Hello everyone I am interested in hearing from people who have alot of power going through thier MCSA's I know there aren't many but I need your help

!.What modifications have you done?
2.how many miles have you had with them?
3.How is your auto transmission holding up?
4. do you do any hard lanches? what is your driving style?
5. Are there any aftermarket parts to beef-up the transmission out there? or did you have a shop custom build stuff for you?

Also I tried to get some specs/info from aisin and other sources about the transmission and cant find anything like teardown diagrams, torque specs, and power limitations. does anyone know where I can get some more info?

Sorry for the strange questions and long post. I am just trying to cover all the bases in one thread. And Yes I did a search and the information wasnt too helpful

Also does anyone know what other cars use this transmission? I've heard some audis and volkswagens but I need specific models if possible

I am considering running about 230whp

Thanks Everybody

 

Heyas, I've got a MCSa with a ton of mods. Here's my low-down:

1) NGK Iridium IX plugs
2) MSD Coil pack
3) Alta V1 Intercooler w/ Air diverter
4) M7 Ram scoop
5) Alta Oil catch can
6) MTH ECU remap
7) K&N Coil air intake
8) 15% SC pulley
9) one-ball
10) OBX thermal-coated header
11) M7 400cc fuel injectors
12) M7 180o thermostat

(That's just the engine stuff.)

I haven't dyno'ed it, but based on the mods I should be somewhere at or beyond a JCW but I'm not sure how much torque the auto tranny robs me. So now to answer your other question:

I'm at 30k miles, and the only problem I've had is rough cold starts, but that's completely unrelated to the auto tranny. What do you mean by "hard launches?" I've launched (plenty) of times in first gear all the way up to 4th/5th. I never do something silly like a neutral drop if that's what you're getting at -- that's a good way to screw up your auto tranny. I'm definitely a pretty rough driver, with over a dozen mountain runs and a few track days under my belt. I've heard of some group working on a true "manual" automatic mod for the mini, but that was months ago and I heard it was blowing up the auto gearbox, and that they had to use a beefier one to fix the problem. Doesn't sound cheap in other words, nor finished. I'll see if I can point my friend to this thread and maybe he can answer that one.

 

I have RMW Head, RMW header, Magnaflow cat back, Cai, 15% pulley, lite wt c/pulley,modded s/charger, w/a intercooler, flashed ECU. I can't think of any thing else at this time. I have about 10k mikes on it and everything is fine as far as the tranny go's. When i race it it's on a road course.I ahve not done anything to the transmission. As far as WHP i haven't a clue, but the tranny takes a lot. I would be surprised if you can get to 230whp with out changing the s/charger or going to a turbo.

 

I forgot a HP cam and injectors (380)

 

Torque is the thing to keep an eye on when modding an automatic. The Aisin SN-60 in the R53 is rated to a maximum of 237 ft/lbs. I believe the R56 is using the same transmission. Aisin also makes an SN-80 with much higher torque limits, but I have no idea if it has the same form factor as the SN-60.

I had a laundry list of performance mods in mind for my 2005 MCSa, but after discussing the cost, downtime, and final specs with Way, it ended up being cheaper to just buy a manual R56, and give the R53 to my wife She's selling her MCa, so we're both getting a nice upgrade

 

When I said "hard launches" I just mean't stepping on it from a complete stop in first gear. Neutral drops are just stupid

 

Terry, say it isn't so! Who is going to the guinea pig for all of the cool Way mods for the automatic? I guess I'll just have to follow Checkers.

Mods below. RMW head next week. Maybe the OBX header or a w/a intercooler next. The torque spec limit is at the crank and the drivetrain loss with the automatic is probably closer to 17-19% with the automatic. Posts from Checkers shows that it's hard to measure torque on the automatic with a dyno. Still no luck seeing a place to upgrade the automatic like Level 10.

I've only had electrical problems including problems with the transmission computer that the dealer felt was due to a detached ground lead as opposed to problems from my mods. There is a flat spot between 1500 and 2200 rpm for me but nothing I can't live with or probably couldn't be fixed with a good tune.

There may be options to change the automatic shift point at wot. LDG has recommended emil in CA, and Jan with RMW also has the Dimsport software. I'm not sure running the automatic at 7800 rpm is a good idea. I can't stay around 6000 rpms without quickly breaking any speed limit anyway.

Improving lower end torque would probably improve drivability anyway. Twincharging is too much, a good header might be too loud (with the cabrio anyway), and water/meth a little too much maintenance for a street car. The rotex might lean toward great mid and high end performance but could be worse for the low end driving around town. A detuned stroker kit or a reliable M62 might be a good fit, I really don't know.

