PERFORMANCE INTERCOOLER UPGRADE - R53 MINI COOPER S

 Will this item fit my car?

While the factory intercooler does an 'adequate' job with the stock supercharger, there is room for improvement. If you use our 15% reduction supercharger pulley upgrade (NME5041), this is the perfect complimentary product.

Fits 2002-2006 R53 MINI Cooper S hatchback and 2005-2008 R52 Cooper S Convertibles.

Forge's development program included the use of many types of Intercooler core and end tank designs. At the initial stages they ran two development projects alongside each other, one an air to air Intercooler and the other an air to water Chargecooler system. The air to air development achieved significantly improved temperature reductions in comparison, which convinced them to solely concentrate on this option.

The figures and graphs displayed here are from the latest Rolling Road testing. Forge is aware that this is not the best method of testing an Intercooler as the temperatures and velocities will vary substantially on the ‘open road’. However for the purely comparative purposes where repeatability of conditions is paramount, this result data is ideal.

The data displayed was taken when the vehicle was equipped with a stock ECU and air intake but with a 15% reduction supercharger pulley installed to increase the charge air pressure (boost), putting greater demand on the intake air to air cooling system used. The pressure drop across this air to air Intercooler is almost zero due to the high flow characteristics of the core design.

With this Intercooler offering up to a 29% reduction over the original equipment it is a must for those wishing to increase engine power!

When compared to the Water-to-Air intercooler, the Air-to-Air intercooler is much more responsive - as soon as the car starts moving, the temperatures start to drop. W-to-A intercoolers take longer to cool.

The W-to-A intercooler has a limited cooling capacity based on the volume of water in the system and the efficiency of the intercooler, and can get saturated and lose cooling efficiency under track conditions - the A-to-A does not have this limitation.

The A-to-A is also a simpler system, no water to leak, no pump to fail, and no electrical complications.

The W-to-A might be a good 'street' solution for hot climates, but for maximum performance applications, the A-to-A is the better solution.

See installation instructions.


Understand model designations