The other day I was looking at the JCW engine performance data at the MINI USA site.
I know lots of people talk about 200 horse power, but I'm really impressed by its torque improvement after the JCW tuned-up.
The data shows that in the wider range like between 2400rpm and 6700rpm the torque would be over 210Nm which is the max of stock one at 4000rpm.
If this is real, the acceleration would be greatly improved.
I feel stock MCS has lack of torque especially in the low rpm range and this JCW should improve this a lot, I believe.
If anybody with JCW has any comment on this, I would appreciate it !

 

Yes, this is essentially correct. Torque is better through a broad rpm range. This is also true for any MCS that has any of the 15% reduction pulley upgrades even without the ECU upgrade. And yes you can tell right away. If you add the ECU upgrade to the pulley it is even better. For most of us, the torque is something we can really use more so than HP. My speed limit is still about 55 mph here.

There are other ways to increase torque (more in the mid to upper ranges though)
Headers and Cat-back exhausts, cold air intakes, re-bored throttlebody, upgraded cylinder heads, schrick cam, etc.
Lighter wheels help make better use of that torque you do have, JCW kit or not.

 

THe max torque in the JCW goes from 155lbs to 175lbs. And because of the pulley, the torque starts about 800 RPMs earlier. It does make a big difference in how your MINI responds. However, the JCW is actually light on torque. If you go the aftermarket route and add the pulley, an intake, an exhaust and ECU, you'll probably have torque in the 185-190+ lbs range and all for only about $2000. Also the pulley and ECU will greatly increased the area under the torque curve, not just raise the max torque. So if that's what you're really looking for, aftermarket is the way to go.

 

mmmmmmm..... torque.................

 

Yeah, $2000 would be great !
My concern is how to deal with MINI Full Maintenance Program.
I believe the after market modification affects the program.
Is that a kind of alternative whether keeping official maintenance program or getting out of it with cost effective modification ?

But anyhow, the higher torque keeps MCS more snappy.

Happy motoring!

 

Not surprising. Torque and horsepower always go hand in hand. The definition of horsepower is

(BHP @ some RPM) = (Torque at that RPM) * (RPM) / (A Constant)

For the BHP we use in the US and torque in ft-lbs, the numerical value of the constant = 5252, meaning that FOR ANY ENGINE at 5252 RPM, the numerical value of torque is equal to the BHP.

To get more HP, the only two things a tuner can do is to raise the torque curve and/or raise the redline RPM.

An improvement in "seat-of-the-pants" dyno feeling is equivalent to saying that the acceleration has improved, and acceleration is affected by the shape of the Torque @ RPM curve.

 

Hmmm....not always so...If you have a lot of low end torque but not a whole lot of high RPM torque, it won't correspond to high horsepower numbers. Yet overall torque can be low yet peak or max torque can be high giving a VERY high horsepower number yet the engine is really underpowered.

 

You might be a bit confused here. Aftermarket perfomance mods may affect your warranty if the part may have led to the failure. However, no aftermarket additions should affect your maintenance program!

 

>>You might be a bit confused here. Aftermarket perfomance mods may affect your warranty if the part may have led to the failure. However, no aftermarket additions should affect your maintenance program!

 

Still -- HP (at a particular RPM) is proportional to the TORQUE (at THAT particular RPM) and that RPM in question -- that's the definition of HP. Manufacturers usually claim peak HP seen from the engine (regardless of the RPM it happens at) and the peak TORQUE (which probably happens at a different RPM). Lets say I really tune & balance an engine so it won't blow up at 12,000 RPM, but past 6000 RPM, the torque starts to poop out. The torque peak is at 6000, the HP peak is something like 9000 or 10,000.

One question you should ask is where should you shift to get the maximum acceleration? Here is one answer that basically says that the optimum shift point is at the RPM where the power (the product of torque & RPM) peaks.

Here is another web site that makes the same point and ends up with the paradigm Other websites to browse on the topic include Cap Clutch and West Tech and UberMench and Corvette Action Center. Especially note the figures in the last reference.

Tom

 

Not the way I see it. Why mod a JCW? If you get the JCW, at least you get a warranty with the $4000 extra you paid versus going aftermarket. Why risk potentially voiding the warranty by modding the JCW. Then you'll be in the $8k+ range and have potential warranty issues. I say either cough up the $6k and sleep better if you're worried or go completely aftermarket and save tons of money $4k+. Check with your dealer as to their opinions of mods. Some dealers even install and warranty aftermarket parts!

 

>>Other websites to browse on the topic include Cap Clutch and West Tech and UberMench and Corvette Action Center. Especially note the figures in the last reference.
>>
>>Tom


Great links Tom, thanks!

 

>>One question you should ask is where should you shift to get the maximum acceleration? Here is one answer that basically says that the optimum shift point is at the RPM where the power (the product of torque & RPM) peaks.
>>
>>Here is another web site that makes the same point and ends up with the paradigm >>
>>Other websites to browse on the topic include Cap Clutch and West Tech and UberMench and Corvette Action Center. Especially note the figures in the last reference.
>>
>>Tom


Tom,
Thanks for the great information !!!
They are very much educational and interesting for me.
I need to learn a lot...

Luthier