2nd Gen JCW Most liked posts in thread: It seemed like a good idea but....

There's plenty of time (and warranty period) to find out for yourself what's important. Once you experience the mid-range torque of the JCW engine, you'll realize it is not comparable to the Honda power plants you mentioned. Yes, excessive heat diminishes performance, but a bit of power lost on a late model JCW in a traffic jam is not all that bad. Press the Sport Button and it all becomes good again.

The largest performance gains come from increasing the boost and torque limiters. Up the boost, increase heat, install larger intercooler, diminish pressure increase with pressure drop, chase tail, break parts. Moderate tune states can be rewarding without putting the engine in harms way. Consider a device like the AccessPort later down the road. Absolutely put your money in a multi-function code reader and Bentley Service Manual.

The NM heat shield looks good under the hood to some people, that's what it does, until a screw goes missing and it rattles. I think there's beauty in an uncluttered stock engine bay.

 

I have also been playing with ideas to cool my R56. The fan runs for minutes after the car is off, and I know that heat can be removed more efficiently... I removed most of the blocked hood scoop grill a couple of weeks ago. Haven't run enough to know if it has helped much. I would like to have someone bend the metal that is curved up, choking the hood scoop inlet even further to bend it down, or straight, at the very least to help create a vacuum and pull more air in. It would also, IMO help let the hot air out when parked and not damage the hood scoop by "pooling" the heat.

I really like the Duell AG vented hood they have on the Coupe/Roadster as it looks like it would eliminate all the heat by pulling it out.

 

My understanding is that the biggest performance gain you can get is by changing the intercooler to a larger one, like the one Forge sells. This is a significant $$$$ investment, and you'll only realize the true benefits if you then have the engine tuned to match the extra cooling ability. That assumes that the JCW exhaust is more free flowing than the standard turbo's.......

The only beneficial heat shield for the turbo engines I've seen is the one that insulates the oil pipe from the hot side of the turbo.....but I question it's real value since our turbo's are water cooled, they don't ever get that hot, even after shut down since the auxilary pump continues to pump cool water thru it then.

I'm not sure what your ultimate goal is here, more performance that you'll actually use, or just bragging rights and lots of cool stuff under the hood. I make no judgements here, just asking.

If you're really after performance and intend to use it (as on track or in solo competition) there are lots of other things you can do that will help your times before even opening the engine compartment. Every thing you do to make it faster compromises how it drives on the street tho.....whether in some tiny acceptable way all the way up to unbearable.

Let us know what you're after and folks will be better able to help you - there are no magic bullets.

 

John, this is simply in the "for what it's worth" category and I know I have a justa, but with a JCW, upper grill. When I was running the DDM open cone intake, my intake air temp was 30 degrees above ambient when moving and as high as 50 over when sitting still. I think it remains rather hot under the bonnet.

Jim

 

^^^ can't answer that one....

 

Some minor trimming is required on the underside of the hood, but not on the outside. See this thread: Challenge Bonnet Scoop - totalMINI Forums

 

No idea if it would help from performance but I doubt it would hurt it either. As for preventing damage to the scoop and paint I say might as well go for it, especially if you drive hard.

 

Biggest problem with the car is the lack of room under the bonnet. Unlike most others, it is really cramped and difficult to fit parts under it.

 

These two products work well as add-on thermal barriers Heat Reflective Tape NEW!, Floor & Tunnel Shield II - Heat & Sound Insulation 050507 | Purchase DEI, CryO2, Ny-Trex, Boom Mat & SPA Turbo Products | Design Engineering, Inc. - Thermal Performance Products, but first you need to see if there is a problem to fix.

Once underway there is adequate air flow in the engine bay for street use conditions.

 

My issue is more with after stopping than when moving. I have already gotten one hood scoop replaced, would be nice to not have to do another...

I have read that once the car hits 20mph, the engine compartment temps will be the same as the ambient air temp.

So far as the Duell AG items, they are stupid expensive before the shipping costs, which are equally high. Would love to get some of that stuff done, but it would require a repaint, which are not cheap. Would be nice to be able to do some simple things that just increase the cooling without having to rebuild the car.

It took me a bit get the technique down, but I was able to remove those blocked vents on the hood scoop grill and do it in such a fashion that it still looks factory. I used a Dremel and a high speed cutter. The higher the speed, the better it worked. That small grill is roughly 70% blocked. I would have just removed it, but the PW paint shows up too well inside the hole, and frankly, I like the look with it in...

 

Mini-Fini designer of Mini-Cooper accessories has a replacement for the blocked off factory hood scoop grill.

 

The scoop for the MINI Challenge race series has vents, but the price...

MINI Challenge Vented Bonnet Scoop - Cooper S | ChallengeScoop at www.minigenuineparts.co.uk

 

Good to know Jim.

Nathan, I had not seen that... Nice.

That MINI Challenge scoop is cool (ha! get it? COOL...), but I think they are smoking crack for that price.

 

I assume you have to do some metal trimming on the hood to get that MINI Challenge scoop to work well... Other wise it is all coming out of the same size hole as the standard scoop. All they did was move the intake opening to the front of the scoop and put in vents behind.

 

John, the new challenge scoop is actually closed off in the front. The air flowing over the tops of the louver create a vacuum and the action draws the hot air out. The challenge scoop works in reverse and doesn't draw air in.

 

Ah... Got it. Thanks for clarifying. I thought it was just crappy photography...

Does it work better or just different?

 

Assumption is it's better. If you consider that the "S" scoop is more of a "design" feature with very little airflow through the scoop (not too many holes in the black plastic honeycomb piece). So the air enters in through the front MINI grill, into the radiator and then washes over the front of the engine. Some air is deflected down towards the ground with the help of vacuum created by the ground effect and those two funky flexible plastic strips that hang down in front of the wheels that are a part of the bumper lip. Some air is deflected up over the top of the engine. Both air flows are heated by the downpipe / turbo. The air over the top of the engine then hits the firewall and is suck down with the help of the vacuum under the body.
Add that new design Challenge scoop that operates on the Bernoulli effect and undoubtedly you end up pulling some of the hot air completely outside of the bonnet where it can't do harm. If it's not trapped under the bonnet, there has to be some benefit..... Of course test result would come in to play to verify it..... But it should be a way to remove heat from under the bonnet....