Would JDM's t3/t4 turbo kit fit and work efficiently on my 05 mini cooper?
Any other turbo suggestions?

 

Why not get an S and get a proper Supercharger whine?

I never understood spending the money on a Cooper to make it Turbo.

 

technically yes, and no

you can make it work but you are going to run into a lot of problems as most N/A cars do when they attemp to go turbo

first off is compression ratio n/a cars are usually way to high i dont know what they are for a r50 but usually 9.5 or 10:1 is the norm shouldnt run more then 5-6 psi unless you like seeing a hole in the side of the block

2nd is going to be a tune , you will have to get bigger injectors, something that will force more fuel also, a bigger fuel pump, an FMU along with a SAFC will be needed

you might be able to piece one for about 1800 but will it be reliable, ehh probobly not. engine internals are very very very important

 

And hence if you want a 1st gen Turbo conversion car your best bet is to start with a Cooper S as all the engine internals in the Supercharged engine are already re-inforced (Oil coolers,, etc) that are missing from the normal aspirated Cooper engine.
You also have a Getrag 6 spd manual that is missing in the R50 Cooper. The MCS gearbox is already made to withstand additional power and torque.

The R53 S is a much better platform to start with.

 

I'm interested in this too, albeit not seriously yet. I know everyone says "buy an S," but I prefer turbo over supercharger and don't have the $$$ to buy an R56 yet. That being said, I know it would require a ridiculous amount of tuning and adjustment to get it to work, hence why I can't be serious about it. Still, I want to figure out some options for when the day comes around. By the time I finally can afford an R56 JCW, I'll turn my R50 into a pure track beast (eg, strip interiour down to bare metal kind of track car). So anyone with experience in this field (turboing, not stripping. Although that sounds fun too.. ), PLEASE POST UP!

 

Since i have a Mini One = Cooper and i have a lot of mods.. i can only advise you not to do it..

there is a tuned cooper with turbo that in stage 1 goes to 170bhp and stage 2 210bhp... But how reliable would that be?

And don't forget... you no one(or almost no one), that can help you here if you have a problem..

But.. i've always heard... if there's a will there's a way.... and that's why i'm going for the 160bhp...

 

Waste of money. But hey is your money, right?

 

You guys, seriously, as a former Cooper owner, enjoy the car for what it was made for.....canyon carving fun with excellent fuel economy. These cars can be just as fun, if not more in the twisties as its more powerful brother. I'm not going to sit here and tell you not to do the conversion, but I'd highly recommend that you don't. All my main reasons against the conversion are already posted above.

 

Agreed, but I'm not really being practical. Just dreaming a bit...

 

If you're going to do something, why not just add a blower off an S to it. You won't have to worry about boost spikes or creep, which will lunch a motor quicker than I change channel when a Ford F150 commercial comes on.

Plus, it'd be easier to come across components to add on, as you'd just be taking most of them off of an S. You'd still need a custom tune, but in general, you'd be making your life much easier.

 

huh. interesting. i know of at least one R50 that has been done and the last time i knew it ran just dandy with regular autoX usage.

do what you want with your car. if a turbo is your goal, make it happen. reality is far better than living in the what-ifs and doubt-filled interweb.....

of course, i am posting from experience, not theory. i ignored all the nay-sayers and 2 years later am still smiling all the way around the next bend.....

 

I think I saw your thread earlier... Linkage? I'm intrigued. Did it start out as an R50 and branch into the R54 (since there's no car with that designation. Yet...) or Mini Turbo? Yum...

 

Every car's motor is different from the factory. Who's to say that his engine can tolerate the stress with the upgrade. It might have worked well for you, but others haven't had such good luck. The nay sayers are only looking to help a guy that obviously doesn't have a lot of engine experience keep from having a major catastrophe happen and a very large bill.

 

This topic has been beat to death. If you do a search you will find out a lot about it. I seriously considered doing it, until I found out it would cost at least 10k to do it right. The smart thing to do is just enjoy your cooper for what It is. Then when you have the means move on up to the "S".

 

 

It is a lot cheaper to move to a R53 S and use that as a platform for further mods.

 

Yeah, as a former R50 owner, I've already looked into this. It's WAY too much work and $$$ to do it right. Just be happy with R50 until it's time to get an S. That's what I did!

 

And that's exactly what I did. And for the record, sometimes I really regret getting rid of my Cooper. I still say it handled better on the dragon than my S does. Coopers are still very fun cars to drive.

 

Who's to say it won't? I am saying what I was saying 2 years ago. if you really want to make it happen, do it. Do what makes you enjoy your car, in spite of the headaches or issues you may have to overcome. I certainly didn't like doing a clutch twice, but in the end I look back on it as a learning experience! The good times complaining with my buds about why the darn thing was being such a pain was worth it! Even more worth it is the times I get behind the wheel after a couple of weeks driving something else or riding and remember just why I love my MINI and why I love the fact more that it is everything I wanted it to be!

All true points. It is the proverbial horse......it is insanely expensive...take a budget you think might be close and double it...not counting the chassis/suspension/brake work you would need to make the car liveable as a daily.....


worth every penny...

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...on-begins.html

 

Very good points, and I agree with you whole heartedly. I'm the same way to a point. You hear so many people talk about not putting certain items on the S model. A lightened crank pulley for example. No matter what they say about the negative effects, I run with one on mine. I'm also not rich or really have a whole lot of money to throw around. I tend to lean towards giving advice to people to help with future costs from my level. The OP might have all the money in the world and this application would be fine. But, for the sake of arguments, let's just say he doesn't. I don't want to see someone stuck with an $8,000 repair bill or worse. There are a lot of succesful turbo storys, but there are also horrible ones....and not just with the base model Coopers. You did yours the right way...sleeves, forged pistons, etc. The OP sounded more on the lines of just "slapping" a turbo on the stock engine. That's where I raise the "NO-NO" flag. If you have the money and plan this out, by all means go for it.