Greetings fellow travelers

• How on earth did they get 191 lb-ft @ 1600 RPM? I thought turbos had to be spun-up to generate torque and power? That's truely an amazing #!
• Does anyone have a clue how reliable the new mini turbo will be? Is this a brand new design (along with the engine)?

FWIW, I would only be interested in the S if the turbo could reliably go 150K miles with adult use. That would only be about 5 years for me.

Regards and thanks for any comments
JohnG

 

Well, as far as the turbo goes... it's a twin scroll design that DOES spin up to speed before 1600 RPM. According to the press that's out there, it seems to work well and sure SOUNDS fun in the audio/video clips.

As far as reliabilty... nobody knows for sure. But a contemporary manufacturing from PSA/Citreon, with designed and QC overseen by BMW would suggest that 150K isn't going to be a problem. Most cars today though, it's not the engine that gives you trouble over time, it's the extra bits... water pumps, alternators, trannys (not speaking minis in particular, just a generalization).

 

Even if you burn up the turbo you could replace that for under a grand. If you are looking for long term reliability, just don't mod the engine.

 

No one knows how reliable the new MINI's turbo will be. That being said turbos have become so reliable that it's really a non issue anymore. My guess is that it may well be more reliable than the supercharger.

 

Thanks to all for the encouraging words.

Does anyone have a link to a graph of the torque curve for the new motor (with turbo)? I found a torque curve that was posted a couple months back but the peak #'s don't match the current spec.

Thanks much
JohnG

 

Is it still a recommended practice for turbocharged engines to let the engine idle for a minute or two before shutting it off if you've just finished doing some "spirited" driving? I'm thinking of when you pull back into the staging area immediately after a two-minute autocross run.

I remember hearing back during the 80's that if you turned off the engine while the turbocharger was still very hot, the oil in the turbocharger would burn off, leaving behind a hard "coke" residue that would eventually build up and damage the turbocharger. By letting the engine idle for a few minutes before shutting it off, the oil would continue to flow through the turbocharger, giving it a chance to cool off. There were even aftermarket products (Turbo Timer?) that would do this automatically - you take the key out of the ignition, but the car would continue to run for a pre-determined time period, and then shut off.

With the advances in turbochargers and motor oil, I don't know if this is still recommended.

Scott

 

This is true for all oil cooled turbos. If the mini turbo is water cooled, you won't need a turbo timer or a cool off period.

 

I remember reading somewhere that the R56 S had a built in "turbo timer". But I'm having trouble recalling where I read it.

I found it. From this Motoringfile page http://motoringfile.com/2004/12/14/n...ail/#more-3971

 

I drove the 2.0T A3 and there was no turbo lag to speak of and a pretty "torquey" engine.


the smaller turbos spin up faster but are somewhat limited as to their max output...at least this is what I have been told

 

Yup, same as with the S/C's the smaller units just reach their max. at high rpms. The bigger units (naturally) push more air and therefore can create more power.
Case in point, with the K03(-s) turbo on my A3 (1.8T) "all" a remap got me was 210 ps (~207hp) (From 150) but with little lag, whereas the guys who had the $$$ to install the larger K04 were getting around (and a bit over) 225hp but with increased lag, and more torque of course

 

John, I'd love to see that graph you have. If the peak is ~175 ft-lbs that's the new MCS motor. The ~19X ft-lb rating is what we in the digital world call Burst. It will not sustain that boost level for prolonged periods, but the 175 is the sustained max torque and comes to life at only 1600. To my knowledge, noone has published a torque/hp curve for the R56. Anyone???

 

There is an article in the Sept-Oct 2006 issue of MC2 .......

"177 pound feet, 22 more than the 2006, at an unbelievable 1600 rpm and stays level all the way up to 5000 rpm."

It seems I saw 210 somewhere but I don't recall where..... maybe that is the spec of the A3....

 

May not be super accurate but try here

http://www.mini.co.uk/UK/html/model_...ce/engine.html

 

that is not ft. lb. converted..... it will fall into line

edit.... I did it 240 = 177

 

They have the curve for the MINI Cooper shown as the curve for MINI Cooper S at the moment. Click the "Compare MINI engines" link to see the Cooper S HP Curve.

 

Clicking on the campare mini engines (on the right of the picture) will give a Cooper / Cooper S bhp graph

 

Those graphs appear to be labeled incorrectly. ???

JohnG