this is probably going to be a for ever car for me.. I just have so much in it, selling it I'd loose out too much..
engine , trans or anything like that blows , I will replace it..
my "hot air intake" isn't a hot air. Yea it may get SOME hot air but not much at all , i have hood vents in front of the filter , m7 heat shield , custom heat shielding around it and its pushed as far back as it can go and I have rear scoops not stock vents which feed it fresh air while the car is moving.
I agree a jcw box would be better but i would be sacrificing flow for them few degrees air temp difference. And running meth and now this intercooler setup I'm not worried about my iats. Even when I was running just that last oversized ic I just sold. Even befor my m7 and all the heatshielding it ran very very good iats , then once I did shielding ect. The max iats I would get was like 40' above ambient temps. That was WITHOUT using the ic sprayers or meth..
when I'd do wot pulls my iat's would DROP the fast and harder I pushed it until they'd get close to ambient temperatures and when I was doing that , that WAS with the ic sprayers BUT NO meth.
so now I'm got a better ic than I've ever had , ic sprayers still AND meth..this sucka should run nice n chill !!!!
I'm still waiting to hear back from Adrian so we can fully tune in my meth. I want the increased timing with the meth injection points. I want it setup so it HAS to run on the meth but ille have it set so IF my meth system failed or some how went dry, so long as I keep it out of higher boost it will be fine.having 22 max psi and a 2x stage meth kit gives me some room to be smart..
back to the intake filter... I was looking at the ddm intake but I don't like that the heatshield is aluminum, though it would look nice it heat soaks. Then what even temp that box gets the filter will be drawing that heat in. I could be wrong and it not even heat soak but I can't imagine it not heat soaking some bit...is there a similar style but plastic??
I guess I coooooooould always make my own enclosed heatshield, which will probably end up happening because itle be hard to find an aftermarket one that flows as well as mine. Not saying mines best just saying a 2 1/2in opening and cone filter isn't going to flow what my 3in opening with a 6in velocity stack cone filter would..

 

Intercooler install is almost finished..lolol it's sofar taken me 8hours . I had to run down the st to autozone 2x for hoses and clamps and little things but here a video showing it and where I'm at with the install.. this thing runs SOOOO much cooler than stock , by about 40 degrees. There is a 4psi boost loss though i dont feel much power loss though at all, i think it equals out. Stock may have built more boost but it would run SO hot timing was kicking back and reducing powrr when it got hot. I can now once again drive and be able to push my hand on the ic or anything under my hood and not have it be hot. The stock ic OMG , it made EVERYTHING hot. Even was heating up my exhaust and in return heating up the bottom of my coolerworx shifter.

 

This thing is amazing , driving my iats sit just under 100'F and no matter how hard I push it it never goes above 120'F. I did loose 4-5lb of boost through it , though my it really doesn't FEEEEEL like I lost power though. I'm sure what boost loss there is it madeup by it being able to run so nice n cold.
thus is WITHOUT the meth or intercooler sprayers too. Those are only going to help..
Here's some pics showing it.

 

 

Is there any chance the "boost loss" is actually less back pressure? As in that IC is less of a restriction? I just woke up so the proper term escapes me ATM but depending on where you sensor is located I've seen cars register less pressure on the gauge and make more power at the wheels by installing parts that are less restrictive on the intake side...if that makes sense. My MINI is NA so I honestly have no clue how its all laid out on an S car. A 4 PSI drop is over 18% of your stated 22 PSI max. That seems like a large number to me.

 

If his boost gauge is in the intake manifold, then the intercooler losses wouldn’t matter. A larger air volume in the intercooler combined with a temperature drop “could” account for the boost loss. But I agree, 4psi seems like a lot.

 

M-M-A, impressive IAT reductions, no doubt! Where are you drawing those numbers, i.e., ECU PID data or an aftermarket sensor? And if aftermarket, where is that sensor located and does it correlate with ECU IAT data? On my 200 mile run yesterday, I was monitoring my IAT readings (PID displayed from OBD2 BT dongle to Android tablet) with objective of determining if lower with JCW airbox than the prior aftermarket CAI kit but combo of mountain grades, varying ambient temps and then a heavy monsoon storm had those numbers all over the place. Seems to me, readings are relatively meaningless (other than before/after delta) unless those correlate to ECU data.

