MINI Cooper 2002-2006 turbo question

[Speedchaser]

hey i have a 2004 mini cooper (non s) and im going to put a turbo in it. i dont mind running 6 lbs of boost, but i would love to run about 12 or 15. this, as you can imagine, is way beyond the limits of the stock mini cooper engine. what i need to know is....


1. what parts of the engine does forced induction mess with (all parts plz)

2. and what parts am i going to need to upgrade.

[silversmoke06]

contact jan at RMW
and usualy it needs a piston change to lower the compression ration.
far as i know the stock cranks are pretty tough.
however the stock head is like trying to breath thru a coffee stir

[IanF]

Search function be your friend... not a new subject...

Short version: Just about everything needs to be replaced and it's not worth the effort... there's a reason why few vendors have even bothered with turbo kits for the R50.

Jan will build you a turbo motor that will out-perform an S... but a) it's basically an turbo-only R53 motor, and b) your pockets had better be deeeeeep.

Of course, stating this rarely prevents a long, drawn out arguement from starting... right about... now...

[BoostyMINI]

Ooook So if you wanted to built an S for high boost what would you do? Take out the internals and put stronger parts in? Yes

And with a base cooper? The same thing.

So if you are going for high boost and not just moderate than use your original engine.

i wouldnt go over 6psi with R50 stock internals

Good luck, I am just now starting to peice together a low boost set up

[IanF]

The point is that the low/moderate boost set-ups have proven to be more trouble than they're worth - power gain : amount of work/expense... you basically end up with a car with less power than a stock S that's a PITA to tune (a confused ECU is never happy).

After much reading over the past... 5+ years... the best bang for the buck for increasing the HP of a Cooper is: cat-back, good intake, Jan-tune... do some suspension mods and enjoy the car for what it is.

But go for it anyway... not my car...

[wildcrazy442000]

Just my opinion buy a used first gen "S". The crank, connecting rods, and pistons in a R50 just were not made to handle the extra stress of a turbo.

[ClubmanS]

Originally Posted by wildcrazy442000

Just my opinion buy a used first gen "S". The crank, connecting rods, and pistons in a R50 just were not made to handle the extra stress of a turbo.

+1

The R53 MCS is a much better starting platform than the "Justa" R50. You already have all the beefed up components in the Supercharged model.