Fun Car...

[Tom K.]

Mercedes wants $300+ for an oil change on a Sprinter van so to mitigate the expense they tell you that you can go 20k miles between oil changes...just one of the reasons that I would not want to own a MB Sprinter van.

Huh. Love our Sprinter van. Twelve years old, and nary a hiccup. Never paid anything like $300 for an oil change (though the diesels use a large quantity of full synthetic). Lifetime vehicle for us. So many uses!

Nice..I can see the angle-plug heads..I'd prefer the small-block anyway..unless you had an original 427.. Remote oil filter as well?

Love the small block, but Big Block Torque has my heart!

And my gas credit card!

 

[RickyG]

Agree with many on here that a stage 1(Ecu tune) GTI(300 hp/350 tq) or especially the R(350/350) would be fantastic, fun yet practical cars. I was pondering doing up a GTI but got an insane deal on an almost new 2018 Mini JCW that’s now around 300hp/320tq yet gets near 50mpg. Lots of fun yet holds lots of ski or in my job as a high end detailer, all my gear. Usually detail sports cars and exotics so need something funky to show up with!

Agree also on the Miata Love as I had a supercharged version of those too. About 260hp in the 2300 lb car made for lots of fun!
Not as fun as one of my Customer’s tuned and highly tweaked Ariel Atom, but pretty fun. Lol

View attachment 74181
“Detailing Work truck” before tint

View attachment 74180 View attachment 74179
1999 Supercharged Miata

This is what Motor Trend says on that Mini...so to get to those hp/tq numbers it has to be really worked over...and where is the dyno sheet...and 50 mph...please.

Mini has unveiled the 2018 John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4, which will be the automaker's most powerful model ever.
Powered by a 2.0-liter direct-injected, turbocharged I-4, the 2018 Mini John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 will churn out 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.

 

[GregK]

This is what Motor Trend says on that Mini...so to get to those hp/tq numbers it has to be really worked over...and where is the dyno sheet...and 50 mph...please.

Mini has unveiled the 2018 John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4, which will be the automaker's most powerful model ever.
Powered by a 2.0-liter direct-injected, turbocharged I-4, the 2018 Mini John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 will churn out 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.

Any F56 Cooper S goes to 260bhp/280tq plus with a simple stage 1 ECU from ANY tuner out there. The JCW with its lower compression and it’s upgraded engine parts are always in the 280-300 bhp range and 300tq range. I have upgraded drop in filter(better than open air intake) and a BR Performance tune. Here’s 2 dyno from them on similar cars. Other tuning companies have similar(if not higher as they boost higher) results. Evolve stage 1 is in the 300 WHEEL hp and 350tq range. Factory clutch can start to slip with that power and like the gradual boost of the BR Performance tune better.
Maybe you’re thinking mustang dyno numbers which would be 270 wheel hp range for a Tuned JCW. Manufactures and this tuner uses brake hp.

The F56 JCW hatch F56 has 231bhp and 230tq from the factory and the Countryman engine has more tq from the factory and that’s probably what they are saying in that article.

I average 5.7 liters/100km when traveling 98km/hr/61mph on a back highways all the way(3 hours) to my ski resort every week. Mini’s computer uses imperial calculation for mpg.
Driving 55mph I’d be 50 US mpg.

 

[RickyG]

Greg...nope I want to see the real dyno sheet. Corrected and non-corrected. You just can't add stuff together from a "tuner" catalog. The picture is fake and your math is ill conceived. Over the years I've become so tired of people making stuff up. By the way where are you and the altitude there?

 

[GregK]

Greg...nope I want to see the real dyno sheet. Corrected and non-corrected. You just can't add stuff together from a "tuner" catalog. The picture is fake and your math is ill conceived. Over the years I've become so tired of people making stuff up. By the way where are you and the altitude there?

What picture is fake? I screen shot mpg calculators off the internet to show conversions compared to what my dash has shown the last 10 years on 3 different Minis that show over 50 Imperial MPG when traveling to skiing at 60 plus MPH. That’s with snow tires traveling on rough roads so easy to hit 50 US MPG if traveling 55 MPH. I even got a government rebate on my first 2008 Mini as it’s highway mileage was above 50 US MPG. I get better mileage now with my tuned 2018 JCW than I
got with my old NA 2008 Mini Cooper that had 118hp and better than stock of course because of the tune. My previous 2010 Cooper S improved noticeably too with fuel efficiency after it’s tune as expected.


