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So been giving the build a lot of thought of my R53 and am starting to come to a conclusion on how it should go. Looking at some experienced input on the plan. What I'm after... torque, torque in the 2-5000~5500 range. I'm not a top end redliner type of driver, more of a smiles from torque driver.
Here is how I plan to get it...
To start, it already has a 15% pulley which does fine but, a 17% or 19% would do better down low since its spinning up faster. I'm leaning towards the Alta 17% pulley mainly for its design. It also has a Dinan intake setup using the OEM intake tube. That tube sucks and will get the boot for a silicon version (probably an Alta as well since they have them and can order it the same time as the pulley). Fuel rail wrap, not a big change there but what it does is prevent the fuel rail from getting heat soaked which in turn will transfer the heat into the fuel under low use conditions. I know from experience that the cold fuel will keep the timing from getting pulled on knock sensor equipped motors so this is a weak attempt to keep the fuel temps from warming up much. The better solution is to add in the fuel cooler. I have ideas on how to get that done so it is done in a safe manor but will take some engineering to pull it off, then along with testing & data logging.. Then there is the header. Already bought it used and it should arrive tomorrow. I know from experience part throttle torque will drop , how much, time will tell. Once it is installed though I have a way to potentially bring back some of that lost part throttle torque, again this coming from experience. Inter-cooler... looking at an Airtec for its heat dissipation performance under the worst conditions.
That right there should prove to be a good change to how it drives. Enough to meet the goal? Time will tell. And then there is the tuning... I want to learn how to tune a gas motor. I already know diesels from doing my own truck and am excited to dive into the gasser. I will say up front that I'm a tweeker... nothing ever stays stock until I am happy with how it runs. What I like about the R53 is the support & history... tons of it. Anything that could be needed or addressed has. Google is an R53's owners best friend.
As I understand it, the cams & heads will build great HP but not sure about the torque & not sure if I'd need it or not. If I were to throw out a torque number, 200 between 2-5k would be great. I will have to go back to the dyno page and look at the various setups to see what gets to that 200 number. For all I know that may be way more than enough.
Sounds like a good plan. In having similar goals in mind, here’s some info I’ve come up with in my research.
17% would be good for lower torque, but 19% is probably too far due to heat. Of course, if you’re only going to wind it out to around 5,500, 19% might be ok. Keep in mind, if you go with an ATI crank pulley they are +.8% for “stock” or +2% so you’ll be adding a little more boost and heat there. Not sure what octane is available in your area, but it’s 91 around here which doesn’t help.
Intercoolers can be a controversial subject. The GP and stock intercoolers are supposed to recover from heat soak the fastest of them all. Some swear by an aftermarket intercooler, and some say it’s better to save your money and stay stock if you dont already have a GP intercooler.
Which header did you purchase? A 4-2-1 is suppposed to be better on the low end, but I’ve also read the RMW shorty was one of the best overall.
I’m still trying to get some good info on heads. Most things I’ve read say big valves = less torque down low, but I think Jan from RMW said his big valve head isn’t bad for the low end because the torque curve mostly dictated by the cam grind.
In speaking with someone who modifies MINI’s in the UK, he said all 1st gens use the same cam, including the MINI One, and an aftermarket cam will make a noticeable difference even with a stock head. I’ve been trying to decide between a CatCams 461 or an RMW or Newman street cam.
For the ignition system, stock/oem coils and wires seem to be preferred, even on big builds.
Hopefully the responses you get from this thread will help clear up some of my questions too.
the 19% pulley and the additional heat that comes with it would just be another challenge to overcome. Since there is already a 15% pulley on there it might be one of the later changes to occur. I think to start the biggest bang for the buck is that fuel cooler. Its cheap, effective and a no-brianer for me. Here's a link to the post with the data I collected years back https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...-cooler-dyno-s 1.8t VW motor, stock with fuel wrap and before/after cooler on a 85~90* day in the bay area.
