You havent got a header yet Tony? I expect more from you!!! I definitely noticed a trq difference once I installed my Milltek... especially at freeway speeds (65-90).

 

I'm so incredulous that I don't even know how to respond to items 2 and 3. I suppose that all of us running larger throttle bodies and VGS have had our engines blow up and are running straight pipes.
No I don't have numbers, but I still have my engine and so does everyone else it seems.
Reality and your "numbers" don't make any common sense.

That dog don't hunt!

 

I'm not sure what you want me to say...I have the instruments and the numbers...

 

So just how bad is it?

 

Do you have any hypotheses about why the temps would be so high? I really can't come up with a reason. Your observations, though obviously accurate, are just puzzling?

 

details? thank you.,...

 

Really, can you expound a bit more.

never mind - just got caught up reading this thread.

 

Without a doubt, getting CRAP installed before even driving the car home. I drove it home from the dealer and told my wife she can keep this CRAP because if I drive it everyday, I will no longer have a license. (she said I wasn't going to get it everyday anyway so )

 

Depending on how my dealer views my 3rd party mods when it is time for service, my worse purchase might be my extended warranty and service agreements. Yup, bought both the extended service and extended warranty. I had no idea...

If my dealer honors my agreements despite my relatively conservative mods, I'll be singing praises of buying these agreements. Otherwise I'll be recommending strongly against them to everyone I talk to, as a huge waste of money.

Had I known, I might have gotten the JCW performance package instead for the same money (if it had existed then for the 06). Not that I don't like my 3rd party mods, but JCW with complete MINI service and warranty is good.

Of course then I'd really want the extended service and warranty agreements.

There's just no winning in this.



-- VBG

 

Something I learned from Dr. Obnxs...I will expound after dinner...no, not number two

 

Just got lucky with a Craigslist purchase ($300 SS header, with stock cat). I make a reference to it here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ht=header+prep

 

I wish I didn't waste my money on the normal bolt on engine stuff and used that money for a quality standalone ECU....but that's just me, lol

 

thats the funniest thing i've read since the guy who had monkeys flying out of his tranny

 

I would say my single biggest disappointment was learning that the mods claimed hp additions did not add up.....this is not a slam on Randy Webb but I had never tuned a car before and I looked at the WMS site and saw the hp gains for each of the "mods" and treated it like a menu and expected that if I put on a head I would get X, and a TB I would get X and this and that it would all add up and I would have a 265 hp Mini for X$......all those Xs ....... when i started to add parts and the dyno did not agree with the claims I was disappointed and my old posts will bear this out..... Mods didn't add, 2+2 did not = 4,..... I was lucky if 2+2=3..... As I learned and read and did more tuning reality was setting in........I did not want to believe Eric at Helix who has claimed for a long time that getting a non TC Mini to dyno over 200 whp was very difficult (Eric, you are right)..... this reality was my biggest disappointment..... what is addictive is that the first four mods of pulley, exhaust, CAI and sway bar did amazing things for the car in getting it to sound, feel, and perform like ....well....amazing....... I wanted more.... I was hooked....... the vendors had me and I was beeping them and meeting them on wierd dark street corners in the middle of the night for the next "mod high".....eventually through the tutalage of old NAM folks like "JLM" who helped me to understand and re-calibrate my expectations.....I found ..... I could cope but it was a struggle..... now, I am more pleasantly surprised with small increases...... a lot less money resides in my mutual fund account but it has been an education and a lot of fun..... my car now is very nice and very fun to drive..... lots of useable power and handles much better than my skills...... that's my story.... finally the disappointments turned into a great experience

In Randy's defense...... I am sure that each part on their own measured the claimed power....... this car is a system and when you put the pieces together it gets very interetsing.....synergy is not the norm...... just an hour ago I asked DR. O about a TB question and he honestly answered he "was not sure" something about as you get more mods it is harder to predict....

at this point I have pretty much solved the puzzle..... someone said they did mods together that made sense....in hind sight I agree with this approach.....

 

We've got about the same mods. I expected about 240-245 at the crank. I get consistent 215-220 HP on a dyno at the wheels. Figuring a 12% driveline loss, that puts me right at to slightly above what I expected (244-250). I always thought that Mini Madness inflated numbers, but Randy never has with me.

I haven't though, gone and added up all of the individual pieces like you have. I can understand your concern.

 

Ok...here's my layman's take from what I understand from the Dr. (perhaps he can jump in and talk more intelligently)...Simply put, the Mini's ECU does not know how to reconcile the greater amount of air being introduced at part throttle by the large TB versus it's map of AF for the butterfly angle...so it does nothing and allows the mixture to go lean...thus the exhaust temperature rises during this lean condition while the power falls off until you push the throttle deep enough to bring the engine into boost or let off the gas.

 

Thanks . . . would a well executed ECU remedy this or is there more to it than that.

 

Ryephile says yes by custom mapping my Unichip while Dr. Obnx say no...the problem is in the ECU and that is not hackable...I found it cheaper to go back to stock TB until Peter can can me a M7 59/60mm TB

 

Our power is the same ..... the Unichip custom tune made a big difference..... it was just a lot harder than a recipe "cook book" style.

to Sid's point... I'm pulling my 62 and going to a 60

 

He's got me thinking along similar lines. Let me know what you think when you get it done.

 

I want to be clear.... I like my car....it runs very strong for non tc and in the end it all turned out great and I still look for improvements..... there was a period where I was very frustrated because it was not coming together at all......the disappointment that I experienced was the learning curve about how the whole can be less than the sum of the parts.....until you get it sorted out and tuned..... my mods now (until I go tc) are to refine and make better an already nice car..... not to straighten out a mess..... which for a long time is what I had.... this is one reason I ask people who post if they actuallly have the mods thay are writing about because sometimes it does not parallel my experience..... which may just mean they were luckier than me

 

The ECU is hackable, but I'm not a Code Monkey However, regarding the throttle body thing, it's essentially a function of having your VE improved, so you have to add fuel to the map to accomodate for the improved breathing. The same thing happened to me when I implemented my "properly designed" exhaust system. I had to add a ton of fuel in most of the map because the scavenging was so much better than stock or aftermarket exhausts.

Bottom line Sid, it's a pretty easy tweak.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

i felt nothing but better throttle response and better traction control with the MTH tuner. And my car has no low end torque.

 

This "easy tweak" is coming from the guy who built his own one off Turbo and exhaust..... Ryan - you are a Mini folk hero....people will be talking about you for years.

Sid, have you put your stock TB back on and did that help.... I have a 60 coming and I wonder if the smaller size helped Msfitoy?

 

The ecu is tuneable. I've seen it done. But, it requires work and diligence. You need to trust the person who's working to put that time in. That's how I'm running 8k rpm. But, the second half of the project isn't done, largely because of my school keeping me busy. I'm running mad rich.

I've got half a mind to hack this thing myself, just for fun, but I lack the time to do that correctly right now (and the near future ain't looking good ). So, yeah, it can be done. I just can't wait to have my software finished...heh.