2009 JCW Test and Tune

This can also be found on our site HERE...

We finally got around to retesting all our parts on the new 09 JCW. WE have very good results on our 07 and 08 R56 Minis when we tested every single ALTA part back to back. To this day we have proven these results over and over again with customer cars and new R56's we purchased. You will see below once again we have proven the same parts on this new 09 JCW.

We have learned a few things over the last couple years with these cars. The first years of R56's had some significant mapping differences than newer cars. This was evident when we tested our catback exhaust on our early R56 where the Exhaust actually made 2psi more boost everywhere. On later cars the boost stayed the same which made the gains less, but still a significant 20whp. These later cars ECU's seemed to have better logic for the boost control and was something we expected to see on this 09 JCW. And sure enough we saw evidence of this but more on this later. With that all said, the gains we saw were still very good overall. But one thing this car is dying for is more boost! The very last dyno run is evidence of something every single R56 owner will be dying to get their hands on.......


Onto the testing! To make the results as legit as we could, we prepped the car by removing the bumper(for better FMIC access and install), removed all but one or two key bolts on the turbo heatsheild, and of course a couple on the Intake system. These allowed our swapping of parts to be as quick as possible to minimize any skewing of the results. An important thing to note is every part we installed we took the averaged gain as the result. This means the first run (generally the most HP) and last (generally the least HP) was thrown out. You can see evidence of this using the colored dots on the side of the dyno graphs. The Red and yellow were never used.


First up is the most obvious and easiest to install the ALTA CAI. Some of our other tests we had done we experimented with hood down, hood up, fan in the scoop area and so on. This time we left the hood open but no fans providing fresh air to the filter. I know it sounds counter productive, but the results were still impressive.

Just as we had shown on the older R56's, 10 or so Wheel HP was had with the intake. Also just as we had shown on the older car, the bulk of the power is from 5000 on up. But some decent gains in TQ from 3000-5500 were had too. The special ALTA foam filter and smooth silicone hose could be why this works well. Next up is the FMIC on the stock car.

The graph is showing the stock car, with the FMIC only installed, then we added the CAI to the mix. Again a decent gain from 5000 RPM on up. More solid proof the ALTA CAI works! Before we moved on, we tested the ALTA turbo inlet hose compared to the OEM JCW hose. As some may know the OEM JCW hose is an upgrade from the normal R56 hose. So our ALTA hose may not actually make more power, and we were a little worried as to what we would find.

We were relieved to find the ALTA does out perform the JCW part. And while it may only make 7whp or so it is a gain! Looks like another worthy part for you R56!

For the FMIC test, we were excited to show it work on a stock car. In the past all the testing was done with turboback exhausts installed or intake and turboback. We did this because we truly thought no one would be installing them on a stock car, but what do we know! At least once a week people ask how it would do on a stock car, so we finally did it! It really wasn't a surprise that it made power, but it was a surprise as to how much and where it made power.

The test above with done with the bumper removed from the car. In one way this really helps the OEM FMIC out because the bumper covers up a good portion of the bottom of it. In another way, the gains shown above are favoring the OEM FMIC, but ours still makes more power! Because of how we did this test, we were able to feed both FMIC's the same amount of air, and very consistent at that.

This next graph is a little out of order, but it does show the gains our FMIC had when running it back to back with the ALTA turboback and CAI with inlet hose installed. Not quite as much as with the stock car, but if we had a way to turn the boost up........

Ok and last but not least the turboback results. On the 09 JCW the exhaust system is a bit different than the older cars. There is one central location for the cats, the downpipe. On the older cars there is a cat in the downpipe and one in the middle of the exhaust. And we built our turboback system to suite these early cars. On the 09 JCW, the downpipe has 2 cats, but both very large diameter, and stuck one on top of the other. This is great for keeping back pressure to a minimum and it might me our results may not be as good. The other change is to the middle part of the exhaust. There is a cat missing here that normally would suck up some of the sound, so Mini made the resonator about 2 times longer than it was.

The ALTA 3" system we were installing was the one we made for the normal R56, so it has 2 cats, one in the downpipe and one in midpipe. What this means is for the 09 JCW the entire system has to be installed as the catback or downpipe can not be installed separately with the OEM pieces.

The gains are a little lower than we had seen before on the early R56, but still very good. The things you can't see on the dyno is how much more responsive the car is. With the large 3" Stainless Steel tubing and the significant drop in back pressure, the turbo spool time is greatly reduced. Also re-spool time between shifts is another place you really notice it. One more thing you can't see with dyno graphs is sound. Finally this 09 JCW sounds like it should, mean and fast!

