Hi, I have recently installed a 2011 JCW motor into my 2007 MCS, and have sent my turbo off for a hybrid rebuild from JMTC (I haven't decided what level to have it built to yet)

I am planning to stick with OEM intercooler for now, and adding water / methanol in order to keep things from getting out of hand.

Which brand injection system do you recommend, and what level of boost is considered safe for the stock JCW motor with w/m injection?

 

So who is tuning this after? Hope you have that figured out already!

 

I haven't settled on anyone yet. Was thinking about doing an accessport first. Care to make a recommendation?

 

Right now, there are two clear options for meth (and maybe some others that I don't know about):
1) Jan and RMW. Recommended by Howerton and the best MINI tuner/builder.
2) Don't tune to the meth, use it primarily for it's cooling properties, and allow the ECU to adapt timing slightly. Less power, but very safe.

Is anyone else tuning for meth now? Presumably others could, but I doubt anyone else has nearly the experience of RMW.

 

when i ran it on my last project i had a devil's own kit, worked awesome. i initially was using their controller, which was easy to use and set up. they do make a kit for the mini, i just checked. they're really helpful too if you have any questions.

for a street car do as rhygin stated, and do not tune for meth injection. you do not want a daily driver dependent on it as you never know if an injector might fail or you forget to check your tank and run dry, or even if you run out of your blend and have to use washer fluid or something in a pinch, it could cost you your motor. not a good idea. meth is not a power adder, that's not it's job, it just happens to be a happy by-product.

 

Its amazing how many people are so quick to upgrade their turbo and have no clue what they are going to do for tuning.

I doubt Jan will tune it, but you can try.

 

BrenTuning said they would tune for turbo or water/meth/turbo. Dont know how close you are to them, also NM does tunes for the turbos from JMTC

 

It's not exactly a DD really. I actually bike most days or take transit, but I do want a reliable car!

I would like to get a tuning solution that has an ability to be adjusted on the fly, sort of like the accessport, or something that will change settings based on the sport button.

 

Nothing will change the tune with the sport button.

 

yeah that's not going to happen. if you are going to use this as a street car, it needs a conservative tune on it. if you lean spool the crap out of it, make it dependent on meth injection, run it lean or anything else to get the most power out of it, you run the risk of blowing the motor. on a track car this is often acceptable (gotta pay to play!) but on a street car it's not advisable.

i have yet to hear of any aftermarket kit that makes it that easy to switch your tune. the easiest i ever had on a car was running a dtec, and even with that i still had to load the tune through a gameboy although it took less than a minute to do. was not on the fly though. the best you'll really get is using a dual stage boost controller, but that won't change your maps for timing, fuel, etc so you still will be limited.

 

http://www.sctflash.com/products.php?PID=31

It's for a different platform, but I ran one of these in a street car that had nitrous and it was slick. I had a tune for economy, a tune for 92 octane performance, plus 92/100 octane nitrous tunes, and could flip through them with a little dial mounted on the dash.

Anything is possible if you throw enough $$ at it. I seem to recall one of the prominent Mini tuners doing something like that with the sport button.

 

Bite the bullet and go stand alone if its not a daily. Canned tunes wont ever be "right"

 

I bought an accessport, I will see what happens with the stock 'S' tune and also the AP canned tunes. If dissatisfied, it shouldn't be hard to sell and do a custom.

 

Just found this thread and I am interested in seeing how your project turns out. I see you have bought your access port already but just for FYI, I read that unichip has a new piggy back controller out that you might be find suitable for what you are trying to accomplish. It allows multiple tunes (up to 5) that can be accessed at the flip of a switch. It looks like it will work with failsafes as well allow for water/meth control using boost, MAF, IDC, etc. The only thing that is concerning is the bad reputation they have with Mini customers. Whether this new model fixes all ills is still unknown but it looks promising from my point of view.

http://www.unichip.us/105-the-difference
http://www.unichip.us/102-why-unichip
http://www.unichip.us/273-project-r56

 

i wouldnt advise a UNI anything... chip, eyebrow or ********.

best bet is a custom/dyno tune dodgy, youre going to need it for that turbo and to get proper tuning of your meth inj

 

Thumper is right, better wait for tuning options before you go to far. Trust me, it'll turn into a nightmare. unless you ship your car to a vipec dealer and has a stand alone system installed for about $3,287.22. installed and dyno tuned price of course

 

Just out of curiosity, has any one actually had hands on experience with uni chip systems on the mini coopers ? I don't work for them, but always hear how bad they are but when I ask if they've used it before they say no. so I am curious why they negativeness about them.

 

No experience here, but I'm not a huge fan of piggyback stuff unless were talking common rail diesels then you're SET

 

People probably comment only because of the he said/ she said, with no actual experience on their part. That's all to common on this forum.

But there are horror stories of R53 engines blowing up because of the Unichip.
All the accounts are probably buried in the 1st gen section.

Because of this, piggybacks raise eyebrows when brought up.

Remember that racechip a few months back?
Then BMS comes out with a piggyback that actually works.

The Unichip that outmotoring is selling for the R56, I have no experience with. But what I do know is Aaron doesn't sell bad quality stuff on his site. I'm sure he could answer any questions you may have about it!

 

Just thinking aloud here if you have a larger turbo and water meth why.would a canned time or uni chip even be an option? That vehicle with have completely different air fuel ratios than anything with stock turbo.

Edit: absolutely do not mean to come off rude, im truly curious as to if a unichip or something such as an accessport would help, or simply overfuel the car to the point of canned tune power being about the same? i know my untuned S42HP R56S is dumping fuel (evident from the black puffs it leaves after idle at any stop and the soot covering my rear hatch, as well as my cruising MPG dropping 2-3mpg... with i had an A/F) with the stock ecu, but have a feeling if i hadnt used the substrate filled 90 degree test plug for my lower O2 sensor it would be vastly leaned out

 

 

Aside from the meth, I'm curious to know how the car will run with the stock S ECU with the JCW engine. I would really like to know configured with a stock JCW turbo, but.... I've been told that a JCW motor with a Stock S or even JCW tuned S ECU may not be a good idea for drivability, fuel consumption, etc. with a JCW engine. I thought that might be a good swap when mine dies which is the basis for my question.

 

I looked into getting jcw cams. Researched the specs. They appeared to be the same so I'm told. Can't imagine them using a totally different head. Compression can't be much higher. The s motor is already 10.5:1. That being said. The only significant difference to gain HP would be in the turbo itself and the tune itself. IMO I really don't see any gain from using the jcw engine. Gotta look at the actual in specs in detail to see if there would be any gain. According to ottos mini they use the same p/n cam.

 

Lower compression pistons I believe. Don't know what else. HP difference has to come from somewhere. I haven't done my homework on it since I hope I'm still a ways out from taking action!

 

Lower compression would make sense so they can push more air in it. I do know they make a .090 and a .120 head gasket. By vin number mine should be .090. I chose .120 since I wanted more boost from a future tune. HP is a direct result of how much air can be stuff in it. Lower compression would allow more timing hence more power. GOOD CALL MIKEWITHAMINI !!