This has nothing to do with turbocharging the mini, but just some fun facts about the engine.







Looks familiar? ....These are from Peugeot 207

The engine in this gen mini is a prince engine, developed jointly by BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroen.


Anyway, all this could be found of Wikipedia

 

I'm not here to rain on anybody's parade. I'm sure a justa could be successfully boosted but I don't know how much overpressure the stock engine will tolerate before it fails. My previous toy car was a 1st generation Miata and as soon as the warranty expired , I supercharged it with a kit from Jackson Racing. Miatas weren't available with forced induction so kits (turbos and superchargers) were available in the marketplace. The 1st generation ECUs were fairly primitive so there were a number of tricks to fool the ECU into providing more fuel and retarding the ignition under boost. I drove that car another 10 yrs and it was fairly trouble free other than toasting the original clutch. I probably had about $5K invested for my modest 8psi of boost and an extra 50hp but it was worth every cent. Unfortunately, the Mini is available with factory boost so no aftermarket kits are available for the justa. I believe custom installation of the mechanical bits is doable but you'll still have to reprogram the ECU to provide the extra fuel and retard the ignition if necessary to prevent engine meltdown (or detonation). The big question is how much boost can a stock justa engine tolerate? If you're only talking 8-10 psi then you'll never approach the stock output of the JCW. It's your money so by all means, press on. I'm anxious to see you succeed.

 

Just my .02 cents. Ever thought about a small shot of nitrous instead of the turbo? Working in a shop that installs supercharges, turbos, and nitrous, I settled on a small shot for mine. I didnt want anything crazy, just a little more kick then a stock "justa". Overall investment for it is a little less expensive, and a generic ZEX or nos 4 cylinder wet shot has the benefit of not putting the constant ware on you motor. Turbo and s/c's will provide the boost every time you hit the throttle, a 50 shot will only kick in when you decide to hit the button. Having to use my justa as a daily driver as well was a huge factor in my decision. The most problems I see with nitrous is when drivers with manual transmissions don't know how to properly drive and either overrev or miss a shift.

Also on a side note, anyone ever considered dropping the components from a wrecked s into a justa when the motor meets it end? That's what I'm aiming to do in a few more years once my base motor gives up its will to live.

 

I say just slap a turbo on the thing!

Please post the after party pics...

 

This is semi off topic, but can you swap an S engine into a non-S?

 

Ive been looking into this( swap an s motor into a justa) and the short answer Is With a lot of wiring headaches.... And for the price of a used turbo motor and wiring harness, and labor you are into it more then what it would have cost then to just buy an s.
with that being said, I'm planning in owning my justa untill the wheels fall off. And the one avenue I've thought about was building the motor with aftermarket parts/ cam/ headwork/ bigger nitrous pill when the day comes that the motor needs rebuilt anyway. Pipe dreams right now, as I'm just shy of 85k on her right now and she still feels like she's running as strong as the day I drove her off the lot. But someday

 

There's a UK company is selling kits to turbo a cooper will try again to get you the name. Btw im based in northern ireland. Just joined as I was lookin into turbo kit when seen your post. Dee

 

Would definitely be an interesting project. there would be a bit of work to transform the -NA engine to a turbo'd engine. If you are able to fabricate your own turbo plumbing, trying to find a "kit" would be non issue. even if you can't, I'm sure your could find someone who can

I say go for it. And build that thing to stomp an "S" or "JCW" Get some books on turbo engine theory , read up - you'll be fine

 

Want a sleeper? Why not buy an S, build the motor to your hearts desire, and pop on base model body panels like hood, scuttles, wheels etc?? Sounds a hell of a lot more practical.

 

Sounds like a plan. The signature styling elements of the S (hood scoop & central exhaust) are purely cosmetic and add nothing to performance.

 

JCW Engine.

 

Turbo kits for Non S

http://www.yourhotcar.com/product/li...o_Charger_Kit/

 

$3200 for 5psi of boost and ~40hp ...pretty expensive and I doubt it's just plug and play.

 

at least they were honest about the gains

 

As I recall the Jackson Racing supercharger I put on my NA Miata cost nearly that much 15 yrs ago and only provided about 6 psi. More boost was available by changing the front pulley but about 8 psi was the best you could hope for. 5 psi would provide a significant improvement in performance on a non-S MINI. I just hope they've figured out a way to make the ECU cooperate.

 

Trade in your MC and buy a JCW.

 

I have a friend that has a Cooper D with 180hp... He changed his turbo to a bigger one and his FMIC, ECU Tuned as well... Not sure how it works with your Mini though... but if it's possible on a Dooper...

 

+1

 

It's Diesel and has already a turbo. Cooper hasn't..

 

I didn't know Cooper didn't have a turbo...

 

It does, MINI just deactivated it so you can pay less for the same car

 

I plan to turbocharge my R56 2008 Justa and it is possible but there is a lot that goes with it. Here's a bit of what I've learned along this decision.

My first idea was that I was going to swap engines. The R56 Engine bay will handle the N14 turbo and the N18 turbo. I was going to add a rebuilt N18 JCW but after a lot of back and forth with the shop we found that putting any turbo engine would cause serious issues with the ECU and a whole new wiring harness would be needed etc... Making it way too expensive and time consuming.

So we've come up with the idea that the current engine will be rebuilt with bigger heads and some modifications of the back end to allow more compression. Adding the turbo is going to require a lot of custom fabrication but there are scraps that will work to keep the cost down. Since the ECU won't need to be reprogrammed for a new engine the issues are localized to getting it to recognize and setup the turbo. With some hard work and a little luck my justa should be pulling around 200 WHP. Also of note is there will need to be a slew of supporting mods including a front mount intercooler, fabricated downpipe, gearbox updates and other supporting mods. I'll let you know once I get a proper quote. It'll be cheaper than the new engine with a turbo but it's still gonna be expensive.

-D

 

What is you're estimated costs?

 

Still waiting for a quote. Hopefully should have it today. Once I have it I'll post it.

-D