12 replies to this topic

[taffy1967]

I'm a member of the South Wales Mini Club/Forum and today I joined them at Willfield Motors of Abercynyon to have our cars put on the rollers to see what kind of power they were putting out. No tuning was done as it was only power runs which cost just 25 quid.

Anyway here's some pictures of my Mini (I was seriously bricking it when the revs were going up and up): -



http://www.willfieldmotors.co.uk/



I'm the fat bloke in the blue 'Italian Job' T-shirt with the camera around my neck: -



Mine is the red one on the right: -




My Mini and I was so worried (bricking it in fact) that I asked the bloke if he would be gentle with it lol: -














Here's the YouTube video of it screaming away on the rollers and reaching speeds in excess of 100mph: -

2Jrf4cF3q9k



Photo shoot taken straight after the magical event: -


Some of us stopped off for a lemonade and a meal afterwards: -




Anyway here are my results: -

Engine Size : 1275cc
Mods : , K&N Cone Filter & a slightly richer (BDP I think?) needle.
Fueling : HIF44
Exhaust : Maniflow LCB & 1"3/4 Twin Box Exhaust System.
Wheels : Standard O/E 12" Rover Minilite Style Alloys.

Expected Result : Anything over 61bhp would be nice.
Actual Result : 68bhp @ flywheel, 38.5bhp @ wheels.
Comments : Extremely happy, especially as I was told that it didn't need anything more doing to it in it's current set-up. Although I am a bit miffed that I only managed 1.5bhp more than Phil (another SWM member) since his (same Mainstream Cooper as mine) is completely standard and still has it's cat fitted! So was the improvements promised from de-catting all a myth?

Either way I'm still really chuffed to have 7bhp more than the manufacturers quoted figures and here's my printout: -

Edited by taffy1967, 29 March 2009 - 02:18 AM.

[daveeeeee]

nice! good looking car

[taffy1967]

Thanks and I've owned my Mini for over 15 years and it's gone past 99,000 miles now, so to be fair I'm very pleased with the results. Even if the Stage One kit and lack of cat don't appear to have made much difference when compared to an identical but bog standard Mini?

Or perhaps the engine in Phil's car has had some work done on it or something?

Edited by taffy1967, 29 March 2009 - 02:10 AM.

[THE ANORAK]

that's brilliant nice video

the powers not bad and the torque is even better, however I'm surprised how much is lost by the time it gets to the wheels

also very interesting to see how little difference the modifications made

good stuff mate

Edited by THE ANORAK, 29 March 2009 - 07:58 AM.

[Bungle]

my mini with the same go faster parts as you made 70 bhp

so if you allow a bit for different rollers it looks spot on

what surprised me when i did the club rolling road thing was how little power the injection mini's made compared to carb all 6 cars were in the low 60 bhp mark

[benb12]

Must seem really strange driving a Mini at 100mph and not actually going anywhere...

[Prawn]

it must be really odd yea!

When Mine was on the rollers, because I've bent my gear lever backwards, it fouled the handbrake when in 4th gear! Obviously you never drive around in 4th normally with the handbrake on!

Great pics there, it looks like a good healthy 1275, and a great fun day out!

I find you're always laughing and making jokes when other peoples cars are on the rollers, but when it's your own, it suddenly becomes a whole lot more serious!

[taffy1967]

that's brilliant nice video

the powers not bad and the torque is even better, however I'm surprised how much is lost by the time it gets to the wheels

also very interesting to see how little difference the modifications made

good stuff mate

Well like I said before, the modifications sound nice in that it's a much nicer exhaust system and there's no cat to worry about (plus the exhaust sits higher up as a result).

Oh and the K&N cone filter makes the engine bay look much neater and there's no annoying rubber hoses to come loose from the underside of the standard Mini Cooper air-box to mess up the performance (which seemed to always happen on mine).

Okay there's a bit more noise, but I quite like it all the same.

[taffy1967]

my mini with the same go faster parts as you made 70 bhp

so if you allow a bit for different rollers it looks spot on

what surprised me when i did the club rolling road thing was how little power the injection mini's made compared to carb all 6 cars were in the low 60 bhp mark

The boss said there was nothing more he could do as my engine was in great shape and very well set-up too. So if I wanted more power then I'd need to change the cam and cylinder head and perhaps get the engine re-bored or whatever. Which I won't as I'm quite satisfied with it as it is.

I was dead chuffed that I didn't need to come back and spend 60 quid for a full tuning set-up and he said that the power curve on my engine was excellent. He even compared it with the power curve of a 255bhp sports car (non-Mini) and that was all over the place like a roller coaster.

Where as mine (as you can see from the print-out) is a nice clean power curve and I was so pleased and relieved that I just shook his hand. In fact I could have kissed him (not that I generally kiss blokes, although I'll try anything once. But not in the way you're all thinking!).



Mind blowing stuff and I'd recommend everyone does it even if only the once.



As for the injection cars, well to be fair there was at least one late Twin-Point Mini there which had a Play Mini exhaust from the cat back (and that was all that was non-standard) and that still managed pretty good results too: -

Engine Size : 1275 mpi
Mods : Playmini exhaust (from CAT back)
Fueling : Standard multi point injection
Exhaust : Stainless Steel, Playmini 2" with 3" tailpipe
Wheels : Standard Sportspack 13 x 6

Expected Result : around 60 bhp
Actual Result : 67 bhp @ flywheel, 37 bhp @ wheels
Comments : Glad it finished still in one piece and we were able to drive home!

Edited by taffy1967, 29 March 2009 - 04:59 PM.

[taffy1967]

Must seem really strange driving a Mini at 100mph and not actually going anywhere...

I enjoyed myself so much that I'll be going again, although I won't be putting mine on the rollers again as I don't think there's any need now I now the facts. Plus my nerves couldn't stand it! LOL

[taffy1967]

it must be really odd yea!

When Mine was on the rollers, because I've bent my gear lever backwards, it fouled the handbrake when in 4th gear! Obviously you never drive around in 4th normally with the handbrake on!

Great pics there, it looks like a good healthy 1275, and a great fun day out!

I find you're always laughing and making jokes when other peoples cars are on the rollers, but when it's your own, it suddenly becomes a whole lot more serious!

Oh god as soon as I got there I started shaking with worry and when it got to my turn it was like handing your baby over to a complete stranger for the weekend or something.

It was fantastic to watch and see (although I'm still coughing up exhaust fumes at the moment and slightly high and tripping as a result), but I was so relieved once mine was parked up again.

It was probably my imagination, but I swear to god my Mini ran a damn site better afterwards or at least seemed to be more responsive. I expect being screwed blew all the cobwebs away or something?

[taffy1967]

Anyway all in all and whilst comparing mine to a similar (exactly the same model, but bog standard and still retaining the cat) Mini Cooper that gave similar results, was fitting a Stage One kit to mine all just a waste of time?

Edited by taffy1967, 29 March 2009 - 05:45 PM.

[taffy1967]

I've now added my rolling road video to my YouTube account: -

http://www.youtube.com/user/taffy1967

Plus my psychedelic MySpace account too: -

www.myspace.com/taffy1967



(Just don't stare at the chic/(ex-Dr Who) girl wrapped around the Dalek for too long, otherwise it'll stunt your growth, or cause blindness!)