[mobile23]

i am ordering my 17% this weekend. is it necessary to upgrade intercooler (or air diverter) with 17% pulley? is an upgraded intercooler going to get me more power??thanks

[Mugami]

is it necerssary? NO. will it give you more power? YES. anytime you can make the incoming air colder the motor will make more power.

[bkwalker]

i'd get a new set of spark plugs before you do anything to the intercooler..

get a set of Iridium IK22's.. they'll sort you out

this came from the mini-madness site

"Also recommended are a set of cooler running spark plugs.* This simple upgrade gains you 1-3hp and more importantly helps prevent and pre-detonation that might occur from higher boost temperatures.* Cooler running plugs help transfer the added heat into the cylinder head helping to reduce in cylinder temperatures by a few degrees. This helps prevent and pre-detonation from occurring. Inexpensive insurance is the way we look at it.

[GRSmotorsport]

Quote: Originally Posted by mobile23

i am ordering my 17% this weekend. is it necessary to upgrade intercooler (or air diverter) with 17% pulley? is an upgraded intercooler going to get me more power??thanks

Once you start increasing boost pressure's and the Act's (Air Charge Temperature) gets hot you will get less oxygen, so your power could decrease. When the Act's get too hot the engine will detects this and will retard the ignition to stop detention.So the secret is to keep the Act's to minimum which will increase the oxygen levels given better power and torque and keep the ignitions setting at a maximum level at all times. A good intercooler will give you slightly higher boost levels on the outlet end than the inlet end as the air will be more dense. Torque will improve too.

Always a down side to these cars is the air entry to the intercooler it self, so by making the intercooler more efficient with a good diffuser will always help with any conversion.

[stu(pid)]

I have the BBR220 conversion and IK22 plugs which I have been running happily for 11 months. I recently installed a GRS Motorsport Intercooler (thanks Graham!). Although I cannot say the car has more power/torque etc, it does feel "happier" - it runs smoother and the power delivery appears smoother too. Even if it hasn't made a difference, I have peace of mind knowing the supercharger temps are lower.

[onasled]

have yet to see a GRS Motorsport Intercooler! Can someone show me some info on this and PHOTOS please.
Thanks!

[GRSmotorsport]

Quote: Originally Posted by onasled

have yet to see a GRS Motorsport Intercooler! Can someone show me some info on this and PHOTOS please.
Thanks!

Here's my web site Mini thread http://www.grsmotorsport.co.uk/minicoopers.html

Here is the spec of my intercooler;

Weight wise:
Standard intercooler 3lbs
GRSmotorsport intercooler 5.5lbs

Standard intercooler capacity is 2.2 litres
GRSmotorsport intercooler capacity is 3.2 litres

Both intercoolers register the same boost pressure 14 psi so no pressure drop on the rolling road. Boost pressure did rise on the GRSmotorsport intercooler under road conditions.

Rolling road test at Interpro were; (ambient temp on the day of test 14 degrees)

Standard intercooler 189bhp at 6600prm Max torque 174 ft/lb at 4550rpm
GRSmotorsport intercooler 194bhp at 6100rmp Max torque 180 ft/lb at 4750rpm
Air temps were 38 degrees with the GRSmotorsport on this test, standard intercooler showed 41 degrees

AMD uk (ambient temp on the day of test 17 degrees)
GRSmotorsport intercooler 198.8 at 6412rpm Max torque 173.4 at 5624rpm

Tests with the standard intercooler were not done at AMD just on my intercooler, they said my intercooler work extremely well, ' the best they'd seen ' were their words!!.

Obvously I'm only running quite low boost, this type of intercooler would show better results if the boost was raised higher.

Ok here are some more test’s done on the road results with both intercoolers.
Both runs were done within 10 minutes of each other (time to change everything around)

Ambient temp for both runs was 25.5c

Standard intercooler;
Boost pressure 13.2psi
Inlet temp 140 degrees c
Outlet temp 58.8 degrees c

GRSmotorsport intercooler;
Boost pressure 14psi
Inlet temp 133 degrees c
Outlet temp 48.5 degrees c

This intercooler was designed around a 2002 MCS, I don't think there are any changes to the later models at present.

If ypu have anymore questions please let me know

[obehave]

Just to be anal here. A better IC will not make power. You just lose less with the return of a higher charge density.

[onasled]

THANKS! Looks very nice.
I like that the diverter is part of the hood as it gives a better 'BLING' factor when the hood is up.
What is that other smaller black 'sheet' for? Could this go under the intercooler perhaps??

I now run the Alta myself. I see that the GRS is a bit smaller as it mounts behind the front stock mounts. This is a good thing I would imagine as it will sit that 1/4" lower that the Alta can not.
Nice Job! I would have possibly opted for the GRS rather then my Alta if I had known about it.

[onasled]

Quote: Originally Posted by obehave

Just to be anal here. A better IC will not make power. You just lose less with the return of a higher charge density.

