Does THIS PART NEED A TOON?

I personally do NOT recommend installing ANY parts outside of a toon.  When you are removing and reinstalling parts you can have install errors, induce a leak or a number other issues.  So if you put the car back together and something is off, you are likely going to email your tooner and start asking questions and wanting him to look at logs, which he will likely charge for.  So in the end the best practice is to gather all your parts and install them all at the same time and get tooned once.  I know many people can't afford to buy everything all at once, but for most stock turbo mods anything you would have to buy would accrue minimal interest on a credit card compared to paying for multiple toons. 

Pretty much the only part that I would say can be installed without a toon is a catback exhaust.  

The MAF sensor in the intake pipe measures the airflow and provides fuel to the car based on the MAF scale in the ECU.  So in essence the intake controls the fueling over the whole powerband of the vehicle.  EVERY INTAKE HAS A DIFFERENT MAF SCALE.  So running one intake on the stock MAF scale or another intakes MAF scale will not fuel the car correctly.  

When companies say "our intake doesn't require a toon" they really mean "the fuel corrections/learning are within a range that we deem acceptable to run without a toon"  But the issue is that 99% of aftermarket intakes are larger than the stock intake, this means that the air fuel ratio (AFR) at wide open throttle will lean out if you install it on the stock toon.  Anyone that has logged a stock vehicle on the stock toon on 91 octane has seen that the cars already knock excessively and the DAM is almost always below 1.  Leaning the car out will just make the car knock more.  So to me installing a part that will likely cause more knock simply isn't the greatest idea.  

When Cobb carried OTS maps for other manufacturer intakes they had OTS maps for the ETS and Mishimoto intakes....and both say their intake doesn't need a toon.  Cobb would not have wasted the time to make separate calibrations if it wasn't necessary.  

Do I recommend installing an intake outside of a toon, no.  

The stock boost controller is a 2-port EBCS and operates at 10 hertz.

The aftermarket EBCS' are 3-port and operate at 30 hertz.  

The variation in the frequency between the two solenoids is the reason you get the flutter sound with an aftermarket EBCS.  The flutter can be tooned out by adjusting the frequency.

Do I recommend installing an EBCS outside of a toon, no.  

Running an intercooler without a toon is mostly pointless.  Almost all the gains from an intercooler come from being able to toon the car with more boost, timing and a leaner AFR.  There are many different intercoolers with different cores, different pressure drops, different efficiencies, etc etc.  

Can an intercooler be run without a toon, yes.  Is there any guarantee that the boost and fuel trims will stay in check, no.  

Do I recommend installing an intercooler outside of a toon, no.  

Headers change the diameter, length and shape of the piping that is feeding the turbine wheel.  The turbine wheel is what drives the compressor wheel and ultimately makes boost.  

Can a header be run without a toon, yes.  Is there any guarantee that the boost and fuel trims will stay in check, no.   

Do I recommend installing a header outside of a toon, no. 

Can an AOS or CC's be installed without a toon, yes.  I have tested both the street and comp AOS' and neither changed the fueling or boost by a significant amount.  

BUT, like it says in the first paragraph on this page, installing any part opens yourself up to induce leaks or other issues.  If an AOS line is kinked, hooked up backwards, PCV hooked up backwards, PCV failed, etc etc...then these issues will not be easily visible by indications on the AP gauge screen.  

Do I recommend installing a AOS/CC's outside of a toon, no.