I cannot seem to find a decisive answer to the question:
What is the best tune for my mini?

I have a 2010 R56 MCS.

I want a tune that I can do without having to swap out all the internals...so that will put me at about 210-220 hp comfortably.

I would like to know about tunes for all hp ranges, including those requiring internal modifications but as of now, I would like to do a tune which can provide 210-220, ceteris paribus.

 

Manic. Call a dealer. Tell them your mods if any and your done.

 

I 2nd Manic. You should be able to do a Stage I with no additional parts that'll get you near JCW levels if memory serves.

Stage II requires intake, intercooler, turbo back exhaust but gets you quite a bit more power.

 

Each tune will be car and mod dependent. Therefore the gains will be dependent on the condition of the engine/turbo and the mods on the car. So if you want a tune with out doing any mods that can be done. Typically that would be called a stage 1 tune for marketing purposes. Then as you add mods later the tune can stay or be updated to change boost, timing and fuel to make the most of the mods you add. Each tuner has their own opinion on what works best and customers like or dislike each for their own reason. So there is no cut and dry answer on what is the best and what is worse as it will all be car by car basis.

We offer a few different tuning options that can be done by shipping your ECU to us or bringing your car to our shop in Atlanta, or meet up with us at a MINI event.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/perform...-cooper-s.html

Please feel free to contact us and we can pick what would be the best to meet your goals.

 

Yep, Manic Tunes.

 

I think it comes down to where you are if you have access to a dealer, if your willing to ship your ECU or flash yourself with a cable and emailed file and finally cost. Since there are a few members outside the US myself include the answer to these question quickly narrow down the choice.

 

The best would be a custom one developed with your particular car on a dyno, with an expert tweaking the engine management setup until the maximum performance has been extracted. Note that you'll want to run the same fuel you run daily--and if your area changes fuel blends from summer to winter, you may need to run each type and get a specific tune for that.

Doing the above would likely cost a really stupid amount of money, though.

Realistically, there is no single "best". There are always trade-offs.

 

Which season fuel is higher grade, Summer or Winter? Link to help me understand?

 

Summer for Areas that see below freezing in the winter time. Other places may not change the fuel blend since they do not see temps drop low enough to justify the change.

 

Neither one is "higher grade".

I'm tempted to post an "lmgtfy" link, but here's the first result from a Google search on "summer gas formulation":

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...ence-13747431/

They both should meet the same anti-knock ("octane") ratings and can have similar detergents and such. But they are different formulas, and they can burn slightly differently. So to get an absolute maximum tune, you'd need to run with the specific fuel that you tuned for. You might lose some tiny fraction of the power you are paying for by using a different type (or brand!!) of fuel--or if things are really tuned to the ragged edge there is some (slight) possibility of going over the edge and damaging something.

 

You can make it all a higher grade. Just gotta figure out the proper mix, buy some toluene, dress up like dr. Frankenstein and give it a whirl. Toluene is more readily available than MMT.
You can't do that every tank full. It costs to much.
Don't have a tune for that stuff. Your playing with fire. I was just being funny.

 

How do the tunes deal with engine knock? My mini is my DD and until I become rich and famous, its going to remain my DD. For obvious reasons I don't want to be stupid, and up with a lot of knock and then blow something. In addition, I hate losing power.

During the tune, how can something so complex as ignition timing be done correctly? how is eliminating knock done?

 

Has to do with amount of boost relative to timing advance at a given rpm and throttle location. While using a given octane rating fuel. Just can't change or adjust it. It's in the tune.
Go with manic and you won't have an issue. They were so close on my car right from the start it wasn't funny. And my car is an extremely modified car.

 

Manic as far as I know richens the AFR with their tunes, low AFR can cause a lean condition causing knocking and or detention which really isn't good for the engine. Mainly pistons and connecting rod won't put up with it for too long. Manic richens up the AFR a little to keep things cooler. I have a problem with detonation/knocking when it gets 85F+ with very low humidity conditions, but not with high heat and high humidity. High humidity has water vapor in it that has a cooling affect, similar to water/meth injection which lowers intake and cylinder temperatures. I recommend W/M injection in conjuntion with a tune. These Mini's run too lean from the factory as it is causing high cylinder temperatures, then on top of that you have carbon deposits forming on (N14 engines) the intake valves causing even more problems.

 

Right right, to both above, thank you, that all makes sense. This tuning is becoming more and more complex, now W/M injection kit may be a requirement. Better do it right if we're going to do it at all.

What can I expect stock internals being able to handle power-wise? I talked to the omnipotent staff at Pep-boys and he said my pistons and rods are forged... I'll take what they have to say with a grain of salt and a lot of verification.

 

Your pistons and rods aren't forged quite the same as forged aluminum aftermarket parts, rods are powder forged, don't confuse this with forged parts. The pistons are the weakest link! If our Mini's did have heat treated forged aluminum pistons everybody would be going for tunes with higher boost levels.

Link Here

 

To clarify...Low AFR is rich and high AFR is lean

 

I thought that read weird...

 

I ran stock internals for about 3 years with 282WHP --- no problems. Used it as a "daily driver" and seldom used my 25+ PSI boost --- minimal track time, 40+ MPG and maybe 1k miles per month.

With a goal of <250WHP, don't worry about internals.

 

40+mpg!? You must have been pretty easy on the throttle!

 

Living in the boondocks, good hiways, speed-trap or two, minimal in-town driving, and strong desire to remain ticketless. And, it's a "sleeper" --- don't like to attract attention.

 

My bad, this is what happens when you forget a pot of coffee early in the morning.

Yeah at 55 miles an hour maybe.

 

That's outstanding. If anyone else would like to second that I always appreciate a second opinion.

I was worried that doing some of these modifications would kill my MPG. Although it doesn't matter to me, it's still awesome when I don't try and still get 33 to the gallon. So it's nice to know that won't go down the drain.

I autocross which is hard on the car but I can't imagine that will really put significantly more strain on the internals.

 

Remember the only time you start losing MPG is when boost is being generated so if you're coasting down a highway or freeway your MPG should be pretty good until you go into boost, more boost less MPG.

 

You can get 50 MPG at 55 MPH on level ground.