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Car and setup:
2014 Roadster S-Auto
JMTC S42 Turbo
Wagner Competition IC
Resonator delete with hard charge pipes
K&N Dry Filter
modded stock intake
2.5 catless down pipe (eBay special)
Stock exhaust
92 Octane (US)
1 range colder NGK plugs
I drove up to Canada to get my R59 flashed and get a before/after Dyno, pulls taken roughly 80 minutes apart, car was never unstrapped. I am a paying customer with zero financial interest in RPM.
Point 1:. It's a mustang Dyno with a dynojet correction factor applied, don't compare numbers to dynojet numbers.
Point 2: .My car baseline was 7whp short of a saved stock JCW baseline they'd done on the same dyno and my R59 made 3lb-ft more torque than the same JCW.
Lorenzo was awesome! He's very meticulous, ensuring all codes were gone before I left for the day. He polite, thorough, knowledgeable, and a mini owner and enthusiast himself. He brought his beautiful Connaught Green 2010 JCW Championship Edition out, a very limited edition one (hint-it got dynoed too).
My tune options were:
More pops and bangs (ensure you want this if you ask for it, they're both louder, more numerous, and easier to trigger)
Linear throttle in non-sport mode
1.35 bar boost
I got a good 200 mile drive home to get to know the new setup. The car is super smooth, no hiccups, no jerks, no slow shifting, no codes, no overboost, no-anything unexpected. Runs smoother than pre-tune.
Logging peak boost a few times I saw 20.2, 20.5, 21.1, 20.7... I'd say that's pretty consistent across various conditions. Some where kickdown passing, some where single gear flooring it, some were slow roll ins. The spool time is MUCH faster now, the pull is much harder, and the engine runs better (smoother, more responsive).
I'm super happy I went to RPM and not another vendor, because this is literally as drama free as possible. So enough chit chat here's the before/after:
178whp/198lb-ft stock tune
229whp/262lb-ft RPM tune
gains of +51whp/+64lb-ft
AFRs were checked on the dyno and were exactly where they target, so all is well.
Video Below:
Apologies for the FILTHY car, all the roads have mass amounts of salt/sand and it was drizzling on my trip up.
I believe this is considered a stage 3, two cavaets to remember:
1- This is an Auto so a little more loss than the 6MT.
2- Boost level is not terribly high, and there is no ethanol or meth involved, meaning a methed tune with more boost will be even stronger....
On to the bonus bits:
We tested a prototype air intake after doing that pull and with no other changes the car gained 7whp and 9lb-ft for peaks, but there were 5whp gained pretty much everywhere over 2200 RPM, he's got a winning design when it's released! Anyone who beats the "there's no power to be made pre-turbo" drum is flat out wrong, sorry guys, I watched two clamps come off, intake fitted (pre-maf section only btw) and gained 7 and 9 on top of what's above.
The extra bit was seeing his built motor JCW make 270whp with a stock JCW turbo using a stage 2 tune, quite impressive, and I think the highest stock Turbo Dyno I've seen yet.
TLDR: RPM fing rocks, skip all others and go directly to
RPM.
Perfect timing on this review - I'm waiting for my Akrapovic downpipe to show up for my R58S, and the ECU will be off to visit Lorenzo for a stage 1 tune.
I'm glad everything written so far about RPM Tune is positive. It makes me feel more confident picking Lorenzo and RPM over Manic.
Keep us all in the loop with updates, please!
(I may have to bother Lorenzo for more info on his intake. Very curious!)
A couple days on, no issues. Finally got a good data log session.
Idle is definitely smoother. My car doesn't have the downpipe heatshield fitted, so the manifold shield sometimes tapped against the aftermarket turbo heatshield making a small rattle at warm idle. It now doesn't do the tapping, so not judging by feel, judging by lack of vibration induced noise, its a bit smoother.
Full boost ignition timing seems conservative, a good thing imho if you have any level of mechanical sympathy for your engine. Without knowing exactly what the cams are doing, one cannot really say if it's conservative or not.
Lights off DSC blinking in 1st...2nd...and 3rd at full power, no big increase in torque steer when it does actually grip (thanks automatic trans). There's actually a reason to leave DSC on now haha.
I am a HUGE fan of linear throttle mode. I wasn't sold on it before, but, with how fast the turbo spools when tuned, having a linear throttle instead of the progressive action is nice. Trying to hit say 10psi or 12psi for moderate acceleration is very hard with the progressive action, it wants to go straight to full power, with linear you can actually meter in power, while I kind of wish I had linear on non-sport and sport, having both is still fun because the dynamics change drastically when pressing sport now :P
Gas mileage... shockingly, is better (when I'm not playing). To some that may not be a shock, usually well tuned motors do get better mileage, but I'm getting about 35 cruising at 70mph on flat freeway.
Where the power is most useful for me, is the drive off corners where I'm lateral grip limited, for example, say I have to drop to 60 mph for a corner or start drifting to the outside of the turn, once I apex, the pull is immense now and keeps the car right at the grip limit until the turn completes, previously, there was not quite enough torque to drive off the corner at the limit. The result was previously I was often overdriving a corner to maintain speed since I knew I couldn't get it back post-apex, now it's much more intuitive to follow a traditional racing line.
I live in Richmond, and had my sons car done, difference is incredible. He's running a JCW turbo, bigger intercooler, silicone charge pipes, cold air intake, alta 3" exhaust, 100 cell downpipe, lightened flywheel/clutch, Howerton Methanol Injection. Great job done by Lorenzo, and no issues at all. Seamless power, good idle, no overboost etc. stage 3 running 22psi. Haven't had it dynoed yet but its slick and quick!! mine is next!
