Ditto. As far as I know, what you are describing has never been done. As mentioned, the MINI already makes more than 100 hp per liter. That's a lot! To make 420 hp (even from 2.0 liters) would take 210 hp/liter. And this is on pump gas? Not that it can't be done, but it's going to take a lot of very clever and careful tuning to have it not blow up. I call B.S.

Get a DETAILED parts list. Then talk to ALL the other people who have supposedly had this done. And ask to see some dyno charts.

--Dan
Mach V

 

RMW has a stroker motor coming to market. He's got one in his GP daily driver right now.

 

For $9k, ask to see and ride in one first.

 

LOL at this guy. Dude if you want 420hp, get a different car.

 

Please allow me to tell you of a car story... its not Mini, but you'll see the parallels I hope...

So I have this car I got for about $5k... its used, but in decent enough shape (or so I thought given I had a similar car...)

The "car" is a 1986 example, with a 2.5L turbo-4.
From the factory, it has forged pistons, a tranny cooler, big-*** brakes, and 50-50 weight distr. along with 220hp.
A chip can take that to 280 easy by making the KLR (a sub unit to the ECU to control the boost).
After a few mods, this 220hp car now is making about 520 hp... the goal was NOT to exceed 475RWHP... as this is when the tranny, pinion, and half shafts start to go 'BOOM' in a loud and expensive way... and 520hp at the crank = ~450RWHP...
All this on pump gas.

Racers have gotten over 980hp out of these motors, and they require race gas, and frequent rebuilds!

So this 450RWHP 2.5L turbo-4 motor has had a few internal changed to cope with the higher hp... like new head bolts, a 5-angle head port-n-polish, a new, MUCH larger turbo to flow more air, a new fuel pump to flow more fuel, new injectors, new ECU, new 4" exhaust w/ racing 100cell cat and new headers, new wiring harness and all new sensors, new air box with cold-air ram, new oil-pan baffling, a secondary oil cooler, a larger intercooler, custom baffling, and a new up-rated cooling system (tank, radiator, pump...) and at least a dozen other things I'm hoping to forget now.

This was all done after the suspension and brakes were all dialed in.

The parts alone on this little toy have clicked well over $40K over the years.
I've done most of the wrenching myself.

And I still own the car.
Its still street legal.
It still runs on Pump gas.
its still reliable, or as reliable as a 1986 car can be, which means I have no qualms about running it cross-country to a DE and back, but some plastic piece (like the one that holds the pass. side window switch) might break due to age...

The car?
its my 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo.

The point is to make big HP requires big $$ and big work.
the old saying is so true... "Cost, Speed, reliablity, pick two."

Oh, and after you drop all this money of the car, you'll have a harder time selling it, and will NOT get the money back out.
If you go bolt-on, you can take the mods off, sell those, and sell a 'stock' car.

HTH, sorry for waisting the BW.

 

+1. I totally understand that you wanna get the max potential possible out of your MINI, but once you start attempting to extract power out of the engine which it simply was not designed to support, IMO it stops being worth it. Especially if you have the means, do like a couple other NAM'ers and have the MINI as your daily driver (with the entire 'ALTA happymeal' installed ) with a much faster car (think AMG, M, RS or one of the Italian's if they're in your budget) when you require serious speed.

 

Ya... for 9k this guy could get into real racing on a track and have much more fun than with a modded MINI on the streets.

 

Well I guess you guys are right but I always dreamed of onwing a mini an fixing it up now that i have the money i want to make my dream come true. My dad had 1992 vw beattle that he put a porsche tubro engine in there and was a bullet you could beat anything pretty much in the street. I want something like that for me. I know alot of people think minis are fast but any japanes and american muscle will kill it. I want to prove them wrong. Plus I really like the looks of the mini cooper I looks like a 1 million bucks. I had a z06 2007 and it was fast very fast but not as fun as a mini cooper. My dad has a lamborghini gallardo 2008 i love the locks and everything but you cant park any where people almost jump on it

 

You can make big power to run with the big boys, if you have the cash. Just be VERY selective about who you choose to do the work. I'd stick to somebody who can show you a finished product first. My .02.

 

I hate to be a naysayer but you're better off just being happy with the bolt ons and not trying to race people. R56 tuning is in its infancy, and so is direct injection tuning compared to everything else. Stick to major parts people like Alta, RMW, and the like who have proven parts and don't make bold claims that don't work. Also, fwd is NOT the platform to go proving wrong american cars and japanese cars. Stop trying to make the mini "beat everything" and enjoy it with bolt ons and things that are within the realm of possibility. I also don't understand why you would sell a c6z for a mini, but thats just me. They're different cars, and you should leave it at that. Don't try to turn the mini into what its not. (also, RMW has a built motor for a GP, thats not an r56. We need more tuning before there is a need for a built motor.)

Enjoy,
Josh

 

Hey not to pee in this nice gentleman's pool, but the addition of pistons would be just ONE thing needed to get HUGE HP.

ALTA is testing at 300WHP and had no issues thus far. But we agree that trying to push to 400HP is a LARGE jump. We would anticipate pistons, rods, valves, springs, retainers, head work, larger blower, fuel pump or additional injectors, etc. etc. etc. So the $9K seems right, but to agree with RMW, there is going to need to be some SERIOUS custom tuning even after all of that is done.

Unsalada: My vote, is WAIT! Get the rest of the ALTA mods you had planned, and see what you think. Sometimes the dream of X (in this case 400 HP) sounds great on paper, but the actuality can be a REAL mess. Let someone else be the guinea pig first.

Again, just my two cents!

 

Errrrr, can we get 300whp from your mods yet or are you doing some magic at the shop that we can't have yet...?