I’ve been in the Auto Business for 31 years detailing in a London, Ontario, Canada and have worked with RSP Motorsports for 15 years doing about a car every week or two there for them. They have a 4 wheel Awd dyno/rolling road that’s one of the best in North American and they tune vehicles almost daily. They are for engine not wheel hp so they are higher numbers than mustang dynos. They have used BR Performance files on vehicles for years and then fine tune those files on the dyno after. Every one has been within 5-10hp of BR Performance and the listing on BR are always conservative so people don’t feel “short changed”.
I didn’t get a printed off dyno as I got a “staff deal” on the tune that was a 6 hour job to remove the Ecu and take it apart etc. if mine was like my old old and could be tuned by OBD port, I’d spring for the dyno. It loses traction in 4th and 5th now so I know I’m good. Lol

Here’s a listing on my buddies GTI with a BR Performance tune and similar results to BR’s site. 2 other GTI done at RSP within 10hp of this.(others were higher). Notice the under reporting of power you get with most VW/BMW/Mini as it should be 220bhp/258tq from the factory. Still gains lots over that with a BR tune.

Stage 1 tunes on Mini/GTI are usually a boost of about 4psi and they are about 10 companies of Ecu tunes or Piggy backs that are all in the same power range. 40-60 hp increases and 60 plus tq increases.

Here’s a thread of various Mini dynos of my vintage. All around 260hp plus wheel hp/280 plus bhp and 280 Tq plus at the wheels on a cooper S with stage one tune/piggyback. Add 10-20hp for a JCW with its improved inter cooler, lower compression and improved airflow.
YouTube has at least 50 videos showing the same results.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.c...er-s/312462-official-3rd-gen-dyno-thread.html

 

[Dakine]

Nice..I can see the angle-plug heads..I'd prefer the small-block anyway..unless you had an original 427.. Remote oil filter as well?

Remote filter with a cooler.
A touch of ghost flake.
And a lot of love.

c

 

[neonorchid]

-
A touch of ghost flake.
And a lot of love. View attachment 74555

Nice ... that's even hotter than this -

 

[Tom K.]

Perhaps there needs to be a review of the word "fun" in the thread title.

 

[Ogg]

The job I’m currently working on for https://www.jtmmotorsports.com/ had me thinking about this thread. They had a Caddy CTS-V with a procharger and god knows what else on the dyno. When I asked the owner what kind of power it made his response was “only 600 and something at the tires”. I guess that’s no big deal since his z06 vette has 700-800, all motor and is a daily driver.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

Please consider posting some here. We've had three TT's one the years. I miss having one. Not as much as I miss our 1995.5 S6 Avant, but I miss one. My son is debating getting coupe as his winter car. Great fun, great car.

not the best photos but just out of the garage today = wondering if the granddaughters will fit in the back seat this weekend

 

[crgildart]

How do those Minis do in the snow with a ski box on top?

 

[DanoT]

How do those Minis do in the snow with a ski box on top?

I don't know about a Mini but I once owned an equally small full time AWD Toyota Celica Altrac. With its low centre of gravity this thing was amazing on compacted snow on the highway. But when I put a ski box on the roof it became a white knuckle handful at highway speeds. It also caused a noticeable increase in fuel consumption.

I took the box off and put scissor type ski racks on round tube Yakima crossbars. When I was not transporting skis (in ski bags) I would flip the scissor racks horizontal to reduce wind drag.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

my daughter has a cooper s with ski box fun car for a day ski trip, Goes up the sea to sky almost as well as the TT But both cars really don't have enough road clearance for deep snow days. We always take a bigger vehicles for those interior trips with big potholes , a lot more road rash and the occasional elk.

my first ski car was a $50 - 62 mini ,2 good snow tires 2 bad rear tires, no heat no muffler. . Better in the snow than the vws I passed.
However got the front and rear wheels stuck in different tire tracks once, followed by a siideway slide until it rolled up a snow bank onto the roof
leaned over and it rolled back down again, the body certainly didn't look any worse than before.

