There's been a lot of talk lately, it seems, about making maxiumum horsepower (at maximum revs) with things like CAIs and the reality of usable horsepower -- power made in lower rev ranges where we all mostly drive. With that in mind...

What, if any, bolt ons are proven to add power throughout the sub 4.5KRPM range?

 

Supercharger.

 

Our twinscroll turbo-chargers give us a pretty decent amount of torque by like 2.5k rpm.

My my car has over 250wtq by 2800rpm, and I've only done a downpipe and rmw tune.

And yes I also had a nice gain of hp throughout rev range. If anything I feel that the R56's need a bit more on the top end

 

Christ! Do you have before and after dyno plots?

 

The best bang for your buck in that regard is an ECU tune. Our cars mostly make better torque with the tune so I would say that's your best answer.

 

Yup! This was my before and after I got my RMW tune (already had to DP on)

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...812-post3.html

 

lighter wheels

 

+1 to the tune. Here's my dyno tune on a nearly stock car:

 

Get a good tune. It's way more effective than CAIs or various shields. After that, intercooler.

 

+1 on the tune. Dyno gains can be as high as this stock R56 S: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...16-post41.html.

FWIW, I had an '07 JCW as a loaner once. You talk about jealousy. At that time, my stock '02 MCS did not start to pull hard until 3000 RPM. The JCW started pulling hard at 2000 RPM. WTF? A turbo pulling hard sooner than a supercharger? Only after the 15% pulley upgrade, CAI, and tune did that change for me.

My current '06 MCS did start pulling hard sooner stock. I attribute that to teflon-coated rotors and a better factory tune.

 

That's about the nicest stock tune I have seen. Well done.

 

Why is it that these engines look like, (and feel like) they fall on their faces above 4500 rpm? Is it that the turbo is too small?

If you could get the torque to not fall as fast you would get some serious Hp..

 

That's pretty much it. The turbine housing starts to choke the exhaust at higher engine speeds. It's definitely optimized for low end torque and minimal lag. It will be a different story when someone finally gets a slightly larger turbo working correctly for the R56. It will be less optimized for autocross and daily driving, but will be a treat for people that love the track!

 

It's the turbo, that thing is tiny and optimized for lower rpms. The JCW feels more lively in the higher rpms. I think it has a K-04 turbo vs a K-03 hybrid in the S. Of course, a tune helps all of this out! Can put the S at JCW power levels!

 

The JCW uses a KO3 hybrid...essentially a KO4 compressor wheel with KO3 turbine

 

Ah gotcha, heard/remembered it wrong!

 

That seems like a pretty good mod to do, buy a JCW turbo if the stock one is totally jacked. I'm sure taking the turbo apart and replacing the turbine and compressor wheel wouldn't be a big deal, but the balancing of the whole turbine shaft assembly with the new wheels might be tricky and pricy.

If one buys a JCW turbo, does one need to buy the MAF sensor sold in the JCW stage one kit?

 

I no longer race. I WANT the low end torque. This was the first turbo car I ever liked. Unfortunatlly, you can't have it both ways. So decide what you want. Big top end HP that is balky and slow on the street, but fine for racing, or a small quick turbo that is a hoot for the street (99.9% of drivers), The base turbo is not "jacked" it was designed for specific trade-offs. You prefer others.

 

The JCW really is the best compromise...

It still has the quick spool and strong low end that the S does, but it continues up top as well.

For me though, I'd still want something a little bigger than the JCW turbo

 

How much do you expect to get out of a 1.6 without blowing it up? Even if you did put in a bigger turbo, intercooler, and everything it could cost ( say $10,000) to make it work, how are you going to get it to the ground with one front wheel? I hate to keep repeating myself, but this is why Audi went to the Quattro when they got much over 180. The STOCK S has more than it can really handle without a Torsen.

Have you thought about juicing it?

 

Nope, no desire for juice. It is a band-aid, half *** way to make power. (I'm sure it's quite fun/addicting though) Plus it really only benefits in 1/4 mile, something that I have no interest in.

I don't know what to tell you if you think the stock S cannot handle it's own power. If you're referring to torque steer, that is easily alleviated with suspension upgrades. My tuned S has between 230-240 ft-lbs of torque to the wheels depending on its mood lol, and I almost have zero torque steer. It's funny, I was driving a stock, open diff, manual Clubman (non-turbo) this week and it had more torque steer than my car does.

Having been/driven in numerous high horsepower FWD cars, there is no problem when they are set up properly...and they are a blast. The two of the fastest that come to mind was a 330whp Mini and a 400+ whp VW GTI. Believe me when I say 300+ in a mini is probably one of the funnest, most exciting vehicles you could ever drive in your life. And because it was set-up properly, it could easily be driven daily around town with no issue.

Who knows what our motor will handle, but I'm not looking for all out power. A useable 280-300 whp would be my goal. Also, I have an LSD so it would be 2 front wheels...not 1. It would also be much cheaper than $10k to do a bigger turbo on this car...

 

Please specify your suspension mods that eliminated your torque steer.

 

The LDS gives a big advantage. Yes two wheel drive. What I know now, I would have ordered a car had paid the bucks instead of the deal I got of the lot.
I too want to know what other suspension mods. The Bilstein's helped some, but it can still be a handfull. I would not call it torque steer, but the front end getting light from weight transfer so it goes squirrely. Torque steer would show up even under moderate acceleration as a drift to one side. Even stock does not really do that. I guess gumballs would help. I am still on the run-flats for a couple more weeks.

Sure, you could bolt on horse power for less, but is that all you need?
Bigger turbo. All the plumbing. All the tuning. What else has to change? Will the driveline and trans take 300 HP? Are you needing to tear it down and cryo the shafts and gears? Can the axels and CV's take it? Can the cooling system take it? Can the head gasket take it? Secondary fuel pumps, injectors. Just boosting the power is the easy part of building a hot-rod.

 

Lol, just adding springs elminated it for me. I also have the camber in the front maxed out as much as you can with the stock adjustment (which is very little)...not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Maybe I'll try to get a video, but I seriously have VERY little torque steer. I can almost take my hands off the wheel in 2nd gear and floor it, with very little consequence.

Already have intake and intercooler, it would stay. Plumbing wouldn't need to change very much, I'd look into doing a new turbo manifold to go with the turbo, but not completely necessary. Tuning is fine with someone like Jan (RMW). Just would take a little bit longer than tuning a stock MCS. I'm sure everything else can handle 280-300whp. It can in the R53 and I don't see why the R56 would be any different. Naturally you'll wear out stuff quicker, but that's a given when modding any engine. I've heard from numerous sources that our injectors and fuel pump should be fine up to 300hp. FWIW...those numbers have already been attained by some, but they just aren't vocal on NAM. Some in Europe and some in US.

The only thing that would need to be upgraded would be the clutch, and I'd go to a stronger LSD. OS Giken has both of those covered. I'd also add meth injection for safety as well as some additional power...but that was something I was going to do soon anyway.

 

Best of luck.