I have cynically enjoyed some of the above analyses of how the intercooler market (and intercoolers) work.

In lieu of a point-by-point treatise on what has been posted above, I invite folks to use the search key to find the loads of data that we and others have gathered on the performance of the Helix intercooler, and why it is the benchmark for all MINI intercoolers. That's not serendipity, folks: that's hard work and money spent. Hard work datalogging not only intake temperatures, but also recovery rate, pressure drop, and heat soak. Where we could improve performance, we spent money, designing and paying for new, improved castings for the end tanks, buying and pioneering specially extruded bull-nosed bars for greater efficiency across the face and through the core of the intercooler. That cost us time, energy and money. That's why our intercooler costs more and performs better than knock-offs.

In one of the above posts, one market analyst guessed that if more people bought cheap parts, more cheap parts would be available. Perhaps true. What is true is that if there is no market for innovative performance parts, none will be produced to mimic.

 

^ Spot on - why buy a great car and put garbage on it

 

Because they want to look cool... I supposed there is a slim chance that it will work but my bet is that the recovery time, heatsoak and air flow of that thing will actually cause a loss of performance rather than any gains. But hey, I was told that I was clueless above by a bona fide engineer, so we shall see.

 

In response to the Helix post, which was clearly referring to my post, I will say that you make a good point which I did not mention. Without these original "innovative" products, there would be no knock-offs.

I don't believe these cheap eBay intercoolers are putting your product in jeopardy, they most likely will not perform anywhere near as well as yours. As we can see from the comments above, build quality is not on par, and several key aspects of a well performing intercooler are missing as you state above.


But as consumers and enthusiasts, it is important for us to know how good/bad a product is. My post was trying to highlight that people shouldn't be criticizing this person for buying the product...Doesn't everybody want to know how well a $200 FMIC works? If it sucks, then it's their money down the drain and everybody will benefit from knowing 100% that it's "garbage".

 

Cant wait to found out

 

Probably because this horse has been beaten to death on several occasions. You guys just don't want to hear it nor believe it.

 

Dude, if your talking about r53 intercoolers, then I don't see how that even applies here. The intercooler design isn't even close to the same as the r56.

And if you are trying to say that ALL ebay Intercooler's for all cars are bad and don't work, then you're just flat out wrong.

 

Dude, just because I have an R53 doesn't mean that I don't know about both models.

Do you think you are the first to try one? LOL, this thread is amusing.

 

First off, I'm not "trying" anything. I don't even have high expectations for this intercooler.

Second, if he isn't the first to try one on an r56 like you say, then please go ahead and post the datalogging/ testing done on this intercooler on an R56. That's what all of us are interested in.

 

If you don't have high expectations then what is the point? Seems to me that they money would be better spent elsewhere.

As for your second point, feel free to troll the MINI sites. Nothing I have is on the web but I have seen the numbers and it wasn't pretty. One guy had a crack in his within a year. Cheap is cheap and you get what you pay for. In this case, you will likely get heatsoak, power loss and slow recovery. Enjoy!

Oh, and FYI... Your comment about buying cheap is way off. I happen to fly RC helicopters and China went nuts in the industry doing knock offs of well designed products. What ended up happening is that everyone bought from China trying to save a buck and some of the vendors that did all the hard work went out of business. By the time people figured out it was garbage, it was too late. Be careful what you wish for.

 

you are so missing the point lol.


First, don't come on a forum expecting people to just "take your word" for things without backing it up. You may be telling the truth when you say you've seen this before but hows anybody supposed to know?


Second, this is not the RC Helicopter industry or even remotely similar. These are FMIC's, and if they dont work then take the damn thing off and put the stock one back on. All we want to see is testing.

I don't see how your reasoning in any way makes my statement about cheap parts wrong. Never did I say that cheap is always good, I just said that cheap isnt always bad. Which is true. The more cheap parts people buy, the more cheap parts that will become available. I don't care what other people do to their cars and what parts they buy...thats their decision. If it's bad quality, then that sucks for them. But either way I'm getting good info on the product when they post a review on the forum.

I'm not wishing for anything but a larger aftermarket for the R56.

And as far as the money being better spent elsewhere....Seriously? I didnt spend the money, You certainly didnt spend the money, and the OP already did! So all anybody wants to see is the numbers to decide whether its worth THEIRS.


Go fly an RC Helicopter lol

 

No, I am far from missing the point. My point is that your money is better spent elsewhere, end of story. Even the weld points on the ICs that I have seen look like a 12 year old did them. As for my opinion, I guess it is OK for someone else to try it and then tell you it sucked? Do you think the OP is going to get a data logger on it and post any real numbers? Cheap parts are cheap for a reason and I can tell you it isn't because they work well and for long periods of time. Most of them have high failure rates and low cycle times meaning you will spend more money in the near future. Buying cheap does not produce cheaper parts, if you think this, you need to go back to school. All it does is flood the market with crap. Quality parts being sold at a cheaper price drives it. The RC comment stands for itself as that is the way it is and this is no different. Why do you think that companies like Helix spend time finding these people and have them removed from EBay? If they were no threat, they wouldn't do it.

