Went to Home Depot and parked next to another r53. Extremely rare to see in my area! This was a pre-LCI car with a rear wiper delete and a Malian exhaust. I came and left before the owner showed up sadly.

 

Out and about! How's it running with the tune update you posted about?

 

Knock sensors are really sensitive, apparently. My former muffler tip (the proverbial "muffler bearing") was showing up regularly at certain RPMs as knock knoise....


New muffler tip does not have a built in rattle:

Made from a shined-up SS 2.5" to 3" coupling pipe. You can't find a short-enough tip for a MINI at any of the local parts stores. Baked for hours at 550°F to get the bronze color....

 

So far so good, there have been small changes to the low RPM low load area of the VE map, and i also changed back to TPS based enrichment. I was noting lean/rich spikes in the log caused by MAP changes. Too slow to register on the dMAP/dt plot, but did register on the dTPS/dt plot. I watched this over the course of a week on 5-6 logs and saw the same behavior every time. The throttle allows better enrichment. With my newfound knowledge of how the enrichment table should be shaped, i was able to get up and running with TPS based enrichment in like 15-20 minutes.

I also set my WOT lambda to be .78 which equates to about 11:1 at WOT on e10 fuel. The car pulls noticeably stronger like this, i think i had it too lean before, i was targeting like 12:1.

It drives well, and its getting better, i'm still on stock spark timing, i'll need to find an empty road and a quiet day to dial that in.

 

Interesting- will keep an eye out for that when I get this ball rolling here. Haven't found how it is done in Bytetronik. Found tip-in enrichment (i.e., the "accelerator pump" equivalent), but not all of what feeds OL fueling slightly-longer-term enrichment (i.e., the "power valve" equivalent). The table is most of it, but there's some obscure, probably throttle position based enrichment that I have not found yet.

You made me google something, and, subsequently learn a thing. 14.1:1 for E10. Will have to take note of fuel pump labels and see how much corn juice is in the gas here....

Good to hear! Timing is where you pick up efficiency, which helps both gas mileage and POWAAAAAAH depending on driver input. Good times when that's working well.....

 

Yes that e10 thing throws a ton of people off.

Lambda sensors are fuel agnostic, so it reports 1 when the lambda is 1 regardless of fuel. The ECM just assumes ethanol free gas, and when it sees 1 lambda it tells you the mixture is 14.7:1. My Standalone is programmed correctly that its running on e10, so when it sees 1 lambda it reports the mixture as 14.1:1.

This is tricky because online people say "you want 11.5:1" and that is a different lambda depending on if they're using 14.1 as baseline or 14.7 as a baseline.

If that 11:5.1 is assuming e0 fuel that's .78 lambda
if that 11.5:1 is assuming e10 fuel that's .81 lambda

Since the ECU is working in lambda, and most online discussions (especially on old forums like this) assume e0 gasoline, I always work backwards to find the lambda they're talking about assuming e0 fuel. Then let the AFR be whatever it ends up being on e10. This always results in a richer mixture by AFR on e10, this makes sense because ethanol needs to run slightly richer.

If I didn't assume that the numbers online people quoted were in reference to e0 fuel it would be about .5 AFR error at WOT. Probably wont blow anything up, but may steal some power and cooling.

 

So, me shooting for a conservative 11 @ torque peak and 11.2 @ redline is already at least partially accounting for the difference in E10 lambda, then.... 🤔🥸

 

Few updates!

1. Just for now I've swapped back to the stock DME, I dont have time right now to mess with the tune so i swapped back temporarily to not have to worry about it for the time being
2. I have a ton of things planned for the car this summer including some quality of life improvements

• New alternator, the original one is screaming all the time the bearings are shot
• SC rebuild with new bearings, while i have the front off
• new clutch, its nearly cooked
• near rear main seal, its leaking
• Add back in the AC with all new parts (compressor, lines, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator)
• swap the lowering springs to stock springs that i got off marketpalce for $50. The ones on the car are just too harsh, the drive is miserable.
• replace the strut top mounts with genuine mini parts, they just keep collapsing i need to just bite the bullet for good parts
• Rebuild passenger side front caliper, i have a nasty pull to the right on hard braking.
• install a cat converter because i'm tired of the smell lol
• fit the trunk release button

Lots of work to get done, but these are the final items to make this car go from "good enough" to nice. Also the napa axles I installed are failing already, I'll leave them be for now but i suspect they are on borrowed time as they're pretty crunchy sounding when starting from a stop.

Of course I'll update with pictures

 

Also my other car was a 2019 Mustang GT, in large part due to the way my r53 drives I decided I didn’t wanna drive a GT car any more.

I sold the Mustang and bought this very clean 2014 Porsche Cayman S PDK. I guess I’m fully a German car guy now

 

Sehr gut!

Just avoid the risky business and don't become a U-Boat Commander with it....

 

@junits15 Not sure I understand your rationale for switching cars, but I do understand your purchase. Congrats on the Cayman. The people I know who have them think that they are one of the best cars on the road.

As for your MINI and the top strut mount, the IE fixed camberplate is stronger than the genuine MINI strut mount and the -1.2 deg of camber really improves the feel of steering. No additional tire wear or noise. I had them in my R56 for years using it out on the track with now issues.

If you are up for a ride on the 25th, I’ll be down at Lime Rock Park for a track day. Maybe take the opportunity to meet up?

 

Yeah its definitely not the most obvious line of thinking. Really what happened was the mini taught me that i value handling far more than straight line speed. The mustang does not prioritize handling in any significant way, I was having more fun driving my clapped out mini on bad weather days than i was in my "flagship" GT car on nice days. I was out one night on some fun backroads in the mini and the reality that a car that I'm into for under 10k was making me happier than a car that i had spent years saving up for became very very real all at once. That was when the decision was officially made.

This all started a few months prior when my two brothers and I did a mountain run, I took my mustang and one of my brothers took my Mini. He was eating me alive on corners, places where I had to slow down or risk flying off a cliff he effortlessly handled in my mini. I was fighting underster, and oversteer the whole ride. Sure i could waste him in a straight line but that just isn't exciting for me. That was all before the rear end refresh on the mini too, it was eye opening how much higher the ceiling goes. I found myself wanting that performance.

I came very VERY close to getting a new GR86 manual, but the motor is just so sad in that car. The intoxicating howl of the boxer 6 in the cayman, combined with the effortless handling from the mid engine mount sold me. I fell in love on the test drive. I love my mini, i truly do, its just such a good car. I wish something like this still existed new today.

I've never been to lime rock, I didn't realize you were nearby! If I'm around that day I'll send you a message beforehand What are the event details?

 

Yup, I expect not too far from you. Just a little west of Albany.

The particulars about the event are posted here

Access to LRP is free for visitors for an event like this is free. We will be in the in-field part access from the main gate, down in the main paddock area. I’ll be near the fence near the T3 flagging station. The timing building will be on the left side of the paddock on the front straight. The T3 flag is on the opposite side of the lot. As for the event itself, I’ll be coming and going depending on whether I am on the track or in class (yup, that is part of the deal). Even so, there will be plenty of time to meet up. Plus you can wander the Park and watch some amazing cars circle this track.

 

Nice Car

 

I had these before the coilovers. Worked great. Rode about 1/4" higher up front, but very solid top mounts....