 

Adam whats up with the front plate? Is that legal in WI? Is it DMW issue? NEver seen one like that here in WI. Glad you like the IC as far as arguing what's better its pointless everyone has their own opinion. My opinion is that since the launch of these cars there has been so many types brands etc and none of them lasted long term. Could be performance could be the Mini crowd is cheaper than a 16 year old Honda owner who knows. People are petty too in this scene. There used to be a website and I tried to find it again that had a list of over 25 unique intercooler's for the r53 and it had data on all of them and all of them are now defunct inlcuding all the stuff RMW toted as well. If you weren't here in the beginning its hard to explain I Guess. Their where waves or trends with all the major players. DFIC TMIC FMIC A2W Lamnovia Surprised we never got a Peltier setup or a refreirant option. Gintani had the best w2a unit on the market hands down and the best looking one too but Noise between what was then ABH which was all the major players RMW Hubie etc before they split killed that unit that and the 4k price.

The real test of IAT should be go tear the **** out of the car and let it sit. People talk up the pro alloy too and I have that unit. I purchased it purely for looks though as I wanted a little bling. It has **** idle temps and never really dips below 100f at idle no mater what. It cant handle the heat I put into it with my full retard tvs setup either. Saving Grace Aquamist and e85. You change parts a lot and thats where you get your fun factor I suppose. Always hard to admit when things are done over finished with a build if that makes sense. I still think you should save some serious cash and honestly no K swap No turbo no TVS find a RMW Rotrex 90 kit and it will blow your mind. 450whp charger fun. But at some point stop swapping parts and get the stuff you think you cant afford. With a Link you could control so much alone with that intercooler and a meth upgrade. Could pwm the IC pump your WP slap a fan on IC Rad with trigger points let alone all the other stuff for the car. Stop using the no local tuner excuse to validate why not to get it. Get the unit find somone tow the car its that simple. Money yes but when you get serious thats how you roll. Street tuning is **** and only good when no other options are available. That being said street tuning is final tuning only after a prop dyno.

Being honest and its not a mud slinging thing nor brand or product loyalty. The sprintex is a ****ing flamethrower and yup you like it and thats fine but you could have more with other options granted the price is again a thing. I am not here to tell anyone what to do or what is right only what I have experienced with my own car and all the parts like you that I have swapped on and off over the years and just being around longer than you and seeing what is what.

I suspect you likely would have more power with proper tuning and a smaller pully than more boost even if the ic handles it currently. You know how cars drive in our winters the power they pick up. No imagine that in the dead of our summers all the time day after day gear after gear. I think if I put the stock TVS 70mm on my car (53mm currently) which gives about 15lbs you would be forking gob smacked. Its not about light to light or 1/4 but response and the curve it has.

Think about the ecu man. I know you want a power tune with Meth. My hones to god professional opinion is dont. Far to much money invested to trust that nothing will happen in 3rd gear at 7500 rpm and high boost. I keep advising people and its straight From Alejandro's mouth the stock pistons have a weak spot in the Ringland's. They are to thin and to far up the piston to handle high pressure and heat. Sure maybe people never have a issue but from a technical standpoint they are flawed in that sense. You ever seen a snapped r53 crank behind the crank trigger ? I have.

You have a dw65 yet?

Also make a boost leak tester from pvc and run it up to 15psi. Dont go over 15psi as from personal experience it will start to push the front main out which happened to me and caused a huge oil dump down the road and fast.

