Any Recs for 11 JCW Intercooler?
 

NEED START LOOKING

Any recs? Any downside to installation or engine integrity?

Thanks!

Plenty of threads on this. I bought myself the Wagner I/C for Christmas last year. The new Helix looks interesting too.

No downside - just cooler air feeding your engine.

THANKS! I'll check out the Helix and Wagner. Curious. Why does this lead to greater HP?

I am by no means an expert on this, I have been buying books, reading, and researching to understand how the whole system works. A bigger intercooler won't by itself increase HP. Same for a high flow intake, de-cat downpipe, or bigger exhaust. The ECU is "load" based, meaning it is looking at the mass of air flowing through the engine. It has a load target based on engine RPM and throttle position. So without changing the target load, you won't get any increase in performance.

What the bigger intercooler will do for you is keep the temperature of the intake charge significantly lower so that you get the same mass of air with lower boost pressure, reduce the chance of knock, and the ECU can keep the timing more advanced for better power. So the timing advance will theoretically give you a bit more power for a given airflow rate but in datalogging I have done so far I haven't seen it. I did log an astounding drop in intake temp, from 50C above ambient with the stock I/C to 9C with the Wagner. The theoretical downside to a bigger intercooler is boost will be slower to build because of the increased volume downstream of the turbo, but again I haven't seen any difference.

A tune will be able to take advantage of the cooler intake temps from the bigger intercooler so mainly you're getting ready for a tune.

WOW that was an incredibly well detailed writeup. I guess you can expect to get better performance when the outside temp is low. Is that right?

The cooler the better.

Helix will be releasing a new version soon. They were showing it at MOTD last week.
I would go with that one.

But will this new one be say $500 better than the others ? I'm still debating on whether to buy the ebay forge clone for $220 or spend more on a wagner since I can get them local for $500 or so.

I would not go cheap on a new turbo but an IC is just cooling fins, so long as it flows, cools and does not restric I can't see the new designs being better enough warrant the $$

There is a downside to bigger intercoolers, less airflow to the radiator.

Under extreme track use / racing this can cause problems with water temperature. This will never be a problem with street driving.

It's not live on our site, but we do sell the Forge Intercooler for your vehicle for $720. If you're interested you can give our sales department a call at 888.280.779 as they can go over specifics. Part #FMS-FMINTR56 Forge products are great!

http://www.forgemotorsport.com/image...s/FMINTR56.jpg

-Luccia

I use the Forge IC on both my 13 JCW GP and Clubman. It works great with no downside, and noticeable power gain.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/forge-a...r-s-turbo.html

You gain power because the increased cooling the larger intercooler has lowers the intake air temp. And anytime you can lower intake temps you get a better more dense air/fuel charge and that will gain you power.

These are NOT downsides you need to be concerned with as we've been using them for years on the street and on the track and these are not issues as the cooling system will work fine even with the intercooler in front of it.