1st Gen R50 Cooper RMW Remote Tune experience?

Oh no, those are long gone. Running Yokohama S.Drives, considering Bridgestone Potenza RE11 for next summer.

 

Oh yeah, the kosei are 15". :thumbup:

 

Just bumping my old thread! Anyone else out there have any experiences to share?

I was re-reading the email exchange I had with Jan, and I had misread something, adding the cost of the custom cam with the tune and module pricing... so a remote tune is actually about $300 cheaper than I thought it would be. It's looking a lot more tempting now!

On the other hand, I suggested a road trip down the coast to my better half, and she's pretty keen on the idea for next summer. We're going to London and Berlin in May, so it would be probably 18 months from now before I could get the time and money for the adventure.

Tough call... instant gratification or wait awhile longer and really get it done right?

 

Yeah, you guys are right... even seeing my question written down, it's pretty silly. I might as well save up for a new head and go all out :lol:

 

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I should clarify that it's not just remote vs. tuned at RMW, but rather canned vs. not canned. I've been in touch with two dyno shops, one in town and one in Seattle that Jan recommended. Both of them stopped replying to my emails when I told them my car was a naturally aspirated Cooper. I'm not sure why, as my money is as green as the next guys, but maybe they just don't like platforms that won't see big power gains as it may open the door to customers with unrealistic expectations and complaints. Just speculating, of course, but regardless, the choice is between getting a cam and maybe even a head plus a tune in SoCal from Jan, or just getting a remote canned tune.

 

Well, even if the head/cam/tune comes in ~$2.5k, that's still not enough to get out of my R50 and into an R53, judging by local market prices. The other factors to consider are:

- The money I've already put into the R50 would be out the window (Coilovers, exhaust, intake, sound system, tint, light weight wheels plus tires for summer and winter, and on and on.)
- The low mileage (55,000KM) and "known quantity" re: my current car. It's been rock solid, and a new used car is always a gamble.
- If I go ahead with these mods, I'll be finished modding, rather than getting into a new mod vortex with an R53 and all the possibilities there
- My lack of self control with the throttle means I'd likely get into more trouble with more power
- The fun of having a bit of a sleeper and probably the quickest NA Cooper in town

Just thinking out loud here, not being argumentative. I know the R53 is the more sensible platform for performance upgrades, but I've got what I've got, and I like it quite a bit. I just think it would be fun if it was a BIT quicker.

I think if I ever feel the need to REALLY go fast again, I'll get back into motorbikes.

 

Hey Thumper,

We've discussed this before. I have no desire to run NOS in my DD. A cam and tune and maybe a head is as crazy as I want to get. I'm not drag or street racing so a NOS shot isn't suitable.

 

I'd have to dig through some emails to be sure, but I think Jan said a cam/tune would net ~15-20HP. I'm not sure what a head is good for... I'll have to look into that.

The car is pretty "young," less than 40k miles on the OEM clutch and the Getrag tranny... I'd imagine it could handle the relatively modest gains I'm looking at.

 

Hmm... you know, I may have been kind of glossing over the labor cost factor here. That's a pretty stark reality check. If those price are an accurate ball park, I'd be comfortable with ~$1100 for the cam/tune, if I rolled it into the general expense of a fun trip down the coast, but the head is starting to look like a real point of diminishing returns.

For $4000 all in, I might just be better off buying a fox body mustang for going fast and leaving the Cooper internally unmolested.

Plenty to think about, thanks!