[cooperS_matt]

Hi All,

Got the money together for a performance upgrade after xmas, and have narrowed my options down to the Lohen 225 upgrade, BBR 220 upgrade, and GTT 220.

I was after some advice as to what would be the best package in your experiences for ouright performance and reliability.

I am hoping for 15.0 and under quarter mile, and low 6's to sixty. Is this realistic with these packages?

All advice is much appreciated,
Thanks in advance.

Matt

[Bhozar]

I have a JCW with a load of the GTT stuff, including a manifold and de-cat pipe. My 0-60 might be low 6's, and my 1/4 mile was 15.2 seconds. Others have esitimated my car at 230-240bhp.

I doubt you will get any of those figures with a 220-225 conversion. I intend to go futher down the GTT route in the future for additional power.

I went with GTT because of how many posts I saw on this forum showing how happy Rolands customers are. He is also very helpful on the forums. Another bonus was the figures quoted for BHP seem to be pretty spot on for other people. Not all tuners are quite so honest, but I dont know anything about the other two you have mentioned.

[Richard Crofts]

I'd say GTT or Lohen. Not too many folks with BBRs out there compared to the the numbers running GTT or Lohen kit in arious power outputs. I know a few folks with GTT and with Lohen kits, 2 of them pretty well. Both guys have not had any serious problems and i can vouch that thier cars are rapid both over distance and upto sixty (Mines pretty much standard except for lighter wheels and a full exhaust system and panel filter but thier S's leave my S for dead off the line so they must be running lower 6's for 0-60). The chap with the Lohen kit is on about a 220 kit with maybe a few bits extra...the other guy is running mostly GTT kit and I'd estimate his to be more like 240+

[Rigsey]

I'd go with GTT.

I recently had a GTT220 kit plus bits and pieces fitted to my MCS, the results are amazing and the service was excellent.

[alski]

matt, my bet is all 3 have pros and cons, will give differing figures on different cars so even if you could test all 3 conversions back to back it might not give you the true indication of what you will end up with on your own car, i am sure all the the guys would agree that the tyres wheels/LSD and build date ie 170 or 163 bhp as your starting point all add variables to what should be a straight comparison, they will no doubt have differing driving manners, with power arriving at differing points thru the rev range, you need to ask yourself if beating a clio at the lights is more important than flexibility whilst overtaking at 50 to 70, are you after a track monster or daily driver/
putting all that to one side i can only give you my direct experience which is with gtt who i had fit a 220 this july to my 05mcs at about 9k, no time testing/drag racing to date [or likely] but i can confirm that drive/power delivery much better than an 05 works i test drove at the time to benchmark the upgrade
apart from having read old articles in go mini on gtt the 3 things that stood out for me were customer service [better than bmw i suggest] talking to you as a human being
range of options/packadges giving me the option to upgrade as time/budget allow
the ability to arrive at 220 without fiddling with my chip, so if bmw give me a reflash at a later date after a service etc i still have the same performance available
not sure what else to add except i am very happy to date and would recomend them to anyone

[supercoopers]

Quarter mile driving is all about the launch...I got a 15.2 at 94mph at Shakespeare Raceway in 2003 with the BBR220 conversion running 197bhp as verified by Powerstation's RR on three separate occassions.

I've also had a GTT220 conversion on the car and that produced 214bhp with a dodgy stock cat...and it had more torque than the BBR conversion.

In the end, it's up to you but having been customers of both companies, I would go GTT every single time.

Cheers,

Henry

[Ant FR]

surely you can get in the 14's with 220 spec conversions,

I would be surprised if you did'nt.

My old Ibiza 1.8T got a 14.2 qtr mile and that was 230bhp and weighed more than the Mini
and my old Diesel Ibiza even got a 15.1 sec qtr mile at santa pod with just a remap!!!

[cooperS_matt]

Cheers guys, it looks like you have swayed me towards the GTT route. The 220+ package looks the most appealing to me in terms of price and spec....

I would mainly be using the car for fast road use - but would need it to be reliable short daily commute.

I am hoping for the low 6's to sixty and to maybe get a 14.8 with a good launch at qaurter mile. I say this as I have been doing some power to weight calucations and its seems more than feasiable of a car of this weight (1140) and power ( 215+) to achive these figures. I appreciate there are variables e.g cars mileage, engine strengh, and what version the cooper s engine is 170/163, but surely the performance could not be far of what I am aspiring too? or maybe I am overestimating the performance with the 220 package

Is there anyhing extra I could add on to the 220 package which could give me more of a gaurantee of these performance figures?

Sorry to be so fussy, but I am selling my golf VR6 with shrick manifold and 268 cams with the hope my mini with the GTT upgrade can replace its pace

Many Thanks
Matt

[Bhozar]

I highly recomend the GTT manifold. Sounds great and you will notice the improvement. even more so with a decat pipe when on the track.

I must admit, I had only ever been to a drag strip once and still got 15.2 on worn out run flats. The important thing was the Monaro 350bhp in the next lane was a second slower than me

[Paul Webster]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ant FR (original)

surely you can get in the 14's with 220 spec conversions,

I would be surprised if you did'nt.