I e-mailed these guys once and never got a response.- http://www.ricardo.com/engineeringse...adybenchmarked
Good luck with everything and have fun.

BTW I've had more fun driving the manual but not in the stop and go traffic I see everyday.

 

I no my last dyno was not correct but it showed 190 whp and 297 lb tq. WE are still trying to figure out how to run an automatic on a dynojet dyno. It keeps down shifting and boy is thier a lot of torque. The t/converter lags and lets the engine spool up and away we go. I've learned a few tricks about the automatics.
Oh an adjustable cam sprocket.

 

When does it keep downshifting? Wouldn't keeping it in sport mode with "manual" shifting in 4th or 3rd gear prevent the downshift?

 

Aye, it should only ever downshift if you push the peddle just past some little "notch" that puts it in full-throttle.

 

Yeah, I was all set to give the car up for the winter so Way could go nuts, but some of the things posted in the Rotrex thread raised a red flag for me. I was either going to do the Rotrex or a turbo conversion, so that left me with just the turbo swap as an option. At that point, I figured it made more sense to start with an R56 and give Way a guinea pig for the new toys instead

My wife wants an '09 cabrio, so I'll get Blooper back in a year or so, and may do the R53 mods then after asking you which ones worked

I really enjoy the SN-60 transmission, but I do wish they'd offer a DSG. Maybe by the time I'm ready for my next one

 

My car makes 230 whp with a preliminary tune and no cam right now .

 

There's no way you're making 297 ft. lbs of torque on the Tritec 1.6. People with turbo kits making 350 WHP are barely making that. Given your list of mods i'd say you're somewhere in the range of 170-180 ft. lbs. Maybe a bit less since you have an automatic and it's putting less power to the ground.

 

I'm not sure the fact that it's an automatic transmission makes any difference when talking about rev-limit. I don't know much about modding auto's though.

 

He said his last dyno was not correct. Read his post again.

 

Like i said, i do not know how much TQ it has, but I'm the only car that they dyno that they have to put a third strap on the front (pulls hard to the right)to stop it from jumping off the dyno. When we run the last time we tried 4th gear at about 4k rpm and then punched it. It seems to always down shifts to 3rd and then the TQ reading go's crazy. Next time we will try starting out a little higher in the rpms and see if it will stay in the same gear (5k or higher).

 

Checkers, on the next dyno see what happens when you don't punch it all the way down. Flooring it usually causes downshifts for me. Then again I've never dynoed my car. BTW are things still going well with the Mini mania/ultrik/think performance w/a intercooler?

Terry, look at the big bore thread. If RMW's stroker kit is less than 5-7k it would be cheaper than going turbo and probably more reliable. You could change to a larger sc pulley (less reduction than the JCW if needed) to change the boost and keep the torque under the torque limit. If anyone figures out how to improve the transmission, you could always go back to a smaller pulley.

 

Ahh, yes I see that now. Dynoing on it's own is pretty difficult. Adding an automatic into the mix just sucks. I don't know how the MINI auto works but sometimes if you leave it in tip and floor it (No kickdown) it'll stay in the gear until redline (Then shift). That seems to work well...

 

The current cost on the stroker is more than 5-7k. Jan is working to reduce the price to the 7-8k range I believe. In it's current state the stroker motor is overbuilt so much that it could easily handle 800-1000 HP without any issues. Obviously a lot of the cost lies in that fact.

 

Rusty, how much torque do you have? I still think low-end torque will transform the feel of the automatic. Do you think 190 ftlb at the wheels is doable (on a manual) without going to a new supercharger or using water/meth? The rotex should be able to do it but as a centrifugal supercharger probably at high rpms and with potentially less torque at 2k.

 

Wow thanks for the responses everyone!! Checkers The mods you listed are pretty much what I am thinking of. Hows the everyday drivability? Does the trans. ever shift strangely from the power?

 

It's drivability is just fine. The only thing bad is trying real hard to keep my foot out of it. You real can't believe how this thing TQ steers when you get on it. I have not had any problems with the tranny (yet). I still have to get it tuned. I'm working on trying to get Jan from RMW, but he doesn,t have the software maping yet. He's working on it.

 

Checkers, are you saying that he doesn't have the software mapping to change the automatic shift points yet. I thought he had the dimsport software.

 

Peak torque was 185 ft/lbs to the wheels. We still need to add some timing in though. This is just with correcting the Air Fuels and leaning them out a bit. We're still running stock timing maps .

 

I don't know the in's and out's of Dimsport, but the last time I talked to Jan he said he was still working on the mapping for the automatics.