i trade my cars in at every two years and the mods will be coming with me. the car will have high miles on it and probably be out of warranty. i will not keep a car for 150000 miles. just cant do it. i comute , its a over two hour drive oneway. modding the car makes it more fun . so to each his own.

 

i dont feel like a servant , at least not to alta. i actually serve the american people for a living , save lives and property .

 

Much of the discussion here seems to follow almost exactly the same discussion that occured in the early days of the Golf/Jetta/Audi 1.8T era.

I had a 2002 GTI 1.8T and there were at least 4 major developers of the chip upgrade and they had there various methodologies and each worked in a different way. Some were more aggressive with 19-21 lb of boost and some played it safer with 16-18 lb (stock I think was 12-13 lb but would need to check)

There are going to be MANY MANY teething problems with these even when they have been thoroughly tested in advance. I worked for BMW engineering for 2 years as a lowly durability test driver in Los Angeles and we put over 100,000m/year on cars but we couldn't always get all the bugs out. These is going to more prevalent when you have the end-user doing the install so you have to take that into account when viewing posts from users.

Finally, I am not sure what the stock boost is (12-13 lb ?) but running 19 lb will obviously make the turbo, intake manifild, exhaust manifold and all associated parts run a LOT hotter. It will also put more pressure on te hoses between the turbo and the intake so make sure they are VERY tight and secure as many 1.8T VAG owners found that they got leaks when they chipped their cars.
I would also HIGHLY recommend that BEFORE you consider chipping your car that you open up the hood scoop and, if possible, get an air intake system that removed ALL of the stock airbox so that you can get better airflow over the engine to reduce some of those engine temps.
Ideally, BEFORE you chip your car you should get an aftermarket INTERCOOLER from ALTA, Forge or HELIX as the MINI Lead Engineer himself admitted in an interview that this was the WEAKEST part and the 1ST part HE would upgrage if he was allowed to change anything.

I will myself most likely get a chip upgrade, and will most likely be from UNICHIP and ALTA, but before I do I will be saving my money to spend on an intake (in the mail as I speak), IC and better boost tubes to make it cooler and more efficient.

Oh, and I was also an Asst Svc Mgr at a Porsche/Audi dealer in the very early 1.8T days and if we saw anything that looked like it may be due to a chipped car we would look carefully for signs of ECU removal or opening etc and other telltale signs as we didn't want to get stuck with the bill from a warranty claim that Audi rejected.

Have fun but make sure you know the WHOLE picture before you mod.

 

Very interesting/ well put

Oh, and just for reference I'm just over 15psi with the Alta CAI/ Inlet Hose

 

NICELY PUT! Thank you!

 

MIGHT be the Forge Valve. Won't hold the higher pressures. SO before we say the harness is no good, lets try putting that back to stock. Then plug things back in again. Might be the concern.

Also, be sure to disconnect the battery this go around.

Keep me posted!

 

First I AGREE this is an informational thread as it ALL of NAM. Also, I appreciate the compliments that you have posed as well.

But I do think (and I am somewhat judging by your current post count of 57) that you MAY have missed some information along the way on our R&D of this product (and others.)

These cars LOVE more boost, and the AFR's bear that out as well. With additional timing, proper fueling trims, airflow mods etc. not only is the car happy, it is more efficient and better served in the tuned level. In fact on Howard I got BETTER fuel economy with the ALTA mods including the ECU than without.

I respect your skepticism, your reservation and right to your own opinions. But I don't think that the generalizations you make about the car, the mods and the motivations by clients to be accurate.

Thank you again for your comments!

 

I think I need to point out that although I am getting 20-21lbs of boost. I dont drive around like that all day. When not driving the car hard the car drives pretty much the same as before at pretty much the same boost levels. The car is much more efficient with the mods as ADAM said. I actually think the turbo works less than before when driving "normal". The power is there when you need or want it, then yes I hit 20lbs but it is only for a few seconds.

 

i tried it again,,,this morning,,,,and work now,,,,,thanks,,,
nomore cel,,,,,,from 3rd 4000 rpm,,,,,wowwwwwww

 

Ok. Installed PnP ECU today. CEL light popped up after driving it for about 20 minutes and stayed on after several start stop cyles (more than 10)

Bought a scanner to check code and this is what it the error code says:

P115D (Manufacturer Control .. Fuel Air Metering)

Need ALTA's help deciphering what this means.

