Category Archives: MINI Performance

Sunshine MINIs Summer Dyno Day 2018

This past weekend we had another Sunshine MINIs Dyno Day and this time around we had everything from an R53 to an R56 to a JCW GP to a F56 JCW!!  In all, 10 cars came out to see what they had under the hood.  The results were quite interesting:

2005 Chili Red / White R53 MINI Cooper S
(power mods: 16% Supercharger pulley, ATE crank pulley)

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Clark At MINIs On The Dragon 2016

Last week I took Clark up for MINIs On The Dragon to join about 900 other MINIacs driving the mountain roads of North Carolina and Tennessee.  The previous MINIs On The Dragon events I attended were done in my previous 2006 MINI Cooper S, Scooter, so I was looking forward to bringing my 2016 F56 MINI up there for some comparison.  I have spent quite a bit of time working on setting up Clark to at least match the handling of Scooter and driving the Dragon (US 129) is a sure way to test the setup out.

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How To Set The F56 JCW Tuning Kit To Permanent Track Mode

Let me first start off by saying that I love the F56 JCW Pro Tuning Kit Exhaust!!  When it is in track mode (with baffle open), the MINI just sounds mean!  It adds such a visceral feel to the driving experience that many owners have asked how does one go about leaving the system in track mode all the time (remember that by default, the baffle is closed and you must press twice on the bluetooth remote to open it up)?? IMG_5567

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MINI JCW Team: Laguna Seca Preview

Get ready folks!  The on-track action is about to heat up and the MINI JCW Team just may surprise you with what they will be able to do this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  Last year the team posted a top 10 finish with the non-JCW Cooper S brakes.  Now that the team has a proper OEM JCW brake system on the MINIs, it is showtime!!  I can’t wait to see what the LAP Motorsports guys put together on Saturday.  Hopefully this year they can improve with a top 5 finish, and even a win!

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Continue reading MINI JCW Team: Laguna Seca Preview

LAP Motorsports at the Sebring 150

This past weekend I was privileged to cheer on the 3 John Cooper Works MINIs from LAP Motorsports in the latest round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Sebring International Raceway. IMG_3395

LAP Motorsports and MINI USA put on a great hospitality paddock for us MINIacs that attended the race complete with a driver meet and greet before the race and a full lunch during the race.

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Is the NM Eng. Power Module The New Pulley?

Back when I owned my 2006 MINI Cooper S, there was one performance upgrade that just about everyone had on their supercharged MINIs that was known as the best “bang for the buck” – the supercharger reduction pulley.  The most common size was the 15% reduction pulley and it delivered about a 25 point increase in horsepower and torque for about $300-$400, including installation.

Fast-forward to today and MINIs are no longer supercharged.  The twin scroll turbo has replaced the supercharger and according to the data from our most recent dyno day, there may just be a mod that delivers about the same, if not more, “bang for the buck” for the new turbo MINIs – the NM Engineering Power Module!

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Continue reading Is the NM Eng. Power Module The New Pulley?

Special Offer: Save $560 On The F56 JCW Pro Tuning Kit

Vista MINI, our local MINI dealer here in South Florida, has done it again!  After a great show of support to the local MINI community this past weekend at our dyno day by showing up with a factory F56 JCW, today they are announcing a special offer to help those on the fence about the F56 JCW Tuning Kit make the decision a little easier for the holiday season.  For the rest of 2015, Vista MINI is offering the John Cooper Works Pro Tuning Kit with chrome exhaust tips and installation for $560 off of their normal price of $2806 bringing the total price of the kit to $2246, including installation!  All you have to do to receive this price is mention the promo code “MF2015” when you call and order!  Huge thanks to Vista MINI for the continued support of our MINI community!vista-jcw-promo

It should also be noted that Vista MINI is not compensating MotoringFun.com in any way for this promotion.

Dyno Comparison: 2016 F56 Factory JCW and 2016 F56 S JCW Tuning Kit

A few people have asked me to compare Clark’s dyno numbers from August to the factory JCW dyno numbers from this weekend’s dyno day.  So before I start posting comparison graphs from yesterday, I figured I would post this comparison for anyone on the fence about adding the JCW Pro Tuning Kit to their F56 Cooper S.  IMG_1015 Continue reading Dyno Comparison: 2016 F56 Factory JCW and 2016 F56 S JCW Tuning Kit

Sunshine MINIs Fall Dyno Day 2015

This past weekend, we had a great turn-out for the Sunshine MINIs Fall Dyno Day that was held at Genesis Automotive in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. When we originally scheduled the Dyno day, we were hoping the weather would have cooled off a bit, but it was still about 92 degrees with 41% humidity. We had a fantastic variety of MINIs from R52s to R55s to R56s to R59s to R60s to F56s all on the same Dyno, on the same day, for some great comparisons!! The highlight of the day was having our local MINI dealer, Vista MINI, support our club in a huge way by bringing out a factory John Cooper Works F56 to put on the Dyno and provide a comparison baseline that we were able to use for the rest of the day to compare all the other cars to MINI’s most powerful production MINI ever!! Huge thanks to Vista MINI for their continued support of the local MINI community!

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Below I will post the results for each MINI individually. I will also be posting up some comparison graphs in separate posts soon so be on the look out for those too. Without further delay, here are the results… Continue reading Sunshine MINIs Fall Dyno Day 2015