In conclusion, every part by them selves works very well, and makes a noticeable difference. But as we had seen on the newer cars with somewhat limited boost, they don't all add up the same. So from start to finish, our Mini started at 197whp peak, and after all the parts were bolted on we ended with 217whp peak. This is only a difference of 20whp peak, the real difference is seen before and after these peak numbers and the overall drivability. The car gets to a point and the difference they make becomes less and less. What this car is really crying for is a way to turn up the boost and put those parts to use. As we had teased earlier, here is something you can expect to get in the near future with your 09 JCW...

 

Nice!!!

So what its tuned with???

 

run id : "not unichip" ?? that was the last graph... Did someone at Alta figure how how to do a true ECU tune?




Good chance I'll be interested in a JCW/Alta tune for my chip come March.

 

Gee, I wonder what the new tuning device is??????????????

 

I think he is saying with all mods installed over stock.

 

No, they hit 217whp with all hard parts, then hit 243whp with all hard parts plus ecu tune, which is not the unichip.

 

I see, my bad.

 

No biggie....we're all just wondering about this new tune :coughs:

 

So the your JCW car with bolt ons + this "new" tune makes more power than your R56 with every bolt on and a Garrett GT2560R?

You guys finally get that ECU figured out?

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...=garrett+turbo

 

Hey guys,

Yes the new ECU stuff will be shown, then available very soon. We are hoping to be able to show-off before the end of the Holiday season.

The new JCW is just a power monster. Just a bit of boost increase and WOW the car comes alive.

Note: The ECU stuff we are hammering out, will work on ALL MINI models, Cooper, Cooper S, Cooper JCW, R53, R56, R52, R55 etc. etc. So this will be a great option for all MINI owners!

BTW: This was a great time testing n tuning on the JCW. Thanks Jeff for keeping me involved. Can't wait to have my new car out at rolling again!

Questions? Don't hesitate to ask! I am always happy to help out!

 

When will the turbo kit be available?

 

Right after the ECU. It is needed to control the boost properly. Sorry for the delay! We must make it perfect first!

 

Hi, sorry to hijack the thread...but i saw that the ECU will work for us R56 non S's? Also...what about a CAI for the non S's???

 

All in good time my friend! All in good time......

 

waiting....impatiently waiting for both

 

Yup, you got it! We didn't do the boost tubes but we will soon. We have seen about 10WHP on most cars with the boost tubes, so i would guess about the same.

The GT2560 was tuned on pump gas at 18psi and it made 250WHP. The JCW was running more boost but made less power. Some of this has to do with tuning and some of it has to do with the JCW turbo being less efficient. HEre is some comparo's.






But for sure the GT2560R kit will make more power then the JCW turbo. Its a much more efficient turbo but a little laggier.

 

^^^lets turn the boost up to 21psi with that garrett

 

Do you not have to upgrade any internals with the GT2560R upgrade for the standard Cooper S, considering what MINI has done with the JCW internals for a smaller turbo?

 

Exactly! At the time we were using the Unichip and we didn't push it very hard on pump gas. When we did the water injection stuff and ran 270WHP, we ran it with the same boost. Running it at 20psi would surely making another 20WHP, dare we say 30!

No upgrades yet, but soon!

 

So what kinda peak boost can we run with those upgraded turbos like the Gt2560R, Gt2854R, etc?? Or just running the new tune vs. unichip??

 

Id like to see what kind of numbers you'd run with a GT2854R or even a GT3071R. Im sure there would be an increase in lag, but if your putting down 300hp+ im sure it would be a non issue.

 

What PSi is it safe to run your turbo at? Ie so we dont blow anything up!!

 

Hey folks:

I mean this with all due respect, BUT, this is for 09 JCW cars. A lot of the recent questions are directed at the 2007+ Cooper S ALTA Turbo System, or questions related to other mods, boost levels etc. on the 07+ Cooper S.

ALL OF WHICH WE ARE HAPPY TO HELP WITH

but can we do that in THIS THREAD for the turbo kits

And THIS THREAD for general ALTA related R56/R55 performance questions

I simply want to keep this one on track.

Hope everyone is ok with that

 

Adam will the soon to be released ECU tune available be a canned tune or will you be able to custom tune with it?

 

Yes and pending! More to come.