Today was an exciting day to say the least... I picked up Junior from 'daycare' and I was immediately very suspicious of what they must have fed him for lunch because he's been awefully feisty.

A HUGE "Thanks" to Eddie at E and L Auto Service (http://www.1fastmini.com) here in Orlando who did all the work. Eddie does amazing work and is extremely knowledgeable about everything MINI.

Being new to the MINI world he was a tremendous help answering a lot of questions I had. And oh yeah, it doesn't hurt that Eddie's probably one of the nicest guys around. I highly recommend him if you are in the Central Florida area and need someone to take good care of your MINI.

There were no previous engine mods on the car before Eddie worked his magic and installed everything. I wanted to point that out incase some people want to know what the difference with/without certain parts was like; I wouldn't know.

In less than a week after I recently bought my new MINI, I discovered NAM and also uncovered the world of "MINI modding." I felt like I needed to get in the game as quickly as possible.

After a lot of reading and research, I really liked what I saw from ALTA, as a company. I enjoyed seeing how active they were on the forum, how willing they were to help others (customer or not), and how knowledgeable and PASSIONATE they obviously were about the MINI. There aren't many performance part companies that will bend over backwards to put in the time and effort to produce dyno charts and comparisons (and rush to put them online) at the moment they are working on new products -- let alone be fully transparent, allow others to ask questions (even sometimes the hard ones), and to actually listen to their customers and be respectful even when receiving harsh criticism.

I emailed Adam to ask him a few questions and he immediately replied with my answers and then some. I was very impressed. I was even more impressed about 15 minutes later when I actually realized he was the owner of ALTA. (I had no idea and just saw one of his posts and decided to contact him with some questions.)

So that's pretty much all it took for me. I told Adam, "Warpspeed, Captain, give me all she's got!" Okay, I actually didn't say 'that' but I did tell him I wanted to order everything he had for adding power to my new MCS.

He wrote me right back and showed me a full list of all the components he had on his own MINI, Howard, and basically said, "This is what I recommend."

So I placed my order and in a few days my boxes of goodies started to arrive!

* I also wanted to mention that Adam gave me a nice unexpected discount on every part. He didn't have to do that but it was certainly appreciated.

(Back to our story)

BUT THERE WAS ONLY ONE PROBLEM...

At that time, Junior only had 700 miles on him. I had a long way to go before the break-in period would be over and I could add any of these new toys.

So I loaned the car to a woman that works for my company and does a lot of driving. (Regular trips to and from Tampa -- ~90 miles each way.) I taught her the rules of the break-in procedure and basically said, "go crazy with the miles. I'll even pay for any gas."

To make a long story short, about 7 days later Junior had over 1,400 miles.

I found Eddie's service after doing some research and dropped off Junior and all the ALTA goodies. About 48 hours later, Junior was ready to be picked up. (Eddie doesn't mess around!) He actually would have had the car completed for "next day" pick-up but ran into some issues with the FMIC; apparently he had to do some cutting and fiddling to get it to fit.

Here's what was installed...

Cold Air Intake, Cat Back Exhaust, Turbo Downpipe, Front-mounted Intercooler, Boost Tube Upgrade Kit, and 22mm Rear Sway Bar.

I actually don't know how many HP the car now has. My 250+HP assumption is not only from what Adam estimated, but Eddie as well. Eddie drove Junior and had the reaction of, "Wow! This is definitely a lot faster than my '04 that has about 250HP."

We hope to have it dyno'd very soon to be able to see the actual numbers -- which, of course, I will post the day I get them.

BUT LET'S GET ON WITH THE TEST-DRIVE...

I have to admit, I was a bit giddy as I was pulling out of Eddie's shop. I put the windows and sunroof down so I could hear the new exhaust...

I slowly hit the throttle to pull onto the street... I wanted to take it easy at first... but WOW, I could immediately hear the gorgeous 'throaty' notes from the exhaust, even at low RPMs.

As someone who has owned almost every sportscar under the sun, and has been through many exhaust upgrades, I can honestly say that the ALTA Turbo Back exhaust just plain sounds like a "high end" exhaust system. It doesn't sound even close to those Honda "fart pipes" most of us absolutely can't stand to hear when we're out driving, correction, motoring.

So I got a little brave (after I had merged onto a highway and was doing about 35-40mph) and mashed on the gas...

WHOA.

This little sucker can scoot.

