Still playing catch up after vacation but wanted to follow up on the poly control arm bushings. Absolutely love the change and how it tightened the front end up. As you can see from the pictures I went with the sport version (purple center.black outer). The old bushings didn't look that bad but man can you tell an instant difference in steering response and overall handling. These and an RSB should be mandatory items on everyone's mod list.

 

Is that bushing the front arm rear bushing? I definitely did the RSB when installed the coilovers. 25mm hollow, pretty dang stiff.

I have the front arm/rear bushing, and the rear trailing arms bushings. Black "race" type. I sent back the rear engine bushing back on the advice of my shop, but I'm thinking i might get it again and install.

What bushings, overall, would you recommend?

 

Yep those are the front control arm rear bushings. I'm running the 25mm hollow on the rear as well. Car seems pretty happy on the mid setting. I'm planning to upgrade the rest of the bushings (purple except on the rear pillow) but plan to wait until I add adjustable upper trailing arms on the rear so I can adjust the track. On the engine mount I went with the yellow lower engine mount inserts and the change in NVH isn't noticeable on the manual. Actually bonded mine in with a polysulfide adhesive. The yellow will make a difference in NVH on an auto but only when in gear at a light with your foot on the brake. Upgrading the engine mount definitely helps reduce wheel hop. In addition, since the engine doesn't shift as much, changes in power are more rapidly applied to the wheels. Can't really see a reason not to go with the yellow or even purple on a manual. The black delron like on the BSH engine mount however will get buzzy and probably drive most people insane after a while.

 

Tigger your thread is inspirational! Love to see all the great things you're doing. Do you know where I can find those connectors that came with your OCC? I've been looking around the net but couldn't find anything.

 

The connectors are made by a company called NORMA. Unfortunately, the numbers on the side of the connectors are not very helpful as they are the same PA12-GF30 on the locking ring and PA12-GF20 on the body. Here is a picture of the Mini style connector next to the connectors that come with the APR can. The APR connectors are designed for VW's. While the locking rings and the diameters are the same you'll note the VW style connector is longer and so will not lock onto the manifold on the Mini.


Since the factory vacuum line from the passenger side to the manifold is plastic shrink tube it is easy to heat the tube with a heat gun and wiggle and pull the connectors off. The connectors fit very snug in 3/4" fuel line. Make sure not to use heater hose as oil mist will cause the hose to degrade. Here'a a couple pictures of the APR as currently installed.




Unfortunately, the largest check valves I could find require the 3/4" lines be reduced to 5/8". Once I finish dinking around with the electrical and can mount the vacuum pump I can run 3/4" all the way through.

 

Thanks!!

 

Great job this is my engine bay and gauges

 

Clean install on the OCC. Nicely done!

 

Thanks Tigger2011 for leading me to this tread, I have a R58 too . Hope to be able to learn more things from everyone here

 

I can't remember if I asked already, but do you currently run a 3" or 2.5" DP (and exhaust system)?

If you were to go for the 400hp, would run 3" or 2.5" at that point? On this specific turbo style setup.

 

Thank you

 

Funny you should ask this question as I'm planning on making a change. DP is currently a 2.5 catless going into a custom 3" exhaust with a Thermal R&D 5x9x16 muffler,3" in, dual 2.5" out. That DP is however going to come off soon and a 3" DP with high flow cat going back in. I want to reduce the sound level a bit without adding a resonator and a 100 cpi cat should do the trick while adding little in the way of back pressure.

 

That's sort of what I run. I have a 3" DP, 3" exhaust with a dual 2.5" exit. I have all straight thru mufflers (one 3" Magnaflow on the mid pipe, and a Magnaflow Race on each 2.5" exit pipe), and one Vibrant cat about halfway down the mid 3" pipe.

I was thinking of going back to a 2.5" if the 3" system wasn't necessary.
I've been hesitant because I like the way it sounds, although it is pretty loud. Plus when I originally went from 2.5 to 3" there was a noticeable improvement top end improvements.

What about IC piping? If you were to replace all of it, would you run 2" or 2.25" hotside/coldside pipes?

