Mishimoto® (16-23) Infiniti Q50/Q60 1-Row Performance Heat Exchanger
is backordered and will ship as soon as it is back in stock.
Description
Compatible: (3.0L)
2016 - 2023 Infiniti Q50
2016 - 2023 Infiniti Q60
Professional installation and the use of an air lift tool is recommended
Drop the charged air temperatures in your 2016+ Infiniti Q50/Q60 with the Mishimoto Performance heat exchanger. Air-to-water intercooling is the wave of the future when it comes to modern turbocharged vehicles, but calls for an additional heat exchanger on the front of the vehicle in order to dissipate the heat.
The VR30DDTT equipped in the Q50 and Q60 is quite the performer, but the stock heat exchanger is the weak link in the chain that pulls you along. It’s a relatively small core to be dissipating the heat from two individual intercoolers. On top of that, the plastic end tanks that couple the lines to the core bring durability into question over the lifespan of the vehicle.
In our quest to improve the air-to-water intercooling system on your Infiniti, we started by vastly increasing the core size on our Performance Heat Exchanger Design. Our new core design features a 196% increase in core volume and 97% increase in external fin surface area over the stock unit. In addition, our heat exchanger features an all-aluminum, TIG-welded construction for improved durability, as well as a removable outlet port and captive bleeder valve to help with installation.
These improvements over the stock design result in a drop in outlet temperatures up to 21°F and cooler intake air temperatures. The Mishimoto 2016+ Infiniti Q50/Q60 3.0T Performance Heat Exchanger also includes the Mishimoto Lifetime Warranty for a worry-free installation.
Direct fit for the 2016+ Infiniti Q50 and Q60 3.0T
Full aluminum construction with durable, TIG-welded end tanks
Drops heat exchanger temperatures up to 21°F over stock unit
196% increase in core volume
97% increase in external fin surface area
Removable outlet port for simplified installation
Captive bleeder screw for easy removal of air pockets in intercooler coolant system
COOL UNDER PRESSURE – PERFORMANCE HEAT EXCHANGER R&D, PART 2 – DESIGN PLANS
When you put your foot down in the Q50, or any car for that matter, the force that shoves you back in the seat isn’t just the work of one or two things, but rather the wonderous team effort of hundreds of moving parts. From the gears turning, the crank spinning the pistons, to the coolant gushing through the cooling and intercooling systems, this collaboration results in the harmonious sound of the VR warble and powerful forward thrust.
It’s no secret that enthusiasts like us want to pile more on to that acceleration. Once we dug into our donor vehicle, we found that the stock heat exchanger can be the weak link in the chain pulling the Q50 forward, and leaves something more to be desired. After some preliminary R&D, we determined just what needs to be done with the heat exchanger to bring it all together.
Part of our design process is to scan the stock unit into a 3D model with the help of our Faro Scan Arm. With the model, our engineers can easily pin point where the necessary mounting points are to make for seamless fitment. From there we can create our fitment prototype and full renderings (as seen below).
Bigger is better. When it comes to improving any form of heat exchanger, this mantra typically rings true. More volume and a larger surface area are both methods for transferring heat more efficiently, and when it comes to the Q50’s intercooling system radiator, we opted for both.
Even our first iteration of the heat exchanger prototype doubles the size of the stock core.The installation is not for the faint of heart, however. Excluding the special tools required for priming the electronic pumps for the intercooling system, this is just a portion of the panels and components that need to come off the Q50 to gain access to the heat exchanger.Ye turned from engineer and more into something of a surgeon when it came to extracting the stock heat exchanger. This ghastly sight is the end result, and it looks like something more out of a medical textbook.
Once we peeled back the Q50’s skin, we found that there was plenty of room to expand into, and Ye wanted to take full advantage of that. Our plan is to let this heat exchanger sprawl across the front of the vehicle and take up the unused real estate. Core thickness is where we did hit a slight snag, however.
After the installation of our first heat exchanger, we saw an opportunity to add even more to the core size. For those with the S or other trims, don’t worry. Your factory oil cooler won’t block any part of the bigger, badder intercooler radiator.
Infiniti utilizes a center support beam to cage the front cooling stack. The stock heat exchanger fits behind this beam since it’s not extending down as far, and it’s slightly thinner than our planned design. Ye is still planning on adding a few millimeters to the core design to squeeze in the extra cooling power. She also has a trick up her sleeve to allow the heat exchanger to slide in easier.
