I recently sold my 04 GTO with 500+hp and bought my 09 Clubman S auto. I told myself I was going to leave it stock and just enjoy the 32 miles per gallon which is the reason I bought it, but I am ready to fold on that commitment and I'm not even a week into it.

I have been building and racing cars since I was five working on my dad's hot rods and one lesson I've learned the hard way is not getting real world experience from those who have done it before me.

My goal is to mod the car in a way that I can keep my fuel economy but pick up some power and keep the reliability. While searching the web and the site I've kind of came up with a plan of attack but hate spending money and finding out I should have done something different or I did something I didn't need to do.

So far I'm looking a cold air intake, hot side boost tube and a fmic. I've looked at downpipes but not sure if like my GTO was able to do running without cats and having it tuned to shut off the 02 sensors and check engine light if this is possible with the mini?

How about a blow off valve? I've seen them as well as diverter valves and not sure which one would work best with my application?

Are any of these mods doable without having to tune the car? Any and all suggestions are more than welcome.

 

Cold air intake will lose you some of the low end power you want to give you minimal power gains so high in the power band you can't hardly use it... waste of cash if you're budgeting. fmic on the street really isn't a big deal. intercooler will solve heat soak issues, but if you aren't doing track days or long drawn out periods of boosting, you have a $600-1000 cool looking grille. downpipe and a tune is where most of your power gains would come from.

 

Start with suspension. Work your way to power. Keep stock airbox with high flow panel k&n filter. Get an Alta Accessport (buy from the marketplace here). Get an fmic (helix or forge), boost tube is optional. Get a high flow catted or catless dp (Akrapovic or evolve) The Accessport will clear the code. Dont get a BOV, the computer will notice and throw a code or go into limp mode.

Those are the basic power mods on a MINI. But start with suspension, you won't regret it.

 

WOW, I had no clue the CAI would loose power like that and most cars except for my GTO most CAI's just sucked in hot air and didn't make any power. I am not really on a budget as I am just wanting to buy mods that work. I live in the desert where it is over 100 degrees outside for 3-5 months a year and that is why I was considering the FMIC. So I am use to cars that are tuned on a dyno, do these cars tuned this way or do you need to buy pre done tunes? Can they be tuned without shafting my fuel economy?

I appreciate the counsel, I have a friend who's a BC dealer and was considering their coilovers, what other suspension mods would you recommend as far as suspension goes? Sway bars? You said a high flow panel, forgive me but what's that? (again a newb don't laugh!) So is there a benefit to a dp with a cat or catless? I know catless is a bit less restrictive but coming from a GTO with no cats, a HUGE head/cam setup and Corsa Sport Exhaust, I am kinda enjoying the quietness of the car. So will removing the cat but keeping the stock exhaust drone something terrible in the car and will they bolt up to the stock exhaust?

Again this is so great thanks!

 

Removing the catted down pipe will definitely raise the volume, but shouldn't be too obnoxious if you keep everything else. Our exhaust systems are not that restrictive and people are seeing minimal gains from cat-back exhausts. The downpipe is the biggest restriction.

Let's put it this way: If I had money to finish my car exactly how I want it set up I would have a catless downpipe, short throw shifter, upgraded adjustable rear sway bar, camber plates in the front, adjustable rear lower control arms, some good sticky tires(seriously, whether putting power down or doing hard cornering, don't skimp on tires), FSD struts and stock springs(because I am most concerned with ride quality AND handling. A high end set of coilovers might be more your thing if you want to fine tune things for the track or autocross or to get lower).

The intercooler might be a good idea on your case where it's so hot there and if you are doing a lot of hard driving you may see some heat soak.


and what he meant by panel filter is a drop in filter replacement in the stock air box.

 

What he said.

Evolve Automotive just came out with a tune for your car. A very reputable company in the BMW/MINI world. Look them up on the vendor group buy section of NAM. The gains are very good but definitely get the fmic and dp first.

