Hey guys whats up. The wife gave me the OK to order the Twin Charge kit, but now that she gave me the green light, Im a little nervous about spending that kind of $$. Ive never spent that kind of money at once on the car. Wheels and tires is where I spend most of my money at one time. Anyway, Those of you guys that own one, would you do it again? What do you feel are some of the pro and cons about the kit? Ive read talk where people state that they have to go to the store a few times to pick up some stuff, but never say what they had to pick up. Alta states that everything you need comes with the kit. Im doing a lttle more research before making the plunge. PLEASE, I dont what to get into what kit is better, or to bash Alta's kit. Just want I little info on what you think about the kit. Ive decided to go with Alta due to the affordability of the kit and "FUTURE" plans would be a ECU, Apexi SAFC, and electronic Boost controller. Its either new wheels and tires and some race seats, or the Twin Charge kit. I kinda leaning towards the Twin Charge kit...
P.S If you would like to give some pointers about the install, please share

 

I just open my kit today and all the necessary parts seems to be all in the boxThanks Alta. A well preped shop and someone who always worked on their own car should have most of other fitting,clamps,hose and etc.....it is expected to come across challenge and take a step back to double check. I am looking forward to assemble the kit and study how each part function and all. To me this is priceless. I would give Alta a call and talk to Adam or Jeff for any question you may have, these guys know their stuff.

I would never have bought the kit if I was hiring someone else to do the installed.

 

I know you've been considering this kit for some time. During our install we never had to go to the store to get any additional parts. You will need a new exhaust manifold gasket from the dealer, some rtv high temp sealant, some teflon tape or paste among other things that may not be in your garage now. Of coarse you will need 5 qts of new oil and a filter, and little coolant, and possible some power steering fluid. The installation instructions are now accompanied by a few pictures that help.

I know this may sound like a push but if you did buy the kit from our shop, I would help you with any questions you had and walk you through the complete install if needed.

As far as the kit goes we have installed a blitz electronic boost controller and are running around 15 lbs right now. The car is extremely smooth and is still very easy to drive. One thing I did notice is that when running the car with a/c is not as noticable. Before going turbo running the car with the a/c on changed the entire way the car ran. I know that is a minor detail but its worth mentioning.

We have the apexi unit installed and ready to go. Today we are putting in the 550cc injectors and are going to get the boost around 20lbs safely by tweaking the a/f.

The big decision is always the hardest part but if you do choose to go this route give me a call or send an email to cliffm@coasttocoastusa.com and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks, Cliff

 

Hey d00d...why is that, exactly? Sorry if it's obvious and I missed it, but I don't get it?!? . Good luck with the kit....thought I might become the first Cosworth twin charge...heh.

 

FYI, I installed everything on my car including the Cosworth stage kit and for my customer too First of all I love to work on cars and a better understanding of the mini.

Second, no one I would trust other than myself Even one so call master of the minis came down and set a car on fireget the idea

 

So, when you guys say 20 lbs of boost, is that 20 lbs from the turbo alone or is that the combined boost of the turbo and the SC?

I'm running mine at just around 20lbs of boost on SC alone and want to know what the difference would be compared to running 20 lbs on a turbo and an SC?

better overall power? Quicker roll into power? Im just looking for a few answers...

 

Good question not-so-rednwhitecooper. I could save $3800.00 just by swaping out the pulley. If you had the turbo kit producing....say 17-18 lbs of boost, wont it perform the same as a pulley producing 17-18lbs of boost? Then I have to ask myself, what is the benefit of a turbo kit besides the Phsssssst sound from the BOV, even though that alone is worth the $$$ in itself..

 

Well, the only difference i see is alot less heat build up.

When running my supercharger, I have pulleys that spin the SC 23% percent faster than stock, i dont remember the exact rpm increase over stock, but it was significat enough to start producing alot of heat at higher rpm's.

For me, this is fine, since most of my power is used down low for drag racing and i vgery rarely see top end for extended periods of time.

 

Although, If i could get somewhere in the area of 25-30 lbs of boost from the TC kit, i could justify spending the extra money, becuse there is really no way i can see of getting that kind of boost out of the SC alone.

A single turbo would be the ultimate way to go, but right now, for me, i really dont want to spend all the time doing the things it would take ot get the car to run on a single turbo only.

My boost increasing mods are probaly over for the time being, now i just need to work on getting a header and a cam, and finally getting some damn comuter tuning done!!!

 

The differnce between 20 lbs of boost out of a SC or turbo is about 60 more hp from the turbo. I dynoed at 258 at 20lbs of boost. I have now tuned up to 23lbs & added another ~30 hp to the wheels. Thats were I am staying till I pull the pistons and replace the head. You can pull my dyno chart and compare it against one that is boosting the same on sc only & overlap them & see exactly where the difference lies.