 

I went and 2x checked all connections and re tested and same psi so it's just an effect of the much larger ic I guess.
I get my reading from a T off off the vacuum line from the fpr. I get my iat reading off the ecu from my multigauge which i belive it pulls the temps from the tmap to the left of the intake tube..
adrian is working on my retune now so hoping it gets some power gains from having it tuned for the soefic meth injection points.. i also mentioned to him about my dinan throttlebody and new bosche 550s I put in encase the tune also could be adjusted accordingly. I also told him my new boost levels and much lower iats so idk we will see how it goes.. I really want it though to be able to run my 2x stages of meth as when it's spraying it cools soooooo much and with it increasing octane I should be able to run aggressive timing during injection.
YEA Devil , that front plate is legal in WI. It's legal because its the same orientation of numbers and letters ( my acual plate #s ) and it also has the wi flag that our plate requires. And unfortunately wi requires a front plate so if I have to have one it's going to be euro style. I was going to opt for a get the special limited edition black n white hobbiest plates with the Road of America track on it buuuuut I'd have to get another matching front plate then so I said " F it "..I really really was beating on the car trying to heat up this ic and I couldn't get it above 120'F even once the water I'm sure was heat soaked by that point..
hey you guys , I read people use stuff like the Yellow bottle of heat gas line because it's 98% pure methanol to increase the % of their mixs. When i was looking at the additives at the dollar store while reupping my candy stash and the main ingredient in this fuel cleaner is methanol buuuuut is this the rite methanol , if so it would be a good cheap option except for the odor of that stuff , lol it smells like BUTT I've put it in gas befor and peeyou...

 

I would really like to know or be able to cut that thing open to see what sort of internal contact area and volume the cooling I guess tanks have on each side. They appear to only make contact with the inlet outlet connection points. Normally the entire core is incased and the water makes direct contact with what is normally exposed ir the fins on a stock unit. Pretty sure the Gintani used a laminova core like the new inlet manifold on the new Supra which was designed by BMW as well. I

 

Also don't run that **** in your injection system or you tank. Meth Kills fuel pumps fast as **** unless its a meth pump. Don't run anything like that in your fuel system pretty much ever seafoam either will eat **** as well. Sea foam via hose in intake ok in tank bad no matter people say. Call around dude I bet you can get Methanol at the pump from a local source. If i can you can over there. Run pure m1 either from a source or get it from VP. Boost juice is a crap shoot and who the **** knows what that pink dye is same for washer fluid. Don't chince out. Even if you get pure m1 from vp its 45 bucks for 5 gallons. That should last you about a month. Find your local VP dealer call around to fuel wholesale distros. The meth I get in Chippewa Falls is distilled in Lacrosse. Also be aware 100% Methanol burns transparent and basically invisible like heat from the road on hot day. Also requires respect as you can get poisoned if you spill like a gallon on yourself. But hey the cure is to drink Alcohol as the ethanol in the Alcohol converts the Methanol in your body lol.

 

https://commerceindustrialchemicals.com/products/

 

it does only cool around the side tanks though I could be wrong , this was a pic I took of the inside..

 

So I'm going to be selling off some parts off my motor and returning them to stock and probably going to be selling the engine as a complete running engine..
Its time..dreams never come true just day dreaming..
I LOVE unique cars , I love fast cars and I love the style and feel on my mini.. so it's time it gets K-swapped..
I have a chance to pick up am entire parts car with a complete good , lower mileage engine , trans and all..I just gotta move a few things befor that can happen so I'm selling my water to air ic and my dinan throttlebody and matching intake and velocity stack cone filter..
it's time boys ! I'm going to start doing all the research I can and this cool Mexican dude i know does miracles with Hondas. Like he builds awd kswapped hatches n sells them so he's gonna be my main man in this project..lol but either I need to learn Spanish or he some English lolol because our conversations go slow having to use translators on our phones as we talk to each other lolol..
so let's see where this goes...and btw , turbo swap isn't out the window yet now either thx to my buddy.. but I need to figure out what the lower end on these engines can handle. Because if I gotta build the lower end I'm just going k if I can't make the power I want..and I'm wanting 400hp , if I can get more awesome but 400 is my goal because I want it fully steetable and less maintenance and hassle as possible.

 

Engine wont handle that long term with your mileage and desire to drive it like you want and even if it was brand new still wouldn't long term. You just spent money on stuff then changed mind right away. Company out there sells mounts and I think a kit for K swap for r53. Biggest challenge is the passenger rail if you dont have tools and or skills etc.

