Quote:

Originally Posted by Mjolnir

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If he does then I am wondering why, because he seems not to have first hand experience with the mod. Anyway, if you end up doing a head you will want a header/performance cat., and catback system to maximize the added flow through the head. In other words getting a header and catback is NOT a wrong move here at all. It's an important part of overall performance. It's just your choice at what time you do the add-on, before or after the head mod, if you do that at all.



In talking with Randy Webb, he states that a head CAN be done at home with a reasonable amount of experience and a good set of specialty tools. The whole front of the car needs to be disassembled along with the entire top end of the motor. If you have the place and the time, and some good mechanical skills, then you can do it. Otherwise it's time to hand over a good amount of $$ to a dependable mechanic.



I also agree with Tony B on his assessment of the Unichip. The other positive of this system is that it can not be overridden by the dealer when serviced. In other words if they reprogram your car, which they often do during a visit, it will wipe out any ECU upgrade. The Unichip is the only exception that I know of here.

Also, I can VERY easily unplug and remove the Unichip (in about 1 minute) and send it off to Randy for any mods I may need.

It seems that Tony and I have first hand experience with some of these add-ons. At least in my case I can tell you first hand what these add-ons have done, and ARE doing for me.

 

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The Unichip shares most of its major functions with the MTH. I suggest you read that thread.

Headers will make a MUCH better improvement if you already have a head with larger ports and valves than if you put them on the car right now. I would suggest waiting untill after you have spent your money in the head, where real power is made, untill you start dumping $1500 into an exhaust.

$1500 will BUY you that head, then all ya gotta do is install it

So whats better then guys, 10hp/10# with and exhaust for $1.5k OR upwards of 30hp/30# with improved power across the entire rev range and increased rev limit, all still LOOKING stock, for $1.5k?

 

The MTH thread is way too long now to go back and read . I did do some research on them nearly 2 years ago, and again a couple months back...

I'm sure that many of the chips share some basic concepts and how they go about things. But unless the MTH can be tuned to one's unique car and mods, it is quite different that the UNIChip.

Saying that here is a map for a MCS with an intake and exhaust, for example, that is nothing but a best guess. Out of the box, these cars can be quite different, so what is the tuner using as a base - probably some accepted average of all MCSs. Not ideal, but better than nothing I suppose. Ambiguity builds on that uncertainty because what intake and exhaust does this person have? I'm quite certain there is not a map for the Magnaflow, QuickSilver, Scorpion, UUC, and the Borla catbacks; not to mention the custom ones out there like mine. The same goes with the multitude of intakes on the market - they are not the same, yet such a universal map treats them that way. And by doing so, this type of generalization is not going to achieve maximum gains. The UNIChip affords true customization to ones' car and mods.

I'm quite certain that the MTH does as good as others with regard to their estimating, and for the price, they are popular for a reason. The UNIChip will also give some estimations of popular mod combos, thanks to Randy Webb. The dyno tune however is where maximum gains can be achieved.

As shared above by someone, I believe the MTH could be accidentally over-written by the dealer. I believe that the MTH doesn't have easy access to 3 maps, one being stock. I believe that the MTH cannot be re-sold to another. I believe that the MTH cannot be expected to work with all future mods. And I believe that the MTH does not offer the potential to control a device such as water sprayer, nitrous, or the like. The UNIChip addresses all of these. It costs more because it provides more.

Now, if I'm wrong on any of these, then I apologize. I have not read that thread in a while, thus the language (I believe). I think though that I'm quite accurate.

So when one says that the UNIChip is not worth it, that statement should be qualified properly. If one doesn't want to refine and maximize output, now and in the future, then the UNIChip will not be seen as worthy. If one doesn't see the benefit of multiple map options, and over-write protection, then those features won't lure them to the UNIChip. And if one doesn't care about controlling a sprayer or the like, or a possible resale, the UNIChip might not be a consideration.