Included in the Alta kit is the 5% increase sc pulley. So you are boosting even less from the sc and more from the turbo. My sc whine is gone & all I hear is turbo spool & a rush of air through the inlet pipe. So if you love the sound of the sc, then you will be disappointed to not hear it anymore, but hey the blow-off valve makes up for it.

 

Tricklex, Good works

 

--->TrickleX; 288wHP @ 23psig sounds great for a twincharge setup, good job man! Were you running that on 93 octane? It's good to hear your pistons are still in one piece too!

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Which brand EBC would you guys go with?
HKS
Greddy
Blitz

Which ever you chose, what model would you go with? The only EBC I ever used is the one Im using now in my Turbo Cordia. Its a HKS EVC II. Its a oldie, but works great. Im kinda leaning towards Blitz, but cant find many people using them. (In the Japanese turner world.) Greddy seems to be the one that most use when it comes to EBC's. When it comes to Turbo timers, I guess there just about all good. I use a Greddy in the Cordia, but again, Im leaning towards the Blitz for the Cooper.

 

I like Apexi's electronic boost controller.

 

That would be 94 octane from Sunoco. Yeah i dont always run it up that high on boost, but the added plus is more boost sooner in the rpm band.

 

How much boost over stock (Right out of the box.) can you safely run without getting larger injectors, AFC, ect,ect. example... If boost is set at say 14-15 psi out of the box, can you get a EBC and bump it up to say 17 to 18 psi with the stock injectors and ecu? Also, If I were to get a AFC, larger injectors, what kind of boost can you run with the stock ECU?

 

Well its hard to say safely....You should really check the A/F ratios with a Wideband to let you know if you are running to lean. You may be able to compensate the A/F ratio with an AFC utilizing stock injectors, but you might end up running the duty cycle of the injector over 80% which i do believe you do not want to do on a regular basis.

Now if you run larger injectors and an AFC then you can run more boost and keep your A/F ratios in check. I Strongly Advise a WideBand o2 gauge if you go this route and here is why. I dyno'd back when it was cooler and tuned the MINI for a good safe A/F ratio. Two things have occured since then. One the ECU has changed its mapping a lil and I noticed on my wideband I was running way rich, so I tuned it out. The other thing is, with the Humid and Hot temps we are currently going through, I also have been getting more rich. I am able to tune that out depending on the day. I can do it on the fly so it makes it easy to keep the MINI running at Peak performance. The only other issue is, well with the High temps I do get a bit more Knock detected from the Apexi, and this could also be why I am running really rich as the timing is retarding and dumping more fuel to keep detonation in check.

With running an AFC the stock ECU is not really aware as to how much fuel is being dumped now as the AFC is taking what the ECU is sending and manipulating that signal to tell the Injectors to stay open a bit longer to dump more fuel. Ideally the best way would be to be able to hack the ECU and manipulate the fuel map there (such as MTH) and let the ECU do its majik all the while keeping all the systems in check. Until someone hacks the code and devises a means for us to alter it according to our current mods we are stuck with an AFC to do the dirty work.

All that said, I am running around 23 psi max at 6700 rpm in 3rd gear to 6th. I feel I am running it safely with that PSI as I have it pretty rich uptop there to keep the detonation down and the heat down. This is just my expirence and by no means says you can run 23psi safely. Its not only the psi, but your A/F ratios and whether or not you have Detonation.

 

Trickle X, Thanks for the reply. What Wideband unit are you using?

 

AEM's UEGO....here is a link for reference...there are other widebands there that would work as well, I just like the look of the 52mm round guage. You may need to search as i think this is just a default link.
http://www.jscspeed.com/mini/mini_base.html

 

Where did you install the extra o2 sensor?

 

Well currently I have an o2 sim on, so I pulled my o2 sensor for the cat out & installed the o2 sensor for the wideband in that bung.

 

What brand of coolant and power steering fluid are you guys using after the install of the turbo kit?

Trickle X, what is the "o2 sim"? Can you still use both if I were to weld in a burg? I think thats what they call the part

 

The o2 simulator is available from a vendor of the site. It basically sends a signal back to the ECU saying that everything is in working order & you wont get a code for not having the cat installed.

The powersteering fluid you will need to get from MINI or BMW. It is labeled on the filler cap what to use, but I haven't found the fluid anywhere else. MINI also recommends using their coolant as well, now whether you choose to or not is up to you. It is pricey.

 

Is anyone using the Hydra 2.5 EMS and would like to compair maps?

Thanks,
Dave

 

If any of you or you know anybody that may be interested in a Alta Turbo kit LMK. I bought the kit and traded the MINI before I got the chance to install it. EVERYTHING is brand new. paid right around $3700.00 for the kit. Looking to get $3000.00 shipped. That includes the pulley removal tool and the tentioner (Spelling) tool, both new. Will also include the o2 simulator and Autometer Boost, Oil Pressure and voltage gauges, also all brand new in the box.