Ok here's the brief.... I'm a newbie with an 05 MCS cabrio bone stock. I have always driven Vettes or other V8s prior to this car and want more HP. My warranty expires in October and I will be boosting the HP immediately afterwards. My questions are, how much different will this car feel at 200WHP and what are the best mods to obtain that w/out having to spend the stimulus pacakge? I know this has probably been discussed but I want some fresh hands on exprience info. Thanks for your input!

 

I have 190whp and its really fun to be in 2nd at 3500rpms and just lay on it and go through the gears. I have rode in a 300whp Turbo-Only 02 MCS and I was giggling and laughing because it was so much fun. For example my goal with my MINI is too have a wide range of power 300-500whp on a turbo-only setup.

It will feel the same just that you will have a smile that will almost be make 360 around your head instead of the normal 180 LOL.

 

pulley, intake, catback, and tune will put you in that neighborhood.

 

would call jan at rmw. if i was starting today, i'd go pulley, cam, header & tune...200+ no worries

 

I was just dyno'd on Friday. I am an '05 MCS with CAI, catback exhaust, 15% pulley, MSD ignition, Brisk plugs, and an RMW tune. I pull 207hp and 186ftlbs. It is now a COMPLETELY different car. The tune was the key in my opinion. I had all the bolt ons done....first pull on the dyno was 177hp and 176 ftlbs. By the time Jan was done...I got the 207/186. Similar to you...I come from the V8 world. (Trucks tho, not a badA Vette) I never thought I would be happy in a 4cyl, until I met Gossamer! Hope this was helpful Have fun moddin! The needle is officially in and you are now hooked! GOOD LUCK!

 

We have a 2006 bone stock MCS. And here are our results (all based on our Mustang Dyno).

Stock Tune: 165whp/145wtqe - bone stock

Mod 1: with the Mynes Custom Dyno tune => 185whp/150wtqe - bone stock

Mod 2: - Bosch 550cc injectors (b/c we planned on running E85 later down the road)
- 15% Pulley from ABF Performance
=> 205whp/170wtqe on 15psi.

The car feels completely different between Mod 1 and Mod 2; I can chirp the tires in both 1st-to-2nd and 2nd-to-3rd gears.

The biggest contributing factor: Besides the extra 20whp/20wtqe gain,the AFR is critical. When you consider the choice of tuners, make sure you pick one who can straighten out your AFR at the lower RPM's and carry that AFR completely to redline... this way, your car stays smooth and has quick response.

Case in Point: (M3NTAL's MCS)
When we retuned his car, the HP went up a few points, but the torque actually came down by 4 or 5 points. But the AFR is much smoother at the low RPM's and the car is so much more responsive at the low end. Yeah, on paper and on the dyno, it shows a loss of power at top end, but the entire curve benefited so it was a good trade-off. The customer is certainly happier with the latest results... b/c dyno numbers do NOT always translate over to the streets.

cheers.
mike

 

200 HP is fine. Talk to a few tuners.

Since your cabrio is stock then a few changes would make an improvement besides power.

Lighter rims are good- you are not limited to 16 or 17" wheels.
If you like the stock rims then change to non runflats unless you need the runflats.

Stock wheels and tires are firm riding and heavy. Light rims and non runflat tires improve handling and ride quality. But you have no spare.

Suspension could be improved- you can keep it stock height and add Koni FSD or go with coilovers for custom lowering and improved handling and ride. Increasing front negative camber with adjustable camber plates and adding rear lower adjustable control arms (for rear negative camber) will help handling if you do like to corner aggressively. Toe can be set at front 1/16" toe out and rear 1/16" toe in or zero toe front and rear- still will wear well for tires for street use. Add a slightly thicker stiffer rear sway bar, probably a 19mm three hole bar set to softest is fine. Under carriage stiffeners are good for the cabrio.

You really want a balance of added power and improved handling with good wheels and tires if you want to take more advantage of upgrades. Contact your local MINI club and check out the upgrades you might see and go for a ride before you decide.

If you have gone to driving school, go again. You can't learn enough each time and practice under good instruction makes more difference than any power upgrades you can add in the 200 HP range.

 

I would love to call Jan and get treated with his magic. But from what I understand, he's in California & I'm in Florida, so there's not much chance of us getting together.

 

a little bird told me he may be down there soon....give him a call

 

Plan out your mods and hold tight, he makes his rounds throughout the states and sets up roughly a week of tuning at different locations..
I had my 05 tuned January of 08. On a mustang dyno which holds concervative #'s I'm at 204hp &194lbs of tq.

With the following mods:
Dinan CAI
JCW 380cc Injectors
15% Pulley/JCW Belt
Borla Street Exhaust
Beru Ultra X Plugs/Kingsborne wires
Jan Tune

 

Thanks MidniteCoop! How much different does the power feel after all of your mods? Is it significant and worth every penny, or just a little more spirited?

 

Where in Florida are you?

 

Jacksonville

 

It's worth every penny, I could easily tell the car had more power, From a cold start it had no lag time, quicker acceleration. Once I got the tune, the car was much more responsive and smother throughout the powerband.

Even if you are unable to get the tune right away, start on the other things. Map out the mods you want to get and then once they are all installed.
Go for the tune, That's the last step once you've achieved the performance upgrades you desire..

 

I went that route, put everythings together in place and fine tuning.

End result was great. With slightly more than 200 whp, and it was so much fun to drive. See the profile: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...3-post309.html

 

I might be going up there next week if you want to go for a ride. My car is intake, pulley, intercooler, header, exhaust, tune...

 

Just one other thing that I don't think anyone mentioned yet: brakes. Not necessarily BBK unless you decide you just HAVE to have them and want to spend all your money really fast. Get SS lines, some better-than-OEM pads (check out some threads in the Tires, wheels and brakes forum. There are several choices depending on what you are after), a "high-end" fluid such as ATE blue (there are others, too, if you are so inclined) and metal bushings to replace the low-end OEM set inthe calipers (Turner Motorsports, among others, have this part. Any good rotors will do. Slotted are fine, but I would not recommend cross-drilled except for looks if you want.

These changes will reduce fade considerably and -- depending on what pad you choose -- also reduce the brake dust from super dirty OEM anywhere to super clean (but sometimes noisy) "Green-Stuffs". This will give you pretty good bang for your buck.

 

Ok, let me know if you come up.