The car is fun, but a little anemic. I've been poking around in here and on the web and there's a bunch of options to liven it up some.
It's a street only, daily driver.

The pulley seems to be a must. 15% seems to be the consensus.

I live in FL (so it gets pretty hot in the summers) and have access to 93 octaine pretty easily. 91 is actually harder to find in my area.

Can I run a 17% pulley, or will the hotter ambient temps negate the extra boost from the pulley?

I don't plan on using a tune. I'm going to install colder plugs based on what I've read.

Are the cold air intake and cat back exhaust worth the money? Is there really any significant power to be had? WMW has a reasonably priced stage one that includes a pulley, belt, intake , exhaust, etc etc...

However I can't find any data that shows a stock dyno, a pulley'd car, and a pulley'd car with exhaust and intake to see the difference.

Appreciate any advice. I've been googling for hours and haven't come up with any definitive answers.

 

Without a plan to tune, I would not spend much money on mods. Call Way and ask him if you are planning to buy parts from him. Excellent customer service. There are some other awesome shop owners who have a great reputation (like Way) but he's the closest of the few good ones in the US that I know of, so that's why I recommend him. I'm in Louisiana. Others on the forum who live in other areas of the US will be able to give you personal opinions on their local gurus.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have a car that I race (Porsche 914-6 GT) in the HSR series, so this is just a fun street car to go to work in. No need to get too crazy.

With that being said, I do like to tinker a bit.

It's my understanding that the stock ECU will accommodate a pulley, intake, cat back with no issues. Am I wrong about that? I'd rather have the factory ECU managing things if at all possible. Been there done that with tunes on other cars.

The pulley seems to be tried and true. Still trying to decide between 15-17 reduction.

However, we all know that we can't add mod HP up to come to a final number. ie pulley makes 20, exhaust makes 10, intake makes 10... So therefore 40hp. Not

If the pulley is going to make the brunt of the hp, is adding an intake and exhaust even worthwhile? Especially at the price point.

 

From my understanding, having an intake and exhaust will mean bigger gains with the pulley, and vice versa. But you are correct in assuming that the pulley makes the brunt of the power. The intake and exhaust just complement the pulley really nicely in my opinion, and my end goal was to make a build similar to a jcw, but for a fraction of the price.

I went with a 15% myself just to be safe. I didn't really think it was worth the extra heat it generates and the wear it puts on the s/c just for a few extra horsepower, but thats just my opinion. Given the fact you live in Fl, if you plan on driving near redline somewhat frequently I'd probably just go with a 15%.

Seeing as how you wanted to retain a factory tune, keep in mind if you have an intake, pulley, exhaust, and jcw 380cc injectors you can get the jcw software flashed onto your ecu.

 

Interesting. Good info.

Who do we like to get parts from on here?

Say I wanted to get injectors, pullet, etc..

Is there a particular brand or retailer that is most popular with you guys?

 

You can get a tune while maintaining your OEM ECU. The firmware changes, yes, but the car keeps control. I wouldn't go with a replacement ECU.

A pulley is a no brainer for your car. If you want to spend big on an exhaust without a tune... it's your $.

I have a JCW intake on my S, but I'm planning on getting a tune in the future. At the moment it is adding no HP.

 

Pulley is a good start. Intake is bling and noise, but only an improvement if your stock filter is clogged. Exhaust won't add much other than noise. A good header will add power IF you have a head that can take advantage of increased flow. Not all heads are equal, go with somebody who tests and can show real improvements, not just hyperbole behind a keyboard. Whatever you do, a tune will make the most of it. There are several tuning options for the stock ECU, but don't waste time/money on a piggyback. Beyond the pulley, most other inexpensive bolt-ons are snake oil. A good cam will make it more fun to drive. Factory plug wires and coil are best.

After pulley, cam and tune, next meaningful steps would be different supercharger ( rotrex or the Eaton tvs under development, NOTsprintex), meth, or bored/stroked block. Also, water/meth is more effective than "better" intercoolers at lowering IAT. only the factory GP version is documented better, and its only marginal. All fmic for r53 suffer from heat soak too much to be effective on the street.

Don't waste your money on gimmick mods; making the mini faster is relatively easy but not cheap.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using NAMotoring

 

Talk to Ian Stewart at Maitland Importers in Orlando. http://www.maitlandimports.com/


Ian is a great guy and he will set you up right.

 

pulley is a must a 17% will be fine for you even if your in florida, just dont keep it at redline, then a 15% would be better

intake and exhaust will give you marginally better performace, it will definently help with a pulley, but youll get so much more sound, better throttle response and loose some weight.

stock ecu will manage quite a few mods before being tuned. the only time you need a tune with when you get larger injectors. so the stock injectors are 330cc or 340cc dont remeber which, you can run the 380cc JCW injectors, better with the JCW tune, which is fairly cheap. then if you want to run the 440cc or the 550cc youll need an aftermarket tune

but the stock ecu will take nearly anymod and run it, you can put a new CAM and BVH in and the stock ecu will adjust, but with all those mods, at WOT youll be on the lean side.

intercooler keep stock and run a mixture of water/meth for cooling, GP intercooler is somewhat better, still suffers since its in the same spot, and you have to remove it to change plugs.

then when your super crazy, bore the motor to 2.0L

 

IMO, since you race, and are used to the rpm's just stick with the 15%, it'll match your driving style better.

And yes, the Way pkg. it's the perfect starter for you, complete and we'll tested, then, even though it's not a power mod, do the rear sway bar, because of your background you'll appreciate it far more than a 5-10 hp mod.

 

Wow, you guys are great. I know these topics have been beat to death on here so I appreciate all the helpful info.

