sure it was installed properly.

 

[Never thought]

That’s nuts about the clamp breaking on such an expensive intercooler. Great write up and review as always.

 

[James christiansen]

thanks for heads up on the FB messenger. I'll see if it works better.

I completely understand how it is to run a small business and have so many things to get to,
so i'm not throwing stones here but I at least want a response within a couple of days and I would
prefer if they just told me it was going to be another month instead of "by the end of the week" for a month....
so only throwing very small stones.

 

[DaJackson]

thanks for heads up on the FB messenger. I'll see if it works better.

I completely understand how it is to run a small business and have so many things to get to,
so i'm not throwing stones here but I at least want a response within a couple of days and I would
prefer if they just told me it was going to be another month instead of "by the end of the week" for a month....
so only throwing very small stones.

Being a small company isn’t a good excuse for being terrible at communicating or estimating completion dates.

 

[terrelltechsup]

This industry is almost as bad as residential general contracting... nothing will ever beat that when it comes to over promising and under delivering.

 

[DaJackson]

That’s nuts about the clamp breaking on such an expensive intercooler. Great write up and review as always.

To clarify, it didn’t break. But it’s a style of worm clamp that doesn’t get as tight as others. Because of this it wasn’t able to be tight enough to prevent the hose blowing off.

 

[Tonkabob]

JT intake is worth the wait and the extra couple hundred. I bought the IC and intake during the group buy last summer. Similar experience on delays and communication so set your expectations accordingly.
Ended up selling the IC due to install complexity / no instructions and not liking 1/4 of the IC behind the crashbar.
Did the UP IC instead.