Not sure if this is the right forum for this question--I was at a Mini day at Thunderhill Raceway in No. Calif, talking to a few folks about tuning. One guy said he got additional horsepower, torque and 40 mpg by getting his MCS tuned by MCE Racing. Spoke to the MCE guy, he said I would get 20 additional hp, similar torque improvement and better mileage with a $500 tune. This doesn't seem logical--you improve hp by forcing more fuel through, so how can this improve mileage? Appreciate hearing about anyone's experience. Hal Stock '09 MCS
My experience with turbo tuning does provide more power, torque, a better power band, and better mileage. Makes the car more efficient and runs leaner. But that's going with a conservative tune. Somewhat more extreme tunes can provide more power and torque but with a drop in mileage. Got to pay for it someplace. Most motors are tuned for longevity and emissions. All cars are set to run rich because you need the extra fuel to run the cat. When you tune it it can effect the long term durability and emissions. But if you wanted that drive a Prius.
A tune changes much more than the amount of fuel delivered to the engine. It also increases the boost pressure of your turbocharger and the spark advance map, among other things. By increasing the turbocharger's boost pressure and increasing the fuel, you are effectively making the engine bigger by flowing much more air/fuel than a naturally aspirated engine of the same size, that makes more horse power. With more horsepower available, you can get up to speed with less throttle travel and possibly get better mileage. For me it doesn't work that way, I just mash on the throttle even more and my mileage goes down. Dave
Now you're talking about just an ECU remap... 20hp sounds a bit stretched to me without bigger injectors and all the fun bits you can find. I understand that improvements can be found within the ECU but not that many without performance parts. I would talk to Jan from RMW; he doesn't beat around the bush and bs you.
I haven't seen bigger injectors available for series two MINIs. I suspect that series two injectors have a wider range than the injectors on series one motors. Dave
20 whp from just a tune and no other parts.....hahahahahaha I call BS. I don't care what OEM injectors are in the car. If you could do that every 2nd gen could be a JCW or better yet the new GP.
Unless his car is red, right Dave0? Hahaha. Yea, Dave kind of put that in perspective. A regular S cannot gain that much on just an ECU remap. JCWs stock are at 210/215 hp and have CAI, injectors, head, etc.. and you're talking about just a remap that would put it at or close to the hp that a JCW puts down. I think not.
Oh I can get 40 mpg in my car. All I have to do is find a 40 mile hill to roll down. Or I install my Tornado air intake from fleaBay Gas Saving Devices Busted 1 - YouTube
Absolutely stay away from anyone who says they can give you a certain amount of HP or MPG from a tune! You're parts give you HP, a tune only optimizes the way your parts work, so there is no way someone can guarantee you anything, since all parts work different on any given engine.
Well said. And a tune deals with the car's 'brain'. So once you start modding it, the ECU doesn't know, a tune tell it what it has and makes it run the best with the added parts. A tune on a stock car can give you more performance though because a stock ECU isn't tuned in a modest manner to be best for various drivers. However, that much HP with only a tune, as said, is BS.
Dave, If you want a fact check. I have a 2nd Gen S. Tuned by Jan. Pre tune: I made 159WHP, post tune I made 210WHP on a bad DV, a later dyno showed 223WHP. Stock injectors, fuel pump, head, cams, etc. I have a few minor bolt ons. *Cheers* And on my trip from SLC,UT to Seal Beach, CA i saw an average of 44.1 mpg heading home with a cruise control around 68 MPH. (Hand Calculated). Call BS all you want, thats the beauty of direct injection.
^ now that's interesting. I would like to know what the minor bolt ons are. Not that I don't believe you that it is mainly stock. I was just perusing your garage and it doesn't seem "minor" as you say. Under the Bonnet Alta FMIC Alta Turbo Inlet K&N Drop-in Filter Riss Racing Catless DP NM Engineering Throttle Pipe Alta Hot Side Pipe Magnaflow Catback RMW Dyno Tune JCW 6 speed swap Quaife LSD Spec Stage 1 Clutch Stoptech D/S Rotors Stoptech Street Performance Pads SS F/R brake lines Read more: http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/member-garages/16953-2007-mini-cooper-s.html#ixzz2Of2rzGlB Here is a bit of a garage bump. But we were talking complete bare-boned stock; unless you are saying this tune was well before some of these above items.
The only thing listed above that really added any power is going to be the Catless DP over a bone stock R56 with a tune. If you think a few pipes, filter and an FMIC (Which FMICs DO NOT create power in themselves.) made a huge difference you are crazy. As long as the car is still on stock internals, stock fueling and stock turbo I would consider any power "adders" outside of W/M to be minor. Honestly, I am sure about 10-20 of my WHP are soley from the idea I went and got a dyno tune from Jan instead of a 2nd rate canned tune.
Well an FMIC allows you to utilize more HP. Down pipes/inlet/cat back allow for better flow which in the end produces HP. With a tune and especially a RMW Jan tune these items are utilized to their best potential. So I don't quite agree that your car is stock just because the internals are. However, to each his own; it is a good looking R56 nonetheless. I'd say if this fella wanted to get 20hp just go to Jan.
Jan doesnt do the 2011+ yet. I personally would wait till RMW could or I would try and find someone who can dyno tune it and do it right. Pull logs, etc.. not just flash the car and call it a day like I have seen other MINI tuners do.