Intercooler Upgrade Worth It?
 

After lowering the Paceman on Megan Racing coilovers, I've been starting to mod the engine one mod at a time. I've been running Manic Stage 2 tune for a few weeks on my Paceman S FWD, and I'm loving every single time I floor the gas pedal. The difference from stock or even a JB+ is real, at least my butt dyno says so. As always, I feel like after some nice hard pulls, it starts losing power and does not pull as hard as the first few pulls. I don't really know if the ECU pulls timing because of the engine being heat soaked, or is it just my own feeling. My engine mods are only WMW catless dp and muffler delete, with stock IC. I've been considering upgrading the stock IC to a Wagner Performance IC, since etek tuning offers one for only $550 with free shipping. Here's the thing though, I don't think I'll ever dyno or track the car; it is my daily driver, and I just want it to be able to perform some nice powerful pulls that my butt can feel without eventually losing power due to getting heatsoaked (maybe?). Plus, I'm putting mods on one at a time due to limited budget, so I have to save up, but I enjoyed it. That being said, I'm now re-considering if it is really worth the money. Would upgrading the IC eliminates that diminishing power on repeated highway pulls? Would my butt feel the difference in a long highway roads where I pull it continuously? Would it be worth my $550? I would gladly appreciate any of your opinion. I'm a noob, so I would like to hear and learn more about it.

Happy motoring!

I have the same heat soak issue with my '07 MCS.

The reports published by Alta and Tyrol Motor Sport regarding the improved heat loss of their respective FMICs is persuasive. MarioCart, as I recall, has posted that an FMIC is good for about 10hp/10lb*ft. That is in the ballpark of the assertions made by the above vendors.

I have no direct experience with any of the stepped core FMICs (of which Wagner is but one of many on the market). However, based on inspection, I'm deeply skeptical of the value of the design. There are good reasons to suspect that the lower, thicker portion of the core performs little in the way of additional cooling, and may even be detrimental.

If I were in the market to buy an FMIC, I'd likely go with Alta (No affiliation with Alta). As it is, I'm building my own (I like to tinker), which will look a lot like the Alta....

However, bottom line is that almost any FMIC on the market is likely to be better than the stock one.

I'm happy with my Wagner.

I like Wagner for price, low pressure drop, fitment and black. Helix is also popular

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Actually you should have done the intercooler before the tune as we always recommend it before doing a stage 2 tune to keep the intake temps down.
We like the Forge the best and what I use on my personal cars as I have access to all the brands I find the Forge to bolt right in and fit ideally and the gains can be felt right off the bat. So with the tune you already have you'll even get more from it so go for it.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/forge-...r-s-turbo.html

Somewhere in a thread on the Wagner intercooler I posted before/after data plots of the stock intercooler vs. the Wagner. For my data logging I did a 3rd gear pull from 2000rpm to redline. With the stock intercooler you quickly get to IATs at 50C above ambient, with the Wagner it is much less, only 9C if I remember correctly. The stock intercooler recovers quickly but it just cant transfer heat the way the Wagner does. Other quality intercoolers (Helix, Alta, etc.) probably perform similarly to the Wagner. I have also datalogged at the track and the Wagner does a superb job of keeping IATs to just a few degrees above ambient. The first time I went up the hill at Laguna Seca from turn 5 through 6 and 7 I could really feel the difference.

That said, if you don't track your car, where you will have long periods of sustained high boost, there's no real need for a bigger intercooler. Most street driving the periods of high boost are short and far between.

@thefarside, do you have any science to back up your statement "There are good reasons to suspect that the lower, thicker portion of the core performs little in the way of additional cooling, and may even be detrimental." ?

If you can monitor/log intake air temp check to see if it goes over 100F, thats about when the ECU starts pulling timing. I have helix V2 intercooler and it can shed lots more heat than stock, just me watching intake temps via scangauge.

Hi,

I dont know if it is your page or my computer but I cannot open any of your links.

I like my helix intercooler - i can tell the difference
 

i had my Helix intercooler installed about 2 weeks ago. With nothing other than my subjective feel, the car does seem peppier. I noticed is that occasionally i have a slight bit of torque steer, which i never had with my stock intercooler. That's the most scientific data i have. I did some reading beforehand and the intercooler is a good place to start performance mods.

Luckily the Helix shop is about 45 minutes from my house so they did the install - Thanks to Mike at Helix.

No problem here. Try this link to see if it works.