Like a glove!
A larger core means larger end tanks. We have that covered too. Our fitment prototype might be sporting plastic, 3D printed end tanks, but our final version will be equipped with a sturdier set of all aluminum tanks, improving the overall look of the intercooling system and giving it a substantial boost in durability.
For those keen observers, you might have noticed that our prototype has two outlet ports. There is a reason behind this. When it comes to radiators, the most efficient means of cooling is by a corner-to-corner flow. However, there is a concern about putting too much stress and wear on the pump (or pumps if you have the S or Red Sport trim). Because of this concern, our engineering team wanted to make sure that we cover our bases and see that we’re achieving the best flow without causing any future issues with the pumps.
Showtime is quickly approaching for the Q50’s heat exchanger, but we’re confident that we have had plenty of rehearsal time. Make sure to keep your eyes on the horizon for more updates, and a look at our heat exchanger in the flesh.
COOL UNDER PRESSURE – PERFORMANCE HEAT EXCHANGER R&D, PART 3 – PRODUCTION SAMPLE
You have to walk before you can run. I’m sure just about everyone’s heard that colloquialism before. While it’s cliché, it does ring true when it comes to our Infiniti Q50 heat exchanger. Before we see just how strong that new link in the chain is, we want to examine that link by itself.
When you last saw our heat exchanger design, it was just the outer framework of what our engineer had planned, but now those plans have come to fruition. The obvious characteristic that carried over from our last post is the sheer size of our heat exchanger. When compared to the stock unit, we might not have gained much in the way of thickness, but the growth spurt still allowed for a whopping 196% increase in core volume and a 97% bump in external fin surface area.
Size isn’t the only improvement over the stock heat exchanger. Our engineer left the plastic end tanks behind in favor of a completely aluminum construction. In addition to adding more rows of fins to our core, our heat exchanger is sporting a tighter fin density for improved heat dissipation.
There’s more to this heat exchanger than meets the eye as well. Given the tight space restrictions and difficult install, we wanted to make sure our new design had all the bells and whistles. For starters, to give enough of a gap between the heat exchanger and the AC condenser, our engineer added an extra plate and foam to the rear side. This way there’s not three different heat exchangers directly on top of each other, and our unit fits like a glove.
With a millimeter to spare!
Wiggling the larger core around this front support can be a challenge, so our engineer devised a removable outlet port on our end tanks in order to remove some of the difficulty to this installation.
To add to the daunting complexity of getting to and replacing the heat exchanger on these vehicles, the stock system has no clear-cut way of bleeding the intercooling coolant system. For this reason, we opted to add a captive bleed screw on the heat exchanger to aid in a bubble-less intercooling coolant system.
We made sure to strategically place the bleeder valve on the heat exchanger so that it’s easily accessible once it’s in the vehicle. Also, since it doesn’t have to be removed, there’s no chance of it plunging into the dark depths of your engine bay.
There’s only one last hidden feature on our Q50 heat exchanger design, and that’s how well it performs with the VR30DDTT. Make sure you stay tuned for our dyno testing results.
COOL UNDER PRESSURE – PERFORMANCE HEAT EXCHANGER R&D, PART 4 – TESTING RESULTS
It’s finally showtime. The conductor’s wand raises, and each section of the mechanical, techno-EDM fusion orchestra that is the Infiniti Q50 starts effortlessly shredding through the notes. Will the less experienced player fold under the pressure where our musical veterans flourish? Let’s find out.
Pump it Up
As seen in the Infiniti maintenance manual
First let’s take a quick dive into how the pumps operate in the VR30DDTT’s system. These are integral parts for ensuring the heat that is extracted from the intercoolers is properly transported from the charged air to the heat exchanger. The pump, or pumps if you opted for the Red Sport, is electronically controlled by the ECM with two speeds, low and high domain as noted above. The operating speed of the pump is determined by a calculation of the engine’s load and speed, or put simply, the manifold pressure and RPM. So, low domain covers most of your typical cruising where the high domain speed is when you put the hammer down.
In our measurement of the system pressure, you can note the jump from the low to high domain pump setting right at about 2.5 seconds.
How does the heat exchanger affect the pump speed? I’m glad you asked! During low domain, the size of the heat exchanger core doesn’t have that much effect on the cooling capacity since the coolant is cycling through at a low rate. This means it’s spending a little more time in the core, so more of a chance to transfer heat.