The data here on the Airtec site https://www.airtecmotorsport.com/pro...-cooper-s-r53/ It indicates that there is an ~30 HP/TQ loss due to heat soak issues. I find that kind of hard to believe its that much. Looking at their data they failed in one area... getting the inlet temps matched up from one cooler to the next. They should have heat soaked the motor each time they did a group of runs to bring the inlet temps to within say 5* at the start of their test for each cooler. As presented, the gap is 15-25* in some cases. But be that as it may, they did the work and presented the numbers.
.
Standard Intercooler – Peak power 204.9 bhp & 161.1 Ib/ft
Run 1 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 150 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 123 degree
Run 2 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 152 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 130 degree
Run 3 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 155 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 135 degree
Conclusion – the standard intercooler on a tuned Mini just doesn’t work, most owners know this, here’s the proof for other owners that didn’t know.
Competitors Intercooler 50mm core (Note, this version didn’t have Air diverter scoop) – Peak power 216.0 bhp & 171.4 Ib/ft
Run 1 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 124 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 66 degree
Run 2 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 131 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 67 degree
Run 3 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 140 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 89 degree
Conclusion – This intercooler worked much better than standard, but we feel the 50mm tube and fin core still couldn’t handle highly tuned Mini’s intake temps.
Run 1 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 130 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 44 degree
Run 2 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 137 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 47 degree
Run 3 -Temperature Into intercooler from charger 149 degree & Out of Intercooler into engine 49 degree
Conclusion – The Airtec 60mm bar and plate core works really well and keeps temps below 50 degree’s
Thinking about this... I bet a well designed diverter plate on the OEM cooler would yield some positive results. Enough to keep it? I dont know, would need to test it. As I write this and look at the diverter designs it brings some thoughts into how it can be improved. Probably pretty cheaply as well. I will make it, test it and see what it gives me... if its worth sharing I'll start a thread and present it to be used as needed.
The header I picked up is the RMW street, non-coated one... probably an early build one. Years back I had a 2000 Ram 4x4 CCSB with a 360 gas motor truck. ONe of the early on mods was to go to a dual out 3" exhaust setup mated to Gibson shorty headers. Headers were on first and no issues from me with them. But, the day the dual out exhaust went in and the exhaust diameter went up to 3" from 2.5, there was a noticeable drop in low end part throttle torque. That showed up immediately and carried over at the pump with a 2 mpg drop for daily driving. Brought it to a shop I'd worked with and had them install a 2.75" reducer at one of the junctions as an experiment. That proved to be a good compromise between the before & after so I left it. Fast forward 2 years and in rolls a BMW E36 M3, with it came the same modding bug that we all have and did an intake kit that was said to be the bomb. Found I had the exact same result as the exhaust mod on the Ram. The filter in the kit offered little restriction to inlet airflow and shifted the torque up the rpm range. Took a filter I had on hand and tossed it in there to experiment with and sure enough, found it to be a good compromise from the oem box to the filter that came with the kit so I rolled with that in place.
While owning my current truck (14 yrs now, diesel) one of the mods I did was to take the stock airbox and bolt in an electric exhaust cutout on the bottom of the box. The intent here was to allow additional airflow thru the box during heavier loads. Note that the first experimental version of that was a $8 butterfly vent on the bottom of another stock airbox. Fully open it would allow the motor to breath better under heavier load conditions, towing, Idaho hiways @ 80~85 mph etc... works awesome. It was interesting to see how that change in airflow into the box affected the bottom end torque. FWIW, the truck weighs 6800ish #'s, 4WD QCSB and I converted it to a MT over the AT. The changes can be felt by the SOTP. Doing my own tuning allowed me to leverage every change I did to the truck and it taught me a lot about what makes it more efficient since that was the daily driving goal. One of the things I wanted to do was to put a 3rd air dam under the transmission cross-member area to test, the thought was to smooth out the airflow some where it gets turbulent. Looking under the Mini.. and there one sits... interesting.