He's running a JCW turbo, bigger intercooler, silicone charge pipes, cold air intake, alta 3" exhaust, 100 cell downpipe, lightened flywheel/clutch, Howerton Methanol Injection.
I have these same mods on my car, except the lightened flywheel/clutch. SO I'm very curious about what this adds/does differently than the stock oem flywheel & clutch, and is it worth getting?
Claviger: do you think you're done with modding since you seem pretty happy with the results from your RPM tune, just wondering if you have some other mod to do next?
The engine definitely builds revs quicker with the lighter flywheel, slightly more rattle from transmission gear lash when idling in neutral. Just had my car tuned b Lorenzo, big difference, just waiting for my jcw turbo to arrive, should be this week, then its going to really light up!!
Could someone clarify the linear throttle option for me please? I don't quite understand the difference between linear and progressive throttle response.
12000 miles later, not so much as a check engine light. New tires helped a TON for front wheel spin, but can still light them up easily.
I don't see any need for more in a street car, it's daily driven and I can run easily with much higher HP cars in a straight line, and precious little stands any chance with corners introduced.
Since the tune, I've added the biggest offered JCW R56 OEM component front and rear sway bars, as memory serves 23.5 and 20 diameter, as well as spacing the wheels 1/2 further out and swapping up to 215s instead 205s. I feel the setup is just right for a true street car. It's easily generating right around 1g in corners and can walk most stock muscle cars from a roll.
ditc - No further info, for more you'll need to contact Lorenzo at RPM to find out the details, I simply put it on my car temporarily as a test. He's doing all the development.
Nothing, no codes, no hickups, no issues. No burning oil, no odd behavior.
Literally just drive it, and no, I don't baby it. Sees full boost literally any time it's started (it's a daily so....).
Cannot fault JMTC Super 42 or the RPM Stage 3 at this point in any way. I've let a number of people drive the car and loaned it out for a weekend of fun to some friends and they all come back with big ear to ear grins.
Built an engine for this little beauty and had Lorenzo tune it, it really gets lost. JCW pistons, headwork done by Hayward Performance, JCW exhaust manifold, JCW turbo, JCW exhaust, catless down pipe, ceramic coated the turbo hot side, exhaust manifold, and down pipe. super tech valve springs. Wave trak LSD, new clutch Just have to add meth, camber plates and JCW brakes!
Im looking to rebuild the engine on my 2010 Cooper S (knock on low rpms) and when beefed up get some more power.
My main concern is the automatic gear box. I see that some of you guys are driving autos too, with some really nice numbers.
How are they coping with the power and have you been told any ”Safe nubers” while tuning? Here in Sweden not so many tune autos and the knowledge is limited. I like my auto and its been working fine with my 21psi engine with stock turbo for nearly 10 years now.
If it's been keeping you happy, just fix the knock, maybe get a walnut blast, and a stage 1 tune. ECU can be mailed to a tuner for stage 1 --- pretty much a "canned" tune, designed for a stock engine. Won't add much HP but will increase performance / throttle response. Really difficult to get mod investment back when reselling a ten + year old car, 'specially an automatic.
EDIT: Just read your other post. Stage 3 should be done with datalogging and a dyno, by someone familiar with Mini's. I don't recommend you build for power, just do a basic rebuild and stage 2 tune, which is also usually "canned".
Last edited by oldbrokenwind; 09-07-2020 at 11:27 AM.
If it's been keeping you happy, just fix the knock, maybe get a walnut blast, and a stage 1 tune. ECU can be mailed to a tuner for stage 1 --- pretty much a "canned" tune, designed for a stock engine. Won't add much HP but will increase performance / throttle response. Really difficult to get mod investment back when reselling a ten + year old car, 'specially an automatic.
EDIT: Just read your other post. Stage 3 should be done with datalogging and a dyno, by someone familiar with Mini's. I don't recommend you build for power, just do a basic rebuild and stage 2 tune, which is also usually "canned".
It started of as my daily driver, but for the last couple of years its been more of a hobby car.
Its been running 230-240ish hp and have common upgrades. Forge intercooler, Milltek turbo back exhaust, M7 cold air intake and a decent performance software.
Why dont you recomend building the bottom end with the aim for more power? With the engine open and out of the car, it feels like the right time to do it? The gearbox is my main concern, but offcourse Im all ears if there is more to know before I start.
It started of as my daily driver, but for the last couple of years its been more of a hobby car.
Its been running 230-240ish hp and have common upgrades. Forge intercooler, Milltek turbo back exhaust, M7 cold air intake and a decent performance software.
Why dont you recomend building the bottom end with the aim for more power? With the engine open and out of the car, it feels like the right time to do it? The gearbox is my main concern, but offcourse Im all ears if there is more to know before I start.
300+WHP can be done with OEM bottom end. If the knock isn't bearings, rebuild might not be needed. However, if it's a hobby car, then definitely go for power, just get the limits for the Aisin first. A manual with no rebuild has been known to produce 300WHP. Study your piston CR options and the max boost before re-boring. Big boost and high CR will blow cylinder walls without a Cylinder Support System. K03 - K04 hybrids or a JCW should be OK, just don't exceed 22PSI with any more than 9.5:1 CR. I run 9.0:1 CR and 30PSI with CSS --- manual xmission.
Think about port / relieve on the head too. And maybe some hi-temp valves and springs --- "while it's off". Letting these engines breathe is a good way to add power, and if you have the power bug, it will be inevitable someday.
02-20-2019, 06:13 PM
