the bone stock C6 comes with almost as much and costs what I've seen some people say their loaded JCW's were. call me crazy, starting with 350whp > ending with 350whp

 

Buy a ZO6 at any Chevy dealership....

 

I know my goal isnt too far fetched, Like stated, there are several minis with this or higher HP numbers, My use for the mini will be a fast street and track machine. (more street friendly) The reason i want it this high is besides the unique factor, I dont want to strip it like a drag car. I have my eye on a 06 indi blue mini S. I already have the trans, clutch, etc.. figured out. As for laying it down I dont see a problem as naturally it will require diff. tires and alot of Finesse(sp) to drive on street tires, Drag tires will still require some also. As for the Gt with Nos, Zo6, And sti, Any body can have one of those its nothing more than a bottle and a factory pig for a car. But honestly, how many minis do you see that can hang with these cars on the 1/4 mile. I also do plan to follow through with the rest of the car, Suspension, driveline, That is the easy part, So what is the best route to attain this number, I have already spoken with a number of high horsepower mini drivers including Tuls, whos mini has more Hp then I am even trying to attain. So what is the best way to get the Hp I am looking for. I am willing to spend enough to get the car in proper running order. Thanks

BTR

 

Now see, this makes the most sense to me. 250wHP is so do-able and not so outrageous an expense - and can (fairly easy) pass Cali smog visual and exhaust inspections.
This is my goal and am saving to do just that. Jan knows I'm getting close to having most of the $$ saved up.
After that - more weight reduction - driver and car! That's fun too, and almost as hard to do!

 

It will be hard to do on a twincharge setup consistently, so that leaves either Turbo only or change out to a different sc(rotrex) all together. You should give Jan a call over at Revolution MINI and speak with him. He has pretty much everything you would need. There isnt a turbo only kit available at this time for you to install yourself. Most of the guys are making their own (myself included) or as mentioned above some have had Fireball build them a kit.

I was able to get to 300 whp on twincharge, but that was at 27psi and a ton of heat. Nix the sc and at that same psi you should be in the range that your looking for, but you will need to at least do pistons. A highflow head would make it a lot easier and safer. (less boost=less heat) Downside it turbo lag which i never had in the twincharge setup.

 

I'd also look at changing the transmission gearing that would better apply the power. The mini trans was designed for 1/2 as much power. 0-60 in just one gear.

I'd also look at friction reduction coatings on the moving parts, heat reduction coatings.. www.swaintech.com

High quality pistons and connectiong rods that would allow higher RPM's. A stock Honda Si turns 8k rpms. Why not a BMW/mini engine?

Of course a good flowing head and a A/W intercooler.

 

You don't need pistons or connecting rods to turn 8k rpms. My redline is 8250 RPM's and I have stock pistons and connecting rods. The only issue at that RPM is water pump cavitation, intake temperatures with the stock IC, and valve float. I have an aftermarket head with a valvetrain rated to 10k RPM's, so that's not a factor.

 

Higher quality CP pistons with good moly coatings will free up vital HP by reducing roating mass and lower friction. 5-7% increase in power.

A good A/W intercooler solves the heat issue.

And good heads solve the valve float issue.

Water pump would be a concern. Perhaps change over to electrial pump.??

If the guy wants 300+hp he will have to anny up.

 

With that kind of engine speed and power, I say +1 on different internals. You may be able to spin to 8 grand but it's nice to have that extra insurance. Just like using head and main studs vs. bolts. If you put that kind of money, effort, and time into it, I'd do it.

 

Yes I am pretty sure I am going to do heads cam pistons rods, although i may not need all that like hemi headed said extra insurance and knowing my parts can handle it, I am going to give jan a call and see what his recomendations are for this project. Anyone know of a mini tuner on the east coast.

BTR

 

www.helix13.com - Eric does twin-charge kits and also the aforementioned RevolutionMINIWorks stuff (east coast dealer)

 

Head
pistons
cams
connecting rods
intercooler
injectors
headers
tuning job with a high revlimit
clutch
LSD and hopefully different gearing
motor mounts
axles?
Turbo kit
high quality head gaskets

www.swaintech.com
Swain Tech has thermal barrier coatings for pistons, thermal barrier coatings for cylinder heads, thermal barrier coatings for valves, thermal barrier coatings for exhaust parts, and thermal barrier coatings for intake manifolds. Parts that see movement and wear will benefit from our low friction coatings. We have piston skirt coatings, bearing coatings, valve stem coatings, valve spring coatings, crankshaft coatings and coatings for other parts where frictions should be reduced and a solid film of lubrication can protect the part from wear and damage. For parts that run too hot and need to shed heat, Swain Tech has heat emitting coatings to improve cooling of parts.

-
A good designed head and piston that are both ceramic coated would allow for higher boost levels since the combustion chamber will be less prone to detonation/pinging.

 

A little reading material on coatings:
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/e...ech/index.html

 

good reading.

