Ask MF: How to Increase the R56 Power-band
This edition of Ask MF comes courtesy of Steve:
>I just purchased a 2007 JCW fully-loaded with JCW suspension and trying to figure out how to get the most out of it in a straight line. I previously owned a 2004 JCW with CAI, 2% crank pulley and HSport suspension with
comp. rear sway bar. It handled rough but strong and power was in abundance. You know. With the 2007 being a turbo, and a power band from about 2000 to 5000 I am having a hard time figuring out how to get the most power out of it all the time so I constantly feel the pull on a straight line acceleration. Any tips?
>What I’ve learned so far is that I get more pull out of partial acceleration than peddle to the medal. Did you experience this as well? I’ve driven the factory JCW and it felt more like my 2004. I’m thinking if the power
band continued further it might feel better. I’ve seen that some cold air intakes are supposed to do this. Again any help would be much appreciated.
Honestly I never had any issues with finding power on my R56 with the JCW engine kit. With all the torque down low, it was easily the fastest MINI at the track I had ever experienced at the time (including the GP. However the power characteristics are indeed different from the R53 JCW and the factory R56 JCW. So we’re going to turn to the MF readers for this. What have you found to be the most effective at increase power in an R56 (or R55) in the mid and upper ranges of the RPMs?
<p>I’ll answer that with a question. I had the dealer JCW in 2007. I never messed with it. I have a pal who has a 2007 S that he only installed CAI and I swear that thing is faster than my JCW was.</p>
<p>I understand the 2009 factory JCW doesn’t have the air intake the comes on the dealer installed kit(?). Why is this? Would adding a CAI to the factory JCW make the kind of difference it did on my buddy’s car?</p>
<p>R56 is faster than my JCWc. But it doesn’t have the sound or the feel.</p>
<p>A bit confused… Are we discussing how to increase the power band in an R56 with JCW kit or simply an R56?</p>
<p>Feel free to delete upon clarification.</p>
<p>Sounds like Steve doesn’t like R56’s flat torque curve mid-range punch, and looking for mod to emulate the character of R53’s rev-happy top-end delivery?</p>
<p>a chip or tune will have you pulling really hard through the range – more so than any other single mod.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on chip/tune options? Use to have a Unichip which I liked because it was plug-n-play, but not tied to it.</p>
<p>We are discussing how to increase powerband with R56 with Stage 1 JCW kit.</p>
<p><i>“peddle to the medal.” </i></p>
<p>There’s your problem. Next time try putting the “pedal to the metal” and see what happens.</p>
<p>I’d love to hear an opinion on the factory JCW and a CAI.</p>
<p>For better partial pedal acceleration I would think that the “Sprint Booster” <a href="http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NME1900/InvDetail.cfm" rel="nofollow ugc">http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NME1900/InvDetail.cfm</a>
would be a help.</p>
<p>What a difference. I remember with the R53, if you mentioned something about modding you had 50 posts in 10 minutes.</p>
<p>It’s the nature of the beast; this engine isn’t nearly as mod friendly, from the computer management to the aluminum block. To get the HP up to 210, BMW put quite a few upgrades on the internals to handle the HP–it would make me VERY cautious modding a stock MCS; the question is how much can a stage II JCW handle.</p>
<p>I’ve brought this up before, but I really wonder what this engine can reasonably top out at. If they’re serious about putting the Prince in the 1-series, I’m thinking that with modification the engine can put out substantially more HP than 210. The question will be wether the MINI can put that extra power down; with a good LSD, the R53 can do it (although with less torque, which makes it substantially easier).</p>
<p>I really wonder where the limits are on the R56, and how the ediff comes into play–ie if you increase the HP aftermarket, will the ediff play nice, or will you be roasting brake pads? Would an aftermarket LSD be the answer?</p>
<p>@<a href="#comment-252798" rel="nofollow">mnicpt</a>: Ok! That’s what I’m interested in!</p>
<p>As cct1 said, I’m concerned about the capacity of the R56 engine.</p>
<p>I’ll be looking for non-hp related performance increases unless something comes out that will increase the HP without risking damage to the engine (outside the norm). IE reduced weight, aero, suspension, etc.</p>
<p>The turbo Prince and the JCW stage 1 are somewhat choked by the turbo. It’s small and revs fast, but can’t becomes a bit of a limit at higher RPMs. Based on the torque curve, you shift earlier to get the most out of the Prince, instead of going almost to red-line (or all the way to it) with the boosted Tritec. If you don’t shift ~5500 or a bit later, it feels like the little engine is just running out of lungs, which it is.</p>
