Turbo Kits for R53 Coopers

[MCS08]

Anybody know if there is such an animal as a supercharger or turbo kit for R53 Coopers (non-S)?

[danjmcs]

Anybody know if there is such an animal as a supercharger or turbo kit for R53 Coopers (non-S)?

Umm, I think I get your idea, but an R53 is a Cooper S, no such thing as a non-S R53. The normally aspirated Cooper was the R50, which I think is where your going.

I know there are people out there that have done them, but I don't recall seeing an actual boxed kit for it. Clinton was looking at putting one together for his R50, a member up in Flagstaff, but its a pretty substantial cost doing it custom and I think there were transmission issues to consider, etc.

Justin? I know you've looked into this in the past?

[GOTCURVES]

There is no "kit" available for the R50 that I'm aware of. What I can tell you is the R50 internals are different and would need to be changed out. (if you wanted any kind of significant power). Any tranny and transaxle in a R50 would need to have an R53 tranny/transaxle swaped in with upgraded clutch as well. While all of this sounds like alot of costs, it pales in comparison to the ECU which by itself would cost well over 2K then you need to get maps written and programed which could cost as much as another 2k so bare minimum the ECU alone would run over $4,000. My proffesion is an estimator and this project which as Dan has mentioned has been in my head would cost between $10K to $14K easy! Unfortunately for us R50 owners they are not Hondas...just can't bolt on a turbo and go (I guess you could but it wouldn't work very well...then again neither do the Honda's )

Personally I'm still planning this project but there is alot to figure out (like intercooler piping, piston shape, fuel type and so on). Once I get it all figured out the first step will be to obtain a salvaged R53 engine tranny and transaxle.

[danjmcs]

Hehe, thanks Clinton, I knew we'd talked about it over a few beers at AMVIV as well as at Autocross... thanks for the reply... it would definitely be a fun project with lottery money... hehe.

[MCS08]

I stand corrected on the R53 versus R50 lingo.

So if you forget the turbo or supercharger thoughts, how much power can you pull out of an R50? Intake & exhaust would be probably like 20hp tops, right? I hear people claim 40hp but that always seems way too high to me. Anybody, like Dee maybe, wanna chime in with their experience?

[GOTCURVES]

Personally I pulled a 114hp 113tq at the wheels on Mynes Mustang dyno.

My 05' R50 had a Borla exhaust and K&N Typhoon intake at the time.

What more can you do?

ecu flash
ignition (questionable)
new Head and cams
new internals (if you care to go that far)
ITB's or larger throtle body
exhaust header with high-flo race cats

With all this the best I've heard an R50 put to the ground is about 160hp.

I'm not sure if Dee has ever had Nugget on the mustang dyno. I think Justin has had his R50 on the dyno.

[deemotored]

Never dyno'd. Too scared something will break!

[danjmcs]

Never dyno'd. Too scared something will break!

Yeah, gee, that never happens OFF the dyno, hehe.

[mike@mynes]

Anybody know if there is such an animal as a supercharger or turbo kit for R53 Coopers (non-S)?

We actually have one here at the Socal shop, car is a turbo'ed R50 with the following:
- upgraded bottom end with forged internals
- 6-speed tranny swap (a MUST).

We have just cracked the R50 ECU FURTHER and can convert the R50 ecu to run the R53 codes (along with that, we can resync and reprogram your immobilizer to use with your current keys). With that said, the MAP sensor needs to switched to the "S" sensor along with the 550cc injectors.

Cost wise, it's not a cheap project... in addition to the turbo kit, other anxilary mods are also needed (i.e. Electric water pump, Clutch and cam shaft, etc). This type of conversion can easily go over 10k with parts and labor...

If you have any add'l questions, feel free to contact me at 'mike@mynesperformance.com'... we've got this conversion down pretty good; as a matter of fact, 3 Mini's in the UK is getting the Turbo conversion as we speak... results to be posted later. The R50 car will be tuned once the guys get back from their UK trip in the following week.

cheers.
mike

[mike@mynes]

While all of this sounds like alot of costs, it pales in comparison to the ECU which by itself would cost well over 2K then you need to get maps written and programed which could cost as much as another 2k so bare minimum the ECU alone would run over $4,000.

We are now able to convert your R50 ECU to run the R53 codes along with a reprogramming of your immobolizer. The cost of this service is around $1000... or it can be integrated into the "Turbo upgrade kit" that will be available thru MegaMini's list of other products (BVH and cam shafts)...

[GOTCURVES]

How is it you are able to effictively map a turbo with the memory capacity of the R50? I was under the impression that the R50 ecu lacks sufficient memory to accurately map a turbo engine with it (at least that's what Jan at RMW said to me). The boost curves alone are completely different so an S ecu map would sill need boost control via wastegate (oooooooo the lines of code that must be written), a larger fuel pump and rail would need to accompany the larger injectors (but thats if you want more than S power and maybe more than JCW power).

Some questions.

What are you doing for intercoller placement? what size?
Are you relocating the steering pump and coolant reseviors?
Do you relocate the battery?
Have you resized the connecting rods or reshaped the pistons?
What kind of boost levels are you ataining with 91 octane?
Will you map for higher octanes if so at what level octane /boost?
Did you do any crankshaft work?
Resize displacement?
Did you run into any issues with the 5 speed to 6 speed shifting linkage?


Mike it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers these conversions do, please keep us informed.

[mike@mynes]

hmm, don't know what to tell u on the memory of the ecu... the other guy is using someone else's sw (i'm surprise he hasn't called it his "OWN" like he does with every product he toches)... We dissected the codes on our own and wrote our own sw so i think we know how it works inside and out. There are quite a few turbo R53 and R50 running around with the stock computer. Hit up Kalbone and Joel of Flagstaff on NAM and they can give you the load down.

Hubie and J are in the UK finishing up a couple of Turbo conversions as we speak, should have more results later.

Bottom line:
- 6 speed is a must, along with upgraded clutch
- piston is recommended, but with the R50, you'll probably need rods too.
- all other items are covered by the "Turbo KIT" (intake mani, ic, tune, injectors, electric waterpump, etc)...

We will have more on this with our updated website (soon to come)... if you have any questions, pls feel free to email me and shoot me your number

cheers.
mike

How is it you are able to effictively map a turbo with the memory capacity of the R50? I was under the impression that the R50 ecu lacks sufficient memory to accurately map a turbo engine with it (at least that's what Jan at RMW said to me). The boost curves alone are completely different so an S ecu map would sill need boost control via wastegate (oooooooo the lines of code that must be written), a larger fuel pump and rail would need to accompany the larger injectors (but thats if you want more than S power and maybe more than JCW power).

Some questions.

What are you doing for intercoller placement? what size?
Are you relocating the steering pump and coolant reseviors?
Do you relocate the battery?
Have you resized the connecting rods or reshaped the pistons?
What kind of boost levels are you ataining with 91 octane?
Will you map for higher octanes if so at what level octane /boost?
Did you do any crankshaft work?
Resize displacement?
Did you run into any issues with the 5 speed to 6 speed shifting linkage?


Mike it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers these conversions do, please keep us informed.

[mike@mynes]

Don't believe everything you read on NAM or what people tell ya Especially when they have never done it before and only 'giving' you the answer out of ignorance.

In order to make the R50 ecu to run the turbo mappings, it has to be 'transformed' into a R53 ecu (and i don't know anyone else who can do this besides us)...