Ok well let me start off by saying that I know that mini's really aren't know for drag racing but thats what I like to do. With that said im not looking to make it a 1200hp monster no I just want 300whp and I have heard that its not impossible just really expensive. So here's a list of what i have done to the mini.

Alta boost gauge,Alta boost tube~ www.altaperformance.com
CFMIC~ www.aliexpress.com
K&N intake~ i got mine from advance
Straight pipe exhaust

I was thinking about pulling out my stock downpipe decat it im not to sure about that but I am going to run a 3in pipe to a Magnflow or a 40 series Flowmaster muffler. I do want to get my mini dyno tuned for one peace of mind and two so that im getting the most out of the mods that are already done.

Which brings me to my second question TURBO. I do want to upgrade the turbo but for $1500+ thats going to be a hard one to sell my wife on. Has anyone upgraded there turbo I know that my jcw has a bigger turbo than the s model but all my friends keep telling me to get a gt28rs, or a T3/T4 turbo.

 

Good luck. 300whp is almost impossible. Tuning and support mods are going to get you close but, you are sacrificing a lot of driveability. R53 would be easier to get to that point.

 

If you are looking for 300 whp the jcw turbo won't cut it, and te hybrid might not either
The gt28rs would be your best bet out of those or maybe even something slightly larger. With that upgraded turbo and pushing for 300whp you will need new pistons, rods, bigger fuel injectors, and colder sparks along with probably much more

 

ok thanks guys im going to look into building the motor has anyone done that or could point me in the right direction?? thanks for all the info

 

Mosy on over to Mini Torque's website. A lot more people have had time to throw money at the R56 in the U.K. compared to us Yankees. They will be a better resource. Your issue is going to be #1 tuning and then engine hardware. The stock bottom end will destroy itself at 300hp. You're going to need forged rods/pistons, head, turbo, custom tuning. It's not going t be cheap or easy at all.

 

There seems to be a contradiction in these two sentences. If $1500 is even remotely a problem then I don't see you even getting close to your goal.

I am not going to even try to estimate the amount of money that would be required. However just to give you some idea of what you are considering, lets say more then $5k, just in parts.

Assuming you do that and reach your goal you will then have 300whp that you won't be able to transfer to the ground. So count yourself in for another $4-5k on a clutch and differential. Finally $1k on some wheels with slicks mounted. Also you will likely find your in need of some suspension modifications to combat wheel hop/torque steer.

My guess is your final cost will easily be 10x the amount of the $1500 turbo you are currently balking at.

 

Though of things that would help is getting a stand alone ECU but, once you do that though the car will be less streetable because you will loose all the accessories

 

well then maybe ill just buy a mustang and build a drag car and use the mini as a dd.

 

My goal was 300whp/350wtq when I first bought my JCW Mini, but I've since learned to temper my expectations. Just running a Stage 1 tune (230whp/260wtq) showed that anymore power will be near impossible to put down in a reasonable fashion without another 5k in suspension mods. FWIW, I've already dropped over 5k in mine and that isn't touching the turbo. Now do I regret my purchase and build path...no. My car is a one of a kind hoot to drive. That said if I wanted something cheap and fast...then yeah a Mustang wouldn't be a bad choice. I would probably go that route myself for a RWD toy.

 

Im in the same boat I bought my mini with the thoughts of building a good amount of hp for the streets.

 

This is a good idea. Enjoy the MINI for what it's good at and get another vehicle better suited to .25 mile runs.

 

If you don't mine my asking who did your tune?

 

These posts make me I won't even have 300 WHP. You could buy a foxbody and build it for less money then trying to get 300 WHP

 

Your right but I always thought that how cool it would be if someone who was running their mouths and I shut them uo with the mighty mini. Love the under dog cars

 

Yeah, I do that all the time. Just not in drag.

 

Oldbrokenwind(NAM handle) has a dynoed 270+ whp on his MINI with the GT turbo(Cobb has his dyno graph online). He did say that with the larger turbo, a ton of his low end torque is gone. During one run, it supposedly recorded 282 whp.

 

Have you also seen the amount of complications involved in his build. Plus the amount of money vested.

 

I must have missed the part where getting to 270+ whp should be easy and cheap I'm just placing a POR to where some owners have gotten their MINIs to. And even oldbrokenwind admitted that half of his issues is attempting the turbo install without experienced help(which further complicated his situation)

 

I don't even want to imagine 300whp. I felt the need to get an LSD with whatever hp I'm running now. Trying to put 300whp to the ground... Ouch!

 

I've found the right dyno is worth 15-20hp

It was just an AP plus running WMI and on a very generous dyno. That same dyno had me nearly 220/220 stock.

 

Is there ANYTHING easy or cheap about modifying a Mini? Everyone of my upgrades has either had a broken bit occur, or the part/directions/guides do not apply exactly to my make/model/year and some sort of improvising was needed.

Of course at this point the amount of time and money invested it is now a matter of pride and stubbornness to move forward

 

Stubby antenna! ;p

 

I feel for you, brother. I've actually been very lucky so far.

 

One of thw most easiest things you can do to the minis are doing a joey mod and things like that.

 

Your user name implies either a car or location. If you're near the lake, send me a PM and we can get together for a show-and-tell. I've got all kinds of reasons why you don't want a garrett. Yes, I've been successful with mine, but there's a lot of other options to get where you want to go, none of them cheap! Somewhere in my gallery / garage, there's a journal of my build experiences. It's 8 - 9 pages long and details all my mods. Could have been done cheaper if I had more experience when I started, but not that much. My totals are close to $20K!

As for the drags, you'll play hell topping 13 seconds, even with 300WHP. The Mini just isn't aerodynamic enough. And there's always someone else with a "badder machine".

I haven't read about any 300+ WHP Mini's that don't have a reworked head and rebuilt lower engine parts --- BIG BUCKS! If you can't sell the spouse on a $1500 turbo, forget it --- be happy looking good in a sharp little car.