Airtec Top Mount Intercooler Upgrade for Mini Cooper S R53
Lowering charge air temperature is genuine bolt-on BHP: a remapped car's ECU raises boost pressure and other parameters for more power, but this also raises intake temperatures, and power loss soon follows unless intake temperatures are brought back down. An uprated intercooler does exactly that, making the engine both faster and safer.
Tested
On a tuned R53 Mini making 233.3bhp at AmD's rolling road (10th May 2013), all runs with the bonnet closed: the standard intercooler peaked at just 204.9bhp/161.1lb ft, with inlet temperatures of 150-155°C dropping to only 123-135°C at the outlet — proof the standard intercooler simply can't cope on a tuned Mini. A competitor's 50mm intercooler (without an air diverter scoop) peaked at 216.0bhp/171.4lb ft, with outlet temperatures of 66-89°C — better, but Airtec still felt its tube-and-fin core fell short for a highly tuned Mini. Airtec's 60mm bar and plate core peaked at 233.3bhp/190.5lb ft, keeping outlet temperatures consistently below 50°C.
Key Features
- Available in Pro-Series Black finish
- No drilling required
- Huge air deflector fin forces air into the front section of the intercooler
- Full alloy air ram scoop
- CNC connecting flanges
- First off-the-shelf R53 intercooler with a 60mm core
- Cast alloy, smooth-flow end tanks — no turbo surge issues with this design
Compatible With
- Mini Cooper S (R53), supercharged
