Has anyone had significant issues with the stock boots & slight boost leakage? I did a search and found a few references to this possibility, but nothing really clear. Yesterday, on a bit of a hunch (I though my 06 S seemed a bit more sluggish for the past few months & I was blaming the heat, but it seemed like more than just heat related sluggishness) I decided to check the clamps on the stock rubber boots. A few of them seemed to be just a little bit less than tight (they were still moderately tight, but I could easily tighten them more w/ my hand held torx kit). I went through them all and sort of re-seated the clamps a bit and snugged them down pretty tight. Now, low & behold the car seems to be noticeably peppier and really revs up to redline much more quickly (I know, I really need to get a boost gauge and/or do a dyno run to document this, but I trust my butt dyno pretty well). Also, the idle seems a bit smoother too.

Do the silicone boots that Alta & M7 sell help with this issue or is this just one of those periodic maintenance things to check every couple of months or so? I was looking at the clamps and thinking that if the boots were a bit thicker the IC clamps could do their job better - they seem to run out of room in the sliding sockets before they really can get a good "bite" into the rubber in the boot.

 

I think my IC boots are in the same situation. The clamps are tightened line-to-line, but they don't seem to be gripping the IC very well. I've heard some of the aftermarket boots are a bear to install - apparently much stiffer than oem.