>>Seems like there's some inconsistencies in their review.

I read the article before I read your post, and I agree with you on those inconsistencies. :smile:

 

>>I totally agree that MINI tuning is in its infancy - and that's what is very exciting. I have been on the ground floor for most if not all of the developments.

And Randy, you will be forever remember for it too. :smile: One day we'll look back and say RandyBMC started out of a cold Denver garage...and now look...corporate offices, BMW backing, and the MINI Randy S version of the MINI !!

 

Surely the 0-100mph time is a better time to take ??

All powerfull FWD cars suffer with traction problems and 0-60mph is not a good indicator of performance.

My Cooper S is over 6 secs faster to 100mph than the standard Cooper S, a massive improvement, the 0-60mph time does not really show the true performance increase IMO.

 

>>Surely the 0-100mph time is a better time to take ??

Not in my opinion. Max speed in AZ is 75 on hwy. Max speed in town is 45 on our wide blvds. So I care about car improvements I can made for the coming out of a 90' corners and the like.

 

>>4 car.co.uk is quite a big name in the uk, they had a TV series that did pretty well..
>>
>>I did another trackday in my Hartge Cooper S yesterday and it has simliar characteristics to the review given for the JCW conversion..
>>
>>It has notible more torque lower in the rev range but come into it's own over 6000rpm. Its so much faster than the standard Cooper S.
>>
>>I reakon uk mag EVO should have a review on the JCW in their next issue, should be a good review and offer a comparison with the Hartge upgrade as their own Cooper S has been Hartge tuned..

wat is ur "Hartage" upgrade? wat does it have? price? power? etc?

 

i've been to the drags a few times with minor mods (wheels/tires/intake exhaust) and my car did 15.3/about 90mph.

next time (hopefull this Friday) it will have: H&R suspension, pulley, LSD, flywheel (really an autox mod) and I'm shooting for high 14's and maybe pushing high 90's. it's first few 0-60 runs with winter tires, fully inflated were 6.5 and 6.1, and I'm no spin control wizard!

 

Very interesting,

For my part I would NEVER pay 6000$ for 22 pounds of torque.. The increase in HP is found to be at 6950 RPMs instead of 6000 these values CANNOT be compared.

That kit brings me back to the beginning...How can I get an average below 20 MPG with a car that big and only 163 HP? Because this engine is questionnable if you wanna get a whole bunch of ponies, decent torque and so on.

I'm not confident to be building on strong foundations and I beleive that one has to think twice before looking for significant power improvement if reliability and durability are concerns.

In fact, we got a sour answer when , in the first year, BMW confirmed a Joint Venture with Peugeot for the deveopment of a new engine for the MINI...

In my opinion, the MINI is a great car, in fact it is the car which gives me the most fun I ever had driving a car and I would not hesitate to recommend it to my best friend but it will never be what it is not, and it will always be a great driving car.

I would like to get 20 pounds of torque for 2000$ .....if reliability and engine's life are not compromised!!!!

Guy

 

>>
>>In fact, we got a sour answer when , in the first year, BMW confirmed a Joint Venture with Peugeot for the deveopment of a new engine for the MINI...
>>


This has much more to do with Chrsyler merging with Mercedes - BMW's arch rival!!!


>>
>>I would like to get 20 pounds of torque for 2000$ .....if reliability and engine's life are not compromised!!!!
>>

16 or so lbs of torque can be had for around $500 with the 15% reduction supercharger pulley. The same one JCW uses. Everything else JCW did was for HP purposes, obviously, b/c their torque gain is hardly more than just the pulley alone!

 

TY Greatgro,

How much you think I could get with the Madness intake and the pully? I do not want to change the ecu and I do not want more noise either.

Guy

 

Guy,

With the intake and pulley alone, expect about 20 horsepower.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Randy

 

Thanks Randy,

I'm looking for the best way to improve torque at low RPMs, I think the pully and intake make a lot of sense for the money, within a restricted budget, it allows me some money left for other improvements.

At the present time, these are the mods I'm planning to do:

Pully
Mini Madness intake
Ferodo pads, brake oil
Swaybar

Any comments to acheive better drivability and pleasure for money spent?

Oh, I forgot to mention tires...

Guy

 

I think that sounds like a good plan.

Intake
Pulley
Ferodo pads
Ate Super Blue or Motul RBF600 brake fluid
Rear swaybar
Lightweight wheels and non-runflat tires (I like the Yokohama AVS 100ES or the Falken Azenis - both in 16&quot

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Randy

 

In defense of JCW (devil's advocate, I too agree it's ridiculosly priced), their site states that the whole kit installed will be 3,574.00 GBP including VAT, that's a very high British tax (17.5%). That is 5,588.19 USD, installed with tax and everything. So my suspicion is that the whole thing should cost us a little over 5K not 6K as many say.

Still expensive, I'm just clarifying.

 

Oh, BTW, without VAT this thing is $4,610.25 installed. add your state tax and see how much it will be. here in Jersey it's 6% so $4,886.87 **should** be the bottom line.