The idea that somebody like BMS or Unitronic can sell a lower cost B&P that is supposedly an all around superior performing product, while suppliers like Wagner, whom I've had an IC from previously that was B&P, would choose for this application to use T&F, leads me to think that it there may be other considerations, and not simply cost.
Sure they have some bias, but they also have options to sell either design and they picked a T&F. I don't think you're lying, but I also don't take what you say as the last word on intercooler design.
From the
Wager FAQ. They let you configure your own custom IC and have both B&P and T&F as options.
"
The fundamental difference between performance on the one hand and competition on the other lies in the structure of the intercooler net. In the area of performance, it is a bar & plate net, while we use a tube fin net for our charge air coolers from the competition area.
The bar & plate net originally comes from simple industrial production and has been used as a charge air cooler network for a long time, because it can be produced cheaply in any version. The basic structure of this network, however, ensures a higher weight or an increased proportion of material, which leads to the storage of the heat from the charge air if the load continues. The production of a tube fin net is more complex and therefore more expensive due to the necessary use of special tools. This type of net has a significantly lower proportion of material - and therefore less weight -, which means that the tube fin net can better dissipate the high temperatures to the environment and thus work even more efficiently."
