Team -

Looking for some input on the 'works' performance pack for the MCS. I understand the main differentiators are:

Heads, ECU, Exhaust, and SC.

Some questions:

Heads -> From my other experience with modding cards for FI, heads and head work seems to have a very small ROI. Wondering whta they did and why they are necessary?

Supercharger -> Seems like this is eq. to a standard CooperS SC but with a 15% reduction pully. Is this not the case?

ECU --> I imagine this is necessary to get the addt'l fuel into the car since it'll make more boost - this makes sense

Exhaust -> also makes sense, but there are a ton of other aftermarket exhausts which will perform just as well.

So. i guess the main question is.. if i were go hold off on the works, and instead do Intake,Exhaust,Pully, and ECU - what am i really missing? (because this can be done at 50% of the cost)

Cheers!

 

With aftermarket, you will be missing the John Cooper signature badge and your original new car drivetrain warranty, but you will save tons of money.

_________________
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."
-George Bernard Shaw

 

You could easily do better for way less than 50%. You should be able to do 210HP with intake, pulley, ECU and exhaust and only spend 25-30%!

 

Has anyone confirmed that the SC is the same as a stock SC with a smaller pully? or is there something more fundamentally different?

also still wondering why/what was done to the works head... still cant figure out why you need this on a F/I car..

thanks for all the input!

 

yes it is the same. the only difference is they put a silicone coating i believe. they seemed to be a little over protective with the car in my opinion. head work is very expensive and i guess they just wanted it to be as reliable as possible. use the search engine on this site and you will find mucho info on this exact topic. FYI the newest Car and Driver has an article on the John Cooper Works Kit. Basically telling its readers it is too expensive in their opinion.

 

You want example numbers? Here is an exerp from I post I made on another forum......

I am willing to bet that if you did it right: big bore throttle body ($459), CAI ($259), bigger intercooler w/better air diverter ($990), pulley w/software ($569), free flowing headers ($750 )and light weight exhaust w/high flow cat ($799), you will out perform the JCW kit an still have money left over (total $3826) for things like a lighweight flywheel ($637), short shift kit ($199, the car DEFINITELY needs one of these) and maybe even a new suspension ($1250). Not to mention that most of the stuff listed above has serious DIY potential (grand total $5912 vs $5500 for just JCW kit, these numbers do not include labor which I think is about $1000 for the JCW kit).

You of course probably don't have to do all of that stuff to get numbers that beat the JCW kit, but it gives you an idea of just how much performance you can buy with the same amount of money as the JCW kit costs.