Stock Intercooler - putting some numbers on it

For an R56...

stick with A2A. Even the Mini engineers say the stocker um, leaves room for improvement. There isn't a good body of test data on the aftermarket units for the R56, but whatever you get, get a thermal dispersant coating (cheap and works for a bit of help) and make sure that there is some ducting or whatever to keep air from spilling around the IC.

And Vince, with a gallon reserve, you should be filling that with Ice cubes! Then you'll get some below ambient IATs! Heck, with that big a resevoir put some valves in and ditch the front radiator! Or make a smart system that only uses the radiator when the ice has melted and the water gets warm.

But on the R53, I think that all of us that have spent a lot of time looking at this have found that aftermarket ICs are not great bang for the bucks, no matter how you skin the cat. I'm running a thermal dispersant coated GP and am happy.

Matt

 

Thanks Matt, If I choose to go the R56 W2A route in the next year I'm gonna be first gen after beta testing. Probably not the best decision

After the exhaust looks like I'l be calling Forge or Helix

 

This might have been discussed someplace else, but just exactly are "thermal dispersant" coatings? Do they go inside or outside the IC?

What are your feelings about water spray on the IC?

Thanks, John

 

After crushing my I/C I decided to read everything I could find concerning the Mini I/C and intercoolers in general. Came to the conclusion the A/A was the cheapest way to go for the best cost/results. Found a used GRS - pretty nice and seemed to be a little better than stock. Got my temp probes mounted but no data at this point. MCS out of commission with a clutch problem.

Kevin

 

The problem with water is that it has so much other stuff in it. If you were to use the tap water here in North TX in no time you'd have a nice calcium shell on the I/C. Unless one goes to the trouble of always using demineralized or distilled water only over time you will get a build-up that will reduce the currently efficiency.

 

It's a coating on the OUTSIDE of the intercooler - it has micro-texture than increases the effective surface area of whatever it's applied to.

 

Blimey, what are you using for the mix you are spraying?

On the I/C that is...figured I'd better add that.

 

It's not the texture that provide its thermal dispersant properties, and it's not just for intercoolers.

 

It works:yesnod:

 

Keith, are you offering coated parts?

I took a look at that site you have linked and ...well... it leaves just a tad to be desired.

 

Keith - would love to learn more about the mechanism that makes them work, then. For some reason I thought Dr. O explained it to me once... and I thought the texture had a LOT to do with it. I'm not talking texture that you can see or feel... I'm talking micro-texture, which improves the surface's ability to radiate heat.

But I often hallucinate. So I'd like to learn more if I'm wrong.

Nathan - I don't currently have an external sprayer (though I plan to add one) - just internal water/meth. Spraying about 35% methanol/65% water in that. Plan to increase to higher methanol mix once I secure a good and cost effective source.

 

Blimey - Try the VP Racing Fuels website. I found a great local source that sells Methanol for about $6 a gallon.

VP RACING FUELS - WORLD MAP

 

I think Keith is the guy

who turned me onto Cradin. I love all the work he did to his car with the coatings. I've found local places that do this kind of stuff, but the prices keep Cradin more than competitive even with shipping.

And for w2a systems, you can add some Water Wetter to help out... But yes, they do take more care and feeding than A2A. On an R56, unless you're doing relatively short runs with chilled water and ice, I'd blow it off for sure. You're going to add a bunch of weight and complexity for dubious gains. Drag racing, autoX and short track sessions, it would be killer. But other than that, all the things Keith posted are exactly true. A2A would be the way to go with a front mount (from the factory) car.

Matt

 

So is the consensus on thermal coating the stock IC a good idea? Any clue how much it would cost? And I see Keith even coated the horns and the intake. Does this REALLY work? I really do not want to buy a aftermarket IC or go to meth, but would like to do something for better inlet temps.

 

When I had it done at Cradin..

it was under $75 including shipping, but this was a while ago. That's good for a couple of degrees C. 1% or less on air density. Maybe a couple of HP.

Matt

If you want to read about testing results, it's the lowest entry on this page.

 

Yes, on customer supplied cores. FYI, I’ll be introducing engine component performance-coating services in the coming weeks; these services are currently available, I just don’t have photos to look at yet.

A side benefit of the thermal dispersant coating is its barrier against oxidation and easy clean surface; grime does not stick.

 

Good read. On another note, has anyone here used this? Asked in NAM and got virtually no response.

Innovate LM-2 anybody using it?
So, looking to see what my car is doing. Does anyone use the Innovate LM-2? I really would like to read and log AFR's especially, the other stuff it does is a bonus. Does anyone know if it can be mounted in the car? Also looking at the OT-2, as it intergrates with my iphone. In the pic it shows an AFR gauge on the iphone, but in reading the info, not sure it will do that?

 

Thanks for the tip - they have a distributor near me!

 

I used a PLX product with wideband and EGTs..

In all honestly, it was neat but the data wasn't that usefull. Reason I say this is what are you going to do with the information? If you log the stuff with good software it can help with remote tuning, but if you can't change the engine tune, it's not of too much use. My PLX-500 is currently sitting in a drawer. If you hook up an Apexi fuel modification device I can see the combo helping though...

What was much more interesting was the scary high EGTs that the Tritec puts out. I learned why the little motor is really hard on cats and that cheap ones get cooked really fast. But once again, without the ability to tune, the data was more a curiosity than anything I needed to know while I drove.

I suppose that if something goes wrong, it could be a good indicator of fueling problems.

Matt