Hey everyone, I was speaking with a friend and he has his mini s "chipped" and said it made a huge difference but he doesn't remember the brand. I have an 08 mini s and want to "chip" it, any suggestions on a brand??

 

The only "Chip" I am aware of is the UniChip which is an add-on chip. Word on the street is that it is less-than-stellar.

I think that what you really want is a custom ECU tune. There are a few places that do this and there is one who has a tool that you can use. Check the Second Generation Drivetrain forum for more information on this than you can possibly need.

 

I think I'm going to try the unichip, I've looked around and actually heard some good things when I save up enough for it I'll let you know how it goes. I was talking to my buddy and he has the unichip and is impressed with it although he has a lot more then the unichip and I'm putting it on a stock r56 so I don't know how impressed I'll be but you don't know till you try yourself or drive someone else's who's tried. Thanks. PS. I did look into tuning (something I'll try later down the road)

 

Read through the posts here on NAM and you will quickly change your mind. Get a tune. That is the way to go.

 

By "chip" I hope you don't mean one of those supposed Ebay $20 get 50hp things. Because if that is what it is you sir need to put the keys down and start taking the bus. Get a tune not a hook up to your MINI.

 

Save yourself the pain and suffering of a Unichip and get a tune from Jan. Check out this thread about his tune https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lash-tool.html

Also you can check out his website at http://www.revolutionmini.com/

The best thing to do is to send him a PM on NAM or send him an email at jan@revolutionmini.com

 

Well its your money and your car. You came here asking for advice and you're clearly ignoring it and doing what you were intending to do in the first place. Not sure why you asked the question if you already new the answer.

Good luck with that.

 

I'm not ignoring your advice I looked into it and there is nobody close enough to me to do a tune, I asked the question to see if there was any alternatives to the unichip that were near me, and no its not one of those $20 ebay things, its a piggy back system.

 

If I were to go with tuning should I lean to a jcw kit or an aftermarket supplier as suggested by "davidoyo" above?

 

Go with an aftermarket supplier. I would suggest revolution motor works aka Jan because he does remote tuning. Basically, you buy a flash device from Jan that you load your stock map onto which you then connect to your computer and then email off to Jan. He then tunes your stock map based on the mods or no mods that you have and then sends it back to you. Then, you load the tuned map to your Mini via the flash device. It might sound a little complex, but it is really easy.

 

how long will it take for him to get back because my mini is my daily driver? and how much does he charge for the tune alone?

 

NAM is your friend for answers. Been there done that. Search is your friend. Search on the forum sucks. Use Google to search through these forums.

In the mean time:

http://www.revolutionmini.com/

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lash-tool.html

 

I looked at the page and correct me if I'm wrong, the tool is $369, and the tune is $500?

 

Yes, those prices are correct. Also, unless Jan is swamped his turnaround time is usually the same day or a day after. Lastly, you can still drive your Mini after you send your file off to Jan because you are not removing your stock map from your Mini, but merely making a copy of it via flash tool.

 

oh ok thanks you've been a big help

 

Definetly don't get the Unichip, or as we call it the Useless chip. You'll be waisting money.

There are only a few companies including us that can tune an R56 MINI. Mynes and RMW are the other two, but we all use the same software for it. The software to reprogram the R56 is more complicated that the previous R53. We also offer the Remote tune module so you don't have to come to our shop in Atlanta, but your more than welcome if you can. Tunning for the R56 can really unleash power, but remember to do the mods you plan on doing all before a tune so you don't have to continue retuning it.

 

Just a question with this Remote tuning tool. Why is a tune still around $500.

 

@Porthos

Why is Microsoft Office Professional $500? Same question. Someone has to spend time working through the maps and figuring out how to make it go. Same thing with any software - you're paying for the expertise and time spent to get where they are.

The tool only allows you to make changes, you still need someone to make a mapping for you.

Plus, the fee is what the market seems to bear these days. Free enterprise and all.

As mentioned elsewhere "you gotta pay to play".

 

Right but there are tunes out on the interwebs for such cars as the EVO and STI. Those cars can just jump on the interwebs download them with no money transaction and boom they got their car tuned in less then an hour.

 

I have been told the R56 is very hard to tune because many parameters in the ecu have to be met for your Mini to function properly without throwing a code. Also, tunes have just been coming out in the last couple if years because the ecu is really hard to crack.

 

Ya I will give you that one. But how about sell pre made tunes for your paticular set of mods? Have ones for basic mods and then when the R56 starts getting into some serious mods( ie cams, forge internals, and such) then start offering the custom tune. I can't really see that much of a difference between 2 different companies making the same type of part really making that much of a difference when it comes to a tune. Of course if you want a custom tune to unleash the beast then ya $500 makes a lot of sense but there should be just box tunes also. Thats what I am thinking cause $500 for a tune that might change when I feel I need more power is kinda of a waste.

 

Well a custom tune is better and probably safer than a canned tune. If staged tunes like that were offered then you would probably end up spending more money in the end if you bought more than one tune. The good thing about Jan's tune besides it being custom is that once you spend the $500 he will only charge you $50 if you added more parts and needed a retune. I don't know how the other companies handle retunes, but that's the way he does it.

 

Then don't buy the tune. Be happy with what you have. I'm not sure why anybody would be upset that an aftermarket enterprise won't just give away their hard work. I personally am happy to be supporting the vendors who are developing new upgrades for a tuning community as small as ours is.

As for tuning for the other brands you've named, they are a more established market & therefore cheaper over time. The same will likley happen to the MINI as time passes & it becomes more common.

 

Thats something I did not know. That is acctually not bad I could handle that. I thought it was $500 everytime you needed it tuned. Hell I might forking the money up for a tune then.

Ya I think you misunderstood me. I do want a tune. I just don't like the idea of everytime I go out for a tune I am going to spend a butt load of money. I just also think that there are a lot of closed minded MINI owners who don't realise that there are other cars out there tuning and its like we are in the dark ages. I understand that the ECU is like trying to crack a bank safe with a tooth pick but, it does not mean that just cause I want a tune I have to spend a bunch of money. And it happens that others out there take what they got and post it. Am I saying that is safe mmm probably not but it is out there. Heck a canned tune though is not the best it can be sold to those who don't have an unlimited supply of money and those who might just want something not an unleash the beast tune. Hell the JCW tune is a boxed tune. You are not going to see 2 different tunes when it comes to that it is always going to be the same. And I really can't see if someone wants a stock tune that it is going to change that much from one MINI to another that you couldn't offer it as a boxed tune. Heck you never know a tuner could start offering that and it might start selling like wild fire or it might fizzle. It might even eventually lower the price if they start selling really well. Remember basic economics supply and demand.

 

I'd be very leery about downloading a tune for free. What if your car goes fubar? Who's going to be responsible for that? At least if you BUY the tune from someone who is responsible, if your car blows up, there's someone to stand by you (hopefully). At the very least it leaves a legal trail if you know what I mean.