Another Opinion
A couple strange opinions on this. Its a good debate, like upgrading from a stock ported throttle body to something larger. Some folks are quick to bash the ones who do. Why? If it doesn't hurt the performance, and you have the money to spend, why not do it. With the authors part combination, which is still basically bone stock, what would changing to a big neck possibly hurt? It is a proven worthwhile modification with a recipe car. Sure, people have gone fast with an untouched cooler. What kind of boost was the turbo actually making at the turbo? What was the inlet temps? Probably not too good. Could these guys have benefited from a big neck, you bet! Why didn't they do it? Who knows.
Long story short, if you are going to keep the stock turbo, the big neck is a somewhat easy 20hp gain. I could think of several other mods I would invest in first, but a big neck would definitely be in the future. Someone posted on here that any restriction in a turbo system is a bad one. Sure is! Go for it, and remember, a few stock turbo/modified stock intercooler combos have been deep in the elevens.