Im about to buy an alta intercooler for my R53. Anything better than this one for the same amount of money or a little bit more?

 

The GP intercooler

 

i use a gtt no problems with it

 

The gp its better??? Whats a gtt??

 

What about the forge intercooler?

 

Hard to beat the GP intercooler for price, and there's plenty of data out there to support it's performance. Mines going on soon, with the DDM diverter (both available at Way Motor Works).

The DOS looks good too, but at twice the price, the GP looks to be the better bang for the buck.

 

Unless you are already pushing the HP way up, save your money for better mods. The stock IC has shown to be a very good performer, in fact it is better than just about all of the aftermarket ones even on modded cars.

 

Thank you very much!! This will make me save at least $400 that i can use for another thing like the jcw injectors that also WMW sell.

 

GP Intercooler for the WIN

 

im looking into this as well, but not just "because"... I think my SC is creating so much heat up high it's causing pinging... and a better intercooler (significantly better) would bring those temps down quite a bit, I'm getting temps of 64c(147f) at WOT(around 6k RPM), 16psi boost, timing is only at 20deg. ambient was about 80f that day, but wow, theres gotta be a better way... and I'm not sure that the GP will give me the drop I need. the stock IC just cant handle what my SC is dishin out.

any links to solid numbers would be awesome, I think DoS compared theirs to the GP a bit ago, GP stood up well if memory serves...

sorry, not trying to hijack the thread, but this will get you better info if it's out there Villa

 

I have had the Helix intercooler for about 10k miles and I really like it. I am not sure they make one for the R53 though.

 

Nope no helix R53 I/C.

Really the GP is a great bang for the buck, and DOS's is even better if you can swing the extra cash. ALL the others may work well in the right applications, but have been widely criticized for their short comings as a whole. For a stock car, or one with the few basic mods that every MINI owner seems to do, the stock I/C is plenty. Once you start getting more into producing more power though, thats when you shuld step up to bigger and better.

Dont weigh out Water Methonol injection either, it has more bennifits than just adding an upgraded I/C, and is fairley cost efficent. I think the kit that I have installed on my car was right around $500 and has saved my motor a couple times. It does require more maintanance and a gallon or two of fluid after a week of daily driving though.

 

Im sell now for the GP IC

 

Have you considered an oil cooler? Though synthetics these days can stand the heat, lowering your oil temp will result in lower coolant / overall temp.

 

GTT{ gt tuning } i`m in england by the way, cost for this here is £480-00 sterling

 

I have an W/A and real like it. The price is more then a A/A and adds some weight, but I like the look.

 

The results from the DoS A2A thread are here if anyone wants to check out results.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...59-post80.html

. . . and the full thread can be found here.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-from-dos.html



We wish that we could do better on the pricing right now, but copper is remains expensive at this time.

-Clint

 

I'm curious about that data, The delta on stock seems to be about 60, GP about 90, and the DOS 120. however I cant help but notice the starting temps are about 30deg off, starting at 120 for your intercooler, and starting at 150 for the stock pieces. I seem to remember some testing done some years ago where the intercoolers were tested heat soaked vs cool and performed very differently, I'm just wondering why there is a difference in these starting temps, can you explain? Does your unit perform well when heat soaked? I know the low thermal mass of the stock units helps them recover well.

I appreciate the work you have put into development, it seems very thorough, just a thought I have lingering.

 

 

Unfortunately the sessions for the "B" & "C" groups at the track day that I was attending ran long and the car sat for a little longer than when the stock & GP units were tested. It's very hard to maintain the same variables when you're doing semi-geurilla testing and are at the mercy of other run groups. If it were a scorching hot day, this would be a major flaw in the data. The moderate temps at T-Hill that day made this a fairly non-issue.

That being said, Thunderhill has two nice long straightaways and I was mostly in open air for the stock & GP runs. As you saw in the graphs, all the IC temps dipped as the car left the pit area and was up to speed. This is where that heat soak gained sitting in the pits was shed. Due to the smaller volume and lower cooling potential of the stock IC, its temps did not dip as much.

There was a little traffic on the run for the DoS IC, but nothing too horrible. This created several opportunities to really push the car leaving traffic that were not there on the stock & GP runs. However, I wish that I had more open air/track for that session.

Recovery from heat soak is slightly better than the GP & stock. Copper can transfer heat ~=59% better than aluminum and the DoS unit's tube walls & turbulators are thinner than the stock or GP. True, the stock IC recovers from heat soak well, but its cooling potential is still limited by its overall volume to really get temps down at the track. This is where the DoS A2A IC and GP IC clearly outshine the stock MCS IC.

If you have any more questions in this vein, I'll be more than happy to answer them back at the DoS A2A-IC thread mentioned above.

-Clint