Engine Mods. Good or bad thing?

[ryansweet]

So I just bought a used 2002 Mini S. Just under 50,000 miles and got it for what I consider a steal. I have always been into upgrading the cars I drive to go a lot faster. I have been looking at some different engine upgrades to both increase the hp/torque, but also increase fuel mileage. I have not found many people who are interested in perfomance enhancements for the Mini's. Is this a bad car for that type of thing or just not a popular thing to do?

[Jared]

I dont think its a bad thing or a limited thing to do, I just dont think the modifications for the mini are as widesread or plug and play like it is for other cars, you have to know what you want and be willing to go out there and try it. In your case, you need some big turbos :)

[ScottinBend]

Lots of vendors have performance parts for the MINI's.

You should check out www.northamericanmotoring.com for some ideas.

First thing most folks do to a MINI S is to change out the supercharger pulley to a slightly smaller one. This will increase boost and HP for a fairly small investment. Next would be an exhaust and intake system. Then you can investigate the options for some custom tunes. Unfortunately the MINI uses a "locked" ecu that is not readily cracked, but there are a few tuners available that can get the most out of the MINI's ecu. Probably the best available is Jan at www.revolutionmini.com.

From there the wallet is the limiting factor.......LOL

[rossii]

Modifying is GOOD!! For those that have the R53 w/super charger the biggest bang for your buck is changing the Super Charger pulley....they come in 15,16,17 and 19% sizes. The safest bet would be either the 15% or 16% which is close to the JCW pulley. Try it you'll like it! :D

[Sun Devil Steve]

Many minis are modified so you definitely wouldn't be in the vast minority.
Sounds like you are more into performance mods?

What's everyone here got in terms of engine mods?

[ScottinBend]

See my post above for 1st gen cars. The 2nd gen cars being a turbo are a bit to new for any real power mods.

[joeshutt]

i have an 04 mini i have done 19% reduction pulley , air filter, the john cooper works challenge exhaust which is very loud!, strut braces , re map , de cat and manifold and it now is very very quick just gotta lower it now but apart from that i found they are quite easy to tune at not too much of a cost!

[Konstantinos88]

Modding your car, if done properly, is a GREAT thing to do to increase power, performance, mileage, and even safety and reliability.

It's false to say that there are not people who mod their MINIs or that it isn't popular to mod them. On the contrary, there are many places you online to check out mods for your MINI. Here's a list of performance websites that many people commonly use:

www.altaperformance.com
www.outmotoring.com
www.helix13.com
www.m7tuning.com
www.aestheticreations.net
www.detroittuned.com
www.mossmini.com
www.minimania.com

Those should get you started with basic mods :) Basic mods for your R53 are: Supercharger Pulley, CAI, Coilovers, Sway Bar, Camber Plates, Exhaust, Intercooler, Tune/Chip and basic Exterior / Interior stuff.

[Sideways]

Bud, you obviously havent been at the MINI community very long...First thing you do to a MINI is MOD something! Whether it is tint, wheels, or a 15% pulley...MINI and Modding go Hand and Hand...Do a Google search...and ya...then there is NAM...thats a whole nother story...

Actually for some really nice examples go to www.motoringunderground.com
you will get some great ideas.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y202/samtrak/mini/reppin-mu.jpg

[zr1]

What does the pulley reduction to say.. 15% do to the fuel mileage. I bought the mini because my SRT was killing me to drive. Im looking at a "stage 2" upgrade consisting of pulley, belt, cat back exhaust, cold air intake, and ecu/chip/remap what evr.
Anyone have these mods? Ive seen claimed hp of 200 with these mods. Anyone comment on true performance of such mods and whether it will decrease my fuel mileage.
THX

[ScottinBend]

See my sig for my mods.
As for mileage, it depends on how you drive it. I can easily get 35+ mpg on the hwy or I can get about 20 in the twisties.

[BIG DRE]

What does the pulley reduction to say.. 15% do to the fuel mileage. I bought the mini because my SRT was killing me to drive. Im looking at a "stage 2" upgrade consisting of pulley, belt, cat back exhaust, cold air intake, and ecu/chip/remap what evr.
Anyone have these mods? Ive seen claimed hp of 200 with these mods. Anyone comment on true performance of such mods and whether it will decrease my fuel mileage.
THX

if yor budget is low,you dont have to have all them things done to your mini to get more speed...15% is fine alone,you will hear the supercharger whine loader,a good air intake is ok,but you dont get exrta bhp from a exhaust & you dont have to remap to be happy with your car

[lukedauvergne]

i got a magnaflow cat back system, alta panel filter, new plugs, ht leads and coil pack. the 15% pullys about to go on in a couple of weeks. the filter and exhaust greatly improves the breathing and makes my car feel smoother maybe a lil quicker even but probs mind over matter. not got a boost gauge in place yet but was wondering what the improvement in boost is? and is a pully the only way to improve boost. i need boost!

