does anyone know of any front mount intercoolers out there

 

spearco
hks
greddy

 

I have actually been thinking about this exact thing. My idea was to relocate the intercooler to behind the lower grill. Then build an intake that would utilize the the scoop. Basically making a true cool air system. I've got a bunch of stuff on paper , really just scetches and stuff. No hard core math or anything like that, yet. I haven't been home in 6 months so i haven't been able to measure anything out yet. i think it could really be a good idea that could get really cool air into the system.

Frank

 

Ya I know those companies but I wonder if anyone is coming out with them for mcs or if we will have alter one to run in our cars I know of a few race teams that have done it but theirs were duct taped together. not a very permanaint sollution.

 

>>Ya I know those companies but I wonder if anyone is coming out with them for mcs or if we will have alter one to run in our cars I know of a few race teams that have done it but theirs were duct taped together. not a very permanaint sollution.


oh ok
ur question was sorta vauge, so i answered as best i could
can u send me ur wheel details in PM please?
like size/model/price

 

______________________________
oh ok
ur question was sorta vauge, so i answered as best i could
can u send me ur wheel details in PM please?
like size/model/price
________________________________

Uh, what the. Where did that come from?

Frank

 

Here's some posts from RandyBMC that might be of interest

Talks about upcoming stuff from mini-motorsport.com

or

Air-water intercooler with pictures

 

>>
>>Uh, what the. Where did that come from?
>>
>>Frank :smile:

 

Oh, roger that!

Sorry

Frank

 

Here is the challenge.

The Cooper S intake sit on top of the Supercharger. So, study the outlet from the supercharger. This swoop can either be cut or recreated to accommodate a front mount intercooler.

I have two front mount intercoolers custom made for the Cooper S. But, we are going to use them for Turbo Upgrades.

Good luck

_________________
Diamond Mini

 

Here's a couple of shots of Nuzzo MotorSports front mounted intercoolers.
I shot these at the Grand Am 250 in Holmstead, FL a couple of months ago.



And here's another



Yfoiler

 

The problem I've seen so far on front mount designs for the MINI is the inlet and outlet boots staying on. As easy as that sound to fix, it hasn't proven to be so far.

The solution we've come up with is instead of moving the intercooler, moving the heat transfer to the front. What that means is taking the core and jacketing it with water, then pumping the water through a front mount radiator to cool it. This system works extremely well, as proven by the dyno testing, track testing and thermocouple testing we've done so far. While this is a more complicated system than a top mount large air-air, it does resolve the problems of heat soak due to exit air and intercooler location. It also uses the stock core location and inlet and outlet necks, so there are no boot problems. The prototype required some fabrication, but it is becoming a much more viable kit for the general market, and five of the production units are on their way here.

The other option that has been in testing and fared well is the larger air-air top mount. While it is still susceptable to heat soak when stationary, the recovery rate is much quicker. The gains shown with the thermocouple unit show delta t/T have been very noticeable. What typically took 15 minutes at constant airflow to return to pre-heatsoak temps take less than half that with the larger intercooler. The other advantage are lower outlet temps to start with, and therefore lower peak temps when stationary. The consistency is just not as good as the water-air, but the system is very simple, and does not have any boot (inlet or outlet) problems.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Randy
720-841-1002

 

I was very excited seeing Randy's water-to-air intercooler prototype working first-hand. Even the prototype looked excellent, and the system is reasonably simple, however the effectiveness (even theoretically) is awesome compared to an air-to-air intercooler. Sounds like the pricing will be in the region of an aftermarket air-to-air anyway, so the potential value is much higher.

I think the water-to-air intercooler is going to become one of the most important mods to date.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

A few things to consider with any front-mount intercooler is that if it has to sit in the same air path as the the air going to the radiator (and the other radiator; air conditiontion?) then you increase the likelihood of overheating in hot stop and go traffic, especially with the AC on. So, if that indeed becomes an issue, that is one advantage of the bigger top-mounted air-to-air unit. I wonder if you could put a couple of fans in the intake scoop to keep air flowing over the intercooler when stopped?

