My first blog of the New Year 2026, and just a heads up, I'm immediately going to start whining. I will let you decide if you think I have a fair reason if you choose to read on.
So, as many of you will know, I enjoy modifying my cars, which can be an expensive pastime, and for that reason, I like to find out as much as possible before committing to doing stuff.
After much research, with some advice from various people from the Abarth scene, I decided to opt for an Orra Racing Intercooler. This was a follow-up from other mods, as I slowly progressed towards bigger, more expensive ones to boost my car's performance.
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| Abarth 124 Spider Orra Racing Intercooler |
After speaking to Orra Racing via WhatsApp and using Italian translation, I completed the order request online for my Abarth 124 Spider, choosing Red silicone hoses to go with the larger performance intercooler. I also asked if they could supply a 135-degree bend for one of the pipes, as I had read on a forum that this would help with fitting the intercooler between the alternator and steering rack on a right-hand-drive UK car. My order was placed on the 13 th October 2025, and I paid 919.64 Euros...choosing to pay via PayPal in 3 instalments.
The weeks passed by, no contact from Orra... I waited patiently, then on the 11th December, I contacted Orra with a message, "Please could you tell me how things are going with my order?"
I then got a reply, "Hi, your order is ready. We will arrange shipment tomorrow. I will notify you with the tracking number."
Move to 16th December "Good morning, your order is ready. I'll send you the tracking number now." "Unfortunately, we only have the Black silicone hoses available. Is that okay?"
I replied, "Hi, how much longer would I have to wait for the Red ones?"
"Unfortunately, the shipment will arrive at the end of February; there are some delays."
I thought to myself, Well, I have waited this long, what's another couple of months, so I replied
"If posssible I'd prefer to wait, just the other parts of my car are completed in Red."
I was then informed, "We have already organised the shipment... and keeping the package stuck for more than 2 months becomes more complicated."
So stupidly, I accepted that the intercooler was coming... The first BIG disappointment.
The intercooler arrived within a few days. I had already arranged to have it fitted at my good friend Kurtis's workshop, over at Wolf Performance, with an agreed fitting price and a day to drop my car off.
Big Disappointment Number Two
After a couple of hours, Kurtis from Wolf performance calls me,
"Err, Glenn, there is a problem. Could you come down and have a look, and I can show you and better explain."
So, Ern and I go to see Kurtis, where he points out to both my dad and me the problem with the pipes/hoses and the plumbing up of all the required parts whilst my car is up on the lift.
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| Orra Racing Alloy Pipe - checkout the angle |
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| Orra Racing Alloy Pipe - Can you see a issue ? |
As Kurtis discovered and I now realise, whilst the intercooler itself is fitted snugly, there was no way the combination of pipes/hoses was going to connect up.
As I stated when I ordered the intercooler from Orra Racing, "My car is a right-hand drive." I had read on various forums about the alternator and steering rack being an issue. This seems to be a problem when European suppliers provide their intercooler with pipes and hoses that they claim will fit.
I just want to make it clear: we tried every combination of the provided pieces, and there was no way the various bends were going to fit between the alternator and the steering rack.
One of the only temporary solutions was to use the standard pipe where the alternator/steering is located. The thing is, once you start adding more joints to a system, the greater the chance of leaks, and it can lead to a bastardised job. All I wanted to do was buy a bit of kit, have it fit, work and move on to my next addition to my car, not this headache, especially when a company says it will fit and it obviously doesn't.
Kurtis then came up with a solution. He knew a guy who could potentially make an alloy pipe designed from the original, which would be a solution moving forward. The thing was, he didn't know how much this bespoke pipe would cost until he saw the fella.
My gob almost hit the floor of my dad's car on the way home as Kurtis rang me back...
"Glenn, mate, that pipe will cost £360 to get made. What do you want to do?"
I replied after a little thought, "Aye, just get it sorted."
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| New Custome Pipe |
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| New Custome Pipe |
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| New pipe |
So, I would advise anyone heading up this route to get and fit a larger, performance intercooler to do your homework. Don't just assume something will fit.
Oh, and the best of it is that upon contacting Orra Racing, they were adamant that the fault of the intercooler not fitting was at my end. They assured me, "We even sent the 135-degree bend, and this has been supplied to another UK user who fitted it with no problem."
Orra Racing has since stopped responding to my WhatsApp queries. When I asked to see the blog post this other user had posted, they did not reply. Oh, and the video and images they sent me are for a left-hand-drive car.
It's my fault I agreed to the black hoses after they were already shipped out, or it was too much hassle to keep my shipment until the correct ones arrived.
Anyhoo, those in the know can take a look at the images I have posted. Maybe you can explain how you would have solved the incorrectly oriented angle of the supplied alloy pipe.
In ending would like to say a huge thank you to Kurtis over at Wolf Performance for trouble shooting anddoing everything he could to get my car sorted.