As for my word... Many people on this forum have taken it without "proof" and many have thanked me for it.

I'll sit back and monitor this thread waiting for these magical numbers.

Oh, you might want to let the OP know what without the stock numbers, the new ones are pointless.

Might also be a good idea to get a proven IC so that you can compare to those as well since money is not an issue here. Maybe you could flip the bill?

 

You are arguing with yourself lol If you want people to "take your word" that this R56 intercooler is no good, your gonna have to show some proof.

Nobody is even claiming that this thing is going to be magical. Everybody is just curious about it.

"Cheap does not produce cheap" .... That makes a whole lot of sense (?) If the demand for cheap parts goes up, the supply of cheap parts will go up. Its called supply and demand. But you must be right, I need to go back to school.



I am saying I want to see numbers out of curiosity. If you're not posting them , or you don't think anybody else is going to post them, then stay out of this thread. You own an r53, you don't provide any solid data regarding R56 intercoolers, and you're just here to argue clearly!

People have already tested and shared data about how a stock intercooler performs... People have already tested and shared data about how other aftermarket intercoolers perform...

I'm done talking to you. Have a nice day.

 

There, I fixed my post for you since it confused you, I was working when I typed it and messed it up. I'm sure you have NEVER done that.

As I said, do you think the OP is going to spend them time to post accurate numbers? As for my skill, well, you can think what you want, I know what I can and can't do. I'm pretty sure that I saw some numbers on MINI Torque, but be careful, if you post that you are buying an EBay knock-off, they may have you for lunch. Maybe you could do your own research instead of leaching off of others or since my word is no good, then maybe you should continue to trust information you get from EBay.

 

As I've said before I don't mind testing this out. The stock intercooler will be handy in case this thing sucks. Part of me wishes I had just spent the money for a big-boy part but I bought so much stuff quickly that I cut a few corners. Will it come back to haunt me? Only time will tell. Here is a post from my thread.

 

You are going to need that stock IC back on to set a baseline for the numbers. We will need to know what your car is making before you put that thing on. Several dyno runs would help to see if you are getting more HP and also monitoring temps/etc with data logging equipment will help get you proper numbers that should provide the answers everyone is looking for. It won't be easy or cheap, but it will be cool to see what it does. From what I have seen, it was a loss but there is little quality control and consistency with the Chinese stuff, so maybe you got lucky.

Listen, I really do hope that you guys got/found a great deal. However, in my time working on various cars that have either a turbo or SC, I have yet to see one of those things actually do any good. There is a reason that the quality parts cost so much and that R&D is what gives us what we got. Good luck and keep us posted...

 

since you are the gospel on the r56 mini FMIC, what one do you have installed and show us the dyno sheets so we all know which one is best to get and what gains we will make in the real world.

 

Read the thread....

 

Here's a pic of what's on the way. Could have paid for a few American made FMIC's with how much time this is taking. Enjoying everyone's comments. Yea, probably won't have a lot of dyno numbers for you, don't have one around here. I figure if the car pulls harder that is has more horsepower. This car is solo raced almost every weekend and while our cars handle very well, we are getting our asses kicked on horsepower by BMW's, Mazda's, Porsches, Audi's, etc. Most are different classes, still, it would be nice to be in the same power range as these cars. I'll get a tune some day, that will help. I just won't order it from china to save a few bucks.

 

Some people on this forum are annoying as hell. Nothing better to do with their lives than come onto a thread and be completely unhelpful and off-topic just for the sake of being... well.. completely unhelpful and off-topic!

I honestly do hope that that intercooler gives you good numbers. Finding great deals that work = always a good thing. Would love to see some numbers regardless.

 

Bored... Just want to reiterate, putting cheap parts on a $30k car is just idiotic.

 

I paid $22k for mine! ($4,000 off 2010 models when I bought it, plus another $1000 off with negotiation).
But yes, obviously agree with your point.

Back on topic.

 

Are you talking about me? I bring my experience with those crap knock-offs from both MINI and Subaru and it is unhelpful?

 

Indirectly, yes. I agree with what you were both saying, and it was helpful to the thread, but after people continuously repeat themselves just for the sake of arguing, it becomes annoying and distracting to the thread and what we are really all looking for here..... Numbers! :thumbup:

 

numbers or at least personal experience with an r56 mini would be best. experience with other cars dosen't really help with an r56 since they are very different to the norm in terms of modding.i have also modded lots of other cars but a lot of what i have done in the past is useless on a r56.

if someone is trying something new it is a help to us all i believe. if it dosen't work then we know to steer clear but if it does then we know what to buy.