An efficient IC will allows cooler IAT which enables the ECU to keep the timing numbers, thus enabling the engine to produce/output more HP. High IAT (inlet air temp) is the #2 power robber (#1 power robber is fuel octane).

We have seen many instances where owners will go bigger eBay IC (R53's and R56's) and ended up losing HP due to the poor efficiency of the core... it works both ways...

 

Just read on the "comprehensive intercooler" thread that many have bought eBay intercoolers without issue. Are there people on this aite that have had issues? Where did you hear about these problems? Thanks!

 

Starting another order for the Airtec Intercooler (for all MINI models)... PM if interested. Local pick up locations are DFW or Austin area in Texas.

 

interested! (shipped to Irvine, CA 92618).
Please pm me the pice and expected date. Thanks!

 

price shipped to Arizona 85142?

 

$495 shipped.

 

Hi, please would like a quote for 2013, R60 S All4. Why are they all painted black? Engineering Explained explained that it just makes the intercooler hotter because paint is an insulator and then when the sun hits it gets hotter. . Even without Engineering Explained I was wondering why someone would paint an intercooler for the same reasons.
I'd like a non-painted one. The Airtech logo in Black or Red is OK.

 

Why: it looks cool.

Also why: In theory, a black object not only absorbs radiant heat well but also releases it most quickly. I believe that people started painting heat exchangers like this thinking it would help. As EE notes (love that guy!) this is insufficient to make up for the slight insulating effect of the paint. Not to mention that intercoolers do most of their work by contact cooling with the airflow, not by radiating heat away.

i remember watching this video a while back. Just checked it again and the difference is about 3%. Unless you’re racing, it probably doesn’t matter much. The much larger surface area vs. the stock intercooler far outweighs it.

i do wonder what the effect of anodizing aluminum on heat transfer is. If it doesn’t hurt then black anodizing might be a way to get those style points without sacrificing that 3%.

simplest of course to get an unpainted intercooler. Have fun.

 

Hi bratling...
This line I have a problem with "a black object not only absorbs radiant heat well but also releases it most quickly"
Roofs on houses are painted white.

 

The two statements are compatible. A black roof will release heat most quickly. But a white roof will reflect much, much more heat than black, which is even better for keeping cool than releasing heat (assuming the goal is to keep cool in the summer).

(Possibly the most counter intuitive thing about BBR is that stars are considered excellent examples of black bodies. But now I am way off topic. Back to intercoolers...)

If a white surface reflects heat, then we can fairly reasonably assume that an unpainted aluminum surface would also reflect heat well. Since we don’t want our intercooler to be absorbing heat from outside, that’s another reason to favor an unpainted intercooler. Just like the white roof.

But black things look cool, which to many is enough to justify a 3% loss in efficiency of thermal transfer.

 

Ok, so the Black paint may have less effect than the actual construction... see video
Somebody want to start cutting open intercoolers?