The group method of data handling (GMDH) technique was used to predict heat transfer and friction characteristics in heat exchanger tubes equipped with wire-rod bundles. Nusselt number and friction factor were determined as functions of wire-rod bundle geometric parameters and Reynolds number. The performance of the developed GMDH-type neural networks was found to be superior in comparison with the proposed empirical correlations. For optimization, the genetic algorithm-based multi-objective optimization was applied.