However, once the rate of fluid increases, it’s much more important to have an increased core volume and fin surface area in order to effectively cool the liquid that’s now gushing through the system. In short, the larger heat exchanger will be able to keep up with the higher coolant flow.
High Domain
In order to see just how our design affected the cooling during high domain, we strapped our Q50 Red Sport to our Dynapack system for a series of tests. Since the heat exchanger is in essence a radiator, we opted to put the stock unit and our design through the same series of testing.
Our first test, known as a load test, is designed to demonstrate the performance of each exchanger at a constant load over an extended period. For our test, the engine was held at 3000 RPM for 25 seconds, which forced the coolant pumps into their high-speed setting so we could monitor how the heat exchanger handles the increased rate of flow, and how core dissipates heat once off throttle.
At the peak of our test, the stock heat exchanger outlet spiked to 118°F and leveled off at 110°F, where our heat exchanger design peaked at 110°F and immediately shrugged off the heat. We also noticed that with the stock heat exchanger there was almost no difference in temperature across the core, which is not a good look for your intake air temperatures.
Ye’s head is on a swivel as she keeps a close eye on our Dynapack controller and the laptop sitting in the passenger seat acting as an active readout for the AQ1 data loggers.
Next up was our heat soak test. This method puts the heat exchangers up against the worst conditions, in that our engineer runs a sequence of 4 back-to-back dyno pulls with no chance to cool off in between. From this test we saw a peak outlet temperature drop of 21°F over the stock unit, with an average 15–20°F difference across the test. Again, no temperature reduction across the core of the stock unit which ended the test at upwards of 140°F. For comparison, our design never went over 120°F on the outlet temperature reading.
Ever wonder how we record the temperatures? Our engineers strategically place sensors within the system for the most accurate readings, which are then fed to two AEM AQ1 data logging systems. From there, our engineers pore through the mountain of data collected and are able to produce graphs like the one below.Some data review starts right out in the shop.
Strongest Link
So, what does this mean for your VR30DDTT’s performance? Well, the stock heat exchanger is the weak link in the intercooling system’s chain. Without being able to properly dissipate the heat being pulled from the charged air, there’s less cooling capacity and your Q50 or Q60 doesn’t live up to its potential. Strengthening that link with an improved heat exchanger core keeps the 3.0T cool under boost pressure.
Professional installation and the use of an air lift tool is recommended
Drop the charged air temperatures in your 2016+ Infiniti Q50/Q60 with the Mishimoto Performance heat exchanger. Air-to-water intercooling is the wave of the future when it comes to modern turbocharged vehicles, but calls for an additional heat exchanger on the front of the vehicle in order to dissipate the heat.
The VR30DDTT equipped in the Q50 and Q60 is quite the performer, but the stock heat exchanger is the weak link in the chain that pulls you along. It’s a relatively small core to be dissipating the heat from two individual intercoolers. On top of that, the plastic end tanks that couple the lines to the core bring durability into question over the lifespan of the vehicle.
In our quest to improve the air-to-water intercooling system on your Infiniti, we started by vastly increasing the core size on our Performance Heat Exchanger Design. Our new core design features a 196% increase in core volume and 97% increase in external fin surface area over the stock unit. In addition, our heat exchanger features an all-aluminum, TIG-welded construction for improved durability, as well as a removable outlet port and captive bleeder valve to help with installation.
These improvements over the stock design result in a drop in outlet temperatures up to 21°F and cooler intake air temperatures. The Mishimoto 2016+ Infiniti Q50/Q60 3.0T Performance Heat Exchanger also includes the Mishimoto Lifetime Warranty for a worry-free installation.
Direct fit for the 2016+ Infiniti Q50 and Q60 3.0T
Full aluminum construction with durable, TIG-welded end tanks
Drops heat exchanger temperatures up to 21°F over stock unit
196% increase in core volume
97% increase in external fin surface area
Removable outlet port for simplified installation
Captive bleeder screw for easy removal of air pockets in intercooler coolant system
COOL UNDER PRESSURE – PERFORMANCE HEAT EXCHANGER R&D, PART 2 – DESIGN PLANS
When you put your foot down in the Q50, or any car for that matter, the force that shoves you back in the seat isn’t just the work of one or two things, but rather the wonderous team effort of hundreds of moving parts. From the gears turning, the crank spinning the pistons, to the coolant gushing through the cooling and intercooling systems, this collaboration results in the harmonious sound of the VR warble and powerful forward thrust.
