So about two months ago I purchased my beautiful Mini cooper JCW; she is a stunning 2006 pepper white! I had felt from the very start that there was something holding back the performance. I had driven other r53 JCW's in the search of my current baby...so here is what it was!

I placed an order for quite a lot of parts, pretty much replacing everything that can wear and tear on the car. But my first install of the order was my ignition parts. This included kingsborne fire wires, screamin demon coil pack and brisk LGS premium plugs.

After I had removed the plugs that were in the car and inspected the plugs and the serial number; I discovered that the previous owner had replaced the spark plugs and the plug wires with stock cooper items..... I was pretty shocked.. I mean literally I triple checked the numbers online and was just shocked someone would have done that...

Well let me tell you...the difference when driving the car was INSANE. if you had taken my MINI and done this to it..given it back and let me drive it..I would say you had RMW do the ECU or something...it was crazy! First and second gear never pulled this hard..they felt sluggish and I always wanted to get away from them as soon as possible.

Everyone says that " plugs and wires can't make horsepower" Which is true, they CANNOT make horsepower that isn't there. But what is true is if your car does not have the proper ignition system for what IS THERE...then you are missing out!


So...long story short I AM HAPPY!

 

I wouldn't necessarily blame it on the stock nature of the ignition system..probably more likely just needed replacing. Do you know for sure the previous owner replaced the wires and plugs with OEM or is it more likely they never replaced them at all?

 

+1 to what Kahnfucious said, it's likely those were the plugs and wires that came with the car. my R50 had 106K on it when i bought it and i'm positive my wires and plugs were probably never changed based on their condition.

 

im actually positive that they were replaced, it was in the maintenance history of the vehicle. Also JCW comes with Blue ignition wires and these were black on top of that the plugs that were in it were not the JCW NGK plugs or the non JCW NGK match plugs. These were normal heat range plugs. The ignition system was serviced about 9 months ago according to Northwest Mini... So yes I am positive of everything I have said.

What is more likely is that the shop that did the work did not have the JCW wires or plugs and the previous owner did not care so they put in stock..

oh..and I forgot to mention all of the plugs were in great condition, non had discoloration at the base or anything...soo that is how I came to my conclusion.

 

JCW's do not have blue plug wires. There are no special JCW plug wires. They're black and they are the same ones that are on the regular S. The plugs ARE different, as you already know. JCW's DO have blue fuel injector connectors. Maybe that's where you're confused. You may have had the wrong plugs, but that's still not enough to make a noticeable difference in power. 1 heat range just helps with the possibility of detonation. It doesn't increase horsepower. Something else was wrong, maybe your stock coil.

 

Ah that was it, the blue injectors yes!, but yes it was the wrong plugs. I would be very surprised if the coil bad..it all was corrosion free and seemed pretty darn good condition..I kept everything but the plugs so I could really check them out.

None the less..like I said..wires plugs and coils DO NOT MAKE HORSEPOWER...as I stated above..

But there is a difference in performance of the vehicle at different RPMS having the proper range plugs...

Who knows maybe the coil was bad but...now its brand new and its a huge difference.

 

you could try putting parts back on the car like just the old coil with the new wires and plugs on or swapping each part out individually to figure out which one it really was. Would be kind of a cool experiment

 

I was kind of thinking the same thing! That was my idea when I kept the old coil pack and wires! maybe after my next project this saturday, If I do I will for sure re post about what it ended up being.

I am not trying to bolster some specific product or anything, was just sharing my joy of having such a change in throttle response, smoothness and feel. Really put a smile on me face

 

Why experiment at this point? You probably had a marginal coil or a bad wire.

Go out an motor. Enjoy the road!

///Me

 

I mean it doesn't really matter, I just think it would be interesting to find out exactly what the problem was, especially since it's such an easy experiment to do.

 

I have really been enjoying the motoring! There is a great road near where I live that is just twisty turny for miles, with a few LONG straights through farm land..OH man has it been fun these last few days!

but now my Mini is riddled with dead bugs >< and I just washed her..

 

haha when I got my JCW a few months ago, the spark plugs failed on me after having the car maybe a month.. ended up replacing the wires (which were still dated from 2003 o.O) and plugs and everything felt MUCH better.

However, I'm running some interim spark plugs (Autolites..bleh) until I get the NGKs that just arrived installed. I have had some issues with the occasional stutter at idle like my car is about to stall out (which seems pretty) common and I'm wondering if the spark plugs are the cause. I guess we'll see soon! :P

 

Imo-

I would think it does have to do with the plugs, My first gear felt a lot like that before I changed them. I would have put in NGK but I have NGk in another sports car of mine so I thought I would try out Brisk for myself. There has to be a reason companies like ford using them in their special gt500 and boss 302 mustang models? right? Either way I am happy. Tell us how yours turn out!

Oh and about the colder range.. Ya it comes down to the fact that they reduce the change of pre detonation in the cylinder chamber. Basically pre- det damages your engine; and in forced induction engines its more likely because of the heat generated and the pressure. I can't say your car is studdering because of the heat range. But I can say the proper plugs for a JCW are colder heat range NGK. I hope it does fix the studder though! Wouldn't that be sweet?

 

I developed a missfire within 2K miles after installing a screamin Deamon coil & Crane wires. The misfire happened the day I was getting a RMW tune so Jan recommended I replace the aftermarket products with stock equipment. I only replaced the stock wires and the misfire was gone.

 

Oh don't get me wrong I think the stock coil pack and wires are fine, I replaced them with different wires and coil pack because of a package deal. It was more cost effective. And of course good reviews of the products.

>< I wonder if you had a faulty wire.. Luckily the more expensive part ( the coil pack) I beleive screamin demon has a 1 year warrenty?

 

I agree what these guys all say. They were probably just really worn out. You shouldn't notice much different between brand new stock components, and brand new aftermarket ignition components.

 

And I agree, I probably would have noticed the exact same difference if I replaced it all with the right stock items for the model and the right plugs.

No one here is arguing that an aftermarket product is out performing a stock one..I don't know why people think I am...

I was just sharing my experience of how changing my ignition system did have a huge difference. yes my car had normal plugs in it and it shouldn't have. and Yes the ignition system was replaced about 30k miles ago..But when it was something was off and it no longer is!

I am not trying to play the who is right and wrong game

just trying to share a great experience I had

 

I also just bought an 06 Dinan MCS pepper white last Friday and drove it from Louisiana back home to New Jersey. I'm completely new to the MINI world but have some experience with forced induction engines.

What I've seen in some plug wires even with just 40k miles is that under boost sometimes the spark will go right through the plug boot into the head rather than through the spark plug. This will leave a tiny pinhole in the boot surrounded by a scorch mark. Car will drive completely normal until you get into boost and then start breaking up as one or more plugs only intermittently get spark. Not saying this was your problem but should not be too hard to check. Old plugs with wide gaps can also force the spark through the wire boots rather than the plugs.

 

O.O that sounds like a terrible problem to have...I hope not. But I don't think it is that extreme. I will have to check some time though just for the purpose of being thorough. I am pretty darn sure something was just worn out + the wrong plugs made for a not so great set.

This came to mind what would be a more fun experiment is to take a car with a 15-17% pulley and put normal plugs in it see the difference they make back to back..I may have to do this myself just out of being bored some sunday or something!

 

Oh I forgot to mention!!!

Grats on the new Mini cooper! Hope it puts a smile on your face every day!

 

Thanks! I figure if there was going to be any problems I'd find out on the drive back and none so far. Made side trips to Tail of the Dragon and Skyline Drive on the way back, neither of which I've driven before.