I got the new Franken Turbo today for the Mini. I can't wait to see what this bad boy will do once she is all mounted up and ready to rumble !

John

 

Ah! That's exciting! Hope you will be successful at it! Interested in the power gains! But sadly have the complicated N18 ECU.

 

So far so good with my Stage 1 tune on a bone stock 2007. I've got a little over 100 miles since the JZW powergate 3 flashed the ECU. The difference was noticeable immediately.
Very new to the mini as I just got this in early February 2014. Just received and set up obd2 ELM327 and dashcommand last night, and went for a spirited drive up and down South St. Vrain canyon this 45 deg. morning. Grinning ear to ear, like has been said it really woke this mini up. Dashcommand was saying I was getting wheel torque upwards of 340 Nm, which corrected by 20% would be 200 ish ft/lbs in line with expectations for stage 1. Note: This is 91 octane and elevation range of 5300 - 7500 ft. Regardless of how accurate the torque data is...my butt is telling me it was a helluva improvement. Throttle response is quicker, more power to play with in the curves. Love it.
Now just need to get some parts to get to stage 2

 

Does the Powergate 3 unit come with the tune or is it purchased separately? I assume that the Powergate 3 unit is for those that don't own a laptop for flashing the ECU.

 

Powergate3 came with the stage 1 tune. I didn't over think my decision too much. My thinking was the with the size of the powergate it might be nice to carry it in the glovebox. Get it setup to store a stock tune or less conservative tune and flash when I don't have a laptop with me. Also serves as an obd2 diagnostics tool.
not much but little bit more info here: http://www.alientech-to.it/en/prodot...te-3-/features

 

Got the JZW tuner installed today. John is very quick with his e-mails and answered all the questions I had. Instillation only takes a few (2-3) minutes to write to the ECU. Haven't had a chance to get to the dyno yet but initial data logs look good. The Stage 1 tune pulls hard up top, but the EGT and timing data looks good so you're not stressing the motor too much.

BTW, I recommend anyone tuned or stock go buy a bluetooth OBD device from amazon from <$20 you can get realtime data and data log with the torque app for android. Iphone users will need a wi-fi obd device. At the very least you can see the coolant temp so you know when it's good to let it rip!

This tune is the best deal for the money when it comes to N14 tunes right now IMHO. Keep up the good work JZW. Let us know what's up with that franken turbo build!

 

@4Dcooper, are you running main and second cat? The 2013 JCW's in California do indeed have two cats.

The Powergate 3 seems like a better tool because the way computers are headed there won't be to many laptops out in the masses, I have a huge family and only two of them own laptops. The large majority own an iPad or similar slim device.

 

Yes running both cats with the stage 1 tune currently.
But I did order a new intercooler and catless downpipe yesterday.

 

I don't understand why some go for a catless DP versus the high flow cats costing twice as much other than the catless DP smells bad. Is it really that much worse with a catless DP?

 

I got my catless one because it was cheaper. Picked it up for $200

 

Trying to decide between iflash or the powergate Can someone throw me a quick pro con list please and thank you =)

 

Hey there,

The I flash is a little easier to set up in the beginning, the powergate hand held is a little more complicated for me to set the files up on, but its not too bad.

They both work similar, the I flash just uses your own laptop to run the I flash software to flash the files on and off the ecu.

The powergate has the flashing software on the device so you only need a home computer so that you can transfer the files to it so you can email them to me.

Both work the same in that you will read out the OEM file through the diagnostic port and then transfer them to your home computer and then email them to me. I will then email back the modified files, the tunes. You then transfer them back to the powergate device, walk to the car and program the ecu.

With the I flash, the files are just saved directly to the laptop, there is no transferring them to another computer or anything, you just email me the OEM file right from the laptop.

John

 

Thanks for the info john! Just a few more questions. Does either option give access to the ecu data pulled or does it get encrypted in a master Slave setup. Also I have two r56s do the devices lock to your vin and if so can they be unmarried?

 

Yes, the I flash and the Powergate are set up so they lock to the Vin# of the car so you cannot just buy one Powergate and or I flash and pass it around to all your friends.

In multiple car situations, I will make a deal on a purchase of more than one I flash or powergate. Each car has to have its own tuning device.

I would let you look at your file if you wanted, but you would need to have the tuning tools to know what you are looking at and the tuning Sw I use to tunes these cars is fairly complicated, Winols. Its not an easy SW to use, the maps do not just pop out, you have to find the address location and format the map, its quite complicated :-)

Here is one example of how the tuning SW looks...

John

 

The laptop based I-flash gives you the ability to pull the entire stock ECU file, not just the data file which is required for JZW to tune the car. I have a copy of my stock .bin and put it into Tuner Pro to look at the maps. Unfortunately, I was unable to find XDF data for our ECU's anywhere online. The XDF is basically a legend which when applied to the stock map, which is just a bunch of hex values, can be used to makes sense of it can be used to make "maps".

Basically the maps are in the ecu file in plain sight, but finding out where they are from a bunch of random hex values is the hard part. Some cars have XDF files available in the public, most, like ours, don't.

So far I've found a what I think is one part of an Idle map For those who like to tinker and figure out stuff I recommend the I-flash.

 

BMW-not letting you tune overpriced MINI's but telling you to not change your oil for 10k miles. *thumbsup BMW*

 

JZW tune is still running great. I've been monitoring fuel AFR's and they look very safe. The tune pulls well up top, but is still flowing plenty of fuel to prevent knock. John has told me that the tune will enrichen the fuel mixture as the temps rise. This is a solid tune for anyone concerned about engine longevity.

 

Talked to JZW about running an E30-E40 blend. He says he's doing some testing now and should have a tune available for those of us who want to run some E85 soon. Anyone local to Denver? JZW said he is looking for local testers to work out a good tune for the corn juice.

 

I'm local to Denver

 

This weekend I got a stage 1 tune to run about 45% E85 in my JCW. Not too much quantitative power data yet. Before I put it on a dyno I need to change my oil, clean the air filter, and clean the valves. Prior to the tune I was running stock JCW boost numbers (16 psi with up to 18psi on overboost). Now it hits 20psi consistently and since Saturday I have hit 22psi twice. My qualitative/ butt dyno impression is that it simply HAULS! It pulls really hard all the way to the redline. With normal driving the car is a lot smoother and my EGTs are a little cooler, but after a hard run they drop a lot quicker than before.

Still need to data log a little more and I really need to get an intercooler before I get more aggressive with the tune. The tune is a little more on the aggressive side considering it has 45% E85 in it, but it's running safely. JZW tuning was excellent, informative and quick so my impression is very positive. I have some other things I want to do to my car this summer before I go to a stage 2 or 3 tune so where it's at now is perfect. I'm going to try to data log more and get it on a dyno sometime in May. I highly recommend JZW tuning especially if any of you reside in Colorado like I do.