[lukedauvergne]

p.s. gonna be fitting a bad boy custom intercooler anyone ran a pully with standard intercooler then upgraded? any differance?

[ScottinBend]

The 15% pulley is the best place to start for power and boost. You should see about 5-8psi increase in boost. A smaller pulley is the only way to increase boost.

Don't bother with a new intercooler. The OEM one performs better than just about any other one available. The only other air-to-air one that does better is the one that came on the GP.

You can go to an air-to-water one at a great cost with not much improvement in power.

[lukedauvergne]

are you running the standard intercooler? im looking to do the sorta mods you have and imagin that running high boost and more power would be to much for the intercooler to deal with surly having a bigger intercooler would help with the heat soak?

[ScottinBend]

Yep......standard intercooler. It actually looses heat faster than all of the aftermarket ones do. Only time it doesn't perform better is under some very hot temp autoX days. It doesn't have a chance to cool off during the usual 30sec to a min autoX runs.

I do track days, serious twisty drives and I never have a problem. There was a very long thread on another forum that actually tested a bunch of IC's on a daily driven car and the OEM IC performed the best.

Heat soak is only a concern when the car is standing still. The larger IC's actually do worse after sitting at a stop than the OEM one does because they have a much larger mass that holds a lot more heat and it takes much longer to get rid of it.

[lukedauvergne]

ah that makes sence maybe we'll give that a miss then certainly saves me many pounds! whats the score with the bigger injectors? are they much bigger? couldn't find the spec anywere. are they a straight swap? did u fit them post map coz i imagine it would run like crap if not mapped up propperly. do they make a difference?
my mate has a well soupped up turbo jap number i need to leave him before he has the chance to spool up:D

[ScottinBend]

I run the JCW 380cc injectors, the stock ones are 340cc. Not much bigger just a bit more headroom for my increased rev limit, 7500, and the tune was done after installing them so they would be tuned proper.

Where abouts are you from?

[lukedauvergne]

im from london in england. gonna go to c a mini specialist in the next couple weeks whos gonna fit my smaller pully may well be disgusing a re map. dunno weather to move to the bigger injectors? would having the standard injectors restrict me from gettin 210 from my wagon?

[ScottinBend]

Shouldn't as long as the tune isn't to aggressive. Best bet would be to talk to them about it and see what they say.

[lukedauvergne]

better words have never been spoken:D cheers for your help mate

[ScottinBend]

No problem. Good luck!

[BIG DRE]

im from london in england. gonna go to c a mini specialist in the next couple weeks whos gonna fit my smaller pully may well be disgusing a re map. dunno weather to move to the bigger injectors? would having the standard injectors restrict me from gettin 210 from my wagon?

get in touch wiv 1320.com,there good guys & they wont burn a hole in your pocket.......im from london uk,

[lukedauvergne]

alright dre. went on the site dont no what u were thinkin i should check out went on there and got a bit baffalled what they do. lol

[lukedauvergne]

if anyone is thinkin of 15% reduction on the pully. do it i aint been dissapointed got it done today and had a massive tear down the motor way and it pulls no problem loose a bit on top end but make up for it in acceleration.

[lukedauvergne]

just been in contact with a mini tuning specialist told them my list of mods pully cat back plugs leads coil pack and air filter and the guy said im surprised your engine managment light hasn't come on i wouldn't advise running these mods without a re-map is he havin me on or am i doin a no no and hes not just trying to make me spends a fortune on a re-map. i want to get 1 anyway but if the guys trying to mug me off then i will go elsewere can anyone help me?

[ScottinBend]

He is full of crap. I was running, and have lots of friends who were running, the very same mods or darn close with absolutely no problems for many, many miles. In fact I had over 3 yrs on my mods til my tune. All the tune is going to do is optimize the ecu for the mods you have. The stock tune is more than capable of roughly adapting to the mods you have.

I wouldn't go out drag racing or punishing the car by extended amounts of time at very high revs, but you should have a very safe, driveable car for the twisties and the daily drive.

[coopster]

mod it!

[lukedauvergne]

the place i had my pully fitted which was the last thing i did was 120miles from my house and i racked up 300miles within the week no probs so far and that was done like 2 weeks ago now so i thought he might be fibbin but didn't wanna go throwing accusations around lol guess the serch continues then:D

[ScottinBend]

But the wait will be worth it...........!

[MadysonBelinda]

Yeah I think so Engine Modifying is GOOD.