Thanks in advance

 

I think Ken just spoke to you via the phone a few moments ago. The problem with the code you have is that it is NOT-the same from MFR. to MFR. It is in a range that can mean one thing on one car and something TOTALLY different on another (brand to brand, not MINI to MINI.) No lights are "normal" but depending on how the car was driven during the learn cycle it could be a byproduct of that.

My personal opinion is, to reset the code with the scanner you have, or remove the neg. terminal on the battery. Step on the brake and then re-attach the battery. Then start and drive the car normally for a few miles. If no cel, then start to make pulls in 3rd gear and look and or feel changes in boost. Remember that over 70 mph, the OEM ECU will pull both boost and timing, unless the sport is engaged as well as the DSC turned off.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Was on the phone with Alta earlier today, my unit is shipping tomorrow. Will give full details when received and installed.

 

??? Can you please elaborate Adam

 

The OEM ECU reduces power over 70 mph unless sport is engaged and DSC disengaged. So even with the ALTA PnP installed and activated the ECU still controls boost and power in this area.

Thanks for asking!

 

Are you serious? Wow. This goes against everything I've heard. Can't believe I didn't hear this before. I thought all the sport button did was change the throttle sensitivity and the steering feel. I didn't think it actually changed power at all. Why would Mini do this? I hate to think I need to use the sport button with the crappy steering feel now.

 

Can you provide some proof other than your butt dyno?

 

Well I removed the neg. terminal on the battery and stepped on the brake. Re-attached the battery. Started the car and the CEL popped right back on.

Plugged the scanner to reset the code. Started the car and drove for about 20 minutes in Map 0 and no CEL.

Pulled over, switched on Map 1 and drove for about 10 minutes and a CEL popped back on. Plugged the scanner back in and now a new code P0420 (Catalyst Efficiency below Threshold (Bank 1)). Reset the code and switched back to Map 0. Drove for 20 minutes and no CEL. Parked the car for a few hours.

Re-started after 2 hours and drove for 10 minutes with Map 0 and the CEL popped back on. Continued driving for the next 25 minutes with CEL still on. Pulled over and checked code and its still P0420. A few times, the car felt like it was coughing or rather was congested and hesistated when pushed slightly. But overall, I did not drive the car aggressively with the PnP ECU because of the CEL. I must admit that I did notice the ECU working but overall performance was not as smooth as I expected probably because I was being careful . I did feel very strong pull with ECU, must be the increase in boost, though I wished my gauges were already installed.

After I re-set the code, I finally removed the PnP ECU and drove the car all day (over 150 miles) and no more CEL. Drove the car very very aggressively, high rev'd and over 90+ MPH and NO CEL.

Hope ALTA can figure out whats going on,

EDIT: Just wanted to mention that I am waiting for replacement boost tubes from ALTA to replace one with a small hole in it. Currently it has a patch and a strap on it and does not leak because the CEL is not on. The CEL popped on last week and upon inspection by the dealer, it was discovered and temporarily fixed by my tuner. The CEL has not come back on for this particular issue. Would it be a factor in this ECU issue? I have no idea! Just for full disclosure.

 

hey i sent you a pm kntrktor, the leak your talking about what was the sign of it , any strange sounds or turbo spooling. where was the leak at on the tube?

 

I think a simple look at the ECU software would show whether this was true or not, still, I agree, proof? This is a very interesting point. If it's true I'm going to have change what buttons I push before I get on the freeway.

 

Alta has Dyno's showing this. Was posted somewhere on this forum a while back, maybe Adam or jeff can chime in with more info.

 

Gotta say I'm really loving this additional power.....really makes my car soooooo much more fun to drive!!

 

For those with the ECU, what would you say your car compares to in acceleration now? I know thats kind of a hard, subjective question, I'm just really curious as to how much quicker the extra power makes the car.

Would you say that its faster than a heavily modded R53, say with pulley, tune, head/cam, full exhaust? Would love to see some videos comparing this!

 

It is faster than any supercharged , heavily modded R53 that I have ever come across. I know that there are turbo R53's that will blow my doors off but, for a daily driven car that still has a full warrenty, you cant beat it!

 

Sounds good to me!

 

Not so quick. MINI can determine that the ECU has been used and it's unlikely the warranty remains unaffected. Just ask your dealer.