Hi all!


Some of you may have been following my adventures with Kowalski, my 2012 R60 S ALL4, either through NAM or the Countryman Owners' Lounge on Facebook. Well Kowalski is about to go through another major transformation in the next couple of weeks... We are calling it Project Kowalski 2.0!


The N18 that came installed from the factory finally went after nearly 80k miles of duty. All I know at this point is that the morning of it going I heard the death rattle from the timing chain and immediately scheduled an appointment to have the timing chain replaced. Later on that evening cruising down the highway the chain snapped and the whole engine went. Now this was probably due to the extreme stress that this motor has been on its whole life and I think many of us were surprised at just how long it had lasted given the abuse thrown at it! Granted it was never driven hard when cold, never shut off when hot, and oil changes every 5k miles.... But still a lot of track days and dragon driving. It was one of the first N18s to have a tune on it and also one of the first to have JMTC's 47mm K04 turbocharger with a Manic Stage 3 tune. Once we take the motor out of the car we will assess the damage and hopefully determine the exact cause of the issue. Could be too small of an exhaust (catless 2.5"), too much boost pressure (likely), and a host of many things! Excited to see what actually caused the failure but it is to be expected when you really start trying to make power!


So, I was faced with two options. Abandon Kowalski and start fresh with another project or give him a new heart and bring him back to life better than before!


I called my friend Arric Johnson over at JMTC and asked for some options.


1) A refurbished stock N18 long block that would be exactly the same as what broke on us before


2) A slightly upgraded N18 with stronger rods and pistons and a flowed head


3) A fully built race N18 that will be able to be daily driven and make some serious power


So, if you read the title you know which one I chose!


Here's the build list...


JMTC Stage IV ported head (200cfm):

• De-bur Lap, port faces and upper cap and gasket area
• De-flashed inside out
• Modify oil returns
• 200cfm Competition port and polish intake and exhaust
• Gasket match or any intake/exhaust design fully port
• Radius exhaust seats
• De-shroud combustion chamber polish
• CC Chamber and match all four volumes
• Competition high flow multi angle valve job with preparatory angles o Port Faces Lapped Flat (Studs removed and reinstalled)
• Detailed Matched Intake Manifold Fully Ported to Head
• Ceramic coated Supertech valves (.5mm and 1mm larger)
• Supertech valve springs
• Back cut intake valves
• Hand lap valves
• Set up proper seat pressure and clearances
• Blue print with documentation

JMTC Forged street and race pistons:

• Bore: 77.00mm
• Over Size: Std
• Comp Ratio: 10:1
• Volume CCs: Std
• Comp Height: 28.70mm
• Stroke: 85.8mm
• Rod Length: -OEM
• Pin Diam: 20mm(.787")
• Weight: 250grms
• Piston quench area mods
• JMTC Gold heat isolated coating
• Teflon skirts

• JMTC Forged rods
• Rod Length: -OEM
• ARP head studs
• ARP main studs
• Polished Crank
• Strengthened block (closing the deck plus reinforcing the piston sleeve from the bottom of the motor to the top of the deck)
• Fully Ported 47mm JMTC Dominator K04 turbo
• JMTC Stage III Ported exhaust manifold
• Stage 3 JMTC clutch and 21lbs lightened flywheel
• Red top stronger coil packs
• Full 3" catless exhaust
• Coolant heater
• Oil cooler with thermostat

Also going to be adding Megan Racing Coilovers with the engine build and a possible AP Racing 6piston Big Brake Kit... If not now, definitely in the near future.


I'll update with photos of the build when they surface from the builder as well as the install videos and photos!


The car is currently sitting inside the shop at MINI Downtown in Toronto. These guys are totally mod friendly and are just as excited about the project as I am! Can't wait.

Happy Motoring!
Kyle

 

10:1 compression? What determined that choice?

 

The choice was to keep a lower compression to run more boost safely. As this is my every day car, I want it to be reliable. If this was being built specifically for just track use (it'll see a lot of track time) then we probably would have bumped it up a bit.


Kyle

 

You have my attention. Subd!

 

Wow...sounds like a great build!!
Good luck!!
My one thought...
After spending $$$$ on a new motor, the timing chain will still be the weak link....and could fail, resulting in a complete loss at anytime as the prior one has....and many folks have had happen in as few as 30,000 miles stock....
My thought...
As n18 car production winds down, they (mini) should be having a great sale on them at anytime, just like the n14, and the older gen1 motors... The n14's was almost cheap for a few months..
Wondering if the same will happen and you could get a new n18 for a song....
Nothing compared to the awesome motor you are building, but I just wonder...any motor is only as strong as the weakest link....

 

Heh, I actually was curious why you didn't go even lower. Dropping down to around 9:1 probably wouldn't sacrifice spool or effeciency and allows you to run closer to MBT for optimal power under boost (and much more boost too!)

Still, I'm jelly.

 

*Update*

Alright guys, we are about halfway through the build right now. Here are some photos of the reinforced block and connecting rods we will be using.

Kyle

 

Why did you leave up at 10.1 ?