My opnion is that you bounce around to much without a desired plan and sticking to it. You will never reach your goal if you cant focus save and stop trying things that others have over last 18 years and expecting huge things from said changes like cam or intecooler etc. Look man this has all been done before. So many products. How many still around or on cars you see even then that made what you want.

Regardless of what you do it starts with a core that can support it W11 or K or anything. You cant just expect a magic solution. Your gonna do what you want but you dont want to listen to what people tell you. If your serious no matter what you choose it will start with building a quality setup. You spend far to much and to little of value at a time. Meaning instead of spending 5 grand you spend 1k at a time 5 times. Good luck save your money and stop spending it on stuff that wont do what you want. The first 250whp is pretty cheap and easy and can be done on stock m45. A pulley a RMW head when you started and a tune would have had you there.

 

https://rptcreations.com/products/rp...ini-cooper-kit

Save your cash and don't listen to someone with a grinder and a torch saying we can do it for beer money. No mater what anyone tells you unless you do all the fab and work yourself its going to be at least 5-6 grand by the time you get everything plus all the trips for **** you didnt think of etc etc. Again I am not trying to be rude and again I have Asperger's but its never as cheap as you think or others make it out to be unless your skilled enough or setup enough to do it.

 

You beat me too it DevilZ. I have been looking into this myself and RPT seems like the easy way out. I have an R50 so a K24 swap makes a little more sense for me but I would be happy with the stock 200-ish HP they produce and the extra torque from the longer stroke 2.4. If I already had an S car I'd pulley it and call it a day. That being said I'm doing a LOT of research before I buy anything. The swap motor/trans mounts alone are $1550. I could make my own but that's a lot of time fiddling around to make it right and time is something I have very little of. The conversion harness is only $145 but there are SO many other things needed. I was looking at JDM import motors originally and a K24A2 with 50k-ish miles on it start at $900. I'd need a trans, clutch, axles, radiator/fans/hoses, ecm, fueling, etc. etc. and the frame modifications to squeeze a 2.4 where a 1.6 was meant to reside. I came up with $5000 in parts doing it the easy way. I think I can pull it off for around $3000 doing it the hard way. I have successfully completed motor swaps before that looked and performed like it came from the factory that way and have the resources available to make it happen BUT its a money thing to me. I drive a LOT and my car will need a major overhaul in a year or so. I don't replace what is not broken. So something will happen when the car (engine/trans) is worn out. That being said, I may be able to sell mine and buy an S model for what it'd cost ME to K-swap my car. But it would be a used S model in God only knows what state of neglect and I'd be starting from scratch again getting all the maintenance and problems sorted. I would also have a slightly less fuel efficient vehicle at that point that still requires high octane fuel. I have some time to figure it out. I LOVE K-swapped MINIs. There are a few around along with a few Hondas making 400 - 700 HP on stock internals with turbos strapped to them. The longevity of these cars seems to be directly proportional to the quality of the builds and how they are driven and maintained. I don't need a 700 HP AWD Mini. As much fun as that would be! I need reliable and WANT more power. My family and I love going on mountain cruises in the fall and leaving the car in first and second gear strung out in the upper RPMs the whole time gets old. I only need enough grunt to pull the family comfortably at legal speeds quick enough to have some fun. The R50 just isn't built for it. I think an R56 or a motor/trans swap are my best options.

All that being said I agree with the Devil on this one. IMHO I think you need to step back for a minute and figure out exactly what it is you want out of this car and if this car is even capable of being what you want it to be. I am like you in the fact that I am more drawn to the wild and unusual than I am to "factory" perfection....if that makes sense. Given the choice between the 689 HP AWD MINI (I know you know which one I'm referring to ) and a Lamborghini, I'd take the MINI. Most people would call me crazy but that's just my personality. I have a Nitrous Corvette for a go-fast toy. It took us 9 months to make it what we wanted and we (my wife and I) more or less sat down and decided exactly what direction we were going with it shortly after buying it. We didn't stray from the plan and I had the luxury of throwing it on jack stands and working on it when I could until it was finished. It still took a LONG time for the little we did and cost THOUSANDS of dollars. Cars are a hole in the ground that you stand over and throw money in lol.

