I was finally able to install the Marshall gages in my ‘05 MCS and my boost gauge is reading 12 psi. What’s stock? I have installed a 16% sc pulley, a SFI 2% crank pulley and just installed a Airtek intercooler. With the stock intercooler I was getting 16 psi but dropped after the Airtek cooler was installed.

 

The stock inter-cooler is about the best out there.......take the aftermarket one off and install the OE unit and see what your readings are.....I bet they improve

I have a stock '04 R53 with about 150,000 miles on it....the "only" mod I have done to the engine is a 15% pulley from Cravenspeed........stock air filter system, and a one ball mod exhaust that was on the car when I bought it.....

I'm now getting over 15lbs of boost after I installed the SC pulley.......I'm happy with the results

Just for your info, "Bigger ain't always Better"

Bryan

 

I definitely agree but I wanted the cooler intake charge which it claims to be. My other ‘05 Mini has a 16% pulley and gets me 18-19# on the gage. I tossed back and forth and the Airtek was quite expensive but don’t feel any difference yet.

 

and there's the catch...."Claims to be".......there are numerous posts in here about the first Gen intercoolers,.....the best is the GP unit, and the second best is the "Stock OE" unit that came on our cars......tests were compiled, results were proven that the BMW or Mini engineers were not dumb, they knew what they were doing......

I even posted about trying a larger unit......I read all the reviews and posts on the subject, and threw the larger and "supposedly better" intercooler in the garbage

Your car, your choice

Bryan

 

Sure no I get it that’s why I’m here. What is the GP intercooler? I just emailed the company asking for a return.

 

my thread I asked about

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...tercooler.html

Bryan

 

K thanks! Here is the one I bought and it was $500 plus $50 to ship.

 

well, it looks good.......but looks and function are different things......

Bryan

 

I wish I was able to dyno the two

 

you already have, go back and read your main post.....you lost 4lbs of boost with the big bad intercooler......put the OE one back on and I bet you will gain yer power back

Bryan

 

Sure I wondered that and why I lost the 4#?? Is it because of a larger surface area?

 

The volume and pressure of the compressed air from the supercharger is reduced greatly once it enters the oversized intercooler..... think of a 1/2" garden hose, fair amount of volume and pressure, right?

Now take the end of that same garden hose and connect it to a fire hose, you just lost all that pressure that you had before

Bryan

 

Thanks very good description.

 

Yep put the stocker back on and a better difference.

 

Not a good description.

Here's how to look at it. You've got an air pump connected to a cylinder head. You can connect your air pump to the cylinder head via a garden hose which creates a fair amount of flow restriction, or you can connect the air pump to the head using a fire hose that offers much less flow restriction. Intuitively, if the larger intercooler restricts air flow less, then it's a net gain.

hat inlet pressures you measure depend on the location of the sensor. If the sensor is before the intercooler it would read lower pressure because the flow restriction behind it has been reduced with the larger intercoooler. If the sensor is "in" the larger intercooler, it would read less because it's measuring air pressure in a flow that is now in a larger volume. If the sensor is after the intercooler, then it should read higher, not lower pressure. If the latter is the case, then something is wrong.

I don't really know this engine yet, so I don't know where the sensor is in the intake tract.

 

Boost pressure is coming off of the intake manifold

 

Thx for the clarification.

So the physics doesn't match the measured values. Pressure should be high because of assumed reduced flow restriction in the larger intercooler. But the pressure isn't high, it's low. That means we're missing something. Like maybe the larger intercooler does more cooling, but adds flow restriction.

 

I suggest you go read up on all the testing done by companies and owners of these cars on the effects of over-sized inter-coolers on the Mini Cooper.....you say you don't know this engine yet.....but you are giving us all a flow dynamics lesson on boost pressure & volume?

Would also lime to know where this elusive "sensor" is that you speak of??

Bryan

 

I put the stock cooler back on and maxes out at 14 psi so I’m going to install the larger one again and double check it. It could have been the same since I didn’t have my glasses on and last night I did so we’ll see.

 

What I don’t understand and I will probably write a separate post but my other ‘05 Mini S only has a 16% pulley and a Miltek exhaust and that car will leave my black one in the dust. The other one will hit 17-18 psi of boost. And it’s extremely responsive compared to the one I’ve been posting about. Maybe I have a bad bypass valve??

 

Did the company you bought the large inter-cooler from deny you in returning it?

Bryan

 

The sensor I'm referring to is the whatever is measuring intake psi. It's location matters. The OBD2 data stream has 2 #'s for intake pressure. Is that coming from one sensor or two? I saw different results when I looked at the data, but I'm wary of drawing conclusions until I know where those sensors are and where the OP's sensor was. The reason location matters is that there's an throttle with a butterfly valve controlled by the throttle. Then there's a supercharger, an intercooler and head that is sucking air. That's 4 variables impacting intake pressure. We're talking about swapping out an OEM part that is marketed as having less flow restriction then the aftermarket part. What happens to the air pressure at the sensor, as other variables in it's environment change, depends on it's location.

Re. I'm giving us all a flow dynamics lesson on boost pressure and volume. Maybe. I'm trying to help. Maybe one can't hardly swing a cat here w/o hitting a mechanical engineer. If that's the case, that's totally awesome. I'm a mechanical engineer, I've been racing BMWs for 11yrs, I've done many dozen dyno sessions experimenting with ideas, and I build my own engines. I'm not trying to be a ********, really. I'm trying to explain why, in this thread, it's maybe not so clear that the big intercooler was a fail. The car would need to get on a dyno before a result could be called "pretty conclusive". It seems like the psi at the intake manifold was lower for the aftermarket intake, but maybe, probably not, but maybe,it was also colder for a net gain.

Re. testing by companies. None of that can be trusted. Too easy for that all to be marketing crap. I give you, for example, cold air intakes. I'll give you another example. OEMs do a lot of testing on intakes, but afternarket air filters marketed towards enthusiasts will tout a hp gain. That's BS. In my BMW race series when we find a car that has too much hp, we tape over his air filter a bit in order to drop his hp down to the allowed threshold. In order to drop the hp be even 2, we have to tape over half of the air filter. In terms of those #'s that end up in car mags, OEMs know what they are doing and aftermarket hp mods are mostly BS.

 

All intercoolers will lose some boost pressure between the inlet and outlet.

Want the pressure to remain the same, replace the intercooler with a straight piece of pipe.

The intercooler's main goal is to cool the intake charge. A larger intercooler will help cool the intake charge more... at the risk of greater pressure drop.

The real question should be, what is more valuable to you: minimal boost pressure drop or reduce intake air temps. Both can improve power output

 

Well kinda I have to pay shipping and if it looks bad they can deny me the cost because of instead of putting “ not as described “ I put “changed mind”. If I would have checked the fist one I’d b sending it back now.

 

well that sucks big time......did you explain to them that their product doesn't live up to advertised claims?? Kinda like false advertising......mention "Internet Fraud" and I bet they change their tune....any reputable company should work with customers, not dismiss them after purchase

You can put the big bad cooler back on, but your reading will be the same as before when you tried it out.....many people in here have tried to run larger coolers and they didn't work as well as the stock unit.....or find a GP cooler, that's the best ticket.....it's already been proven by a lot of knowledgeable people in here already that bigger doesn't work like they want, and end up disappointing themselves in the long run

I assume you are taking yer pressure readings from the vacuum line under the intake?

Bryan