It’s no secret that enthusiasts like us want to pile more on to that acceleration. Once we dug into our donor vehicle, we found that the stock heat exchanger can be the weak link in the chain pulling the Q50 forward, and leaves something more to be desired. After some preliminary R&D, we determined just what needs to be done with the heat exchanger to bring it all together.
Part of our design process is to scan the stock unit into a 3D model with the help of our Faro Scan Arm. With the model, our engineers can easily pin point where the necessary mounting points are to make for seamless fitment. From there we can create our fitment prototype and full renderings (as seen below).
Bigger is better. When it comes to improving any form of heat exchanger, this mantra typically rings true. More volume and a larger surface area are both methods for transferring heat more efficiently, and when it comes to the Q50’s intercooling system radiator, we opted for both.
Even our first iteration of the heat exchanger prototype doubles the size of the stock core.The installation is not for the faint of heart, however. Excluding the special tools required for priming the electronic pumps for the intercooling system, this is just a portion of the panels and components that need to come off the Q50 to gain access to the heat exchanger.Ye turned from engineer and more into something of a surgeon when it came to extracting the stock heat exchanger. This ghastly sight is the end result, and it looks like something more out of a medical textbook.
Once we peeled back the Q50’s skin, we found that there was plenty of room to expand into, and Ye wanted to take full advantage of that. Our plan is to let this heat exchanger sprawl across the front of the vehicle and take up the unused real estate. Core thickness is where we did hit a slight snag, however.
After the installation of our first heat exchanger, we saw an opportunity to add even more to the core size. For those with the S or other trims, don’t worry. Your factory oil cooler won’t block any part of the bigger, badder intercooler radiator.
Infiniti utilizes a center support beam to cage the front cooling stack. The stock heat exchanger fits behind this beam since it’s not extending down as far, and it’s slightly thinner than our planned design. Ye is still planning on adding a few millimeters to the core design to squeeze in the extra cooling power. She also has a trick up her sleeve to allow the heat exchanger to slide in easier.
Like a glove!
A larger core means larger end tanks. We have that covered too. Our fitment prototype might be sporting plastic, 3D printed end tanks, but our final version will be equipped with a sturdier set of all aluminum tanks, improving the overall look of the intercooling system and giving it a substantial boost in durability.
For those keen observers, you might have noticed that our prototype has two outlet ports. There is a reason behind this. When it comes to radiators, the most efficient means of cooling is by a corner-to-corner flow. However, there is a concern about putting too much stress and wear on the pump (or pumps if you have the S or Red Sport trim). Because of this concern, our engineering team wanted to make sure that we cover our bases and see that we’re achieving the best flow without causing any future issues with the pumps.
Showtime is quickly approaching for the Q50’s heat exchanger, but we’re confident that we have had plenty of rehearsal time. Make sure to keep your eyes on the horizon for more updates, and a look at our heat exchanger in the flesh.
COOL UNDER PRESSURE – PERFORMANCE HEAT EXCHANGER R&D, PART 3 – PRODUCTION SAMPLE
You have to walk before you can run. I’m sure just about everyone’s heard that colloquialism before. While it’s cliché, it does ring true when it comes to our Infiniti Q50 heat exchanger. Before we see just how strong that new link in the chain is, we want to examine that link by itself.
When you last saw our heat exchanger design, it was just the outer framework of what our engineer had planned, but now those plans have come to fruition. The obvious characteristic that carried over from our last post is the sheer size of our heat exchanger. When compared to the stock unit, we might not have gained much in the way of thickness, but the growth spurt still allowed for a whopping 196% increase in core volume and a 97% bump in external fin surface area.
Size isn’t the only improvement over the stock heat exchanger. Our engineer left the plastic end tanks behind in favor of a completely aluminum construction. In addition to adding more rows of fins to our core, our heat exchanger is sporting a tighter fin density for improved heat dissipation.
There’s more to this heat exchanger than meets the eye as well. Given the tight space restrictions and difficult install, we wanted to make sure our new design had all the bells and whistles. For starters, to give enough of a gap between the heat exchanger and the AC condenser, our engineer added an extra plate and foam to the rear side. This way there’s not three different heat exchangers directly on top of each other, and our unit fits like a glove.
With a millimeter to spare!