Well, first I will say that I am certainly NO expert here, but I have to strongly disagree here. I have found that the intercooler plays a very large part in HP gains. Our problem is that the dang hood scoop is just too freaking small to utilize the max potential of an aftermarket IC.
I think IC can gain up to 10+ HP if utilized to their max potential.

Added this; In reading again what you posted, I think I now understand what you are saying here, but ....
You are saying that the IC helps decreases the LOSS of hp rather then actually increasing it. That probably can be said about most of the mods we put on our MCS' I think, no?

[GRSmotorsport]

Quote: Originally Posted by obehave

Just to be anal here. A better IC will not make power. You just lose less with the return of a higher charge density.

If you read the above info-you'll see there were gain's in bhp and torque from my intercooler.

My MCS is now running a bigger conversion since the tests were carried out.I'm now seeing 14.5psi of boost, but still using a 15% pulley, my car's much more responsive-a joy to drive

[GRSmotorsport]

Quote: Originally Posted by onasled

THANKS! Looks very nice.
I like that the diverter is part of the hood as it gives a better 'BLING' factor when the hood is up.
What is that other smaller black 'sheet' for? Could this go under the intercooler perhaps??

I now run the Alta myself. I see that the GRS is a bit smaller as it mounts behind the front stock mounts. This is a good thing I would imagine as it will sit that 1/4" lower that the Alta can not.
Nice Job! I would have possibly opted for the GRS rather then my Alta if I had known about it.

Thank you for your kind words!

The smaller diffuser 'black sheet' goes at the bottom of the bonnet scoop to help flow the air into the intercooler. I've enclosed a picture without the scoop in place.

My intercooler is still the same thickness as the original

Intercooler & diffusers costs £399 plus shipping

[The_Bster]

Quote: Originally Posted by GRSmotorsport

Thank you for your kind words!

The smaller diffuser 'black sheet' goes at the bottom of the bonnet scoop to help flow the air into the intercooler. I've enclosed a picture without the scoop in place.

My intercooler is still the same thickness as the original

Intercooler & diffusers costs £399 plus shipping

Just out of curiosity, would a person with minimal mechanical knowledge be able to change the intercooler himself? Is the task difficult and should be done at the garage?

[onasled]

Quote: Originally Posted by The_Bster

Just out of curiosity, would a person with minimal mechanical knowledge be able to change the intercooler himself? Is the task difficult and should be done at the garage?

It's a VERY simple job. Do it in your driveway with no prob.

[GRSmotorsport]

Quote: Originally Posted by onasled

It's a VERY simple job. Do it in your driveway with no prob.

Yep you'll have the whole job done in 30 minutes max!!

[LordNikon]

I have seen GRS's IC and it is truly stunning. Getting it put on next week, so will get more pics soon.

Anything to keep charge temps down is a massive + on forced induction cars IMO

[roland2003]

Having used boost guages positioned pre & post intercooler with both std and the new
GT TUNING top mount intercooler we have found almost 1.5 psi gain post intercooler with the GTT one.(or to be politically correct we are losing 1.5 psi less) This is achieved by A) using more tubes (16) and using a tube design that is optimised for minimal losses ,This type is particularly well suited to the supercharged Mini where it is essential not to lose any boost as unlike a turbo car, there is not the overspill through the wastegate from which we can take some more boost if we lose a little.
At its current state of mods my butt dyno says theres another 10+ horse power.
However will be on the rollers again soon,so will know for sure then.
ps I think whether you choose Alta GRS or GT Tuning they are all better than OE
Best regards Roland Gt Tuning

[stu(pid)]

When you change the intercooler, remember to put a cloth/blanket over the engine. That way you will catch the little screws when you drop them, and not lose them in the engine somewhere!!

[onasled]

I would also HIGHLY recommend an Oil Catch Can with the installation of any new intercooler. I installed one when I did my IC and already have a good amount of oil in it. Nice to see it there rather then coating the inside of my new IC ! The Oil Catch Can is something I would do the SAME TIME as the IC installation.

PRTECT YOUR INVESTMENT !

[GRSmotorsport]

As Roland rightly says choosing the right intercooler core design is very important, I’ve been manufacturing intercoolers and radiators for some time.

I come from a family who have been designing cooling solutions for many years. The fastest Ford Fiesta RS turbo and Ford Series 2 Rs Turbo in England at the ‘10 of the best’ this year all run my intercoolers and radiators. At another event one of my customers Ford Fiesta's achieved 178 mph at Bruntingthorpe this year. The intercooler tube and fin design from this Fiesta is the one I’m using for the Mini intercooler.

There will be a thicker aluminum radiator for the Mini Cooper S next year, all my radiator use the same core spec as the rads in the Jordan F1 and the Bentley Le Mans teams.

I'm planning on a new catch tank design over the Christmas period, so watch this space