I'd give it a lot of gas, then slowdown...downshift, do it again, etc. while cruising down this highway. Man, this car is truly a BLAST now. Don't get me wrong, it was great fun stock, but now it's just at an entirely different level -- you'd have to experience it for yourself.

I was concerned that adding a lot more power to such a small car would make it have an "uncontrollable" feeling and I definitely didn't want that.
But for me, it was almost the OPPOSITE...

With Sport mode enabled, and DSC turned off, I was actually experiencing less torque steer than I did before the mods. Now granted I drove most of the time with DSC enabled when it was stock, and that might have been contributing to it, but I was pleasantly surprised that the torque steer wasn't much of an issue with the new power. Shortly after the car was past the break-in period, I did quite a bit of "testing" to see what the car could do. I experienced a little bit of torque steer (pulling to the right) when I'd come off the line hard and also through 2nd gear. But that isn't the case now.

So let's cut to the chase...

It was time to hammer the living crap out of the new set-up and see what she was really made of...

I took the car over to an area (55mph limit which I stayed within... well, mostly) with very little traffic and made quite a few 'runs'...

Simply AMAZING. Seriously.

Dropping the car into 2nd (if you're 'aggressive' enough) barks the hell out of the tires! And I'm not talking about a little tiny chirp. I'm talking about you feel like the car is lifting off the ground 6 inches.

But again, that's only if you're 'really' getting on it. I *was* running the car really hard some of the time -- hey, I had to make sure all the parts were securely bolted on.

I took a friend of mine for a little spin and his reaction was, "Wow! This is truly impressive." And this is a guy that's been around tuned cars for 15+ years. One of his main points was, "This car is producing quite a bit of smooth power." To which I replied...

"What the hell does that mean?"

He explained that in a lot tuned cars when you'd add more power the driving experience would really suffer -- such as excessive vibration, 'choppy' bands of torque, and other little things that really hurt how the overall car would feel. But he pointed out several times (we did quite a bit of driving) that the MINI's acceleration and just overall ride were surprisingly smooth for having added such a huge HP gain over what the stock engine produced.

After dropping off my friend I proceeded to drive all over town... I didn't want to take the car home! And OH YEAH, here's a little problem I have now...

I love to listen to music while I drive... usually windows and sunroof closed. Just motoring around and listening to some tunes. BUT... I was catching myself killing the radio and having my windows down and sunroof open so I could listen to the exhaust as I drove around. It's seriously that enjoyable. And I'm not kidding.

After driving around in Junior 2.0 for a few hours, something crazy hit me... something almost 'evil'... never in a million years did I think it would happen after just picking up the car...

I said to myself...

"You know, if this baby had just a litttttle more power it would be perfect."

And without getting upset with myself, I was quickly at peace again and didn't allow myself to get stressed about it...

Because I remembered that the ECU is already ordered and should be out in about a month.

In all seriousness, if you're thinking about adding some big power to your R56s MINI, the ALTA "Happy Meal" (even without the ECU for now) won't disappoint you.

If you're ever in the Orlando area (I live very close to Disney) and want to experience Junior 2.0, I'd be more than happy to take you for a spin. Just remember to bring a change of underwear.

Hope you enjoyed my little story.

-John

P.S. Adam, if you're reading this, hurry up with that bigger turbo.

 

if your on the east coast and need someone to drive your car again. Hit me up haha

 

Sounds good. The guys at ALTA definately hook it up. Just wait till you get the ECU. Its by far the best!

 

That sounds awesome!
Can't wait until it comes out...

Are they still pushing 20lbs of boost ? and safely, with no knocking, etc..?
Seems a lot for this little turbo, too much boost and I'd think it'd be blowing hot air..?

Thanks for any help

 

That pretty much seals the deal for me (sorry check book).
And if you ever need someone to rack up miles on the lambo, you know where to find me

 

I want your Papa.... It still sounds wrong.

 

70 hp increase from those mods?

 

good write up....Alta is definitely the way to go, I love all my mods as well....I said the same thing "if it just had a little more power...." so I can't wait to install the ecu upgrade!!!

 

Awesome write up! I'm still in the break-in period for my 07 MCS and can't wait to add a few goodies to it. So far I have the Alta CAI sitting in my room waiting to be installed. Your post made me more excited about buying my performance mods from Alta!

 

I like that...the ALTA "Happy Meal" for the big kids. I've been planning to go with Alta as well, but am waiting for their ECU for the auto before I buy everything like you did. That plus I want a couple of more track days under my belt to appreciate the stock setup for a bit.