Ironically I know Ian through the road racing scene. And yes, good guy. However, I had no idea he worked on minis. We were chatting on facebook.


Here's his recommendation:

Jan's tune from RWM
Larger Injectors
Cam
Pulley
Plugs

He said it should make around 200 to the wheels. And be reliable. He has bigiger badder builds as well but I'm not looking to get crazy with it. This is just a fun daily for me that I do put some significant miles on.

He prefers the 15 pulley over the 17. Especially in FL.

As far as intakes go, he said they make noise and look cool under the hood but don't really help.

Since I do daily this thing, I don't want to change the exhaust. Which he is ok with. I really like the sound. But he did suggest the JCW exhaust for a little more flow while not being too noisy. I, however, don't want to add any more noise.

It was interesting about the injectors... He said the stock ECU would adjust to a pulley and other minor mods, but that the injectors would be maxed out at WOT and you could have some issues running lean down the road. The safer more reliable route is to do the injectors with a tune to ensure proper fuel delivery for longevity.

 

Rear bar. Ordered

My only concern after speaking with Ian and he Way package is that it doesn't address the fuel. Ian seems convinced that the proper way is injectors and a tune. Which the Way package doesn't address but I see he injectors on his site.

 

way can do a remote tune witha custom tune, its a bit on the pricy side unless you get the 380cc injectors with the JCW tune

 

Of course Ian is spot on, as far as the Way pkg. I would say, get the 15% pkg, it will cover the pre-tune basics and you can drive it as is, no tune, then you can order your injectors (and possibly cam) & set up a tuning session with Jan when it's convenient for all.

 

Technically he is correct about needing injectors. Ideally you would want to maintain a stock a/f ratio, but our cars run really rich to begin with so even with a 15% pulley (17 and 19% can be a different story) you are still within a "safe" a/f mixture. I just went with the 380s because I got a good deal on them and I knew I wanted the jcw tune eventually.

So to address your concern, is running a 15% with no injectors going to damage your car? No. But would you be better off with a tune and injectors? Yes.

 

Is there anyone in particular you guys like to work with re parts packages? Consensus seems to be Jan re the tune.

But the rest? When you google mini performance parts, it's endless with pages and pages of people selling them.

 

There is no consensus. We all have our personal favorites and the people who are commonly discussed (like Jan) are said to be the best of the best. You need to pick someone you personally trust. If you hear nothing but good things about a few of the vendors, and mixed bag about some others...

 

Is there any risk of premature wear on the engine if you blow off the tune and injectors if you're only doing the pulley and maybe some other simple bolts ons?

The reason I ask is that I'll probably never go further than that with this particular car so there's no concern about having the flexibility to do more like heads, etc.

And if I'm not going further than just the pulley and bolt ons, then what does the tune/injectors offer over the stock components?

Thanks again for all the great info so far.

 

Not really, many people will do just a pulley & never get tuned, and they are just fine, the only thing you don't want to do with it this way is "live" in the upper RPM's normal use with the occasional blast it's perfectly acceptable.

The benefits to the injectors and most of all tune are to get the most out of your parts and give you some extra added safety on those "run hard" situations.

 

Interesting.

Since most people seem to be trying to replicate JCW power without buying a JCW, how does the JCW package do it?

I've been reading about JCW injectors and a JCW tune. It would seem that the factory itself is using more fuel via injectors and a better tune to accomplish more power.

Is this a correct assumption on my part? I don't really want to "get away with" using a pulley. I want to be able to put 60k miles on this car and not create more problems than I started with.

 

The factory JCW engine mods were a head with ports cleaned up by CNC, a smaller pulley, 380 cc injectors, a tune and a new intake. With a pulley, but without the larger injectors you are running the stock 330 cc injectors at a high duty cycle, which "may" shorten their life but most people have no issues with this as long as they don't live near redline.


IMHO, go with Ian's suggestions. The cam is a great addition and for a hot climate even better would be to add an Aquamist Water/meth system. This doesn't add power itself so much as it maintains the power gains you have, even when the ambient temps are high.


The RMW tune pulls all the pieces together and is a must not just for the ultimate HP number, but the increase in lower end torque - the area under the curve - which is the drivability of the MINI. You will be amazed how much better your car will pull out of corners.

 

"Yet another county heard from..." Been lurking on this thread and just have to put in my opinion. Get the 15% pulley, get a good CAI, get a good cat-back exhaust like MILLTECH (it's not noisy, just authoritative). After driving the car for awhile, you'll realize how much fun you're having and will want to do more....even though it's a street car....like a good header. Then consider driving up to Hot-Lanta and having WAY give you a tune. It'll be well worth the trip. A good tune is the biggest bang for the buck. Happy MOTORing!

 

If you can find one the factory JCW CAI is probably the best out there for the R-53. 15% pulley, decent catback, and a tune will have you right around 200 HP at the Hubs. If you add the street cam you'll probably need bigger injectors but you'll pick up another est. 8-12 HP. If you go with a bigger cam you'll probably want to add a header, at that point you'll have around 215-220 HP..Add a Head and your at 250+ HP.. Of course you'll need to tune it again as you add parts.. I'm sure Ian can set up a remote tune from RMW if you'd like. All this is depending on which parts you use as well. My numbers comes from reading and watching alot of RMW Tune Days over the last 7 years..

 

Jan from RMW will be here locally in a month so I'm debating on just doing it all at once and being done with it.

The opportunities for having a custom tune from him on the dyno are few and far between. And I'm not driving to Atlanta

 

That is what I would do. Just get all your mods done that you plan to do for the near future and get your tune and then not have to do a retune as you add mods.. Good Luck, and let us know how it goes..