Had an 07 r56 coupe s manual non-sunroof car back around that time, there was nearly zero aftermarket support for these cars. As far as a daily driver, the car was phenomenal, but the lack of ability to customize it caused me to get rid of it. Thinking of getting back into another 07-10 Cooper S hatch as a cheap play car, but wanted to see if anything has changed with the aftermarket support for this car. Before you chime in and say "these cars are powerful enough from the factory, invest in the driver mod," I want more power... From a turbocharged 4-cyl from nearly a decade an a half ago, there should be some available options. A brief look through the FAQ, forums, and instagram, I havent seen anyone that offers a tune for these cars that is still in business... Anyone have any recommendations for a decent ECU tune that will yield some decent power gains on this chassis? thanks!

 

If you’re looking for a tune, there are a couple players in that market. I would recommend @Lou@Prototype-R as he is very knowledgeable, and performs the tuning himself.

 

thank you. im assuming you are running his tune?
Any idea on gains for a bolt on n14?

 

I'm running a tune from Lou with modest N18 bolt-ons, and I'm ~225hp at the front wheels. On an N14, you might see maybe 10hp less with similar bolt-ons.

Here is my build thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-edition.html

 

Nik has the n18, running a stage 2 tune if I’m not mistaken. I’m running all the mods in my signature on a n14, without a tune for now, and it’s a fun car to drive, makes turbo noises, puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. I’m sure it’s only going to get better once she is tuned. I’m probably going to go with the same people that did Nik’s, I want a nice clean stage 2 and I can make some pulls to get it fine tuned.

 

first off, thank you all that have chimed in.

I have quite a few cars in my collection that are... lets just say.... "heavily modified," and im trying to wrap my head around how a vast majority of people seem to be running around with bolt on parts, but no tune on a factory turbo car. It defies all logic that I have with every other factory turbo platform I have ever messed with. ECU tune is the first and largest upgrade on factory FI'd cars. How does the factory ECU on a mini cooper cars defy all common logic and calibrate for bolt-ons without requiring a recalibration of the mapping? Not criticizing, just trying to understand this platform. Is there just not enough demand for tuners? Is the factory ECU too difficult to mess with? Is the block severely limited by the amount of power it can handle and therefore tuning for more power is too risky? It seems like a great platform for a tuner to get into, but it seems (in my limited research) that tuners pop up temporarily then disappear.

Thank you to all the experts that are assisting me.

 

The ones that put an intake and exhaust on won't gain a whole lot, maybe 10-15hp. The cars run on closed loop so if something changes the ecu will account for it and make changes accordingly. But only has a set limit of what % it can change before it throws codes or goes into limp mode, most newer cars are like this.

The platform is slow growing, there's tons of companies people that sell canned tunes, but only maybe a hand full that do custom tuning. The aftermarket is some what there, just no real big demand for BIG power. A lot of people will stop chasing power after Stage 2 which is 215-230whp. The aftermarket turbos sold are hot trash almost all of them are made in china. Its either oem from borgwarner or the one in my signature that have been proven to work. There's no aftermarket fueling solutions yet, there's a HPFP being made in the EU but no ETA on it, so everyone runs a meth kit for extra fuel which is why I think most stop at Stage 2. The RPM Power company has a port injection kit which isn't out yet I don't think, but even then you need their $1300 billet intake mani to even use it.

The block can handle around 330whp with it still being open deck, some have made more but that seems to be the reliable limit from what I've been told. There's guy on here that got his CSS and makes over 500whp. The stock pistons in the S are good for 260-270 whp reliably, the jcws are good for 300whp. Rods are the same on both S and jcw and can hold 300wtq with arp rod bolts. People have made over 300whp on the stock short block but it doesn't last.

 

I honestly have all the supporting mods for a stage 2 tune, which I just need to lay the cash down for it. It’s a pretty big chunk of change to drop at once and life tends to get in the way.

 

thank you very much. A lot of very useful info here. Do you have any additional details on the turbo youre running? I would imagine you HAVE to do a retune if the turbo is upgraded...

 

The compressor is 46mm 6x6 blade, the turbine wheel is 50x45 12 blade. Forget what the exducer is on the compressor wheel, its either 60 or 62. Flows up to 1.8bar, I'm only running 1.5bar. Will flow enough for 320hp. https://prototype-r.com/product/x-se...o4-hybrid-copy
Ya if you're spending the money on a turbo you should 100% get a tune, no reason not to.

 

Awesome... they are literally right down the street from my shop... Thank you so much!