Hey I have a 6spd R53 with the following mods:
Alta CAI
Alta catback
Alta 15% pulley
Alta SC air diverter
Alta oil catch can
MSD ignition and cold plugs
Megan coilover w/camber plates
R56 brake kit

So I am ready to tune in the next month or so as we get into summer. I live in LA and I'm gonna make the little trek to Irvine for the infamous "JAN RMW" tune.

Question??
What injectors should I go with to make safe power (440cc or 550cc)?
Is it worth it to install a street cam?

I'm thinking once I get the tune there is no heading back with bolt on mods (at least for a while)

so is there anything bolt on wise that should go on before the tune that would be beneficial and worth the money?

-cheers!!

 

I'd go with the 440's. Gives you room for more mods down the road. Retunes are $50 so not bad when you add more parts.

 

the 550's give you more room down the road, a 440 is really all you need tho, i cant say about the cam since i havent put one in yet, vry soon tho.

i would say that a tune wont give you too muhc more than what you have, but if you put a cam in, youll definently be able to get some more out

 

With those mods you should gain 20+whp and tq. The biggest change is the drive ability of the car. The way the power comes on and pulls steady right up to redline.

 

Tune is a NICE plus....you will hear it does the following...
Drives smoother....mine did...
Better mpg...mind did...
Less delay on gas pedal...mine did...
Made the DSC less annoying...mine did...
Gets you more hp and tq...heck yes!! Mine did!!
With unturned jcw380;injectors I got 185hp on the dyno....tuned I went up to 200...
But it runs SO MUCH BETTER, REGARGLESS OF HP, IT IS WORTH IT...
as for is a can worth it....depends on your goals and HOW YOU DRIVE...
The injectors will be FUNCTIONALLY THE SAME when tuned....so get quality with a good spray...NO RE-DRILLS. JAN can tell you what injectors are BEST lately....

 

Ask Jan what injectors. Talk to him about your goals. He is the one tuning the car, he will know best.

Is the cam worth it? Yes.

My 03 R53 made 195 whp with:

intake
exhaust
17% s/c
2% crank
colder plugs/wires
440 injectors.

i later installed a header and w/m injection. once i have the time and money for a re-tune, ill have a cam installed for sure.

with your mods you should make 180 whp easy. injectors and a cam could bump you up closer to 200.

 

Jan will tell you to dump the MSD Coil and go with OEM. The MSD has been known to fry the R53 ECU. I agree with others....call Jan and ask him the same questions, he knows what is best.

 

thanks guys...I sent Jan an email!

 

How about headers?

 

How much do headers run with install too? Is a downpipe worth it as well?

 

Don't mixup turbo and supercharged parts....

 

oops lol... I was looking at parts for my friends GTI and I got ahead of myself

 

I just purchased a Milltek which comes with Cat for about $1200 at Helix install around $100, I usually install myself but being that I am also going for RMW tune, going to let them install otherwise I would do it myself.

 

So cat included meaning catalytic converter, correct?? So header seems to be the bolt on to do before any internal mods like cam, valves, etc. This really allows the engine to breathe better??

How much louder is your car now? Mine is fairly loud with the mods I have now.

 

Jan makes some nice headers as well. Though if you plan on upgrading the head later you might want to wait on the header.

 

Cabrio is correct, I was deciding between RMW vs Milltek but decided on Milltek you might find a video in YouTube on sound difference, next mod is RMW street cams and 450 cc injectors with tune, and then might consider the RMW Jesus Head at that time have switch headers

 

...so I have been researching alot throughout the day and I think I am just gonna do the tune and injectors first...headers to come another day with bvh. Maybe I'll throw in a NS1 camshaft when I do the tune... but I need new rear brakes right now and I wanna do SS lines all the way around. As well as H comp sway bar at the moment.

 

If you decide to do Cams I think it is recommended you do it with headers and why not go with RMW instead of NS1 cams? This is just my opinion. Specially if ur going to do an RMW tune.

 

dont neccesarilly need to do an exhaust header with a cam, and BVH's are a pricy option, where as a cam much cheaper than a BVH, yes it makes sense to do a BVH and cam at the same time, just need to torque down rockers and reinstall header and torque down the head

cam i guess would be preference, i havent heard anything bad about the NS1 or the RMW, both are good choices in my mind

 

i just think it would make more sense to go with the rmw cam, because the rmw tuner, created the part lol.

and the bvh is a whole other beast and your talking a decent chunk of additional change there. you could be ok without the bvh, using just the cam and header.

with any mod, theres going to be compensation involved for safety and reliability. you increase the air in, your going to want to increase air out. you increase overall airflow, your going to need more fuel to acheive proper afr. etc etc.

and then it all comes back to goals and budget. rmw actually has their own forum. theres a lot of knowledgable people on there who can give ideas/share experiences with you to help your decisions.

 

It seems to me after hearing from so many members, that it's best to just save up the 2k and do all of these things at once: headers, cam, injectors, and tune. May the saving begin!

 

how much power do you REALLY gain after installing the cam?

 

A cam with a tune and injectors is the combo most do...
Like all things...it depends...lol...buy guessing the typical cam'ed mini with tune and injectors is 230 HP or so...kind of a guess....
Biggest thing is ensuring that the cam you pick matches your driving style...
Many shift the tq band closer to redline (just like a bvh).....so numbers can be great...250 or so for both....BUT depends on how you drive...lower rpm cruising can be lacking by some accounts....all about drivability....so you have bragging rites...but no fun unless you are redlining it....

 

to put it into perspective, my setup with pulleys, intake, exhaust, and injectors, tuned, made about 195 whp.

so adding a cam and header along with a retune should definitely put down at least another 10 whp. possibly even 15-20.

when youre able to play with the timing due to a performance cam, and the whole system breaths better rather than getting choked up in the exhaust ports, it should make a significant increase.

it wil of course vary from car to car, and a cam by itself, wont do much for you. combined with the other components and a good tune, youre taking off in a totally different car.

 

What he said... A nice cam is the next step.. Ported intakes are worthwhile once you get up into "new cam" territory… But, if i were you... if your gonna get a new cam.. your gonna need a new set of bigger valves.. do it all at the same time, get the "Jesus" head and cam. then your talking...