 

I just got the small fries and coke... the burger and toy are next.

I told myself I'd wait on the mods so I can appreciate it stock. That only lasted for the first 1200 miles =).

I see you are right here in San Jose. Where are you doing your track days?

 

EXCELLENT WRITE UP! John Turbo and I have a few things in common and it goes beyond the MINI (wink wink)

John glad everything is working as planned. I hope you continue to enjoy the car, and the ECU will really bring things together as well.

Also, thank you again for the kind words about both me and my company. It is really nice to get that kind of feedback that shows what we are really all about.

Thanks again and have a great holiday!

 

GOOD WRITE UP

Definitely sums up my experience with all the ALTA mods in place. Wait till you add a few more miles and really hit the groove, it will definitely be singing HALLELUJAH. Mine does at 13700+ in 3 months and Fully broken in.

The exhaust note is definitely intoxicating and the power is just soooo smooth that the problem is how do ya keep this beast under 75 MPH while still in 4th? The needle hovers at 90 MPH in a blink if you are not paying attention. THE ALTA'D MCS is DA BOMB

Waiting for the ECU to get here and fully unleash this beast. It is not a just a happy meal, it will be a SUPERSIZED happy meal when the Turbo upgrade is ready.

 

For those of you keeping score at home, he's referring to something car-related. Didn't want someone to get the wrong idea from those winks.

And, of course, you're very welcome, Adam. You guys run a top-class outfit for sure!

 

Great write up! I would love to see a dyno on this car to see what you are really putting down as if you are 250+ HP you would be the first with the R56 ... which is a big deal!

And don't worry about the "little car getting uncontrollable" as that doesnt really become an issue till 400 hp (for many it was 300 hp) then it's like WOW I NEED TO KEEP BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL! At least that's how it went for me with the R53... and having driven the R56... I am pretty sure it will be the same... although.. it's relative to ones expirence... LOL

Again.. great stuff... I look forward to hearing more....

 

tuls, any chance you might be trading in for trubo only mini power????

 

Honestly if I go turbo only I would just do it to the one I have... If I did that... I would be able to make the same power with about 10 lbs less boost... so that's significant... ... and easier considering I already have the turbo and the SC on there

I think I would be more interested in doing up a clubman if I was gunnah get "the new one" just cuase I think it would be fun and different.... same motor as the R56 so.. no diff there

 

Hmmm... my hubby's father lives in Apopka. I think we need to go for a visit!!!

Nice write up- now I have an item or two (or three or four or...) on my wish list. Geez. Why do other women want jewelry? ALTA bits seem to be much more fun... I can imagine it now- Them "So, what did your husband get you for Christmas? Mine got me these lovely diamond earrings!" Me- "MY husband got me a Cold Air Intake, some upgraded Boost Tubes, a Turbo Downpipe, a Cat Back Exhaust, and a Front mounted intercooler. Look here under the bonnet at my lovely red CAI and Boost Tubes! For my birthday I hope he gets me a swaybar!"

 

TRUE! Not winking in THAT way! It is a car thing. Sorry being off topic!

 

Your husband should consider himself lucky.

 

I'm struggling with getting a "Happy Meal" myself when I finally get my Mini, but its much easier to convince the wife to sqeeze in a Works package....unless...

When are those "Happy Meals" going to be availalbe for mass market sale Adam? I want to order a bunch of stuff if I can convince the checkbook holder that it makes more sense than a Works package

 

The meals are always available in Happy through Super Size. Just call me and let me know what you want to do and I will package up what you NEED to get you there.

Thanks for asking!

 

I dunno.. I am wanting to get him to pay for all that!! I'd let him drive it... every great once in a while.....

Actually, I figure I will do most of the purchasing honestly. (Hey, you ARE right, he IS lucky- here I am going to pay for it myself!) But if he DID want to get me a birthday present that was car-related, a CAI would be better than diamonds ANY day!

 

now that would be cool! or maybe someone could mod the clubman so its like the Ute's the Australians have. lol

Chris.

 

Great write-up John!

This is exactly what I want to do to my R56 as well. I've already got the CAI and am eyeing the rest of the goodies for the spring. Maybe before the Sebring HPDE scheduled for April...

I'm glad you've gotten such pleasing results and very much look forward to some dyno numbers when/if you get 'em!