[ignote]

Do you all think that earlier R53 model years (2002 - 2004) benefit more from a remap than the 2005 - 2006 models? This would be for the standard mods of pulley, CAI and cat back.
If so, why?

[MINI-Morgan]

Hmmm yes...... Yes because more ignition advance at lower revs/accelerating will make it more lively and still have a good degree of advance higher up the powerband unlike the facelift models. But then they both could be better when you take away the extra security of timing pulling that has been built in.

Would be interested to hear what Jan thinks now he's got his tune together

[bahambart]

in the US there are couple of guys with the equipment / knowledge and they are getting some incredible results. Jan is the only one willing to take it to the streets so to speak (i.e. travel around and hold tuning parties). It is slowly becoming evident that an ECU remap is one of the top 3or 4 HP mods to do.

I had GIAC which improved things and was happy. I then got a custom tune and there was no comparison.

Jan's has gone out of his way to bring custom tunes to the US community at a very competitive price. KUDOS to Jan.

[sam_a156]

Well, I posted here a year ago my friend's results: 212hp with -15% pulley and custom ECU tune...yet everybody kept telling me that ECU maps don't make a difference

[minigolf]

I ran an MTH Tuner file on my 2004 MCS when I had just the Milltek cat-back and ALTA CAI fitted. I wouldn't write home about any noticeable gains on the butt-dyno, it seemed as before in that regards, but the improvement in smoothness and driveability of the car improved remarkably.

After fitting the 15% pulley and uploading the revised map, the car still felt great to drive.

In a perfect world I reckon a custom tune would be Plan A, but as a rule it can cost a lot more and you probably need a bit more faith in the person doing the tuning. A plug'n'play solution will probably always have some compromises, just like the OEM tune.