I was wondering something i discuss quite alot with friends: 0-120 mph or 0-200 km/h times.
Since 0-60 relies mainly on skill and 0-120 really shows how much power something has.

I know a stock R53 JCW/GP does approximately 28-29 secs to 200 km/h or 120 mph.
The R56 GP should do a bit faster than 25 secs, which is what most of the 2.0T engines on the market do in that area: Renault Megane RS, Golf 6/7 GTI, Audi S1, etc.

Is it easy to get the R53's power to sub 25 sec territory?
Has someone ever measured their times, since i can find literally nothing about it, i'm curious to how the Tritec engine responds to the usual mods (pulley, cams) and how it affects times.

I think this is a pretty good way (apart from 1/4 mile time) to tell if one is realistically faster than the other, it takes everything in the equation: horsepower, torque, weight, gearing, etc.

I know i've beaten a Golf 6 GTI DSG once in a straight line, so my time should be very similar, if not faster...
I'm just curious to others opinions

 

Re-post your question in MPH and we will help you out

Murica

 

You're right, my sleepy Euro head didn't realize most of the readers are using the imperial system, stupid me 😜
(Corrected it!)

 

Probably not many people here that have ever tested that. Most don't even do dragstrip stuff with a MINI. That being said yes plenty of mods to add power to the R53 out there with lots of cars in the 250-275 HP range and some well over 300HP.. Just depends on how much money you want to spend..

 

If you ask me, it's the imperial system that's stupid

 

It is a shame we were to stubborn as a people to make the full switch over in the mid 70's

 

Superchargers are inherently at a disadvantage when it comes to quarter mile times due to the way they produce boost (directly proportional to engine rpm). When an supercharged R53 is at 4500rpm, it's making 1/2 or so of the 11psi or whatever the R56 is...a supercharged R53 doesn't make it's peak psi until redline, and it's not sustained for any significant length of time. That's how the R56 is that much faster--it's making 11lbs at like 3500rpm (or whatever the rpm those turbos spool up, idk).

If you're after quarter mile times in your R53...I'd honestly seek elsewhere. You'll be spending crazy money to make an R53 seriously competitive..

R53's are incredible autocross and canyon cars, though. We R53 owners instead tend to bask in instant throttle response and delicious predictability.

 

lol trueeeee

 

Hmm, i cannot fully agree with you there.
Since the R53 has a positive displacement blower, it gives a pretty steady amount of boost from 3k to about redline (17% pulley on mine gives about 14-16 psi from 3k to redline), that's why the torque is so linear, right?

A friend of mine has a JCW R56 and it does approximately 14-15 psi (fully stock 200 hp car).

At the start he jumps, since he has 280nm at 3k rpm, but immediately after that, i start to pull away (his torque drops VERY fast, where mine stays linear).
This cannot be compared directly, since mine is lightly modded and his is stock.
When we were both stock, we were pretty much identical in terms of straight line performance and both cars were running 14 psi max (11% stock pulley for me).

I'm not after 1/4 mile time destroyers, there are just a couple of cars here in the Netherlands that are very popular with the youth (like the Golf's and Audi's) and i'd love to give them a hard time, since the Mini tuning scene here is so limited.
A fast Cooper is something really special over here!

 

Well said. Plus if you building a drag car it will never see 3500 RPM's it will be geared to be at high RPM's at all times as your going down track banging gears...

 

I have an R50 - I would have to measure that in miles not seconds... My guess would be around 3.5 miles. 0-100 about 45 seconds or so... the last 20 mph... that's that hard part. ;-)

 

Hahaha miles, you get the comment-of-the-day-award as far as i'm concerned
The R50's are definitely not slow for a 1.6 N/A, i think.

 

As with any boosted application PSI is a measure of resistance to flow..... if you put a restrictor in you loose flow and power but your psi will go up faster and higher, so porting and cams and valve work will take better advantage of boost giving more power without needing more psi think flow and remember exhaust and intake work together. turbos can continue to increase flow to some extent while chargers are fixed volume to rpm but you can change pulley size or charger size. next where do you want your torque and peak hp, my hondas made great hp but at high rpms and not as much torque so great for track days but really hard to use off the line and only ok mid torque, it could be done but shredding a gearbox was easy.

 

Exactly, IMHO it's better to optimize what you have (port, polish and cams, even though it's more expensive) > increase flow + reduce boost + keep heat to a minimum.
This is better than just ramming up that boost like 95% of the 'tuners' do with turbo'd cars, just to get numbers that sell their 'racechips'...

It's just a shame the R53 has more parasitic loss (fixed charger) than an R56.
I honestly think the engine flows very well (really unlocks potential with cam and headwork), but i think an electric supercharger (i'm talking a real one, not eBay!) + electric waterpump would give some nice gains :D

 

I made a similar thread about a month ago asking what the 0-60 time was and all I got was a bunch of blubberish, no one knows how fast these cars really are because now one seems to really test them after mods for some reason.

You will not get a clear answer on this forum

 

Because nobody uses R53's in drag racing applications!!! The R53 is a dying breed...most of them in unimaginable states of disrepair--some maintained well, lightly modified, and driven conservatively--and the rest are track toys!

You might be able to run a forum search on some drag times from back in the day, though.

But I mean, come on...a stock Civic SI will beat a MINI on the drag strip. MINI's aren't about that. IMHO the best time you'll ever have in a MINI is in the canyon....you haven't lived until you've felt how predictably these cars dance

 

This is why a properly sized turbo produces better results on r53's. Pick a turbo that still spools up to 10psi by 2,500rpm and can run 16-18psi out to redline with at least 27lb/min airflow and it will be a torque monster with a linear power curve that the stock charger guys love so much.

