So I got my car back from the local tuners, although I can't say that I'm overly impressed with the outcome. Please keep in mind I am 4400ft above sea level on 95 octane fuel.

Mods are as follows:
RMW Head
RMW Cam
RMW Header
440cc injectors
17% Alta SCP
Iridium plugs
Alta JCW air filter
MSD coils + wires
GRS intercooler
M7 extreme scoop

According to their dyno I got 130kw (174.3hp). When I asked why so low he said it's the highest he's seen a Mini dyno. Their own modded Mini does 114kw (152.9hp) and according to them a stock standard Cooper S does 84kw (112hp). This is all at the wheels. Although my car does feel slightly faster, when I drag raced my friend the lengths of our two cars stayed the same before I got the new mods put on (before the car was a stock JCW). I guess the only way I will know for 100% is if I take it back to the same dyno I got my car on before the mods went in.

Do you think my altitude has that great of an effect on my performance? How ever my ACS light is still on and when BMW diagnostics said it was something to do with the cam sensors. The tuner said he bypassed this so they can rev past 4500rpm, but the light is still on. So it's going to BMW tomorrow to have a look why the light is still on.

Does everything sound right to you guys?

 

I just noticed I posted this in the wrong forum. Can a moderator move this to the drivetrain section?

 

I would get the car dynoed on the dyno that it was run on pre-mods, then you will know for sure what sort of gains you got. If you dyno the car on the same dyno all the time, you can truly measure improvements, and thats what counts...

All dynos read differently for a number of reasons and it also depends on the correction factors used. Aussie dynos read lower than American and UK dynos, even when comparing cars doing similar times and trap speeds on the quarter mile, could be the same in South Africa.

What tune did you get and what are the A/F ratios like?

It could be the 440cc injectors? You need proper mapping to regulate fueling with the larger injectors... or you could try a adjustable fuel regulator... or put the JCW injectors back in.

Good luck with everything and I hope you get to the bottom of it!

 

Hi D-man, I got the car tuned by Rob Green Motorsports, they are local and have done plenty modified supercharged cars. So I'm quite confident with their work.

They installed a Unichip on the car for the tuning though.

Here is their website:
www.rgmotorsport.com

 

Thread moved.

 

Ditch the MSD and unichip and run Jcw injectors. Have the dealer do a JCW reflash and I'd put $20 on more power

 

That's good advice PGT. With the JCW program and 380s you will more than likely be better off. I know of at least one instance where a MINI made power after removing a Unichip. Our MINI did 267 whp with the stock coil and wires and so like PGT said, the MSD stuf is really not needed.

 

Thanks for the inpurt, but I have already bought it, so I might as well use it.
I won't be able to resell it. Plus after shipping and taxes, I already paid $300 for those two items.

So you're saying the MSD takes away power? To my understanding it makes no difference over the stock coil other than it won't rust

What else do I need to add to make the 440's worth while?

 

If you do the math, you made 55% more power than a stock S on their dyno (according to them) which seems about right.

Consider the following as an example:
155 whp (typical stock S on a US dyno) * 1.55 = 240 whp (about what I would expect on a US dyno with your mods at altitude)

The only two questions are:
1. Why does your friends car still beat you? I had a similar scenario against my friends car at the track last week, and in my case, it was traction problems introduced by the new power. Once you fall behind, you need significantly more power than your opponent to catch up.
2. Why does a stock S only read 112 hp on their dyno?

-AndyW

 

you've already bought it but it hurts performance so you might as well use it? the Unichip is a piggyback - you can try the car without it without having to sell it. Dyno it with/without - same for the MSD if you want.

to take advantage of 440s you need a proper tune - Unichip can't scale them enough to take advantage

 

Try GT tunning (http://www.gtt.uk.com/home.asp) they have a variable fuel pressure regulator that could be used to control fuel flow through the injectors. I think www.thinkmini.co.uk also sell them.

 

So if I took my MSD off I could make more power . Come on man.

Hey why are you still playing around the in the Mini world. Not enough fun over in Subaru land .

Longboard

 

There's nothing wrong with the OEM parts here. The guy is disappointed with his results. Prove the MSD isn't a part of his problem.


I haven't owned a Subaru in two years but no Subaru guy questions why I'm still active in that community.

 

What leads you to believe his brand new coil is a problem

I thought you said you already purchased a new STI

Longboard

 

past comments from the manufacturer of the parts he bought

no. I said I was considering one....haven't made any decisions yet

 

no. I said I was considering one....haven't made any decisions yet[/quote]

I thought it was a done deal. So what else are you considering? Did you sell the Mini?

Longboard

 

This again? Prove that it is part of the problem. And it would be nice to dyno cars all day long, taking parts on and off, but that can get kinda expensive

 

wow, if it isn't my dark shadow. welcome to the thread and thanks for the positive contributions. dynoing the car isn't nearly as expensive as putting parts on the car for parts sake.

 

Hmm. and like yours were positive? You know someone once told me that I must be bored........You really must be bored lurking in a Mini forum with no Mini

 

Ya'll need to stop this sniping at each other. Why not be productive and help the guy out.

The Unichip might be the limiting factor here. Lets call a spade a spade when it is a spade. For our application such as the mods the OP has performed the Unichip doesn't cut it. See if you can get a JCW flash for starters or fly Jan over to tune.

 

spade is here.

sorry i couldn't resist

 

That's OK power for your mods.....

I have 179WHP with head etc...

 

The problem is you guys all get hooked up with numbers and peak numbers at that.

What was the weight of the 2 MINI's when they were side by side, what size wheels? what gearboxes early or late?

OEM coil and wires are okay, do you gain anything with an MSD No and Yes, on the dyno back to back OEM engine = nothing with nitrous = 5 hp

I've run my MSD for about 250 1/4 miles, 4 track days and 20k street miles, never missed a beat. but hey that doesn't make a good story...........................

 

Thanks for everybodies responses. I wish I could do that gnatster - but flying Jan over here for a single tune doesn't seem really feasible for him or myself. Our only option would be a remote tune, but that is something Jan has to work on. For the time being, Unichip was my only immediate solution. You won't believe how limited we are here when it comes to good tuners. We get a lot of posers that ruin your cars. I spoke with the tuning company I used (they build 1350whp M3's) and according to him the Unichip is fine for my application.

 

Mike take the car to the dyno you got your pre tune numbers from than take it from there...
I had to get 2 different tunes on my car after the head install to get it putting out decent power due to a tuner who had no idea how to tune a mini.
One other point is that there are piggyback type ECU's that will work for mini tuning. I am running a Haltech interceptor with great results and I know of guys running Moristech piggyback units that also work.