So, I'm a relatively new owner of a mini (had her about 6 mos now). I have a 2004 Mini S with the JCW kit. I've recently had the ball joints replaced in the front, have upgraded the pully to 17%, and put in new iridium spark plugs.

I wanted to see what others have done to get more boost out of their minis - especially if you've already got the JCW tune. I planning another tune in the next month or two, but would really like to get the most boost under the hood before I did the actual tune. The next two minor changes I'm making are getting a short shifter and changing the antennae to a shark fin.

What mods have you done to your supercharged minis, and what kind of speed / performance / handling improvements have you seen? What recommendations would you recommend for modifications to get the most boost for the best price? Eventually, I'm hoping to get a turbo installed in addition to my supercharger, but I'm likely going to wait about a year for that one.

Thanks for your input and opinions!

 

Your question I think is too vague ("best", "most efficient", "most boost for the best price"). You already have a 17% pulley, which to many here provides good boost for a reasonable cost. Adding a turbo will certainly jack up to boost but will be very costly. Is longevity of the engine a factor too? Are you going to track the car? You must have a price ceiling? If so, what is it? These are other things you need to consider.

 

The rotex supercharger Jan is working on would seem to be the best you can get. Still in developement, it will be bolt on goodness.


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ow-record.html

 

actually the kits are ready for sale
the one in the video is the 400hp version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlfY_gQfY9I

that was on 17psi compared to the turbo's 25-40psi

now that's efficiency

 

Jan, you're making it really hard for me not to get a second mortgage!

Are you going to have your car out at the Dragon this year? I need to schedule a ride in it so I can go ahead and pull the trigger on a BVH and some type of SC change....

 

yes the car will be there, we are driving it cross country........

there is so much non-factual info posted on the internet with NO results to back up their statements. This is why we are out showing people the real facts AND results
.
We gave rides at Thunder Hill and let the people up close with the car to see while it may look like a race car it's a real street car. (my car is the next evolution of the BIG ROTREX kit as the first gen has been running now since May 16th 2007!

we never sold our second kit for the Rotrex til 2010.....Folks.........that's REAL TESTING................ not some 9 second run in front of the shop

Once people see the difference in person vs what someone claims on the net it's quite an eye opener

Wish we could get some of the people who drink the other beverages to show up to the track and see for themselves and then form their opinions

 

If i were you, i'd start with the basics. You have the pulley already, and that's good. Get a CAI, stiffer rear sway bar, ditch the runflat tires for some summer non-runflats, get that tune (rmw, wmw, or mynes?), then see where you're at. next would be header/cat-back, BVH (Big Valve Head, i'd reccomend the RMW), and hotter cam. from there its gonna be more internal engine stuff. I'd steer clear of the turbo set up. as much as i would love the BOV sound, and that power, from the people i've talked to who've gone turbo, they wish they hadn't, and if this car is your dd, i'd say get the turbo idea out of you're head, unless your retired and never have to be anywhere on time, it's not exactly reliable, and it's also not exactly an easy upgrade. If everything above isn't enough power for you (i'd imagine it will be), then you could go for a 1.8 or 2.0 stroker from RMW and the rotrex (better option than turbo, makes the same power). thats gonna squeeze so much out of your engine (and wallet) at that point, it's kind of insane. really after all that the only other thing you could do is NOS...

oh and make sure you get bigger injectors before the tune, most people will say just go for the biggest, that most likely being 550cc, but you can't drive the car with them without the tune.

 

How about you let me do some real testing with the TVS when you get it.

 

no problem

you will actually have to track it for testing purposes not drive it in front of the shop and call it complete

btw........did the wife make it home yet?

 

Oh I figured you just started it in your shop and called it testing it. lol.

It will be more then track tested it would get daily tested. Let me know when they release that thing, ill bring the mini back down and you can work your magic and Ill leave with a brand new TVS powered mini.

She is about two and a half hours out. She left today to come back. She said she is getting 38MPG average. 467 miles for range on the last fill up. Can't wait to take it for a spin when she gets home. She is super happy with it. Told me that I have a wedding and new car to pay for this year lol.

To the OP wait for the TVS or go with the Rotrex. End of story. Call Jan I'm sure that he can help you. One of the nicest guys I've ever met. He will work with you every step of the way then some.

 

thanks for the kind words
glad we could help out

now for some tires/brakes and some suspension......then the TVS

let me know when you go to Buttonwillow and I'll try to make it up with the Mini...... It's time I got some laps in it

Ian gets to have all the FUN!

 

Tires are on order already Z1 star specs, Ran those on the EVO before it became a drag car, Loved em. Waiting for you to finish up with the stoptech stuff then ill do the brakes (you have a ETA on those yet). Prob do the suspension and TVS at the same time.

I'm going to Buttonwillow on the 18th of April. Ill be racing my motorcycle though. When I head there for a car event ill be calling you to come out. I still haven't had the joy of riding in the GP.

 

I'll be checking on the brakes again next week. I need something soon.
Sounds good, may have to drive up and watch you on track with the moto.
Well you did get to ride in the "low powered" rotrex car

 

How much power is the "low powered" Rotrex making??? Any news on the TVS?? Inquiring minds want to know..............

 

it was around 305hp, no meth

the TVS is a wait and see, I'll talk to you more about it at the dragon

 

Is that on a 1.6 or a stroker?

Look forward to a long conversation about the future of my engine!! (oh, and a ride in your rocket!!)

 

I think it was a 1.6L.

It wasn't really a ride, it was more of a adventure. It spun first, second, part of third, then when it finally got traction I was pinned in the seat.

I hope your motor plans also involve tires. I just got our Mini back from Jan, and First gear is useless and I'm at almost 7K feet in the air. I couldn't even think what it would be like at sea level.

 

that new piston design works, it made more torque with the same cams/header we have used on countless mini's. It's "punchy" as hell for sure

It would easily light up the tires even with the OS GIKEN

Make sure you change the oil again soon this time to Synthetic as that was the last of the 15-40 diesel oil we used to break it in with.

 

So was I one of the first with the new piston?

Part of second is worthless also. lol. I wish I could have drove it at sea level.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like with out the OSGiken. It would prob spin all of third also. Oil is getting changed tomorrow. I use AMSoil in all my engines, thought I had some in the garage but I was out, so I had to order some and it comes in tomorrow.

 

They have been run in our strokers and in other 1.6l builds but most have been tuned on other dyno's so seeing it on ours is the true test because our dyno doesn't vary like the others since we don't have tire pressure or strap downs to alter the numbers
I've seen 40hp differences between those 2 items
I'm always skeptical unless it's a dynapack

 

Yeah, I've already got some RMW goodies and tune and first is worthless beyond about 2/3 throttle.

 

uuuuuuug!!!!

All those acronyms. What is TVS, and most importantly the estimated cost of the Rotrex Kit from RMW?

 

TVS=Twin Vortices Series. Its the new style of roots supercharger.

Give Jan a call he will tell you what the retail is on the Rotrex system.

 

The TVS is basically the best of both worlds, it's a twin screw without the problems of one. It's just so thermally efficient that you can do more with less. If the Rotrex isn't right for you, don't waste your money on something that didn't pass muster and Jan threw away, wait for the new TVS and what RMW will be able to do with it.

..and you can bet that it will be thoroughly tested on and off the track before Jan releases it..!

 

Thanks for your reply Minimarks.

__