To my knowledge, forge has never tested or released data on their copy of our design. We have several features in our coolers which are unique, including cast end tanks for better flow, bull nosed bars for a smaller pressure drop through the core (meaning more boost going into the motor). Without boring everybody with the minutiae of intercooler design, there are several key elements to good intercooler performance, including frontal area, core depth, flow through the end tanks and core, and fin density/heat extraction across the face of the core. With all due respect, ours is the only intercooler that has addressed all of these issues, and that's why ours performs better than the others. In our development we used infrared thermal imaging, on street datalogging (independent of OBD2 logging), and in-house dyno testing. Of the three, dyno testing is actually the worst measure of intercooler performance (unless you have a wind tunnel in your dyno room), because you can't replicate real world wind velocity across the face of the core. So, believe it or not, street datalogging is a better way of testing IATs, pressure drop and how it affects wastegate duty cycle. Here is some previously published datalogs that we and independent testers have produced.

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Here are some independently produced datalogs of our stepped-core design:



As always, Helix will provide an intercooler to any independent tester for a scientific, side-by-side comparison of intercoolers for the MINI.

 

I love my Helix! The fit and finish was perfect.