A friend of mine went to visit our local dealership after listening to me rave about the MINI I don't even have yet :impatient , and he said the MA he talked to told him that next year's MCS is going to have 200 HP. Has anyone else heard this?

 

JCW?

 

Me thinks that would be it, but don't know for sure...

 

It is highly unlikely that the base car bhp will increase when MINI can milk more money from customers by selling an upgraded engine with more HP. Nobody gives away hp for free. A mid-cycle upgrade might result in more bhp but thats highly unlikely to happen after one year, at least if history serves.

It has to be a JCW version which has been predicted all along for 08.

 

That's what I was thinking too, but he didn't say he was talking about a special model. This was my friend's first exposure to Minis, so he may have been confused.

Doesn't the JCW do a little better than 200 though? 214 I think.

 

I'm with you guys. I was just checking to make sure I didn't miss something.

 

Me thinks it would be the JCW. That's what I was saying...

 

Perhaps Mini is going to admit the horsepower the R56 really has. Look at the dyno results that have been posted where the wheel hp is in the range that Mini is claiming at the crank. The Grassroots Motorsports magazine article this month for example. This level of wheel hp is in line with 200hp at the crank.

 

With over boost on this car has over 200HP+ at the crank..If it was mazda they'd be claiming that + then some HP on the sheet.

 

Can your buddy check if non metallic black is coming back as well?

 

Actually, BMW does this REGULARLY to the 3 series. They'll introduce a 3 series with an old engine and then bump the HP considerably the NEXT year. With the E90, they went from the N52 (non turbo) to the N54 with twin turbos. The base engine went from 185HP (detuned N52) to 230HP. The kicker is the N52 was a NEW ENGINE in the 330i. They also did this with the E46 3-series. It better be the JCW version.

 

That may be true but your talking different versions (i.e. models) of the 3 series. That is not the history of MINI nor are they talking a different model ... that is unless its the JCW version which would be a different model if, in fact, MINI finally gives it its own designation (that also has been predicted) rather than just an option to have factory installed or dealer installed.

Then again, I'm not believing much from a friend of a friend who talk to the shop foreman's cat who listened to the salemen talk.

 

Agreed. I didn't mean to start a fire here. I just figured you guys would know for sure. I place absolutely no stock into my friend's comments as being valid. This was simply an inquiry for more knowledgeable Mini owners to provide the real answer.

 

I think you should check motoringfile.com. Gabe has the latest MINI news. JCW makes sense

 

I'm afraid that the MA is ill informed. The JCW upgrade installed by the dealer will increase horse power to 192 bhp. Don't expect MINI to have a factory version JCW until 09. The R56 was only released in February 07. In 08 MINI releases the Clubman. You can read the specs on Motoringfile. There is no mention of 200 bhp.

 

Here is how stupid I am. I was looking around at MINIUSA.com and saw that they are taking orders for JCW GP with 214 HP. I got all excited about the R56 having a JCW finally heading to market. It took me quite a while before I realized that this was an R53. Duh.

 

Actually I'm not talking about different 3 series models. BMW did this with the E46 when they started with the 323 and the NEXT year had the 325. Then with the new E90 series, they have the 325 and 330 and the NEXT year had the 328 and 335. I'm not sayng BMW is doing it with Mini, but just that they have bumped the power after the first year. A 24HP bump is significant for this car, but it really sounds like a JCW motor and the difference in power from 200 to 19x could just be due to SAE and DIN conversions.

 

I thought the current engine was pretty much maxed out. If the bore and stroke are the same and if they are just doing ECU and exhaust and bigger turbo, then aftermaket people will be able to do the same.

 

Note, this is pure speculation. I believe the R56 has a lower redline than the R53. Probably due to the additional complexity of the valve train with the variable valve timing. They may have started with a lower redline to see how the valve train holds in real world use. Upping the redline a little will probably get them to 200 hp. with no other changes.

 

same torque then...peak torque at 1600 rpm.

 

And the 5 series. My dad just picked up a 5 for a deal. They are changing all the engines around on the 5 as well. Hasnt been out too long either.

 

Could be But I do think any power increase will be a JCW version and not the regular S model. Just my opinion

 

personally, a 200 hp MCS would be awesome. I won't sell my 172 hp MCS anytime soon but I think that will be a very positive thing for the MINI world. Then maybe AWD version will come next.

 

There is no proof of this! I was just asking if anybody had heard any similar claims. The MA that talked to my buddy may have been just blowing smoke! or as Loui surmised, was ill-informed.

 

It's so easy to get more power out of a Turbo car... it's just a matter of time. Eurobaun's Turbo Tuner has been able to get a 16% bump in HP at the wheels with a simple plug and play module on the 335i- no wires are cut and the module can be removed in less than 10 minutes. A similar bump would put the MCS over 200 HP. Add an intake, down pipe and exhaust and you should be able to get a least another 10HP (conservatively).
Vinshu has even more power from a more complex module.