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. 
Continue reading Dyno Comparison: 2016 F56 Factory JCW and 2016 F56 S JCW Tuning Kit
Category Archives: Modern MINI
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!
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
RSe05 Wheels & F56 JCW Brakes Up Close
I have gotten a few requests for some close up shots of how the new RSe05 wheels sit on my F56, Clark, and how they clear the John Cooper Works brakes that were just installed this week. I may post some photos later of the actual brake install, but for now, check out these shots of how the wheels and brakes look. I personally think they look fantastic!
Continue reading RSe05 Wheels & F56 JCW Brakes Up Close
Happy Back To The Future Day!!!
New Wheels In Preparation of JCW Brakes
If you have been following Clark’s progress over the past month or so, you know of the struggles in finding an aftermarket wheel that will clear the JCW brakes on the F56. My JCW brakes have been sitting in a box in the garage for almost a month waiting for new wheels to be installed that will clear the large calipers. After a lot of work on behalf of Jerry at NM Engineering, Clark is now sporting new wheels that not only will clear the JCW brakes, but also helps complete his “Superman” theme 🙂
I decided to go with the 17×8″ RSe05’s with a +45 offset and the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires in a 215/45-17 configuration. The wheels are so much lighter than the stock wheels that the difference was noticeable right out of the gate. So far the Pilot Super Sports are WAY stickier than the OEM Hankook run-flats so handling has improved immensely. I couldn’t be happier with the way the wheels came out and highly recommend contacting Jerry at NM Engineering if you need some custom wheels for your F56 JCW! You can reach Jerry at (800) 423-3623
Found: A Wheel That Clears The F56 JCW Brake Kit
First off, a HUGE thank you is in order to Jerry at NM Engineering for going above and beyond in assisting in this project. When I first went looking for aftermarket wheels for the F56 JCW Brake Kit, I didn’t realize how much of a challenge it would be to find ANYTHING available in the after-market. Every option that I found required spacers to push the wheel out enough to clear the massive Brembo calipers of the JCW Brake Kit. As I described in part 1 of this project, Jerry agreed to get his hands on a JCW Brake Kit himself and install it on the NM Engineering test F56 to see what could be done to bring to market a wheel that would clear the brakes without the need for spacers. If you recall from part 1 of this project, Jerry was going to enlarge the center bore and reseat the lug holes of the NM Engineering 8″ wide VW spec wheels so that they are perfectly matched to MINI spec (66.5mm and canical seat lugs). After various test fittings, here are the options that are available for customization to clear the JCW brakes: Continue reading Found: A Wheel That Clears The F56 JCW Brake Kit
Lower Is Better
Can you spot the difference between the 2 photos below? If your answer is “no”, move along… there’s probably nothing on this site that interests you lol. If you answered “yes” and immediately noticed that the photo on the bottom shows an F56 MINI Cooper S with a properly lowered suspension, keep reading…
Continue reading Lower Is Better
2 Weeks Of F56 Ownership
So far Clark has proven to be one fun ride!! I am amazed at the amount of torque this MINI has without any noticeable torque steer. Since most of the torque is being produced below 4500 rpm, I am having no trouble staying below the recommended rpm limit during break-in period. Speaking of which, I am just about at 1250 miles and getting ready to have my first oil change to flush out any break-in residue that may be floating in the oil. With engines these days, there most likely isn’t anything floating around in there, but I am old school when it comes to the first oil change getting done early. Can’t hurt…
Continue reading 2 Weeks Of F56 Ownership
2016 F56 with JCW Tuning Kit Dyno Results
If you haven’t seen the video of my trip to the dyno this past weekend, make sure you check it out! Big thanks to Lee at Genesis Automotive in Oakland Park, Florida for running the dyno and helping us get the baseline data.
Video: How-To Enable Dyno Mode On An F56 MINI Cooper
Tomorrow I plan on putting Clark, my 2016 MINI Cooper S, on the dyno to obtain some baseline horsepower and torque numbers. it was brought to my attention that newer MINIs had issues being run on the dyno due to the DSC kicking in. Apparently the car would cut power around 3,000 rpm. Thanks to some helpful advice from Jerry over at NM Engineering, he was able to show me how to set the MINI into “Dyno Mode”. Below is a video I made to demonstrate the process to make it easier for people to see how it is done.