 

Hot side it doesn't make any sense to go bigger than the inlet on the IC. Cold side can help flow up top. Just remember your adding to the volume of air that must be compressed so your adding a small delay in how quickly boost builds. Its truthfully not much but the old saw still applies. A little here... a little there, pretty soon its more than a little.

 

Hello Tigger!
Will you able to take my GP to properly tune it? I am just tired of excuses and cero respect from local tuners. I wish all of them had just 10% of your knowledge and willingness to help... Im done with the locals.

 

Hey MiniMoic. Sorry to hear you've been having issues. Sent you a PM sir.

 

First off, I just want to say that I appreciate your posts, and feel you are one of the better forum members when it comes to providing help to other members.

Now, on to my post... How do you like the Wavetrac LSD, now that you've had some time to rack up the miles? I am torn between the Wavetrac and the Quaife units...

 

I'm super pleased with it. I will admit I have gone three wheeling with it a few times and it does work as advertised. No issues, problems, noises, etc. just power to the ground. I definitely appreciate the reduction in torque steer.

On a side note I've been planning to upgrade the wheels and tires for a while. I've wanted the Apex ARC-8 dished wheel in 17x8.5 ET20 in satin black and have been waiting since July for them to get them back in stock. They thought September....nope, then maybe October....nope. So I got tired of waiting and ordered them in anthracite. Did not like the look on a black car at all so I had them powder coated. Turned out ok I think. These tip the scales at 16.5 lbs compared to 19 lbs for the 17x7.5 OZ rims so I'm happy about that. I also got in a set of Yokohama ADVAN Apex V601XL's in 245/40R17. I got tired of only being able to rotate them front to back and wanted something a little wider in a more common size. Still need to get them mounted with the new TPMS sensors and on the car. More car **** to come soon. Also got 78mm 14x1.25 to 14x1.5 conversion studs in a grade 12.9 bolt. Most are grade 10.9 but I couldn't find anything stronger than 12.9.


In other news, the slow parts acquisition continues. The Carrillo rods should be here this week. I finally have a line on a billet crank and I ordered the Schrick 10.7mm cams and Titanium retainers. The retainers came in but the cams wont until late January. They are made to order so there's a little old man in a basement in Germany somewhere with raw bar stock and a file making them I think

 

Nice wheels!

I run the same size wheels, expect with et40 offset. And the stud kit from ApexRaceParts.

I can't wait to hear more on the engine build. Your car is going to be insane!

 

Thanks. These ET20's fill out the arches nicely without those annoying 25mm spacers I was running before. The numbers looked good so I originally ordered just one wheel and tire to fit up and check clearance. Looked ok but only had about 2mm clearance on the JCW brakes. I still had room in the arches so I ordered 3mm spacers for the front and a set of 5mm for the rear. That way I can play with spacing a bit and check clearance of the templates I have for some BBK's I'm looking at. The YellowSpeed 345mm kit seems like it may be the largest I can fit but we'll see how it goes.

 

Oh nice! Sounds like this is going to look beyond amazing.

You've intrigued me with the BBK. What does that kit cost?
I've been looking for a decent kit front and rear for the CM, but have a hard time finding what'll actually fit the R60.

 

Heres a link to what they have to offer for the R60.

https://yellowspeedracingusa.com/col...ountryman-2013

The first place I went to was TCE Performance as Todd has been a long time supporter of NAM. Unfortunately none of the Wilwood kits get close to fitting with this offset and the dish shape. Several of our other vendors offer R60 solutions as well though and offer templates you can download, print and cut out. Then you can remove the wheel, verify clearance and purchase with some piece of mind that they will fit properly. If looking at the Apex ARC-8 in flat spokes they offer a ton of clearance for BBK's as thats what they were designed for.

 

Awesome thank you. When are you ordering yours up?

Yeah, mine are the flat face Apex ARC-8s.

 

The rims were already ordered, coated and are being mounted and balanced as I type. Still can't put them on Vlad till I get the spacers from our friends at ECS. The 3mm are shipping today and I should have the 5mm on or before the 25th. They were the only vendor I found that had the 3mm anodized. Not real crazy about placing bare aluminum next to steel.

After that I can finalized fitment and spacing as well as clearance.

 

Very cool! Definitely looking forward to the next steps in your build.