<p>The factory JCW car lowers compression a bit, runs more boost and has an improved exhaust side of the turbo to increase capacity. Without doing this kind of stuff, you’re limited to little things like downpipes, intakes and exhaust systems.</p>
<p>Helix has an ECU mod out for the R56 and there’s the Unichip. In the EU, I don’t think the car has the MAF sensor, and there may be more options.</p>
<p>What I haven’t heard of anyone doing is the standard early FI hacking techniques: Install sensors with 20% less response and add injectors with 20% more capacity! Then the ECU is happy, and the car gets 20% capacity so you can increase boost and/or port and polish to increase flow through the head. I have heard of some starting to do this to the VWs and Audi direct injection engines as a poor man’s “tune”.</p>
<p>Matt</p>
<p>Matt, my only question is how much extra heat would that generate, and would the aluminum block and internals that were upgraded on the full JCW kit be able to handle it?</p>
<p>you say you get better acceleration out of partial throttle? Do you have DSC and ASC disengaged? You won’t get the most out of the car with either on. There aren’t a lot of options to go much farther than you are already at. Very sticky tires help. An exhaust system that removes the second cat like the Miltek kit or something custom from a local shop would help. An aftermarket intercooler that reduces boost drop and cools air more efficiently will help keep the HP up at the top end. The JCW ECU tuning software is pretty conservative. Expect custom tunes to be available eventually that squeeze more out of the engine but possibly at the expense of some engine longetivity. Evotech has one available now and others claim to be close to market.</p>
<p>Keep in in mind the main thing holding back big HP numbers on the R56 is simply that you lose steam above 5500 RPM. The big R53 numbers are from much higher up in the rev range. hp = torque x RPM / 5250 (about that number)</p>
<p>Now if you want to talk about TORQUE.. The r56 is quite good in that and is simply a torque <em>monster</em> with a good tune. it’s MUCH stronger than any MINI before it in the 1k-5.5k rpm range which happens to be where I do 95% of my driving.</p>
<p>@<a href="#comment-252846" rel="nofollow">Chris Tuveson</a>: I don’t know! But as my experimental roots would tell me, do it and find out. If something breaks, fix that better than it was and do more! There are a lot of aluminum engines pumping out a decent bump in power over stock without grenading. Go really extreme and then you sleeve the block to gain some strength….</p>
<p>I’d guess that it’s a given that the scoop wouldn’t like it though! They melt already! ;)</p>
<p>Matt</p>
<p>So then what would be the solution? A bigger turbo or a bigger engine displacement?</p>
<p>Is this as far as MINI will be able to go with a 1600cc powerplant?</p>
<p>I’ve found that the quickest acceleration on my R56 MCS is through shifting early. I usually do quick shifts at around 5,000-5,500rpm and using that method it’s much quicker than running it all the way to redline.</p>
<p>I’ve added a K&N cone filter and a downpipe back exhaust and that’s it. I’m content with the power. It’s not the fastest car I’ve driven but to deliver it through the front wheels, even with the LSD, this is about all the power I want out of it.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the feedback. What you’ve shared confirmed my thoughts as well. To keep it safe, the best mods would be intake, downpipe/exhaust,plumbing and intercooler. I am happy with the torque but would love to see it carry through to redline.</p>
<p>OK, well i personally have an ’07 MCS and got the stage 1 dealer installed kit on my car… that was nice, it made some power but didn’t seem to do as much noticable increases in daily driving and such…</p>
<p>what i ended up doing, i got all the breathing mods, did a lot of research and in the end dropped just shy of 4k on my car so far. my mod list includes Alta’s Turbo Inlet Hose (which according to their tests, flows better than the JCW Factory upgraded hose), Alta’s Boost Tubes (hot an cold side), Alta’s Intercooler, and Alta’s Turboback exhaust. i didn’t get everything in that order… i ended up with the boost tubes inlet hose and intercooler first for a “stealth look” so no one could hear the difference, but there was a noticable difference from those alone. boost felt like it came on stronger and on the highway passing was much easier even in 6th gear… and i’m talking 6th gear at 65mph pass… after turboback the sound was better and boost came on sooner… (backing up what alta claims at least from my butt dyno) and i later proved all that with a dyno which i was running 212whp and 230lb-ft.</p>