Honda uses moly peened piston in the r18 Honda Civic engine. The claim an increase of 5-10% from this. They also ionezed or something to the piston rings.

 

R18? Not familiar with that family of engines, or did you mean D? (still never heard of a D18). I wouldn't trust their claims of any sizeable increase. The coatings may help thermal efficiency a small amount but it's mostly to increase engine life.

The most recent issue of Grassroots Motorsports also has an article about engine building with a sidebar on the coatings.

 

300+ whp is pistons, a head, and a turbo conversion. That's it. There are 10-15 people running around on the forums who have done it. Swapping out internals has very little to do with power and a lot to do with engine life, you're not going to gain 15-18 HP on a 300 whp car by swapping pistons out. I have no idea how you could realize ANY performance gains at all other than an extremely minor increase in engine response from connecting rods. I'm fairly sure Jan has tested connecting rods up quite a bit past 300 whp, there are lots of other things to spend money on before they become a bottleneck in this engine. With a proper tune the stock pistons are fine up to 260-280 whp.

People spend tens of thousands of dollars getting parts and swapping them back out again later, if you go to someone that knows what they're doing, with 14-15k you could EASILY put down 320-350 whp.

I've spent close to 18k on my engine in the last 16 months (And another 10-12k on body/suspension), if I had given my car to Jan when I bought it, and given him 10k bucks, instead of the 230 HP I'm putting down now, I'd have closer to 300 HP and the rest of the money would be in the bank.

Call Jan. Tell him what you want to do with the car, and follow his advice.

 

R18A1 is the latest engine from Honda. 2006+ Honda Civics. It replaced the d17 with more power, better MPG, and cleaner.

I've never gotten less than 32mpgs per tank and often on short trips I can get above 38mpg. So something has helped out. As much as Honda is a reputable engine builder - I doubt they would spend the money to improve engine life span. It was done to make for a more efficient engine.

Ion-plated rings and moly shot peened piston.
The new G35 also has moly coated pistons. Car makers are trying to squezze every once of fuel mileage the can.

 

Swapping out a piston that was designed for 180hp for a properly designed pistion. A lighter pistion. A piston like CP that offers so many improvements. A lighter and better designed pistion will free up some power and it can also allow for different compression ratios.

Then the coatings can free up even more.
That test was done on a low RPM V8. Friction reduction and heat control on a high RPM boosted engine would show even greater improvements.

Point is if your going to do something like attempt to reach 350hp you might as well do it right the first time. Once the engine is put together.. it becomes $$ to redo some things.

 

Remember, a properly designed bottom end combined with a properly designed top end will always make more power. With different heads, different pistons would be a good idea to promote better swirl in the combustion chambers and a tight quench area. Little things like a different design on a piston head (ie-heart shape or matching the dish to the chamber style) can make a big change in power.

 

Since you don't already have an R53 I'll chime in here. Alta has been made some serious strides at performance increases on the R56. They have a test car with a CAI, TBE, boost tubes, turbo inlet hose, FMIC, PnP ECU, and a new turbo that is pushing 300 HP at the wheels. Take a look around in this same forum in the 2nd generation section and you'll find tons of info on Alta and their current gains for the R56.

 

Oh definitely, it will be more efficient, it may even free up some power, but not 7% more power. People barely see 9-10% (10-15 HP) gains with a tune, let alone pistons.

For what it's worth, having seen first hand what happens when you try to change the compression with a different piston design, I wouldn't use anything other than the stock replacement (same piston design, just forged) CP pistons.

I agree, do it right the first time, thats why I said, TALK TO JAN. Trust me, he tells it like it is, no bs throttle bodies or coilpacks, whatever you'd spend with any other tuner, he'll make the same amount of money go twice as far (For more performance).

 

Thats correct. 15 or 30 degree domed pistons can make for better flame control. All kinds of things come into play in making high power.

Better pistons will free up some power.
Properly designed piston will allow for different tunings- more power
Ceramic coatings will also free up some power.
Add all that up and it will give some good power advantages. Which is why many modern cars now come with light weight pistons, correctly shaped pistons, and moly coatings- all from the factory.

People barley see 10-15hp with a tuning? A thread on this same page has a 50 hp gain.

But I agree he needs to talk with Jan or another top notch Mini builder.

 

Thats also another question, As good as the minis hold thier value (relativley), and all the people talking about switching to just turbo, would it be a good idea to get an r56, I am in no Real big hurry to get this done, but a major part of a good build is a good platform. R56, R53 ?

BTR

 

R53 has been proven to make reliable power. The R56 notsomuch. If you want to be a trailblazer, have at it

 

Depends on the type of power deliver and driving style. A big turbo would make the most top end power but would also have some lag during street driving.

You can get around the lag with twin turbo set up - not enough room in the Mini. Or a VNT controlled turbo but they are not as effecient as a good ballbearings setup.

Try and locate both Minis with big power and see if you can get a test drive.