Hi everyone,

I would like to know your thoughts on this - I have an 08 r56 jcw with 145k miles and what I’m wondering is if that’s too many miles for a tune. Car runs great besides my clutch beginning to slip, which is why I’m wondering if I should upgrade the clutch to prepare for a tune.

I have done a lot of maintenance to the car, within the last 10k miles car has new -

plugs and coils (will replace plugs again prior to tune)
valve cover and gasket
timing chain
oil pump chain and sprocket
turbo oil feed and return lines
thermostat housing
HPFP
water pump and wp pulley
crank balancer, main seal, serp belt
intake and exhaust manifold gaskets
revised oem diverter
intake valve walnut blast

Car also has catch can, hardened turbo vacuum lines and forge charge pipes throughout, I know I need FMIC, bigger turbo (JM40?) and turbo back exhaust (Miltek?) prior to tuning as well. Just wondering with what I’ve done to the car maintenance wise if I’ll still run into issues due to the mileage and you wouldn’t recommend. Thanks!

Jordan

 

Consider replacing the vacuum pump before doing too much else. If it decides to "freeze up", you'll likely break the exhaust cam --- really bad news. And anything you do to improve exhaust flow will help. Looks like you've already replaced the most offending parts. You can always save the clutch replacement 'til it's really bad, then go with a lightened flywheel system. Think about an LSD at the same time --- $$$ permitting.

Consider talking with Lou at https://prototype-r.com about his turbos and stage 2 tune --- much better choice turbo than JMTC's and he has the capability of "remote tuning" so you don't need to mail in the ECU.

Have fun and keep us posted ---

 

I’ve done so much I forgot to mention the vac pump, I replaced that as well with a pierburg unit. I’m planning on doing the clutch soon as I’m going to be doing a front end tune up and subframe restore so I’m gonna have the car apart anyways.

Regarding the exhaust, I was under the impression I need a turbo back exhaust for a tune? I was thinking of going with miltek, but I don’t want the car to be violently loud. Do you think I could get away with going with the miltek turbo back that has a muffler? Or muffler would be bad for tune

What LSD would you recommend? Also would you say it’s needed? Or would just be a nice upgrade to have. I’ll also reach out to Lou regarding the tune and turbo

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it!

 

I'm the wrong one to ask about turbo back and exhaust. I went with a 3" catless system and added a 2' resonator in front of the muffler to keep sound down --- objective being max power with minimum sound. You should also consider your local air pollution and licensing requirements before investing in an exhaust system. Again, Lou can help with this decision.

For a stage 2 tune, an LSD is probably overkill. Most of us add it to distribute excess power --- minimize wheel spin. However, if you drive in ice or snow and mountains, it's a nice safety feature. It's also an added feature when it comes time to sell a modified car, but you're not likely to get your ROI. I mentioned it 'cause the tranny is gonna be out already, and thats a big piece of the total LSD cost. And, if you ever decide to go stage 3, you'll want an LSD. My choice for clutch/flywheel and LSD was O. S. Giken, but back in 2011 there weren't as many sources available as there are today. I still recommend them tho, in spite of the high cost --- system has never seen less that 280WHP and has been handling 500+WHP for the last couple years. Clutch pedal isn't too stiff, minimum chatter on launch, and it's daily driver for a retired adult kid. Last time the engine was rebuilt, the clutch still looked like it was in good shape. I have no experience with other systems, so again, OSG might be overkill for a stage 2 engine.

Good luck ---