I'm new to this forum and looking for advice. I have a 2006 S with the factory JCW package. There are so many different performance mods out there and most are for the S without specifying whether or not they improve the performance of the JCW model. I have 70,000 miles on my car, haven't changed a thing since buying it new and, while satisfied with the performance, would like to make some improvements, first in horsepower, and then in handling. Frankly, it handles like its on rails anyway so that's why I'm more interested in power improvement right now. Any advice about what mods or work I should pursue and in what order (budget will dictate what I can do first and so on)?

 

The most bang for the buck would be to start with something like a 15% or 17& pulley upgrade, and of course a stiffer rear sway bar.

 

If it adds power to a standard S, it will add power to the JCW.

The JCW's have a S/C pulley that is already @12% smaller than the standard S. I would still swap it out to a 15%, but first off I would do an intake and catback exhaust, a header if you can swing it. And follow that up with a good tune, from RMW, MYNES, or WAY.

 

Please perform a search before posting - In our JCW Section - JCW GARAGE - There is already a thread on this.

Thanks.

 

First off, don't bother changing the pulley! The pulley on the JCW is designed to make the supercharger run at it's maximum rated rpm. The extra 3% reduction may net you a few HP until the overspinning causes too much heat, then you'll just lose your gain, if not a bit more. On a JCW, it's just not worth the difference imho, unless you are running meth to cool the charge. The only reason it's so popular on the S is because it does make a much bigger difference.

Also, there is NOTHING wrong with the stock JCW intake. Keep it! Same goes with the cat back exhaust UNLESS you want to change the sound.

My advise is to get a good street cam, like the Newman, a good header to take a bit more advantage of the exhaust porting on the JCW head and a good dyno tune. That should give you a healthy power increase until you decide to go with a bigger head.

As to the suspension, simply adding camber plates and a larger rear anti-roll bar will give you much better handling, even on the stock suspension an it won't cost much.

Good luck, let us know what route you end up taking

 

I'd have to agree with everything he said, but with more detail.

1. I'd would leave supercharger pulley alone, get a ALTA 2% crank pulley(or ATI) instead. A Header, cam, intercooler, water/meth injection and tune is about all the go fast mods you can do before ripping things apart.

RMW Street header
Newman Cam
AEM gallon water/meth kit or for $200 more get GP intercooler instead.
MSD coil pack and wires
New Plugs
RMW tune

2. I think the stock and JCW suspension is adequate enough but adding the below will go a long ways.
M7 Strut Tower Brace
camber plates
Hotchkis/Hsport rear bar

3. Wheels and tires.

4. Aero/Looks; splitters, wings

 

If you want to do a crank pulley, definitely go with the ATI (and it is available @ +2%) as it is damped and the Alta is not, potentially causing engine damage.

http://www.waymotorworks.com/super-d...ulley-r53.html

 

Until proven and isolated, the cheaper Alta unit will not cause anymore damage over stock, in fact probably less chance of damage over stock. On other cars it would vibrate to hell and cause bearing failure but not on the R53 AW11. Similar myth of aluminum flywheels causing bearing failure, no they just cause clutch chatter and drop RPM significantly faster.

*The Tritec was not made to need an engine dampener, BMW basically threw it on for extra measure.

 

The JCW engine package is pretty good as is from a basic performance standpoint.
Unless you want to go down the cam and head path you are not going to gain much with the basic bolt ons (CAI, Cat-Back, 15% pulley).
However, a good ECU tune ($500) might be worth a thought.

Unless you go into major engine mods (such as a head) it might be better to spend money on the suspension or maybe even driver training. I have learned a lot about driving the MINI from track days (with instructors) and Auto-Xs. However, if you go down the track day path you will soon want to upgrade the brakes. There are various High Performance Driving Schools where you learn alot with stressing the car as much as a track day.

Does you car have the JCW suspension option?
If not, I would suggest springs, stocks, fixed front camber plates, larger rear sway bar. If so, fixed front camber plates and larger rear sway bar. tuning instead of engine mods.
Light wheels and good performance tires are aways a good improvement.

