Hey guys, just ordered my 42mm jmturbocooper turbo along with a catless resonated 2.5" dp and downpipe back system from CNT, and an intake system.

looking to continue upgrading, but need help with what next.

obviously a tune will be the biggest help, but NM seems like crap, RMW seems iffy, evolve is out of the game and PAW is too far from me. (live in philly, PA area). any suggestions? loving the prospect from Manic Tuning in UK.

Second, besides a tune, water/meth or a new fmic? which will be more beneficial and why? (water meth from howerton, fmic from helix)

car is for street driving and is rarely beat on. has 109,000k on it. not looking to track/autoX or to drag, just to have some fun opening it up once in a while.

already got a rear swaybar coming and a torque arm bushing, too. for now see how that helps with suspension mostly looking towards power wise would love to see about 225whp but know thats going to be a bit tricky even including the larger turbo

 

Bigger brakes!

 

If you are upgrading to a bigger turbo, you won't see a lot of the benefits without upgrading your inter cooler, exhaust and a new tune. You're then bordering on bigger engine upgrades to keep up. Don't expect too much past 240-250 before tranny issues ensue.

 

im looking for low two hundreds the wheels but nice and safely. bigger turbo = more flow, less pressure necessary yadda yadda.

so you would go intercooler over water meth kit then?

tune is for sure next just dont know anywhere who does good tunes for r56's anymore except for a few long road trips haha

talked to the guys from JMturbocopers and they recommend running a new fmic with the turbo but they said for street apps its not necessary since the main problem with the factory IC is heat soak not really poor flow. but im not sure as im from the turbo diesel and subaru worlds not quite knowledgable with minis yet : )

 

Helix is in the Philly area, I would call them and see if they can help with a tune. I bought a FMIC, and they were helpful. What year car is it?

Do the NM engine mount and get good tires, you will need them for traction. Then other maintenance stuff (turbo oil line, timing chain).

There are some people that say that the meth injection will help with reducing carbon buildup, but I don't know this personally. BTW, you should get carbon cleaned before you go much further.

Have fun,
Mike

 

Thanks mike! I talked to Helix, they use RMW tunes which i see a lot of positive but seems about equal negative. I guess if i go on one of their dyno days then it will have to be a decent tune haha

walnut shell blasting theyre runnning a special on for $350, doesnt seem too unreasonable to me. timing chain was done about 30k ago and turbo oil line is on its way with the turbo car is a 2007 6spd already seafoamed about 4 times seems to clean out SOME crap dunno how much, also fresh oil in engine and trans (cant buy a car and trust the oil it comes with now can we!) and fresh set of plugs running well, getting about 32mpg around town with minimal highway. know thats gonna change verrrry soon haha

 

Mines an 09 JCW with 104,000 miles. Had Helix walnut blast it at the Dragon. Well worth it. Added the JMturbocooper 42mm and 3" catless DP this summer.

You will be happy with the performance. I can push 18+PSI regulary in 5th gear. Mines plenty fast. No tune for me. Still running the stock IC. However, it is not the original as it was oil soaked from the blown turbo. Picked up a low mile used one.

Since it is a high mile car I don't want to push it to the point of failing the motor and don't feel like adding new parts just so I can get a few more HP.

Its a daily driver have no plans to track it.

PS get ready for throwing P codes for no cat. I have since the day I added that DP. Ive been trying all kinds of fixes to no avail.

 

RMW or bust. Jan is easily the best tuner for our cars. My 250 whp r53 has been perfect... simply call jan, ask his opinions, ask him what he thinks is best. RMW parts and tune usually has the best synergistic effect to our cars.

Don't toss a bunch of random parts on your car and the drive it around and then ask him to tune it, because who knows what the hell is broken with your sh*t and a month down the line when it finally fubars blame it on a crap tune.

 

It's too late for this but I would have found a tuning solution before getting those upgrades. It's tough to find a decent tune on the back-end of things. NM isn't crap. Everyone that has a tune from them seems to love it and NM support and customer service is excellent.

As for meth kits: they keep the valves clean but they won't clean the valves (if that makes sense); so whatever carbon build up you do have it will need to be blasted. I would do better brake rotors, SS lines, and better pads, torque arm insert from NM, and sticky tires. Removing some weight from the car will will go a long way too. I would get a lighter flywheel and better clutch so when the OEM one goes out from the extra power you have that replacement ready.