 

Here's what I wrote another forum member that went down the path you're going on...

My number one tip for you as someone who has done almost everything to my MINI, is to stop focusing on power!!! Really, just stop now. AccessPort is dead for the R56 and there are limited tuning options available. I have a very detailed build journal for my car with lessons learned. I don't mean to make this a "look at me" discussion, but I think all new MINI owners can learn from my mistakes.

http://www.michiganmini.org/forum/in...p?topic=5198.0

If you wanted a tuner car you should have bought a rice rocket. This isn't the platform to easily tune. The ECU is very complicated. The more thirsty you are for power, the deeper the hole you will dig with the R56 and more frustration you will create for yourself. I was fortunate enough to be around when Evolve had a tuning solution for the N14 powered R56 when it was available (and it's damn good) but until something is out there again, don't waste your cash.

If you want to go faster in the MINI, the greatest increase in speed (besides driver) is from tires and suspension modification.

You already made a mistake by wasting money on boost tubes and a cold air intake. Your gains will be minimal at best and really a CAI functions more like an acoustic piece more than a performance adder. If you can, return them now and start over.

I don't mean to sound like a downer, but just want to be straight forward and tell the truth. Without proper tuning, there is little power to be gained.

 

Listen to CountryboyShane. If you don't like what he has to say, ask SPRINTCARS what happens when you mod for power without a tuner. The poor guy was left high and dry. A good suspension set up in these cars is the way to go. They aren't drag cars and even with a tune, most cars will beat the MINI light to light. However, in corners or on a track it will punk out the majority of cars (yes even some 400+hp cars). But you bought a clubman so I'm guessing you might not track the car.

SO:
1) Sway bar
2) coilovers, endlinks, and control arms
3) new wheels and some sticky non-run flats.

Those three alone will drastically change your car.

 

I'm still focusing on the fact that he enjoyed his 500hp GTO and probably wants some straight line speed. Suspension, unless doing a drag-specific setup(which I've done in the past), is not how to do it. These cars handle like mad and the suspension is absolutely where IM starting. But if he wants more power out of the engine, why jump on him about it?

Tires, downpipe, intercooler, tune. At that point I would assess how happy you are with these cars as any more power comes with a good sized price tag (bigger turbo, more specific tuning etc.).

Again, I personally want to make these amazing handling cars handle even better, but if the guy wants horsepower, don't shun him for it, let him know what's right or wrong in that realm.

Cat back and intake are massive money wasters as everyone takes advantage of MINI owner's wallets with their crazy priced filters and couplers and super simple exhausts (Seriously, you can't justify $800 being the cheaper end of exhausts on a car with such a simple and short exhaust). They're overpriced AND do nearly nothing to power. Tossing that cat and tuning is what gets you the most bang for your buck numbers wise out of your engine.

 

Start with a FMIC
http://www.waymotorworks.com/forge-a...r-s-turbo.html

Otherwise feel free to call us and we'll discuss options and make a plan for you.

 

Way has a great reputation and I've driven from New Orleans to Atlanta to get work done by his shop. *thumbs up*

 

I don't think anybody is jumping on anyone for wanting more power. Rather just warning. The best way to get MINIs faster is starting off with a great suspension base. MINIs aren't drag cars and don't do as well as most hope when doing a light to light race. Ya, that tuned Subaru will probably smoke a MINI owner off the line 10/10 times. But get that same ricer in some canyons or on a track and watch it get smaller in the rear view of your MINI. On top of that, as we all know, the MINI is encrypted to Auschwitz and back. Throwing a new turbo on without a tune will put the car into limp mode. A catless DP will throw a CEL. And as you said a CAI and exhaust without a tune is a waste of $800+. The Alta AP, IMO, is also a waste of money at this point unless someone who can tune Cobb is available. Other than that you need to speak with Evolve or PAW or pray that someone with a dyno isn't too far away.