The UNIChip is robust, and maybe more so than what some will want. For all that it offers, it really has no rival in the MINI world.

 

Tony is quite right about the Unichip providing more.

If you want to take advantage of the Unichip network and dial your car in perfectly there is an additional cost however because they will not do it for free.

With the MTH you have access to stock, 91 and 94 maps and you could ask Franz for a 100 map too. However it takes a laptop and about 5 min to upload. The flash can be over-written by a dealer and you would have to download the new file again and send it to MTH. But some people I know had a similar problem with the Unichip. After their car got flashed with V38 they had to get their Unichip updated too because it did not work that great with that software version.

For customization the Unichip is better since you have a network of dealers that can dial your car in perfectly and more features . With MTH you have to be in Europe I guess to get that done ;-)

 

I put Konis and Hsport springs on this week and they are a ball to drive. I am banging my head on the interstate so I need to soften up the shocks some but the G forces are already amazing for a car so I don't think I would ever need the coilovers on any car that I drive dailey.

 

I have a UNichip and It performs quite well. The power just grows as the RPMs climb. I let Joseph at Rspeed drive it and he said that "after 5000 rpm it feels like another cylinder kicks in". There are a few areas that might need some custom tuning down in the 3000 rpm range . Randy asked me to take notes and get back to him with the info and he will make the adjustments. (you gotta love that) AS an aside, Randy and Joseph have been great guiding me through this process and both have told me where to spend and where not to spend saving me thousands of $. Everthing that they have recomended has worked out beyond my expectations which has given me the motivation to keep going.

 

That would suck if you had to pay 1-200 bucks everytime you wanted it upgraded.

Say it isn't so!

 

I've had the head ported and polished and added the schrick cams to a car that already had aftermarket exhaust, header, tb, etc...


The car was soooo loud it wasn't really fun to drive anymore. Anytime I saw a cop I would have to drop the rpms near 2k, it was horrible. I've since replaced the head to the jcw head and cams (I guess they are stock cams, I'm not sure) and now the car sounds amazing.

If you want to add a lot of noise to your car, then do the larger interkooler...I asked Randy and he told me that it really adds sound...too much for my taste)

Headers will add a nice sound though...

As for what to spend the cash on... PSS 9s all the way...They come on progressive springs, so set to a soft setting you near stock and stiff is really stiff, and you can adjust the height if need be...even if you never do (like many options on the cell phone) at least you have that option

L

 

You mean the Webb Front Mount adds a lot of sound? Or ANY larger IC does? Does it act like an echo chamber or something? :smile:

 

Jim, I don't remember if UNIChip updates are free or not. They certainly might be, but if not, I'm quite certain that it's not over 100 bucks for a new map (like for an added mod). I guess this never interested me as I knew that I would be doing a dyno tune after major additions.

I'm sure others here will know for sure though...

 

My understanding is that they all will.

 

saw:

what do you think made the extra sound from the head and whose head was it?

 

I think he had his stock unit worked on.

 

Actually now that I've put some thought into upgrades, I think I'm going to save my money for this. The Twincharged may be radical in it's power output but it fairly simple when you consider your just adding a turbo. This system runs at 20psi and the 19% pulley runs at 18psi so not much more boost. Plus you are running stock size pulley so the stock Super Charger and water pump aren't spinning faster than stock. This will be by far the best bang for the buck especially when you compare it to cylinder head, cam, TB, Intercooler and ECU upgrades that would net you less than half the HP of this system. My guess is that the boost would be adjustable so you could setup the system to be as radical as you want and no more.

 

That's what I'm afraid of...

The second mouse gets the cheese...

 

You've mentioned Konis and autox...

I know a guy who re-valves konis... same guy worked the shocks for the GTS class Viper racecars.

Might ride stiff day to day. But whatever come weekend.

 

So if you lose your MTH mapping on the ECU because of the dealer - do you have to pay again to get a new mapping from MTH? Or can you use the one you downloaded on the laptop?