 

Quikmni, he doesn't need to spend money on i/e or pulley. He can get a cam, header w/hf cat and tune to work with his JCW package.

 

I thought that was pretty much what I said. The basic bolt on mods (such as a pulley) will NOT gain him much.

I agree that a cam and head will make improvements. I was just saying if he did not want to go down the more major upgrades of cam and head that there are other non-engine related performance options. I sugested this because most people do not want to go as far in engine mods as a cam and head.

Also the only two people that a personally know that added a cam had new issues after adding the cam, such as loud valvetrain noise (maybe lifters). The cam performed well but had negative side effects.

 

I don't know what type of cams you're talking of, but my Newman street cam has never given me ANY issues whatsoever, and I've had it almost 3 years. In fact, the idle is almost as smooth as idle, just a very slight lope, and it has a great power range of about 2500-redline!

 

PAImportTuner, I still wouldn't necessarily recommend the crank pulley as it will still increase the speed of the supercharger, which therefore increases the temp of the charged air and decreasing it's density. The intercooler won't be able to cool the charge down enough, thus actually decreasing power. Now, I realize this will be more prevalent on the track than on the street, but it would be a factor on high temp days or higher altitudes.

So basically, I believe that unless he wants to run meth, he shouldn't change either pulley.

 

That's why I included GPic($600) or water/meth kit($400)..

 

touché

 

Depends on how much you want to spend at one time, and if your going to track the car or just spirited street driving:

Either way, do not bother doing the S/C pulley unless you plan on going at least 17%, the JCW pulleys are notorious for being real PITA's to remove and it is absolutely not worth it to just go to the 15%, and the JCW exhaust is pretty good, as far as performance goes you won't get enough of a gain for the money if you change it. (and it sounds pretty good with a header)

Personally I wouldn't do the pulley but if you do I would do things in this order:

With a 17% pulley (street or track)
Pulley / GP/IC / Header / Cam

Without pulley:
Street: Header / Cam / GP/IC
Track: GP/IC / Header / Cam

And always leave enough money left over so that whatever point you stop at, you can get the car custom tuned from one of the above mentioned tuners.

As far as suspension,
Street: Good Tires (no run flats) / Rear Sway Bar
Track: Good Tires (no run flats) / Rear Sway Bar / Adj. Camber Plates / Front Sway Bar / Coilovers
(again, in that order, stop where your wallet (or wife) tells you to)

 

I'm blown away (no pun intended) by all the advice. You guys are awesome. Thanks. I'm not planning any track time, just more spirited street driving. So, I've decided not to do the cam and header just now, but will get the bigger rear swaybar (ditched the runflats as soon as I bought the car and now running Michelins) and would like to get a custom tune. However, I don't know anyone in my area (New Haven, Connecticut) that does custom tunes. I heard that I can get this done remotely (somehow send information to someone on the west coast and they write the software, send it to me and I download it??? I'm a techno-dinosaur.). But I would rather take it to someone who knows what they're doing and get it done by that person. Does anyone know of a shop in CT that will do a custom tune?

 

Don't know how far this would be but did you see this,

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-session.html

 

He's over 6 hr to Eksten.

He's only 3hrs or less from Helix which I think will be hosting Jan this month too..

 

I know you're getting alot of advice, and that is good. But it can also be overwhelming. Remember... you're already at 208HP at the crank with the JCW kit. Each HP you add to a MINI goes much farther because it only weighs 2,680 lbs. empty. Think of a realistic goal, such as 220HP or 230HP.

My advice is to get in contact with Edge over at DC Metro MINIs and see what he's done. I know the work involves getting a GP IC and tune from RMW. He was very happy with the results. Of course, an upgraded sway bar is always a good thing, as it will improve speeds through the twisties.

While I do agree with not really needing to upgrade your JCW pulley (some say it's 11%, others say it's 12%), you should not have any problems going to a 15% down the road if you so choose. Many will attest to 15% being the highest safe pulley size vs. wear-and-tear on your supercharger. If you were to go 17% or larger, you have to deal with several factors: possible decreased supercharger life, alternator charge issues (requiring an aftermarket pulley), fuel issues (requiring JCW injectors at a minimum, which you already have), and increased intercooler heat soak (which is where a GP IC comes into play).

