Hey all; Just wanted to let everyone know that the guys at Helix and RMW (Eric & Mike/Helix, Jan/RMW) did an awesome job on my '06 Checkmate today. I came out MUCH happier than I ever anticipated and the short version is they were professional, knowledgable, and great guys to boot! I've been in the tuning world for over 25 years and have seen good and bad shops, tuners who are talented and those who just talk a big game without really knowing what they're doing and all I can say is the guys at Helix along with Jan from RMW are all great guys who know their stuff, helped me address a number of issues (some of which I knew I had and others I did not) while being fair, accommodating, honest, and more. My car is making great power on an incredibly smooth tune and I had an incredible 2 1/2 hour drive home afterwards and swear the car got even faster as the ECU adapted to the new tune and RMW 450cc injectors. I couldn't be happier and no, I did not receive a discount or anything special for putting this post here. The guys at Helix along with Jan @ RMW deserve the accolades and I am happy to share my positive experience with everyone. So a big thank you to all and especially to Jan, along with Mike and Eric from Helix for treating me beyond fairly and getting my car exactly where I wanted it to be! It's going to be a much more enjoyable spring and summer now!

 

Nice! I missed him wen he came here to Hawaii a couple months ago but he'll be back in a few months hopefully then I'll mine tuned by him.

 

Definitely do...the tune is great and I should also mention it drives smooth as ever (dare I see even better than stock) and though I've been driving with bolt on mods on stock injectors and stock tune I had a nice long highway cruise home and before the tune was getting only 24mpg average which after my trip home after tune today with plenty of nice runs averaged 33-34mpg too! Best $ spent so far, and that's saying a lot!

 

How many speeding tickets on the way home?

 

What are your mods and numbers?

 

More to the story than numbers....
In my case I gained about 20hp from unturned, but the tq gains were HUGE!!
Made the car much more fun to drive around town....
And the idle become SILKY SMOOTH....I had to look at the tach to make sure it was running!! Honest!!
Many things have been said about Jan/RMW over the years, but like he him or hate him, he knows the mini motors, and he has skills tuning gen1 cars.
Other tuners have come and gone...some have claimed huge gains...then had the motors fail...
My experience with RMW/Jan largely mirrors the op's experiences....and I bet many do.
Folks sometimes balk at paying for something intangible, a tune, bits of numbers adjusted in the computer....they try to calculate HP gain vs $$ spent....
But there is s bigger picture....
Knowing your car is making safe power (if you ask for a regular tune, not a "race" tune), smooth factory (or better than factory) feel, great mpg (for most folks) and the pure driveability gains....things like adjusted DSC, and gas pedal adjustments (sell your sprint booster) make the $$ spent on a tune a good deal, less costly than one might think IMO.

 

Of course but I'm still curious

 

Mods are lengthy: WMW 17% pulley kit (w/belt & plugs), ATI super damper crank pulley (stock size), DDM CAI, DDM intercooler diverter, Screamin Demon Ignition, Kingsborne wires, Milltek Cat-Back exhaust, WMW supercharger belt damper bushings, DDM inlet tube, RMW 450cc injectors. Made 205 hp and 165 torque at the wheels on a totally smooth tune and graph. Linear power all the way to the new 7200 rpm redline. Jan also adjusted my DSC and throttle. The car idles smoother, gets far better MPG (I literally monitored it with my onboard computer all the way home) and throttle response is great. Awesome tune and very happy!

 

None (thank goodness!) and I left my V1 at home and relied on the Waze app for any police presence heads-up. Only passed one cop shooting radar the whole way. Lucky as I feel my car is a bit of a cop magnet with the tints and visual mods not to mention the sound at WOT!

 

+1 on Jan and Helix.

Jan tuned my JCW at the Dragon and wow were there roads more fun after that.

I agree they are pros and really nice to work with.

 

Couldn't agree more. It's literally like I have an entirely new car after all Jan/RMW & Helix did yesterday!

 

Well I have not found an address for RMW, where are they located?

 

www.revolutionmotorworks.com

 

link not working from here just like the Alliance of Motoring (when spelled correctly) is censored and not available. Type it in your browser.

 

You can also try www.revolutionmini.com

Irvine, CA

 

I tried finding the address on his web site earlier and could not find it. I'm wondering if it's because I'm on an iPad? I navigate the site and several areas come up blank. If RMW is in Irvine, Ca. Then that is within driving distance, 5 hours. Wooohooo, I see a custom tune in my near future! Thanks CHKMINI!

 

+1 on a Jan/RMW tune. Best mod for the $$$.

 

Congrats to OP on making the trip to see Jan & get a tune! By far one of the best mods for a R53 -- well worth the effort and money. To echo what Zippy said (and other confirm): there's more to the tune than just the HP & TQ numbers. Those are fun for comparisons & bragging rights, but it's really all in how the car feels, drives, and performs. I love the hair-trigger throttle response (no more slight delay when hitting the loud pedal), and Jan tweaks the DSC to kick in very gently.

RMW is the way to go!

 

A good time was had by all. Well, almost all: our brain cells took a beating from the noise and fumes of Binish's NASA end EMRA race car...

 

No doubt, the car at baseline before tune made in the 190's at the wheels and after finished in the 205+ range. But, the car pulls much harder through the entire RPM range, idles smoother and the increase in MPG's is unbelievable! Best $ spent so far but as a tuner of other makes I am all to familiar with how critical a good tune is after adding bolt-on's and/or other mods. Plus, Jan from RMW is a wealth of information and clearly knows these cars inside and out as he proved even after the tune in many ways and he's always happy to take time to answer my questions via email or phone. Just a good guy who happens to be an excellent tuner!

 

What does that car have for mods and how much did it put down?

 

Well, mods almost isn't the right word...It's morphed into a full race car (I'm not sure why it still has a license plate on it) with a gutted interior, cage and safety equipment, race telemetrics, Fully adjustable race suspension, Hoosiers, 1.8 liter stroker motor with all the goodies. He's running in a power-to-weight class, so to show huge numbers is not the purpose of tuning his car: it's to get it to run really well between 5500 and 7500RPM. I'll run down to the dyno cell later and see what power the car was producing--I can't remember off hand.

Also, remember that dyno calibration and weather station correction factors make peak power numbers difficult to compare from dyno to dyno. A dyno is a good tuning tool, but to hope to get an absolute comparison between different cars on different dynos on different days will only end in an internet flame-a-thon.

 

Got it and agreed. I had a tuning shop as you may know and a 2wd/AWD dyno so all too familiar with disparities in #'s and forum flame-a-thons. Yes; a dyno' sole purpose is for tuning but since I was just tuned on your dyno I was just curious as to this cars numbers vs. my own, not that my car will ever be a full race car! Is this car running a stock supercharger or something else for forced induction? Does it have a fuel cell?