Hey guys, ive been checking out lots of random post on here for a couple years now and decided it was time i get involved. I have a 2008 Mini cooper S, my first car, I got it about two or three years ago and im up to about 91,000 miles now, so yeah, to the questions! Current mods: K&N intake system exhaust catless downpipe and catless mid pipe plan on getting a RMW tune very soon So my goal with my Mini is 250 WHP Questions: what whp would I most likely be at with my current set up? with this set up and a RMW tune about what whp would I be at? Is meth injection as good as it seems? would it be better to get that now and a tune later? Would having an intercooler before getting the RMW make a huge difference? If so are the cheap $300 intercoolers just as effective as the $900 ones? Is getting head work done worth it? Turbo upgrades, I was orginally planing on going with a GT28rs turbo but after talking to Jan from RMW he said they normally are very hard to tune and do not run right, does anyone have any experience with this? Is having time on the dyno worth it or is just the remote tune from Jan good enough? Also anyone at 250 whp or above, please let me know your mods. As said this is my first forum post and apologize for anything that I may have done improperly in this post, please let know if I have. (and please no flywheel hp numbers) Thanks guys, Ben
Welcome to M/A! Thats quite a list youve got, and one thing stands out to me. Your car has 91000 miles on it. R56 motors arent really known to be that reliable or durrable when people start really cranking the power out of them, so would you be ready for the possibility of a rebuild? A good W/M setup should be #1 on your list. Then the I/C. Helix has the best one out, but if you are fine with a lesser performance one thats actually a stock part, get the I/C from a 2014/2015 JCW Countryman. It is roughly the same height as the big aftermarket I/C's but not as thick, and its less than $400! Then the downpipe and tune at the same time, that way you wont have any CEL's before or after the tune.
Welcome to M\A. Where are you located? Jan can do a remote tune with out a Dyno but I recommend you find a Dyno so you can have a base line documentation of what you have now and what your post tune results are. The graph you get from the Dyno pre run will show you where you power is and how bad the curve is. The post tune will show you the changes and how smooth the curve is so you can see and feel the results. Drivers seat butt Dyno's are never accurate. :lol: 250 is easy or it was with my 1st gen R53. For your car I would absolutly get the Howerton meth injection system it will clean your motor internals and give you a nice boost when Jan tunes your car. Howerton Engineering, LLC – MINI The key to Hp is a big valve head with better flow. Jan Has been working on the 2nd gen BVH for a little while now. He has been flow testing and making sure the R56 head will be a great part just like the high standard of the R53 "Jesus head" which is the best head made for the first Gen MINI hands down. Also 1+ on the Helix intercooler, it is so much better than the cheap knock off $300 ones because it really works. I know Eric at Helix and he will not sell anything that does not perform and built very well. Helix Stepped-Core Intercoooler For Mini Cooper - Helix Motorsports
Welcome to the party!! +1 on quality parts and Jan/RMW magic!! Do it right, do it once! Junky Chinese copies tend to be exactly that.... If you want to have to cut your bumper and zip tie it up...a cheap universal might be OK if you truly want a "riced" look... MINI folks tend to go OEM+, meaning OEM quality and look, but better performing....and good fit. Not cheap...but it us the difference between folks who can DRIVE their cars, and folks who park their cars to work on them for months at a time.... Somebody once said, you have to pick only two: cheap, fast, or reliable....getting all 3...good luck!!
Just make sure you do your maintenance before you start tuning the car. Thats key and i don't think it gets set enough. I also highly recommend the Helix intercooler. While it may not be cheap, its a bargain for the quality and performance. They also resell well should you ever decide to sell.