<p>i held off and did more research on the intake, ended up choosing DDMWork’s race intake because of the closed system design, ram air, and still using stock intake as well, that coupled with the M7 Vortex Scoop made for one hell of an awesome intake. dynoed a 223whp and 245lb-ft… i personally think my car may have taken better to the mods than most but i know after looking at the dyno numbers, flow charts and the turbo map that at this point without an ecu tune my turbo is running at high efficiency and can’t really push much more hp without being in the red (out of the efficiency range) in comparison with all previous dynos i noticed my ecu with the stage 1 tune still on it… reduced boost high in the RPM range near redline.</p>
<p>my personal route to go would be to make my mini similar to the JCW factory setup, maybe grab those internals and turbo…</p>
<p>as for getting the power down, my car has some serious limits pushing this power with the dunlop tyres and factory LSD… moreso the tires than anything. rubber and wheel upgrade will definutely help. but previously working with three STIs, and Evo, and two GTIs, my best advice is to let the turbo breath as much as possible without being rediculous. i love my mini as it is set up and i think you’ll find that Alta/Perrin knows what they’re doing… also Helix13’s Eric has helped me a significant amount with all mods on my mini. he would help you a lot.</p>
<p>something to remember, the new turbo MINI is a significantly different beast than the 02-06 MINI. if you need any help i’ll answer to the best of my knowledge from my mini what to do. but everyone on this forum knows a lot about MINIs!
hope that helped some…</p>
<p>JP</p>
<p>oh… and in testing it seems that exhaust + CAI will help with top end power most, the other mods seem to help more with low and mid range torque.</p>
<p>So, JP, you don’t have an ECU upgrade, other than the JCW upgrade, correct?</p>
<p>yulp… that’s correct</p>
<p>JP, that helps greatly. Thanks for you info. Can you send me your email? Mine is <a href="mailto:s_mask@comcast.net">s_mask@comcast.net</a>.</p>
<p>What constitutes a “tune” on a R56?</p>
<p>It’s my understanding that the ECU on the R56 hasn’t been cracked and won’t be for quite awhile if at all. I’m not</p>
<p>referring to a piggyback solution – I’m referring to changing maps and values within the ECU.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard otherwise?</p>
<blockquote>It’s my understanding that the ECU on the R56 hasn’t been cracked and won’t be for quite awhile if at all. </blockquote>
<p>people have been getting tunes in europe for a while now. We just need people in the US to do it.</p>
<p>JP, it sounds like you have been down a similar road to me. I have a 07 MCS with the JCW tuning kit. I also went the Alta route and installed the larger capacity hoses on the inlet, the boost tube, the CAI etc… I have also fitted the Alta intercooler. With these changes i felt the JCW software mod seemed to work a lot better.
There was a large and noticeable improvement in torque. The shove in the back when the overboost comes on is great and its was quick. After a little more research reading M2 English posts, I discovered what they call a GTT stealth Dump Pipe mod. It involves removing the dump pipe, opening the Cat Conv, removing the cold start Cat filter, and resealing it up before refitting it to the car. I realise that the USA spec is different, but my point is, you need a high flow exhaust system from the Turbo back. After all, BMW did this themselves in the JCW.</p>
<p>After having this done on my car I really noticed a lot more top end power, as opposed to the lower end torque. I track my car on a regular basis and because i did the mods in stages, i really noticed the different behaviour of the engine under stress. I have to say it put a smile on my face as the car was 2/3’s of the way down the straight and it didn’t run out of puff.
The other mod I can recomend is the Unichip. I have since ditched the Alta CAI for a larger panel filter that i had built myself (similar to the M7), added a forge BOV and the package works well in combination. I have since acquired and fitted a Mini Challenge Turbo, which i understand is similar to the Actua JCW model’s turbo. Researching these turbo the Challenge turbo is rated at a higher power output.</p>
<p>The additional capability to enable the engine to breathe in and out plus the additional turbo boost provided by the Unichip is something I can recommend.</p>
<p>Steve</p>
<p>Sounds great steve! i personally am currently going the hybrid turbo route, did some research and found a great deal on some K04 parts, also going to get my car retuned by Jan at some point… hopefully i’ll be able to make it just shy of 300whp, i’m not holding my breath though since i’m assuming fueling will be a bit of an issue, countering the potential issue with water/meth injection, but everything should be together soon! i’ll keep you guys up to date..</p>