Cams & a BVH... I would not rule them out but it would be down there at the bottom of the list. The thing I like is this motor is a basic 16V motor, nothing fancy on it like the newer engines with their direct injection & I think they have a vanos type of cam adjustment to them. And there are a ton of them across America in the wrecking yards, lots of options for repair it come worst case.
On the ignition, it already has an MSD coil & wires (not sure on the brand) so no change there.
I’ve heard people have had great results with that.
as far as cams, definitely find as many dyno plots as you can. You are going to lose a little low end to, but the midrange gain from the right cam should be worth it.
you could also consider going with a lightweight wheel with a smaller overall tire diameter than stock. Keeps wheel and tire weight down and sort of lowers the gearing.
nope, no water meth for me... i think the build plan is a good one.
it has light weight wheels already, not a fan of the style though. will get the preferred wheel on there first then sell off the ones that are on thers.
I have a 05 and have done pretty much what you have discussed and will break it down. Start off with it’s my daily driver and drive 60 miles round trip to work and back. I have a 17% under drive sc pulley and a ATI 2% over drive crank pulley. The exhaust is a complete Miltek including header and no resonator. I swapped out the intercooler for a Airtek 60mm and use 380cc injectors. Plugs are NGK but one step colder and wires are MSD with a 50k volt stock looking coil. Air intake is a MMW CAI. Internals are stock along with the tune. Now performance I can’t give you numbers and I would love to know but she will set you back in the seat and that’s the torque you feel. Hope this helps
I have a 05 and have done pretty much what you have discussed and will break it down. Start off with it’s my daily driver and drive 60 miles round trip to work and back. I have a 17% under drive sc pulley and a ATI 2% over drive crank pulley. The exhaust is a complete Miltek including header and no resonator. I swapped out the intercooler for a Airtek 60mm and use 380cc injectors. Plugs are NGK but one step colder and wires are MSD with a 50k volt stock looking coil. Air intake is a MMW CAI. Internals are stock along with the tune. Now performance I can’t give you numbers and I would love to know but she will set you back in the seat and that’s the torque you feel. Hope this helps
That right there is golden my friend... golden! Daily driver with bottom/mid torque!
Have you logged any data at all with it to know at what rpms the boost comes into play? I would expect off idle to be honest...
The M7 intake kit... "The filter attaches to stock intake piping via a velocity stack at the wall of the M7 CAI with a 3" diameter on the filter side to a 2.75" diameter on the engine side. The velocity stack will smoothen out the large amount of air entering the intake tract, improving air flow which results in a more efficient intake system. " This is something I'd thought of doing at one point but did not have the ride to do it on, whats your thoughts on this setup?
On the ram (diesel) the norm used to be to remove the "silencer" ring at the compressor inlet, I found that there was improved bottom end torque with it in place. The only way I found this was by doing my own tuning once it was available.
Last edited by steve05ram360; Aug 24, 2020 at 10:35 PM.
That right there is golden my friend... golden! Daily driver with bottom/mid torque!
Have you logged any data at all with it to know at what rpms the boost comes into play? I would expect off idle to be honest...
The M7 intake kit... "The filter attaches to stock intake piping via a velocity stack at the wall of the M7 CAI with a 3" diameter on the filter side to a 2.75" diameter on the engine side. The velocity stack will smoothen out the large amount of air entering the intake tract, improving air flow which results in a more efficient intake system. " This is something I'd thought of doing at one point but did not have the ride to do it on, whats your thoughts on this setup?
On the ram (diesel) the norm used to be to remove the "silencer" ring at the compressor inlet, I found that there was improved bottom end torque with it in place. The only way I found this was by doing my own tuning once it was available.
No data logging uneducated on that part but yes boost comes on instantly. I use a Marshall oil, boost, water temp and oil temp and why I chose Marshall is they match the factory gauges. I average 16-17 psi on hot days and a good 18-20 in the winter and pulls like crazy. I also use a Detroit Tuned bypass valve and made a big difference as well and definitely worth the money.
