I'm going to be looking at updating my stock intercooler and shocks.
Not lowering car!!!

Shocks= Koni FSD's.

Looking at Helx Intercooler or Forge Intercooler.

Thoughts on whether one is better than the other please. Thanks....

 

Either is fine. I have the Helix and it is a very nice piece. You won't go wrong either way.

 

Thanks. See you're from AL. Where abouts?

 

Alta is fine too.

 

I have the Helix as well. Works great, very well made, and almost looks too good to hide behind the bumper.

 

Thanks all for the responses. I'm gathering they are all ok but seems the Helix is pretty popular.
It'll be Spring before I do anything, just trying to get a handle on which one I want.
This all helps.

 

I've read that one is as good as another. They say that the Alta intercooler requires minor trimming of some plastic, but I've seen posts where they said even that wasn't necessary.

Helix has sold a bunch of them, at discount, through periodic group buys.

Dave

 

i have the Alta, which everyone says is the worst but i have had no problems with it at all. i kept my FMIC exposed so i didn't have to cut anything but i can see i would need to cut a tiny bit off the bottom of the grill. if the others are better and the Alta is fine for me, just get whatever is the cheapest, even look for 2nd hand.

 

If you search around NAM you can find loads of data, both ours and independent, showing the performance of the Helix intercooler. We have design features in our intercooler including cast tanks, bull nosed face and core bars, optimum fin density and knife edged ferrules that make our cooler unique in quality and performance.

 

Any chance of a group buy again sometime soon?

 

I think I've made my mind up on the Helix. Looks, quality, and if you have a group buy even better. Let us know, sounds like a couple more may be interested.
Just a dumb question as well. You don't have to have a tune with the larger capacity intercooler do you??????????

 

Helix FTW!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE mine!

 

We'll do one later this spring. We have several in stock now but GB prices will have to wait til we do another run

 

Not a dumb question, and no, you don't have to have a tune.

 

A tune is nice because you are using the IC to it's full advantage, but on a stock tune it will still work great.

You may see a slight drop is pressure even with everythign tight and installed correctly. This is normal, but you typicaly wont feel it since the ECU will normally pull less timing do to the lower temps and actualy make the engine pull harder.

 

I'm looking between intercoolers as well and I noticed some say the Alta's could drop about 2psi and Helix only .5psi? I have the access Port from Alta I was wondering if these boost drops are actually going to be beneficial in that I would not hit the 22psi spike cut off that I read about? I plan on doing a few driving schools followed by track days and auto cross in my area I'm hoping to get out about once a month so I'm defiantly going to need an intercooler, last year I did one track day and I felt the heat soak and did not like it at all. I don’t really want to wait so I'm leaning toward the Alta currently + I like the black stealth one they offer.

 

I'm personally a fan of the Forge IC, but really Atla and Helix work just as well. I never seen a big enough difference in any of the three that would make me tell some one to use one over the other.

The boost cut issues are tune related and happen just as easily on cars with upgraded IC's. It's usually all in how aggressive the maps are.

 

Mike, excuse my lack of knowledge but what do you mean by "actually make the engine pull harder?"

 

Just another way of saying the engine will feel like it's making more power. I just avoid using the terms "more power" since the IC really doesn't net any power gains, rather it keeps intake temps lower so the ECU doesn't make changes that rob you of power.

The car will feel like you gained power since the IC is no longer heat soaked as bad.

 

Thanks a million for all the info. Actually, I'm liking the Forge as well plus it's about $50 cheaper than the helix but I haven't made my mind up yet.

 

Defenders of Speed W2A, only way to go...

 

Obviously you like your DoS W2A...did you try anything before that? Have you ever tracked your car with the DoS system....if so, how did it perform?
I'm very close to pulling the trigger on it, I just haven't heard to many members talk about it from 1st hand experience. I know it's expensive but I don't mind that as long as its a better system.

 

I decided to go with the Forge Step Intercooler and while I was at it I'm getting the Megan Racing Coilovers, NM Engineering torque arm mount inserts, and the H-Sport rear camber links.
Pondered lowering my car for some time now and decided to go for it.

 

I have not tracked it, but I have done some auto-x with it, and some very agressive driving. The recovery times are phenomenal, and the highest temp is much lower than with a standard/larger FMIC. I had a Forge intercooler waiting to be installed but decided to go all out with the W2A setup instead, figured might as well do it right the first time.

The main bonus though is boost...the improvement to the lag without all that tubing is impressive. I want to have mine Dyno tuned at some point though, going back and forth with Perrin now to get my stage 3 accessport tune to work properly with the W2A setup...hits boost cut very quickly in 3rd gear.

The only thing I can recommend is making sure you tighten EVERYTHING, I even used some RTV at the joints to help avoid any leaks from the intercooler system. When I first put it in I had a few I had to find and it was a bit of a pain.

 

I went with the Forge from WMW. No problems with the install. It was a bit of work to get the factory plastic JCW aero kit grill to fit. My brother and I just took our time.