My old Ibiza 1.8T got a 14.2 qtr mile and that was 230bhp and weighed more than the Mini
and my old Diesel Ibiza even got a 15.1 sec qtr mile at santa pod with just a remap!!!

It'll be good to see another one up there I'm sure we have gone a best of 14.34 @ 94 with a 2.0 60ft but I can't find my spreadsheet at the moment, I have found a pass we made at Easter on eurodragster.com of 14.77 at 93.16 with a 2.34 60ft.

This is a totally stock engine with an airf ilter, one ball ex system ,ally flywheel / 4 paddle clutch, you defintley notice the difference with the clutch et wise, the stock one did drag quite a bit on the gear change.

The car weighs 2476 with me, I had the good fortune to race Hubie Fuh Megamini in the states and that weighed 2790lb with me in it, this was a twin sunroof car with every option plus a turbo as well and 18s.

We'll be up there Jan testing some new stuff looking for those 13s and 11s

It would be a sad day if your old Ibzia was quicker

[Tonyt3]

They'll all be pretty much the same in terms of power, however, customer service and tuning experience says GTT to me. I have dealt with them on several occasions and found them to be reliable, trustworthy, patient, and good to their word.

I havent dealt with BBR, and although they have a long history in tuning, I found them to be abrupt, rude and unhelpful in my few dealings with them. However, many people have said they are good at what they do.

[uncle albert]

I'm tempted to take mine to the 'Pod next year to see what it/I can do.

James

[Haggi]

having been taken for a few laps in a lohen 210 and a GTT 220 at beford both are good conversions imo and both GTT and lohen are good to deal with cant speak much for GTT but rolands rep on here is the best and his work faultless lohen are also top lads for customer service having had my car in there for various bits and bobs over the last year

[cooperS_matt]

Well I am pretty convinced the GTT are the people to go to! They sound awesome!

All I need to do now is figure out what I need to do to get the performance I need

A friend of mine has a 245bhp cooper s done by minispeed and very quick, it has some serious problems with traction though, and has blown valves a couple of times which slightly concerned me.... Is this a ususal thing to happen with highly tuned minis? I am pretty sure its not but just checking!

Matt

[Haggi]

no mini speed dont have a good rep among us new mini folk as ive herad a few things about them not least some dodgy delaings as well theres a few higher milage GTT's on here and thus far theres never been a problem caused buy the GTT work

[Paul Webster]

Quote: Originally Posted by uncle albert (original)

I'm tempted to take mine to the 'Pod next year to see what it/I can do.

James

Excellent, let us know when you're going

I forgot to add the fact in that for evry 100lb of weight loss is equal to 1/10th et

[Ven0m]

I done a 15.4 1/4 @ santa pod in a standard S 163bhp with no mods in 32 deg of heat,so with a GTT220 conversion i should think you would get into the 14's

[Ant FR]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ant FR (original)
surely you can get in the 14's with 220 spec conversions,

I would be surprised if you did'nt.

My old Ibiza 1.8T got a 14.2 qtr mile and that was 230bhp and weighed more than the Mini
and my old Diesel Ibiza even got a 15.1 sec qtr mile at santa pod with just a remap!!!

It'll be good to see another one up there I'm sure we have gone a best of 14.34 @ 94 with a 2.0 60ft but I can't find my spreadsheet at the moment, I have found a pass we made at Easter on eurodragster.com of 14.77 at 93.16 with a 2.34 60ft.

This is a totally stock engine with an airf ilter, one ball ex system ,ally flywheel / 4 paddle clutch, you defintley notice the difference with the clutch et wise, the stock one did drag quite a bit on the gear change.

The car weighs 2476 with me, I had the good fortune to race Hubie Fuh Megamini in the states and that weighed 2790lb with me in it, this was a twin sunroof car with every option plus a turbo as well and 18s.

We'll be up there Jan testing some new stuff looking for those 13s and 11s

It would be a sad day if your old Ibzia was quicker

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i will be up there in january, the first one is always the best, so will be taking my largely standard MCS up to get a bench mark time before i start playing with the engine next year ( probably GT220 conversion)

I will be sorely gutted if i can't beat my diesel up the strip.

I think i have some pics somewhere of the 1320 autos car going up the strip. but you don't actually get that many Mini's up there.

Although that day should be good as long as weather is on our side, my mate is planning on chucking 150Bhp shot of NOS through his 206 CC! !!!!!! so before he gets rid of it we will see what he gets up the strip, should be good with a total output of about 370BHP !!!

[Tonyt3]

Do remember that times from a drag strip have many factors - driver reaction, driver compatancy, tyres, fuel etc.....

Manufacturers times are from moment of launch to reaching set speed, and are repeated over and over by professional drivers.....

the best way to judge the difference between 3 tuned cars is to drive them, and if you can get one, using a Gtech Pro accelerometer/ timing device for measuring the actual acceleration of the car - unlike Santa Pod where many factors make up a 1/4 mile time. On a private road of course.

[Haggi]

ive always consider things like 0-60 and bhp to be quite irelevant as its more how a car drives and feels and behaves thats the factor i look for when it comes to perfomace and not pub talk figures