If you are looking at a goal of about 250 HP, you're going to want to get an upgraded cam and/or upgraded head, larger injectors (450cc or so), and a definite retune. JCWs are the largest you can go without the need for a tune, and you already have them. Don't go crazy here. RMW has a street cam. Thumper's Stage I head is a great upgrade with going to "racy."

Please also keep in mind that, even if you only did an aftermarket tune beyond the JCW tune, you're not only going to have slightly higher peak HP/TQ values, but your also going to have smoother, larger gains across the power band. That's just as important, if not more important, than the peak values themselves. If you only gained 5 HP at top end, but you gained > 10 HP across the power band leading up to that point, that's a marked improvement.

 

I'm not sure that that head is enough of an improvement to warrant the cost. If you're going to go with the labor of installing a new head, go big!

 

Call me a Grinch but.....
If the OP is not going to attend HPDE events then he certainly does not need more HP to drive on the streets. A JCW has more than enough power to exceed the speed limits on any street in the country, and do so quickly.

He would be better off spending his money tightening the nut behind the wheel. Attend a local HPDE event and learn safer driving techniques so the he will not endanger himself or other drivers on public roads. Auto-x events are also a great way to learn the limits of the car and driver in a safe venue off the public roads.

Rant over.
(pulls of flame-proof suit)

 

The the GP intercooler was mentioned several times on this thread. Instead, I went with the Defender of Speed copper intercooler on my 2006 R52 after having done the 15% pulley, CAI and ECU reflash with Stage 2 Evotech tune from Mini-Madness.

This copper IC wasn't cheap, ($1,100) but it fits, (same footprint) and made the biggest difference in performance after the pulley. DOS track testing showed the biggest temperature drop. I went to Indiana (from Oregon) this summer, and drove in 100 degree heat. The car performed well in spirited street driving, and WOT passing up-hill in the Rockies, fully loaded, two people, with AC on.

 

I was initially very interested in the DoS design, but the $1K price just seemed too high. There are pros and cons to running aluminum vs. copper, plus the overall design of the IC, plus the coating. The GP IC can be bought new for $450, leaving you $550 for other parts. You can buy a can of black radiator paint from Eastwood for $15 and paint the IC yourself. $229 buys you an M7 Extreme Scoop, which is going to force more air across any intercooler you decide to run. Paint it yourself or get a shop to do it. $169 gets you the DDMWorks GP IC diverter; it has three angled air lips vs. the stock IC diverter having only two. The DoS design does not have a diverter available (that I am aware of). All of these improvements can be had and still be just shy of just the cost of the DoS intake by itself.

Yes, the temp drops are 15-20 degrees between the GP IC and the DoS design, but you are still going to gain ~50 degree drop from the stock IC. Probably more with the scoop and diverter.

 

Thanks JJF:

Good points. This R52 is my first sports-type car ever. I joined the PDX Mini club and have been slowly adding bolt-on mods, but am still reluctant to do major surgery - not wanting to mess up the OEM aspects of the car that perform perfectly. The DOS copper unit seemed perfect, and it really seemed to make the car more responsive, especially in hot weather. So far, doesn't use any discernable oil - still full after 10K miles since last change. Everything done so far has improved the car - some more and some less.

The car looks and sounds stock from the outside, but performs far better than when I first got it.

On the other hand, you can't have too much HP, and I wouldn't mind about 20 more. I am thinking Borla street cat-back exhaust, Helix13 330cc Quad-cone injectors and maybe the Mini-Madness cowl mod (bigger hole for more air). Not sure I want to open things up for a cam. Some say Borla street cat-back is only slightly louder than stock, which would be good. I don't want loud.

I bought a DT BPV, but have heard it adversely affects driveability and mileage due to stiffer spring. My BPV seems OK, smooth, and the stop screw is at the same setting as the DT unit.

I keep reading all the comments on different mods. I want to maintain mileage - averaging about 27 overall and 29 freeway, while increasing performance. I know - tricky, so am taking it slow. Maybe it is time to stop before I go backwards.

Any advice is welcome.

--Russ