Save the cash for bolt on mods until a reliable tuner is found. In the meantime fun and speed can be gained with suspension mods which will truly bring the car to life. Also spend time on making the car light, specifically on the rotational parts like wheels, clutch and flywheel. Anything to decrease the rotational mass will do wonders in terms of making the power the car does have more available.

 

I really appreciate all the great ideas but see that reading comprehension isn't a great strong point here...hahahahaha

If I wanted a drag car I would have kept my 10 second GTO and not bought my mini. I just want a quick daily driver that's fun, keeps the 32mpg and something that's reliable and thus why I was asking what I could do without having to tune the car radically.

So it sounds like a FMIC, drop in filter, downpipe, coilovers, sway bar, end links and control arms. I've been looking at sway bars, is there a benefit or disadvantage of the larger ones over the smaller ones? Any particular sway bar and control arm manufacture benefit over another?

I work for an exotic car company where we teach people how to drive Lambo's, Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche etc. If I want to go fast I will just hop in one of those and satisfy that need there and drive a great handling and quick daily driver and love the 32mpg to and from work.

 

I would recommend the Hotchkis rear sway. I have not heard one bad thing about them and it's what I use on mine and I love it. You can buy it from Way. While you're at it you can get an intercooler and coilovers from him too. I would ask Way what he prefers for a control arm. I don't have those yet so I won't tell you to buy something that I haven't dealt with yet. Honestly for just a fun car around town a sway bar, coilovers, control arms, endlinks, a short shifter, intercooler, stage 1 tune, and some grippy non-run-flates will be a kick a** car for daily driving.

I apologize if I sounded like an a** earlier. I've just seen so many people that buy a MINI to try to get 300 whp, they spend $$$$ on bolt ons, and then when the ECU freaks out on them they are left high and dry with a car that doesn't work and no tuning company wanting to touch it. I really don't want anyone to have to go through that. I myself came close to being *one of those guys* when I first bought my MINI, but people like ra2fanatic and countryboyshane on here set me straight and saved me a bunch of money actually.

 

No need to apologize, everything on forums like this is all in good fun. I miss my GTO daily that's for sure but not having to fill my car up every six days at $75 a take is really helping ease the pain. We took my car out after work last night on the track and for a stock car on the crappy 16 inch rims and crappy tires the previous owner put on there both me and the two instructors I was riding with were laughing out asses off at how well the car did stock.

I really appreciate all the information here it has really helped me save a lot of money and it is so nice to have real world information here so I don't waste a ton of money on things I don't need. Although this car with 300whp would be a lot of fun and torque steer 100% worse. lol

So can I things like a FMIC without a tune?

 

Should be able to, no problem. Ideally for some extra oomph from the motor, I'd do the fmic, downpipe, tune. You can eliminate the cel that people seem to think is impossible to eliminate with the right tuning software. Not sure why people are up in arms about the cel from the downpipe when there's proven horsepower from a downpipes and tune and known ways of disabling the cel.

 

You can buy an intercooler without a tune and not have issues. If you aren't going to tune at all, or even just do a stage 1 tune I would actually say do a methanol injection kit from Aquamist (Howerton Engineering) instead of an intercooler for a couple of reasons:

1) You get an octane boost from methanol and the cooling effects similar to an intercooler. With the cooler temps and octane boost you do not have to worry about predetonation.

2)Price is roughly the same for a kit vs a good intercooler.

3) MINIs have a carbon build up issue since it is direct injection. The only way to clean the valves is by hand or spend about $700 for some walnut blasting. A catch can won't prevent this build up, but a methanol kit will. Do note: it does not clear or dispose of existing build up, it just prevents build up.

Ideally for really cool IATs you would have both an intercooler and methanol kit but if you only want to pay for one, why not go with the set up that gives you three benefits rather than just one? Just something to think about.

 

If you're ok with purchasing and keeping up on filling meth in your DD, I have gotta say sols's recommendation isn't half bad. For a little more than the cost of some intercoolers, a meth kit does benefit in more areas than the intercooler.

