Could you disconnect the two ends of the flexible rubber hoses and substitute a flexible hose from something else, e.g. some hoses used for dynos as per here ?
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or parts nornally used for those induction kits. Although it would have to stand the pressure from the turbo.
My thought is that even if the radius of the U-bend would be quite long it would probably sit down below that part arrowed. This would be permanent though.
It would be interesting to see the results. My IC is in the front, right wheelarch and fed air from around the foglight in the bumper. I think I may try blocking the intake and see what happens.
A '5 minute speed shop' tuning method on the old XUDT was to turn up the fuel pump to get more power - adjust until you get smoke and then turn it back a little. When people tried it on the early HDis (306s) the engine, or perhaps the turbo and then the engine, would occasionally go bang. However I wonder about turning it down. You get less power obviously but it would use less fuel too.