Hey everyone, I'm very new to these forums, but have been enthusiastically motoring for about 2k miles in my 2003 CR MC 5Spd. I have a lot of plans for the vehicle, though mostly exterior mods, I would like to squeez a fw mo0re ponies from under the hood.

I built a custom CAI using my battery box(batt now in boot), and am planning on building my own exhaust(read: budget muffler swap). I was wondering what the opinion of ECU tuning is. I've read a lot of posts on here, but it seems to me most of the tuning gods come and go, and finding someone that currently does it is quite hard.

I'm a broke college student, so I wanted to know what my best "Bang for Buck" mod would be, and if it's a tune, where/who/how much I'd be looking at.

Thanks in advance!

 

Best bang for your buck without a doubt, and it is deservingly said time and time again, is Jan at RMW, he custom tunes each car, no canned tune stuff. Not only does his tune add hp safely, but it makes the power much more drivable with more power in the lower rpms. Here is a link for some more information
R50 JustaCooper plus a Jan Tune equals...

 

Has an R50 with a Jan ECU Tune, it's not just about the extra HP or TQ it's more about the way the ECU response and the motor lays the power down. Once Jan's Head and Header is ready for the R50 those parts bolted on will make more power for sure, but the ECU changes the way you drive the R50.

 

I have no track plans, maybe a club event some time in the future, but I'm thinking that it might make the around town(I deliver food in my MC, so I spend a lot of time stopping and starting) a little more enjoyable.

I love the sound and butt dyno effect of my homebrew CAI and I'm really only doing exhaust for a little more sound, not expecting anything mind blowing, but I feel like the pedal is a little sloppy and maybe it's just a tune away from being pure gold.

 

in that case, think about a TSW Damper it will help the most for the sloppy pedal, because it's not the pedal, it's the motor mounts that let the motor rotate before putting the power to the axles. It's the best bang for your buck in an R50 DIY Mod. With all that stopping you might also want to upgrade the front pads too, www.buyCarbotechPads.com and still have cash left over.

 

Im also a college student, and money is in short supply as well haha. Its difficult getting a lot of power out of the R50 so you could try going for handling mods. I purchased a new set of springs for only $260 and they feel great and make the car look more aggressive.

 

I will definately bias my modifications toward AutoX and general handling. I plan on going for a rear bar, a front bar, homemade behind seat brace, homemade under chassis flex bar(something along the lines of a TSW X-brace), and something to stiffen the front lower chassis, proably just some tie rod type setups.

I don't want to have to design my own rear bar, so that'll probably be an ireland or H-sport, but everything else I'll make myself out of titanium or CF.

i don't expect to be respringing or lowering the R50, unless the cash for some coilovers or better shocks comes along.

Most of my money is sinking into maintenance right now, Brake pads(AX6 and Mintek((I know, brake bias....I'll live))), trans work, think the clutch cyl. or slave is going as sometimes the gears just don't want to play, muffler is rusted to death, so i consider the aftermarket muff maintenance, and fluids need to be changed all around.

When the car was purchased, I took it to the "Mini Gods" at Knauz north of chicago and paid a hefty sum for a once over. They said the CV boot was leaking, and that I needed new coolant, and that was about it. I found out how useless and stupid they are when I checked my oil to find that THERE WAS NO OIL IN THE CAR. Not just low on oil, but about 2 trickles of fluid in the pan.So changed the oil, and am looking into the CV boot issue.

Anyone have any experience with under chassis bracing?