Now that I have your attention

I had a new head install go way wrong!
And I need some advice!

I have an 05 JCW MCS with the following mods
M7 16% S/C pulley + 2% crank pulley
JCW CAI/GTT hybrid filter upgrade
GTT headers and high flow cat
JCW exhaust
380cc injectors
Thumper head

I planned to get the head installed at shop A then get a custom Dimsport tune at shop B.

The head was installed 3 weeks ago at shop A (a so called reputible high performance shop). The job was very sloppy - they chipped and dented fromt wheel rim, took a chunk out of my carbon fibre M7 air plate diverter, the trim around the bumper was loose and the battery terminal adjacent to the CAI no longer sits flush and keeps popping out!
They told me to take it easy on the car untill the tune - which I did. But it seemed to be fine!

Then I took it to shop B for the tune. They are the only Dimsport distributer in Australia and have never tuned a mini before and I don't think they had ever seen one before!
I dropped the car off and came back 2 days later expecting a car that totally ROCKS! But instead got the following

Pre tune using a dynapack dyno (with all mods) the car was only putting out
109kW = 147whp and 198.2 Nm = 146 lb/ft

Post tune
132.7kW =178whp and 215.3Nm = 158 lb/ft

WTF???

When I spoke to the guy who tuned it he tried to tell me that JCW MCS only put out 95Kw - what a load of sh*t.
I was putting out more hp when the car was stock!
I was expecting over 200whp...

I assume the tards who installed the head have done something but what??

Any ideas

 

compression test?

 

How does the car fell ? Thats the big question.

There a lot of Dynos that Read EXTREMELY low. Then couple that with a poor day weather wise to dyno on...and yeah.

Maybe take it to another place that has a Dyno and see what they do. Just thoughts.

 

Well, you gained 31 HP and 12 lb/ft of torque with the chip tune. That is respectable. SO I don't think it's the tuner's fault. Every car is different but 147 hp with all of those mods seems pretty low. How hot of a day was it when the dyno was run? What elevation were you at? All of these things play a factor. More importantly, how does the car feel to you?

 

couple of things -

1) you should not have paid A until he corrected all things because thats the only leverage you had. You are the customers, they are the pros.

2) taking your car to B who had never tuned a mini in retrospect was a mistake. Grant it the only Dimsport available, I get it. I would tell you to contact JAN, you are a candidate for his remote tune or perhaps he can send you a generic tune for your mods and these guys could install and tweak further.

I feel for you

 

The bypass valve had gone in the car and it was only putting out 8psi boost!

Very annoyed that the tuner didn't pick up on the boost leak !

I would like to thank Mike (aka Thumper) who is a top bloke and has been in contact with me everyday about the problem, it could have been easy for him to walk away as he is in the States and I am in Australia but he did not. He has given me heaps of advice and was keen to find out why the power loss! This speaks volumes about the type of guy he is and why I did and will have no problems doing business with him again! Thanks Mate!

Now we will try tune number 2 and hopefully we will get it right...

 

I'm very glad to hear you found the cause of your problem. Let us know how the next tune comes out. You should do much better.

 

I always love hearing about vendors who pull thru till the problem is worked out.
when i see that they do that i look to them for parts first because of that.
Good work Mike

 

+1

 

Good on ya mate . Glad to see Mike helped you out. He really seems to be a strait up guy. Now you should see and feel a real boost in power.

Have fun.

Longboard

 

As I am trying to get my head around the custom tune process what parameters should they be monitoring?
Apart from power, torque and A/F ratio what else?
IAT and boost?
How important is proper cooling ie fan set up?

 

You'll need someone with a good ear, listening for pinging. There may be a way to monitor the knock sensor, but Jan didn't have anything (except a good ear) when he did mine.

 

Does this mean you'll be back in for the mini-mods dyno day???

 

Yes, if I can get everything sorted out in time!

 

if the fans not up to the job, a big leaf blower might be worth a go with a pump action sprayer, to give a cooling mist, not ideal i know but just might be something you have to hand, on the basis that anything is going to be better than nothing

 

D-man... well you didn't finish this story!!
How did you do that the latest dyno?? Curious people want to know!!

Just me.............................

Thumper

 

Hi Mike,
Everything is now Rocking!

As you know I had a few things go wrong during the install and I ended up going to 3 different shops...

It was a steep learning curve for me and we ended up having the car run on 4 different dynos...

All the dynos gave different results and all read low compared to your American dynos (us Aussies do not need to inflate our dyno numbers ).

After speaking to the owner of Pulse racing who lived and worked in the States for 15 years he said that American dynos read 10-20% higher than Aussie dynos.... and after then speaking to some guys that race their minis in Australia they also agree that dyno readings from Australia in the mini for some reason seem to bear no relation to dyno readings from overseas (ie USA and UK) even when comparing cars doing similar times and trap speeds on the quarter mile. Why this is no one knows...

So I ended up getting a dyno done at a shop that had done dynos on a range of minis and when compared to other cars my Thumper head kicked ***. It put out more power and torque than cars with other after market heads that cost alot more.

So am I happy you bet!
But one thing that this whole process taught me was that dyno numbers while they look good on the internet and can be used for bragging rights don't mean alot especially to me!
The main thing is how the car drives which is now friggin' awesome .
I am still playing around with a few other mods and will do a full write up when I have finished my "stage 1" mods (putting the final finishes on a custom water/meth kit etc).

My main aim before the head install was for increased street performance. I don’t want to track or race my car (not my thing). I wasn’t after BIG top (testosterone driven mine is bigger than yours) dyno numbers. I wanted real usable power in the low to mid range for daily driving. And the head has exceeded my expectations.

The car now screams along and I have 2 speeding tickets to prove it! No wonder as it pulls like a bloody elephant.

Now as for my main man Mike aka Thumper.....absolute top bloke, he is a pleasure to deal with. He was in touch every week to see how things were going. He is so good he should be an Aussie!
Thanks mate! If you ever come down under the beers are on me

 

What did you pull? Congrats!!!!

 

His pull?? As he said the numbers are quite low (reading) to the same mod'd numbers here in the States!! But it was quite higher number than the " well known aftermarket US Heads using the same dyno" !! Rocking!!D-man, there are good deals on the Valentine Radar detector!! LOL so you dont have to buy so much black top!! LOLHave fun and enjoy these cars are nothing but FUN!!Just me..................................Thumper

 

D-Man,
thanks for sharing this story. It's interesting for a number of reasons, especially about the boost leak.