Hello everyone. Just joined the forum. I bought a 2012 Mini Cooper S Countryman All4 with 56K miles back in December to have as a daily driver replacement for my 2004 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (12MPG SUCKS!!!). I just had the first oil change done and replaced the air filter with a K&N drop in. I have a bunch of questions that I hope someone can answer.

1. This is my first turbo manual. It seems really sluggish off the line, seems like if I ease off the clutch while giving it a moderate amount of gas it really doesn't want to go. If I have it in sport mode this is greatly reduced. Is this turbo lag or do I just need to give it more gas before letting out of the clutch? I am not new to manual vehicles, this just feels very different than what I am used to. If it is turbo lag, what is the best way to minimize it?

2. Is there much of difference in power comparing a K&N drop in to an intake? If so, do any aftermarket intakes leave the lower half of the air box in place? Just thinking leaving it in place would allow cooler air to be brought straight to the filter.

3. What is difference on the JCW version that gives it the extra 27HP? Different turbo, intake, tuning? I know the exhaust is different.

4. Looking at the forums, it seems like the most common upgrades are intake, exhaust, catless downpipe, intercooler and a tune. I am interested in the intake, exhaust, intercooler and tune. I don't want to go catless due to emissions requirements and CELs. How much of a HP gain do most people see with these upgrades and much of a difference does it make leaving the CATs in place?

Thanks for any possible info!

 

Welcome aboard and to the Mini community

I'll take on q1. Because you have the ALL4 system, the car will feel heavier than the FWD. My 2011 CMS ALL4 felts slower compared to my 2012 CMS FWD.

 

I’m interested in Q1 also. I’m planning to do the tune in the future, but I’m not sure if that’s the issue or not. I was told by another NAM user to get a Sprint booster to combat the drive-by-wire delay. I just got back into a Mini and bought R60 JCW. My last car was a Lexus IS350 definitely no lag in that car. I’m hoping the tune is enough.

Q2: I just put a K&N drop-in into my JCW, I haven’t noticed any difference. I did in to give some extra breathing for the tune.

Q3: Turbo size, exhaust, and tune I believe. My sone just did the JCW tune to his F56 and he got new exhaust and tune with it from Mini. The exhaust is great with the flap on the F56 JCW.

Q4: Look up MarioKart, link below. He will send you this:
RPM Power Tuning Stage’s R series
Stock MCS 165whp, Stock JCW/GP2 185whp

•Stage 1 $649 tune and requirements-Spark plugs
MCS 200whp
JCW/GP2 230whp

•Stage 2 $749 tune and requirements. Downpipe, Intercooler, spark plugs
MCS 230whp
JCW/GP2 250whp

•Stage 3 $849 tune and requirements. Downpipe, Intercooler, 2 step colder Spark Plugs, intake and turbo 265whp

Mario:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ew-thread.html

I’m doing a high-flow catted DP, FMIC, and plugs. I’ve never read the CAI had much benefit to HP, just sound. You have several options to keep the cat and just go High-Flow, ECS tuning carries most of your options in one place. I think I’ll be using Milltek. It’s 200CEL I don’t really want much extra exhaust sound. Chances are you’ll get the CEL with the catted DP, but there are spacer out there to prevent this. The tune will fix the CEL I’ve asked opinions from many different people and I think this is the best choice for me. FMIC, you can read forever... I’m rolling the dice with a Gplus FMIC from eBay. There are a few write ups on NAM with this one. My son had an eBay FMIC on his R55 JCW and no issues.

Happy searching!