Like the others have said on here, get maintenance items ready.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the help! Tires are brand new pirellis so that's taken care of. The dual mass flywheels can't handle the added power? I've read the stock clutch usually can handle it I had no idea the flywheel couldn't.

Brakes will be done soon as the fresh set on there are worn which judging by brake dust seems to be pretty soon lol.

So walnut shell blasting first then water meth to help keep valve clean and prevent detonation.

If 05r50 is good with stock Fmic which is what I've rear and heard I think I'll look into meth for additional cooling and octane bump.

Nm doesn't remove cat codes which bums me out, what about an access port with custom tune?

 

W/M injection before FMIC, it will negate the need (somewhat) for a new intercooler at least for the time being, not only will it lower charge air temps but help prevent carbon buildup (a known issue on these engines) prevent detonation and allow a better tune with more aggressive timing map and MOAR boost on pump gas

 

W/m it is. I'm waiting for these parts eager to see what breaks lol

Thanks for all the help guys , much appreciated and much needed motor on

 

I've been considering a similar path, but I'm concerned how the stock engine will handle the increased boost... Will the internal engine parts need upgrading? new head, cams, smaller pistons? I'm afraid bolting on a 42mm turbo, when stock is 37mm, might throw the engine out of balance. Either way, it could become a very expensive project. Probably my next.

 

throw the engine out of balance?

engine internals should be fine at a conservative boost level up to 20 MAX psi, then it seems pistons break. from that point if you wanted more boost, you could drop engine compression ration via dished pistons, thicker head gaskets with ARP studs, dished compression chambers, or all together! cam will change valve timing, not compression ratio.

call Arric at jmturbocoopers he was incredibly knowledgeable and seems there are a few cars running around with a 42mm stock internals, seems to come down the the post-turbo install tuning for engine safety (as well as maintenance and driving pattern of course )

i will post pics as soon as everything is installed and maybe some of the parts tonight as they all arrived tuesday woooo!

 

How am I not surprised someone didn't read the previous posts about lack of MINI tuning, but decided to go down the big power path? This is like a broken record playing a sad song.

 

I hope you are not referring to myself

 

I'm referring to ALL MINI R56 owners in North America who insist they'll be successful with big power on this platform. Unless you live in California next to Jan @ RMW, it's just not happening. It's really hard to watch. Especially with companies that offer big turbos and don't tell you how difficult finding proper custom ECU tuning is. Customer baiting at its best. What happens when your MINI isn't running right? It's not like you can take it to Dyno Dan down the street!!!!

Best bet other than California is to live in the U.K. where they've officially blasted the tuning doors of the R56 platform. Too bad it's not locally available.

Oldbrokenwind is one exception who did a GT28 kit, but that was when Cobb was still supporting the MINI tuning scene. Not anymore!

Stick and grip is where all the speed is at on the MINI. For those who want a tad more power, a simple canned tune from NM or Evolve is the most reliable option. I'm in no way trying to just be a troll. I am talking from experience

 

Completely understood and appreciate the helpful feedback.

Thankfully I live 45 minutes from helix who brings Jan in the times a year to do group dyno tunes, and I will be asking to keep psi 18-20 max.

Other than tune meth and sway bar and minor stuff it will stay as is, if it gives on me ill build it then

 

I would recommend 16-18psi max. At 20psi a guy on here blew his engine up. Be careful.

 

Ok then 17 - 18 it is and have Jan mainly tube timing and fuel curve for turbo. Yea I saw that I forget who out was running that gt28

 

Great post, very informative for us new to the Mini R56 N14/18 world. Thank you.

 

and you get this information where? Obviously a neophyte...

 

yes im new to mini, but from the perspective that anything but an NM canned tune is out of the question. not suck, but not quite an option considering my boost would most likely be cranked too high via a canned tune

 

Usually a "canned" tune isn't bad at all. They take a running average of values from custom tuned cars with all kinds of different mods, and then match up that tune with your application. The difference is they are tweaked conservatively... ie. boost is increased with reliability in mind and fuel maps are tweaked toward the rich side. Yes, getting a dyno tune is always best but the generic tunes out there give you great value for what you get. It's just the name that makes them sound bad.

 

just thinking it owuld be in cars best interest to have a dyno tune done, due to the different pressure, lag, fuel curves for the slightly larger turbo. i do know NM does offer canned tune for the larger turbos but im going to hold off on canned until it is my last option. not saying its bad, (ok maybe i did and i apologize :( ) but will be waiting for RMW to come through helix philly first option. thanks for all the help guys, lots of helpful info in here