Finishing what you started would make for a sick ride you could take pride in.
Selling most of it and K-swapping the car would be epic.
Either way I think you'd be happy in the end. But take it from someone who has wasted years and untold amounts of money on cars with nothing to show for it, make a plan before you go any further and stick to the plan.
That's enough preaching from me ha ha. Best of luck to you brother with whatever route you decide to take. I'll be here watching your progress from a distance and taking notes (stealing your ideas) to use on my own car

 

Good point guys..I do have alot into this car and it is decently fast it just got to the point where it needs a good dialing in and Adrian has been very busy so we haven't even began the retune.... I know I'm loosing power running pig rich at WOT, my arf peg below 11 and unfortunately my gauge only reads down to 11. So we need to fix that and once it's dialed in running on just engine then we will dial in the tune to support the meth injection.. sucks , I bought this neth kit and haven't even been able to use it..lol all I've really used it for was when I had the stock intercooler on and it would get very hot so I'd give it occasional sprays if I was accelerating hard..
I got oem boots and tried those , I also checked and replaced a bunch if vacuum lines and fittings to make sure I had NO boost leaks..
I think I gotta just bite the bullet and buy the upgraded gpr tensioner for my Sprintex. Being able to remove the belt easily will give me a much better piece of mind about this car..it's why I haven't fixed my ac yet , I absolutely DREAD putting back on my belt as it's setup. I have to literally take off my core support so I can get a big screw driver I customized to wedge the belt over the alternator pulley because the tensioner doesn't compress quite far enough and if I use the next size belt I can get it on correctly but then I get belt slip. And as it is it seems to go through tensioner very fast EXP if I need to remove the belt , chances are then I gotta replace both the tensioner piston AND the belt then too. I don't wanna step up my pulley size as I don't want to sacrifice any boost. Though I still have my 62mm pulley ( 60mm is installed now ) though I might just throw that back on there and go back to abot longer belt then not have the fuss of belt install and I'd only sacrifice a few psi in doing so..
the k swap took a step back because **** sold the car out from under me. Someone must have stepped on my toes and told him they'd give him more and pick it up then , which is what happened I'm sure.. so o well..
and very good point guys ! I am serious about wwnting a k- mini so i think your absolutely rite in that I should use a cheaper r50 as my foundation. I could pick one up with a blown eng or trans for dirt cheap , like under 500$. It could be entirely done from parts from my local salvage yards and the Honda stuff that's for sale locally.
I think it's almost time I throw in the towel on this build. Once I get this tune on point and running the methanol efficiently. I think I'm gonna leave it as is.. it's a very VERY good driving , dependable car so that was my goal and it's been met. I better just start leaving well enough alone. That's my problem is I just always wanna make stuff better and more personal and sometimes things are as good as they can get and I need to start accepting that. It's a mini , it's not a muscle car like I've been used to. It bangs corners like no other and is far from slow so it just is what it is..your rite , do i wanna sacrifice all this cars strong points just to be faster strait line ??? No. No I don't! I could put this car on a track , in 130'F weather , sunny and high humidity and it would run and run HARD and not over heat or self destruct. This car has the ability to be pushed and pushed and it will continue to perform. So ille just embrace it for what it is.. it's a mini. But it's MY mini and I've don't to it all I've pretty much wanted to that's within my ability..

 

There is lots of reasons biggest being money spent for perceived target. Meaning you spent X amount and feel it should have y amount of power based on money and time spent. Reality is you cant get 300whp in a r53 with a supercharger for under 15k you just cant and the only place you could get said power would be with RMW complete packages or major items. RMW was the only place to make parts that worked with other parts to reach a goal. So all their stuff was designed to enhance their stuff. Its just a fact and its not a RMW thing really its just that they where the only company to build SYSTEMS I guess. Not just parts to fill a void or to check a box. Like Header companies. They just make a header because thats what they do if that makes sense. So they put out a product who knows how it performs with other products is it a good product? Likely but the point was does it enhance this other part? I know lots of people dont want to see that admit it whatever brand loyalty petty stuff etc but it is the truth. But it costs tremendous money to get to even 300whp. 240whp is not bad to get to. The platform is limited in that regard especially since there was only again one "House" doing serious development as a whole not just a part here and there. ITs not like a B16 or a SBC where you can open up JEGS and get amazing results from random part combos.

