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Planning on a Intercooler for my Cooper S! Help

13K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  MINIsofMaine 
#1 ·
Hello guys, its been few months since i bought my car.. its done about 600miles. I was planning to upgrade to a performance intercooler i.e from Wagner turning.
Would it be ideal doing it now or maybe wait for sometime.. i was planning on a downpipe and ecu remap aswell after the 1st service..
do intercoolers really help? or the stock one is sufficient? Help me out guys.
 
#11 ·
#6 ·
The quick of it. Unless you are specifically planning to increase turbo boost by remapping the ECU or changing the turbocharger don't waste your money on a new intercooler. I would assume that the production design would handle the heat from the stock boost loads well enough. When you increase boost, you increase heat from the compressor and need a more efficient intercooler to remove the extra heat. The cost for gain ratio on just an intercooler upgrade is minimal. Just my opinion.
 
#7 ·
^ What he said. IMO, unless you're going to be running >10 psi of boost, charge air heating isn't really going to affect performance. Have you done an ECU remap/tuning box yet?

The sequence of upgrades I have planned, to keep it well balanced is:
1. tyres and wheels (grip and unsprung mass)
2. sway bar
3. burger JB4 / or maybe the DINAN box, it has a valet mode! totally need that in india haha!
4. exhaust and JCW tune
5. BBK
6. intake, stage 2 and catch can. maybe ill consider an intercooler at this stage... haven't thought that far just yet haha

what is your plan? would love to know what you have managed to do so far.
 
#15 ·
That’s definitely a stage 1 and possibly up to a stage 2 remap. Just make sure to ramp up The suspension and chasis bracing and so on. Stick is nice but with that kinda power and that weight you’ll want to upgrade it adequately to really enjoy it.

I’d add a forge or Wagner IC to your list of items to add.
 
#18 ·
Your stock DDC shocks will fade fast and not be as responsive due to shorten dampener stroke. Just a heads up. Taking my off and switching to Koni yellows was like WOW! And adjustable.

aside from that consideration definitely look at chasis bracing and rear sway bar with adj drop links and control arms - you will love that setup any way you set it! Handles night and day. You’ll see this all over these forums.

Brakes or at least upgrade rotors and pads
 
#19 ·
Awwe mannn good looks on this needed! So tell me, when you say DDC fade fast, how soon are we talking? I just had her lowered 6wks ago. Is koni good with fixed shocks? I've haven't been a fan of adjustable suspensions. I was looking into rear lower adjustable control arms to level camber.
As of now I'm still sitting @round 210hp....how much time you suspect I'll have running close to stock/now?
 
#20 ·
My new to me F56S will get an intercooler upgrade. I have run a few second GEN MINIs that I modded and when running the MINIs on an all day MINIs of Maine rally event the upgraded intercooler maintains peak performance throughout the entire day. Without the upgraded intercooler I would notice heat related run issues as the day unfolded. Once the R56S and the R55S were upgraded with Wagner Intercoolers they ran amazingly strong all day. I haven't run the F56S yet all day to compare with the GEN2 MINIs but cooler intake air and maintaining peak temps can't hurt.
 
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