The factory eaton will hit its pressure potential by 4500rpm, but everything after that is pure heat and most of the time only 45% output efficiency at best. Making the engine flow better will lower boost and heat slightly with the eaton, but it's still going to hit a point of diminishing returns after a while.

 

I found out over the year tuning that as long as the head is sealed well I've found it to be a bit safer to run a little bit more boost (if the compressor supports it and still maintains an efficient pressure charge) with less timing to increase dynamic compression than it is to run less boost with more timing. Obviously there is a fine line that you want to leave a margin of error for, but that's probably why you see higher boost numbers from shops.

 

I think the 1320 shop in the uk built a nice all out Drag 53 and I think the challenge is what this all about, set a goal and see if you can do it. I spent 20 years on civics and Minis have more in them but civics have/had crazy support. Gen 1s are for me the truest minis I only stick with 56 because the turbo DI is new to me and the bigger challenge. Its also more fun if there is no direct route,,,, you have to take any set back as yet more fun???? not that throwing some stuff doesnt happen, and building Power is only the first step and not the hardest I found gearboxes to be my limit and getting the power down the way I want the second and reliability ect.

PSI and boost tuning for lower displacement engines will always use a bit more PSI (relative) but as you go for more power you simply must reduce the resistance in the pathway or you arent going as far as you can, Heat/Entropy/Turbulence. Flow is not static nor steady its pulsed and you need to think in terms of fluid, there are enough variables to boost that there are always several ways to keep going at it, it just also gets hard to keep it all working together

I hope you do decide to go for it, I might start at the wheels, lightest smallest grippiest for the max rpm you are willing to run and target top speed? lighten the car a bit? then add power

 

Yes, i already installed new wheels (6,5kg) and a good set of tires, this transformed the way the car drives!
Weight reduction is very nice, but apart from the wheels and seats, i think the next step will be rather expensive..

Turbo conversion is something i wouldn't realistically see myself do, since i have a ton of other stuff that has priority (financially speaking lol), maybe later..

I would like a 250hp Cooper with it's supercharger character.
My next car will have a 95% chance of being turbo'd, since superchargers are dying and ultimately turbo is the way to go..

 

If you only want 250 HP that can be done with a cam, Head, Header, and a tune... Granted that's about $3500-$4500 depending on labor etc...

 

Wouldn't you need a full header-back, intake, a reduced S/C pulley, colder plugs, better coils, and better injectors, in addition to the cam, heads, and header to make 250 whp?

And at that power, woudn't it be smart to get race axles and clutch/flywheel too?

And if you take those few steps towards reliably putting that power on the road, I feel like I would personally consider adding a better intercooler diverter, possibly water-methanol injection, or a better intercooler altogether? Oh yeah, and you'd need to stop quicker, so brakes too.

And then you would start consider "driveability" mods, like better motor/trans mounts, a short shifter, LCA/steering bushings, stainless brake lines and nice brake bushings, sway bars....I feel like an actually good 250HP MINI costs waaaay more than $4k in mods. The MINI pit is deep enough in the first place if you start getting into modifying them, I feel like once you start thinking of big power numbers, the "goal" becomes hard to determine. And remember that none of the money you spend on modifications will ever really improve the resale value of your MINI...so I wouldn't put that kind of power into my MINI unless I knew I was keeping it forever...just my $0.02.

I could spend $4k in suspension and brakes alone, lol. My "slow" stock R53 motor is enough to propel me down my favorite AZ canyon road faster than my buddy's lightly modified 2016 EcoBoost Mustang, so I'm happy.

 

I really don't understand why these dumb racing questions keep popping up. If you want a cheap vehicle that's fast in a straight line, get a foxbody mustang or a motorcycle. trying to make a mini a straightline rocket is to completely miss the point about these cars.

If you want to dragrace a FWD car, go pick up an early 90's civic and go drop a K24 in it. it'll kill a mini any day. These cars are just too finnicky and too expensive to modify "on a budget".

250whp with the blower is going to be an extremely unhappy 1.6l engine outside of a track.

 

Yes, you will need some other mods. I was guessing anyone with a R53 wanting more power had already done the basics of pulley, cat back, CAI, plugs. Can,t really get into the axles, LSD, better clutch etc. Sure while those would be nice there are lots of Minis running around without them. You will need bigger injectors. If done properly, 250-300 HP SC MINI is very Streetable. I was just speaking on how to get 250+ HP, what you do with it, and how long it lasts is on you.
Cam- $400
Head- $2400
Header$800
Tune -$350
Injectors- I don't know
Free labor from you and your there.

 

Wow, i quess i'm starting quite a discussion here, just to clarify some things:
- i'm talking 250 crank hp, i already have quite some parts fitted in the meantime and my next mod will bring me to my goal, no head needed, just a catcam, 550's and a good tune..
(And obviously the right bolt-ons)
- i already have a litre bike, i just drive 95% of my time in the car and i friggin' hate Honda's, because of their torque (or lack of), driving one of those things is really what i don't want.
- a 'murican car like a foxbody is no option, because on this side of the pond, we pay a lot of taxes for cars that create more co2, big block v8's are pretty much out of the question..
- my original question was about times and how they compare to others, not about how i make my car the fastest on the street, because i know it will be a moneypit and just plain stupid.
If i wanted to be the fastest on the street, i'd just pick my bike, no car will ever beat 7 secs to 120 mph...

I was really just wondering if an R53 could keep up with cars like the Golf GTI, Audi S3, Mazdaspeed 3, Focus ST, R32, 130i, Megane RS and pretty much every car around 200-250hp.

I'm interested in experiences 😊