Mishimoto R-Line Intercooler Vs Unbranded Bells Auto Services

Following on from my last post. When my tuner told me that my intercooler was inefficient I admit that I was skeptical. After all, I had a large 4" core intercooler from a respected brand and his proposal to fit something cheaper, unbranded and from China was not sitting well with me at all! 
However, the fact remained that intake temperatures were holding things back and on the dyno, the car was seeing significant rises. This would obviously have a knock-on effect when using the car, especially on hot sunny days.  

The intercooler I had chosen (for no other reason than I have one of their radiators and an intercooler is like a radiator? No?) was a Mishimoto R-Line Universal 100mm core in black. 

Its description reads as follows: 

"The Mishimoto R-Line intercooler provides the perfect cooling capacity needed for supercharged and turbo charged vehicles. Constructed of 6061 aircraft-quality aluminium for extreme durability, the Mishimoto R-Line intercooler will efficiently reduce induction air temperatures, while significantly improving engine output. Mishimoto front-mount intercoolers are precision TIG welded, offering an enhanced level of performance. The R-Line intercooler will provide the ideal cooling capacity, while safely increasing horsepower and giving that extra boost that every driver appreciates."

It sounds like it ticks all the right boxes for the average man on the street! Alas, it turned out not to be quite as advertised. 

Bells Auto Services in Ropley did a dyno run on the Mishimoto and then the replacement intercooler to see how temperatures compared. The results were pretty staggering. 

As you can see above, the blue line (Temp 1) represents the Mishimoto R-Line, The replacement unbranded intercooler is shown in orange (Temp 2). The Mishimoto not only starts out high but keeps climbing at an exponential rate to 43°C so it is massively inefficient and flys in the face of the advertising blurb. It should also be noted that for this test the bumper was off for the Mishimoto and back on for the replacement. So the Mishimoto had every advantage to shine! 

So in short, I brought badly and although it could be said I did not do my research, I can't say I have seen many comparisons on intercooler efficiency, in fact, I don't think that there are that many (probably a bit of a faff to be bolting and unbolting intercoolers). 

The only change I had made to the replacement intercooler was to have it powder coated in black, not that I believe this helps dissipate heat, I just prefer the stealth look.

So, in conclusion, I am not saying don't but a Mishimoto Intercooler product at all. Do research your selection carefully though.   

Intercoolers - Not all are equal

Hi and welcome back!

Referencing back to the last upgrades that were done on the car (Garrett 3076 gen II) I had a problem with intake temperatures rising. This was obviously affecting the map and meant I wasn't running as efficiently as I could be. My tuners suggested the car be upgraded with a larger 4" core intercooler. This left me confused as I already had one, A Mishimoto Type R no less.
Before I could grab my wallet and order up something expensive my tuner suggested that he has had good results with an unbranded intercooler from China. Now, this did put me off a little but it was quite reasonably priced and would be a straight'ish swap.

I decided to also have the intercooler painted black, not because I think for one moment that it helps efficiency but more because it is aesthetically pleasing on the front of a black car.

Although I do not have the data logs yet (the tuner shall post them up later), the results were actually quite surprising. Approaching peak power intake temps of the Mishimoto was around 43 degrees centigrade. Compare this to the unbranded one which only went as high as 25 degrees. This is some difference not only releasing the potential of the car more freely but will be a bonus on particularly hot days (we do have them in the UK) when the car would be forced to hold itself back.

I obviously can't say that I am an expert in these things although in this case it certainly looks as though the Mishimoto is not all it claims to be. Physically the intercoolers may be the same dimensions although the unbranded one appears to have more bar and fin construction. Hence greater cooling. Apart from being able to say, Mishimoto = No! I would advise caution when buying and dearer is not always better! 

As for the outcome? 

I can't complain! 

Warning: Like a fiend for nicotine, power figures can be addictive.

Thought it would be a jolly wheeze to see what the maximum potential of the car would be in it's current form. Okay with a couple more modifications to it's fueling.

To that end I fitted a bigger 100mm core intercooler (Misimoto R Line) and 450LPH fuel pump (Walbro).

Both jobs were a pain in the butt to do, Although probably not world ending and certainly do'able at home they were both awkward to get at and both needed 'special' love and attention to detail.

Intercooler. As a standard generic fit I could just about squeeze this into the front space 'as was' already cut for my old Japspeed intercooler. The fittings being slightly different I did have to drill a couple of holes in the crash bar (after making a bazillion measurements) and fabricating a couple of brackets from some flat Iron bar (they aint going nowhere). Biggest pain was the front bumper, after a trim and refit it wanted just a little more off.. five goes later and job done.
Of course the fitting of the intercooler didn't really help the horns much and having previously made a gorgeous bracket to mount my 'Scooby' horns on. It soon became apparent that they were not looking great being squished by the intercooler (these have since been removed for an alternative horn).

Fuel Pump: Although aware vaguely that there was a wiring mod, this was not initially done and we soon found out why it is required as the 450 lph pump can't draw enough voltage to pump the fuel.
So just a side note, if you’re installing a current hungry fuel pump I suggest the fuel pump be wired using a relay directly to the battery. The stock wiring and fuel pump controller cannot cope with the new current draw resulting in a drop in voltage causing lack of performance and further issues. Or in my case less HP than when I started!
Here is a good link for the actual process of physical fitting.
Here is a good link for the wiring direct feed.

Awaiting Dyno and the last view of the horns!

Results: Well things were not exactly running super smooth on mapping the car. There was a boost leak due to a few pennies worth of cable tie. The car then failing to deliver enough fuel and after the wiring modification, the car still refused to deliver enough fuel, with the injectors (850cc Denso's) being at capacity.
Having already eaten up a good chunk of dyno time for practically zero gain and all loss, we upped the fuel pressure. Now we were nicely back on track. However, this meant that the fuel map was no longer any good and the 'tweak' to the map was no longer an option. A full map it was to be then.

Dyno readout taken at hubs

So all in all a big bill, a lot of work and an actual 12HP more. Although for the increase in torque it was probably worth it (this is what I tell myself). People get so hung up on BHP it actually does not mean a lot when you get past a certain level. Or put as a very simple example: Two engines may have the same torque to pull up a 1 in 4 slope, but if one has more BHP, it will pull the car up the slope faster. Torque is a measure of the force available to accelerate the car.