Of course, if there is room, you can add another fan on the FMIC too.

Looking forward to Randy's setup and a review

 

>>A few things to consider with any front-mount intercooler is that if it has to sit in the same air path as the the air going to the radiator (and the other radiator; air conditiontion?) then you increase the likelihood of overheating in hot stop and go traffic, especially with the AC on. So, if that indeed becomes an issue, that is one advantage of the bigger top-mounted air-to-air unit. I wonder if you could put a couple of fans in the intake scoop to keep air flowing over the intercooler when stopped?
>>
>>Of course, if there is room, you can add another fan on the FMIC too.
>>
>>Looking forward to Randy's setup and a review

I don't think the engine overheating with a front mount is that much to worry about. The CVT MINI has it's radiator for their oil cooler in the same space as Nuzzo has mounted their FMIC. Sure the engine in the CVT and MCS are different etc but I doubt one gets that much hotter than the other in stop and go driving.

Paul

 

I'd be a willing guinea pig to test this potential overheating problem with a front mounted water-air intercooler. I live in PHX, so extreme heat shouldn't be much of a problem finding around here.

Mike (minicoop78) has a water sprayer system on his intercooler with the alta air diverter. I'd like to see those two systems running side-by-side.

_________________
Happy Motoring!

 

ProMini/BMPDesign has a working prototype of a water intercooler with an extra twist that goes beyond any of the current designs out there for the MINI right now. It is a very nice setup and for normal days it operates very similar to that of what the other designs do...but for track days, autox(depending on class of course), etc you can turn it up a notch and get VERY VERY VERY cold water running through the system...closing in on the point where the water wants to freeze.

 

Very interesting trying to upgrade the intercooler (great pictures!) and such but at the end of the day this is all major voiding of warranty in my book. The dealers would have a field day if you had almost any trouble with the engine- talk about obvious modification of the engine. Look at that HUGE red intake. It's as large as a garbage can.
The whole engine compartment hardly resembles my MCS- whoa

 

I don't think warranty is a big issue for the people that do these sort of serious mods to their car.

Frank

 

minihune,

>> Look at that HUGE red intake. It's as large as a garbage can.
>>The whole engine compartment hardly resembles my MCS- whoa

That is correct. The engine compartment on all the Minis in the Grand Am series have stripped there engine down to bare bones. And have striped all possible things off that are not necessary.

As for that Huge red intake. That is the Evolution Intake by Pipercross. The Mini's in the Grand Am run this intake as well as a Subaru that ran the Pikes Peak last weekend, which is from Pipercross USA.

This is the 710 HP version of the Viper that runs on the S. So when we go to production on the Cooper "S" Viper it is a scaled down version of what you see in that picture, which is ran on the Grand Am Mini's.

Tracy
Diamond Racing

 

>>Very interesting trying to upgrade the intercooler (great pictures!) and such but at the end of the day this is all major voiding of warranty in my book.

I've got 10100 miles on my MCS in the first 4 months of ownership. That puts the end of my 3/36000 mile warantee at right around March of next year...2 years premature. So I'd love to be of assistance to Randy if he wants some serious hot weather testing done.

 

>>I've got 10100 miles on my MCS in the first 4 months of ownership. That puts the end of my 3/36000 mile warantee at right around March of next year...

Erm...the warranty in the US is 4 years/50k miles. The maintenance ends, though at 3/36.

I never thought a longer warranty would be a bad thing!

Jeff

ps: miniusa.com, look at Our Cars, Mini Cooper S, Features & Specs, and there's a Warranty link on the LH side.

 

I would have interest in the larger top mount do you know of any for the mcs yet or would I have to fabricate to make one fit?

 

minicoop78 - At ProMini/BMP we have a top mounted water to air cooler with an extra surprise...we are just finishing up some testing and final tweaks before the go into production.

 

>>I would have interest in the larger top mount do you know of any for the mcs yet or would I have to fabricate to make one fit?

Alta has one.