I currently am driving an 03 MCS with the John Cooper Works Package and I was looking for ideas in what I can upgrade in order to go faster. I believe car is stock besides Works Kit along with the JCW exhaust.

What are some upgrade options, please leave me some feedback.

More looking for price conscious compared to dropping like $2k in engine mods.

Thank you very much!!! Cant wait to hear.

 

Good tune, RMW etc.
New cylinder head and matched header to go with that tune and 440cc's


Jack

 

TSW Engine Damper to help get more of that power to the ground faster.

 

15% Pulley.

 

I asked the same thing today. This might help:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=130456

Scott

 

Drop weight - rear sear delete, lighter wheels with grippy non runflat tires.

Also check the filter in your CAI, if I remember correctly, when I changed out the dirty filter for a clean one on another car I had it did perk up the responsiveness (haven't needed to replace it on the Mini yet).

 

If its a JCW it already has a reduced size pulley.

 

get a new header from supersprint with cat replacement.. other airfilter... Watercooled IC or if you want to go cheaper.. get a GP intercooler..and let "them" RE-tune your car.. New software etc...

 

If faster means faster acceleration, then the previous answers are probably good. However, for me faster means achieving better acceleration in left/right accelerations, better brakes, and autocross times. Accordingly I got stiffer springs that lowered the car about 1.5 inches, a stiffer rear anti-sway bar, lighter wheels and better tires. I've also taken two autocross schools. This combination has been very effective in making my car faster, especially the driver education.

Happy motoring,

Joe

 

Its been covered 1,000 times - the stock IC does an excellent job! An aftermarket IC is a lot of $$, minimal improvement if any and the money is better spent else where.

 

Header, Re-map ECU, Filter and Camshaft from RMW

 

Lightweight wheels with sticky tires should be the first thing. No sense making more power if you can't get it to the ground. Then spend the rest of your money on some quality Drivers Education track days. A JCW car has more than enough power. You will get better results learning how to properly harness what your car already has to offer.

 

Just a comment, if you want to stick to JCW stuff the works kit was increased by approx 10hp in 2005. I believe they added the filter box w/flap, new injectors, and new remap. I don't know your preferences and I personally don't think its worth it for the $$$$ but I just wanted to throw that in here.

All suggestions here are good, except some are going to cost more than $2k for sure. It really depends on how far you want to take it short term/long term and how much $$ you want to spend.

Since you mentioned cost conscious, the most popular cost conscious mod lately has been the RMW custom tune. ($350 + dyno time) Since you live very close to Irvine, CA, that should be very accessible to you. Jan should be able to help you out.

 

Tune is probably the best bang for your buck at this point.

 

Thats what I did , went with the JCW update.You can find everything reasonable here over time. and a dealer can do the JCW ECU update. If you can get to a Jan party thats even better. Other than big money and big teardowns, you might go with a nitrous system for a laugh, once a while. If you don't do track days leave the suspension alone, its stiff and low enough for the street. Unless you live on the Dragon or something, even then you'll be going so fast around corners you'll run into someone.

 

Agree - someone on this forum calls it "improving the Carbon Engineering." So, put an "ICE" upgrade in your sig, and laugh when ppl ask what that is.

Scott

 

How much does Dyno time cost?

Scott

 

I have a GP myself and understand where you are coming from. They are very similar (other than redline) to the JCW package. What I did was the ALTA Header, Intake, Exhaust and PnP ECU. This gained a significant amount of HP without increasing boost. MY next mod is going to be the 2% Crank Pulley.

If I was in your shoes I would do the 2% crank pulley and intake system first (at minimum the ALTA inlet tube) and a proper tune (either mine or another available) That will net a significant gain, not break the bank and take most advantage of what is already there!

Let me know if I can help with the plan or the build!