 

I also noticed no one commented on your diverter valve question. As far as I know, only two options work:

The Alta diverter valve
The Forge diverter valve

I have the Alta even though I'm not a huge fan of Alta products. I like the Alta unit because it's easy to install (once that damn turbo finally cools down) and it's mechanically driven and holds boost very well. It is tricky putting a resistor in the plug though...I bought a bunch of resistors (over 200) just incase the resistor fails and throws the car into limp mode. This happened once because I didn't install the resistor well the first time, the ends touched when I hit a little pothole and it shorted the resistor... The second time around I have had zero issues.

I have not installed the Forge unit. The instuctions look easy enough, but I can't judge from experience. I'm sure a basic google search will give you some great info on the Forge unit.

http://altaperformance.com/i-1400717...bo-engine.html

http://www.forgemotorsport.com/conte...product=FM207V

 

Way has a replacement diverter valve for under $100. That's what I have. Although, if you're doing a tune, something more substantial is better. I'm maintaining my mostly stock car for a couple reasons: 1) 3rd party extended warranty, 2) Finances 3) Don't want to do major work before I've paid off the car.

 

With Evolve, say hello tune goodbye downpipe CEL. And I support the recommendation on the multiple benefits of a water/methonal kit over an intercooler. Incorporating checking and refilling the tank with the weekly routine oil and coolant check.

 

Again some great information here, I just looked up Alta's page and started laughing hysterically because I knew the owner Adam Taft when he started his business out of his parents place and it was called Alta Sports. We would meet up at his shop with the fastest imports in town and go out street racing on weekends and wondered whatever happened to his shop after I moved.

So I need some educations on tunes, from what it sounds like are most tunes sent out from a company and downloaded by me into the car, or do I need to find a tuner who can dyno tune it? I know most tunes for the most part shaft fuel economy because you're advancing timing and fuel and I am really enjoying my fuel economy right now and would hate to loose that.

 

Tuning is somewhat of a sore spot with most MINI owners. Right now there is a group buy for the Evolve-R (N14 engine). Like you said, they give you an OBD II cable and a program. You copy the ECU readings onto a file, send that file to Evolve, they make adjustments, and send you their file to upload. They are a very reputable company and certainly one of the best around. Depending on where you live, PAW or Renntech are both good options as well. I know with PAW and tyrolsport (who use Renntech) require you to send your ECU, they encrypt it, and send it back to you (this is if you don't live close enough to drive to their dyno). NM also tunes. They are also very good but won't code to get rid of the CEL. You can always use the Can Tool from Burger Motorsports though to get rid of the CEL if you use NM.

If you have an N18 motor the JB+ unit seems to be the best option in terms of safely tuning and ease of install. I'm not too much up to date on N18s since I have a JCW with the N14 engine.

 

hi, just a quick question: i have a same car as a topic starter - clubman s '09 with auto transmission. What hp gain can i expect from this setup: milltek catless dp, intake muffler delete pipe and ecu tune? also i wish to install powerflex lower engine mount insert to prevent engine hopping and that is. I don't want to modify suspension as roads there aren't so good and i have no plans to visit track days.
thanks

 

Almost any mod you make will have a corresponding tune to optimize it. The tune is the hard part, but also the most necessary. Before I started modding, my MPG was over 40. Now, with my 280+ HP, I'm averaging 35 - 40 MPG --- lotsa credit to the N14's "Vanos" system.

My advice - add mods that improve engine "breathing" --- intake and exhaust!. My WMI uses a 50 - 50 mix, and consumption can be adjusted if you use Aquamist. And, find a tuner BEFORE starting the mod process.

I don't get to Vegas often enough, but there's a large Mini club there. You might want to check with some of their modding members for what works best in that area. I've made some bad decisions with my mods, but I still claim to have "one of, if not the baddest Mini in Northern NV"!