take the valve cover off and see if there are any non MINI marks on the camshaft

 

usually it is.... and I wanna think that the power gain on that auto was from the A/F being much leaner on the top end

 

No, you probably just have the stock cam. Mini S motors are dead under 3000rpms......you are not making much boost, and the supercharger is just a parasite to engine power at low rpms. That's just the nature of a little 4cly motor designed to make all its power with boost.

You pointed out the main reason for my post.....the R53's are already gutless at low rpms, I wanted to make sure a cam didnt make them ever worse.

From everything I have seen from people in this thread, it looks like the gains from a cam swap are very small, and usually only help at very high rpms. Great for a track car, not worth the time and money for a street car.

You figure that you could do a cam swap for $400+ when its all said and done ....probably add $400++ if you need a custom tune to make it run right....probably add $500+ if you have a shop do the cam swap for you. That's a lot of money for a top end gain of 3-6hp.

You would probably have a better driving car by putting all of that money in suspension and/or brake upgrades.

 

Well, to be fair, mine is making 16lbs of boost, and has an assortment of mods, like the SC pulley, braided brake lines, etc. The prior owner really cared for the car, and it makes me think he may have done things to it I can't see without taking a wrench to it.

 

audio131 has !

And it sounds like a real "Beast".

 

...but how does it run?

 

I think he purchased it from Way.

You would have to check with him.

Was running great when he drove it here to RI !!

Roared like a beast, when revving the engine with hood up I almost needed ear plugs...

 

one of these days ima have to meet up with you gray, im down in south Kingstown frequently, matter of fact ill be down this weekend! haha


I need to go for a ride in a car with a cam.... to sway my decision

 

The newman fast road not the race one
I can feel the extra torque over 4k
Idle is a little lumpy but i like that