The only way to get to where you want to be is turbo and again cost money and not taking shortcuts. If you ever wanted to get serious step 1 is to rebuild the short block. If its a forever car or something you want to be able to thrash without question it has to be done. You would be surprised by how it performs with a proper built short block. I bit the bullet when I hit 265 whp and 216 wtrq and did the rebuild because I knew if I was going to get to 300whp I needed reliability that only a fresh build could provide.

People get stubborn and wont grasp that a part they bought wont do what they want and willing it to happen wont make it so. Even if you had a RMW head and TVS900 with the proper RMW parts for the TVS900 you wouldn't hit 300whp. That right there alone is close to 10 grand in parts. The sprintex cant get you there and never will its just not what it was designed to do. Just like the m45 couldn't. The tvs900 cant get me to 400 either. Even if I did a stroker I still wouldn't be there.

Then you add the limitations of the stock ecu again it can only go so far and do so much it cant do what it wasn't designed to do.

 

After researching the crap out of intercoolers the past week I learned wgat my car needs and what I've been looking for.
I need minor extra cooling capabilities but don't wanna sacrifice flow and idc about weight.. so , i NEED a bar and plate NOT a tube and fin. I know tube and fin pulls more heat but it also restricts flow doing so. SO I NEED to find what IF ANY intercoolers for our cars have bar and plate designs.
my current has such tight packed tube and fins I know that's where the boost drop comes from , plus they stacked the cores in this intercooler horizontal not vertical which is the only one I've seen built this way. coooooooould i remove fins from say every other row in the intercooler to improve airflow but cut down cooling capability? Not that I'm going to due to its rarity and awesomeness but I could do it to an ebay oversized one and check befor and after pressure drop and iat to see if anything improves or looses..
any leads on bar and plate , oversized intercoolers? I scoured ebay , Amazon and looked a few name brand ic's but theyre all tube n fin unfortunately..

 

Well seems the only bar n plate available is the grs motorsport.. I've asked numerous companies for pics now and it's the only one I've seemed to find...

 

Sooooo last night I couldn't go for a drive..my cooling fan motor must be going out or something is wedged inside of its casing.. it won't fully rotate , it kinda binds up in a spot and it takes some force to rotate it past that spot , like there would be a flat spot on the motor or a bearing cane out inside not allowing it to turn freely. So I have my old stock fan motor still since I'd saved it because the lowside resistor failed so I'm going to see if I can splice that oem fan I have into this autozone brand one that's failing only after a year and not many miles or road time on it.. I tried wd40 on it and made sure nothing was wedged or stuck in the shroud and neither helped..so I'm going to putz with that and kill sometime until my brother gets here later and ille be heading out of town a few days to help my pops..so if I can't splice them together ille see how long of a warranty the fan from autosuck had , maybe I can get lucky and just exchange it...the manager is very cool there and she is a huge help..

 

Have you considered a front mount IC???

 

yea but don't wanna delete ac or have such a large pressure drop do to all that extra piping and overkill sized ic..

 

Found the culprit. I'm sure this chunk of metal is from when I was trimming down my intake Manifold so larger intercoolers would sit flush and not contact them..
it came out literally as I was just about to splice in the old fan..lol free fixes are best fixes..
so now I do t have to think about what's wrong and take care of it when I get back home..
Just goNna go enjoy my weekend doing a bunch of work for my pops on his land around his home and my cottages..
i will test drive it when i get back too because i believe i found why it was down on power..far under the intake Manifold a vacuum line that intersected with the fpr , the vacuum line was kinked hard and i doubt much air was getting through so im curious if will get my psi to my gauge now and hopefully correct vacuum for the fpr....