Just wondering if anyone out there with a JCW tuning kit, has purchased an Alta AccessPort, and if so, what are their impressions ? was it worth the money?

 

Hmmm, would like to know this too...

 

I have the JCW tuning kit and I got an RMW tune. it was well worth it. gave me more power than when I put the JCW kit on the stock cooper S. my best mod so far.

 

It will net a significant gain. Here is a dyno we did on my car.

 

Did you make any other mods to be able to run a Stage 2? I thought you needed TUrbo-back and or FMIC?

 

No we ran that test with the hard parts from the JCW stage 1 kit and with the AP tune. The tune increases the max boost level and redline regardless of the parts installed

Alta recommends those mods since that's what the map was written with and is the optimal set up for the map.

 

Just ordered mine. Looking forward to some added performance....

 

I should be receiving my AP this week... can't wait.

 

So help me understand a little bit here. Was this a JCW with a stage 1 kit or a MCS with a JCW stage 1 kit?

If this is a Stage 1 kit for a stock JCW... than what "hard parts" ..... details please.

Didn't know MINI or someone made a stage 1 kit for a stock JCW?

Sorry for the ignorance... new to JCW. thanks for any clarification of my confusion.

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Second question..... With the AP can you specify your own redline? I would rather play things safe and keep my redline down... just to safe guard me from redlining her too high.

 

Cool, keep us all updated! I am in the same boat and I would like to know your impressions from the AP too! Thanks!

 

The car we tested on was my 2010 MCS with the JCW stage 1 kit. The parts installed are an intake, an axle back exhaust, a turbo manifold, and an ecu reflash. With the AP all we changed was the flash, the other parts stayed installed.

On an actual JCW there is a pretty large gain as well, but I have yet to test one personally so I don't have numbers to show.

 

Just tried to install my AP on my 2007 MCS with a JCW tune. No success. It displays an error stating my model not supported or incompatible or something. I updated the firmware as well. no joy. :-(



Jack$0n, did you receive yours?

 

Send the ecu info to Alta and they will write an update to include your ecu version.

 

Just spoke to Chris. I sent him the file, and he is forwarding information off to COBB.

 

I can say that with a Factory JCW... the AccessPort was worth the money. Wow! What a difference. Although I liked my exhaust sound better before. It now has a more traditional lower tone... growl.... with a different pop sound. Not bad.... but think I got use to the stock pop sound.

 

Just returned from a trip from India, and Installed the updated Beta code. Now the AccessPort recognizes my car. I selected the Stage 1, 92+ TPS code for install. Process took a couple minutes to complete. Here is what I noticed. Upon starting the car, the idle appeared to be hunting, and fluttering up and down a bit. I enabled the data logging, and went for a ride.

First no Sport button.
Car seemed to be Slightly less responsive than the JCW tune. Did not notice an real improvements, since the flash.
Now, Sport Button.
Throttle seem to behave a little more aggressive, but still not better than I recall from the JCW tune.

I have sent an email to Alta asking for a Stage 1.5 tune. Since the Stage 1 tune is meant for folks with no customization. Since the JCW tune includes a CAI and new Exhaust, I think an Updated tune is required to truly take advantage of the upgrades.

More later...

 

dam thats no good. when i got the rmw tune on mine it was a much bigger difference than when i got the stage 1 kit installed on my s. it was a massive power gain. hope you get it fixed up.

 

From what I have read, I think it is right for you to use the Stage 1 Tune since the other stages are designed for Intercoolers and an Exhaust with no stock components. The JCW Tuning Kit Exhaust is the same diameter as your stock one. Other than the sound from the muffler, I don't think it actually provides much of a better flow, well, maybe slightly. That being said, I am disappointed to see that the Alta Stage 1 Tune doesn't give you any noticeable improvements. I have the JCW Tuning Kit as well and am also looking to switch to the Alta Tune. I hope it was just a mistake from somewhere and you will find the improvements you were looking for soon!

 

I was happy with the JCW tune, but was looking for another bump in performance.
I am hoping for a fix as well. Otherwise the other features are nice, but for me, not worth keeping the device. Hopefully, there is someone else with a JCW tune, who has a successful result.

 

This is because most of the RMW tunes are more like Alta's stage 2-3 maps. There is nothing special about it, it's just more aggressive. The car can have the rev limit changed, boost raised, timing and A/Fr altered with out any change to hard parts. The graph I posted shows this.

The reason Alta recommends certain parts is because for a given stage certain parts help make the most of the tune while keeping it as safe as a canned tune can be.

With tuning, especially remote tuning more comes into play then just how much power can be squeezed out. Alta has to look out for their reputation and the reputation of Cobb so the standard maps need to be some what conservative. Nice thing is there are like 15 maps available loaded on the AP from the start. They have some what done 90% of the work needed to create a map for most of the common parts used and pump fuels available. The last 10% of fine tuning is intended for shops with pro tune software to do with the car actually on the dyno to match it better to the actual car and to get a little more power out of it safely.

I have seen both Alta and Cobb provide more aggressive remote tunes to owners on a more individual basis, but it is always a best case scenario to have the car on the dyno when this happens and to really install parts the car should have for a given power level.

 

Thanks mike. I was just saying that because I didn't want anyone to think I was giving bad advice on getting the tune. The gains on your dyno sheet would definitely be noticeable though but I see it was on a stage 2 map.

 

Hi Mike, I noticed the same thing. Stage 2 on you chart. I spoke with Chris at Alta, and he recommended loading the non-tps map and give that a try.

I will do that, and give it a couple of days to see what I think.

 

What is non-TPS anyways?

 

I believe it's a more linear map for the accelerator.

 

I have been running the non-tps map for two days now. Much better. I can feel the car pull as it accelerates. Thinking back on the money I have invested so far, If I were to do it again, I would skip the JCW tune, and Get a AccessPort and a Borla exaust.