 

[tball]

So..Hyundai Veloster Type N, Honda Civic Type R, Mustang GT, Fiesta ST, Focus ST..whaddya think?

Or....1970 Boss 302 Mustang..

Maybe add the new Supra to that list. Not sure about the styling, but sure looks like it's fun to drive!

 

[Ogg]

I think the one in the middle would do nicely as a fun car. It's a highly modified one of these http://www.drakancars.com. Not sure about the horsepower numbers but I'd guess it's at least 700hp.

 

[scott43]

Sounds like GM is killing off the Camaro..so can probably scratch that in the future.. Still wouldn't mind a late 70's Z-28 4 speed..

 

[Ogg]

Sounds like GM is killing off the Camaro..so can probably scratch that in the future.. Still wouldn't mind a late 70's Z-28 4 speed..

I think one done in “resto-rod” style with a modern drivetrain, suspension and brakes would be cool but I think an original one would be a bit disappointing to drive by modern standards.

 

[crgildart]

New Mustang Shelby GT500 or GTFO!

 

[GregK]

The Camaro isn’t being killed off like initial rumored, they are just waiting for a new Cadillac shared chassis from the 2023 approx CT6 to completely redo the Camaro. Current Cadillac’s going to a new chassis/models soon that used to be shared by the Camaro and people assumed Camaro cancelled when it wasn’t switching to a new chassis too but GM waiting to use another future chassis instead. So you’ll just face lifted Camaro models for a few years till the redesign.

That Supra speaking of chassis sharing is just a BMW Z4 with turbo boost turned down and styling changes. Boost turned down so the power isn’t as high as the more expensive Z4 but like any turbo car, it’s a simple Ecu tune from becoming as powerful/even more powerful than the Z4 in stock tune. Even though is “supposed” to be 335hp, the Supra on the dyno is showing around 380hp and a tune will get you even more.

There is still lots of confusion out there with upgrading newer turbo cars as shown by this thread so i’ll give a quick primer.

Today’s turbo cars are not like naturally aspirated engines of old where you had to change several pieces(intakes/headers/cams/muffler/port and polish etc) to get any noticeable horsepower gains. What used to cost $5k plus in parts and hours in labor to gain 50-100hp on 5 liter naturally aspirated engines now takes a 10 mins to download a remapped Ecu on a turbo car.

Manufactures share chassis and also turbo engines within a line up to reduce production costs and that gives buyers of the “lower end in the line” vehicles very easy upgrade ability.
BMW/Mini uses the same 2 liter turbo engine in their Cooper S/JCW/Countryman and in almost every BMW sedan/SUV model. Just slight mods are sometimes made internally but it’s mostly a differences in ECU tuning to modify turbo boost levels and changing fueling, timing etc to adjust for those higher boost levels. Same 2 liter engine goes from 180hp in a Mini to over 300hp in an M235 model. “Lower end” models intentionally detuned from the factory.

For those wondering, supercharged vehicles are not quite as easy to tune as turbo ones as hardware changes (pulley changes needed to change boost levels) and can’t be just done in software. Once you change the pulley size, the Ecu can be tweaked to maximize gains from the added boost. And like adding larger turbos, larger superchargers can be added to add more efficiency/power gains.

The big issue with superchargers is that there is always a draw on fuel efficiency to get instantaneous power. Gas mileage always worse even when you’re not “on it”. Turbo used to have lags in power delivery but on properly sized turbos in modern cars, the lag is unnoticeable and mileage does not take much of a hit. In fact, on a properly Ecu tuned turbo car, mileage can better than stock.

There is usually a limit a turbo or supercharger have in boost levels before efficiency or heat cause issues. Ford in their hatches(Focus, Fiesta) run their small factory turbos higher in boost from the factory compared to VW/BMW so not as much is gained in those models with tunes until you change turbos or cool the engine better with larger inter coolers etc.

To summaries, it’s a great time to love performance cars especially newer turbo ones as they have huge potential yet are still very fuel efficient.

 

[Josh Matta]

abpout 230hp stock, but much lighter weight than almost all of the car being mentioned.

https://www.japaneseclassics.com/vehicle/1994-nissan-silvia-s14-qs/

easy to get 300+ hp out of it. Bonus you get to go though drive thrus backwards.