Wiggling the larger core around this front support can be a challenge, so our engineer devised a removable outlet port on our end tanks in order to remove some of the difficulty to this installation.
To add to the daunting complexity of getting to and replacing the heat exchanger on these vehicles, the stock system has no clear-cut way of bleeding the intercooling coolant system. For this reason, we opted to add a captive bleed screw on the heat exchanger to aid in a bubble-less intercooling coolant system.
We made sure to strategically place the bleeder valve on the heat exchanger so that it’s easily accessible once it’s in the vehicle. Also, since it doesn’t have to be removed, there’s no chance of it plunging into the dark depths of your engine bay.
There’s only one last hidden feature on our Q50 heat exchanger design, and that’s how well it performs with the VR30DDTT. Make sure you stay tuned for our dyno testing results.
COOL UNDER PRESSURE – PERFORMANCE HEAT EXCHANGER R&D, PART 4 – TESTING RESULTS
It’s finally showtime. The conductor’s wand raises, and each section of the mechanical, techno-EDM fusion orchestra that is the Infiniti Q50 starts effortlessly shredding through the notes. Will the less experienced player fold under the pressure where our musical veterans flourish? Let’s find out.
Pump it Up
As seen in the Infiniti maintenance manual
First let’s take a quick dive into how the pumps operate in the VR30DDTT’s system. These are integral parts for ensuring the heat that is extracted from the intercoolers is properly transported from the charged air to the heat exchanger. The pump, or pumps if you opted for the Red Sport, is electronically controlled by the ECM with two speeds, low and high domain as noted above. The operating speed of the pump is determined by a calculation of the engine’s load and speed, or put simply, the manifold pressure and RPM. So, low domain covers most of your typical cruising where the high domain speed is when you put the hammer down.
In our measurement of the system pressure, you can note the jump from the low to high domain pump setting right at about 2.5 seconds.
How does the heat exchanger affect the pump speed? I’m glad you asked! During low domain, the size of the heat exchanger core doesn’t have that much effect on the cooling capacity since the coolant is cycling through at a low rate. This means it’s spending a little more time in the core, so more of a chance to transfer heat.
However, once the rate of fluid increases, it’s much more important to have an increased core volume and fin surface area in order to effectively cool the liquid that’s now gushing through the system. In short, the larger heat exchanger will be able to keep up with the higher coolant flow.
High Domain
In order to see just how our design affected the cooling during high domain, we strapped our Q50 Red Sport to our Dynapack system for a series of tests. Since the heat exchanger is in essence a radiator, we opted to put the stock unit and our design through the same series of testing.
Our first test, known as a load test, is designed to demonstrate the performance of each exchanger at a constant load over an extended period. For our test, the engine was held at 3000 RPM for 25 seconds, which forced the coolant pumps into their high-speed setting so we could monitor how the heat exchanger handles the increased rate of flow, and how core dissipates heat once off throttle.
At the peak of our test, the stock heat exchanger outlet spiked to 118°F and leveled off at 110°F, where our heat exchanger design peaked at 110°F and immediately shrugged off the heat. We also noticed that with the stock heat exchanger there was almost no difference in temperature across the core, which is not a good look for your intake air temperatures.
Ye’s head is on a swivel as she keeps a close eye on our Dynapack controller and the laptop sitting in the passenger seat acting as an active readout for the AQ1 data loggers.
Next up was our heat soak test. This method puts the heat exchangers up against the worst conditions, in that our engineer runs a sequence of 4 back-to-back dyno pulls with no chance to cool off in between. From this test we saw a peak outlet temperature drop of 21°F over the stock unit, with an average 15–20°F difference across the test. Again, no temperature reduction across the core of the stock unit which ended the test at upwards of 140°F. For comparison, our design never went over 120°F on the outlet temperature reading.
Ever wonder how we record the temperatures? Our engineers strategically place sensors within the system for the most accurate readings, which are then fed to two AEM AQ1 data logging systems. From there, our engineers pore through the mountain of data collected and are able to produce graphs like the one below.Some data review starts right out in the shop.
Strongest Link
So, what does this mean for your VR30DDTT’s performance? Well, the stock heat exchanger is the weak link in the intercooling system’s chain. Without being able to properly dissipate the heat being pulled from the charged air, there’s less cooling capacity and your Q50 or Q60 doesn’t live up to its potential. Strengthening that link with an improved heat exchanger core keeps the 3.0T cool under boost pressure.
