[duncanbanana]

Im booked in to test drive Graham Goodes 225 BHP Mini tomorrow , it has the pulley mod already and also the head has been gas flowed and exhaust ports made bigger .There is also a new manifold fitted and the EPU re programmed to give out 225 BHP so they say. Apparantly the torque has been raised and max tourque is at 5500RPM . ill let you know how it drives .

Well Ive been for the test drive ....................wow toquey !!!
I only had half an hour driving the car so dont take what i say as gosbel truth . i think you need to drive it a lot longer to really decribe it.Apparantly Evo magazine have test drove it and are going a write up maybe in the next issue .

Anyway concidering its suppose to be 225 BHP theres not much in between that car and mine ( Ive had the S200 conversion ) but its when you are at low revs and at low speed and in a higher gear ,4th , 5th, that i noticed the difference . It seemed to accelerate faster and the revs easily climb to the red line more noticabley than mine , like i said a lot more toque for longer. Alastair from GGR said that is one of the advantages of the conversion , that its more easy to drive ie no need to change down more often , power there all the time ,no matter what gear you are in . I must obmit that in 6th at 30 and flooring it is a lot better than mine at accelerating !!!

The GGR car has 18" wheels , big brakes , AP brakes, full janspeed exhaust , which sounds lovely, and is fully loaded ie sunroof ,climate ,Sat Nav.but surprisingly a standard air filter !!!! The head has been gas flowed and bigger exhaust valves fitted as well as a new manifold and ECU re programedand of course a smaller pulley.

Now the big question . Would I spend about £2700 on the conversion (Ive already had the pulley and ECU re program, £3500 to have the pulley fitted as well) and have no car for a week , while they do the work ?
Answer - has to be .....................no

Reason - my car is proberbly as much fun to drive as the S225 .I didnt get the wow factor as I did when I drove the S200 , the difference is very noticable form a standard Cooper S , but maybe if I didnt have the S200 conversion I would proberbly have it done .
There are noticable differences between my car and the S225 but I cannot justify paying out £2700 to get the modifications done to my car - like I said not enough wow factor.
Evo magazine may say something completely different , may slag off the car or may love it to bits but I can only tell you what i thought of it on the day.

Graham Goode Racing are a very good outfit , with their history deep rooted in Cosworth and Subaru and good on them for pushing the boundaries of the Mini a bit further. At least they are looking into the performance of the Mini and what can be gotten out of the car.
If i could afford it i would have it done but alas I cant really justify the outlay for the gain i would get.

I guess the only way to find out whats its like is to test drive it . Other people may not agree with what i said but its good to get different opinions of things
Anyway Im waffling now . Ive posted some pics of the GGR car to see what you think

[Paul]

I think Max has a GGR conversion.

[Grings]

Although hopefully he won't see this thread as he'll go on about how great it is

As Max is a fellow member of the SCNM club I have had first hand experience of his GGR and it is very fast - a lot faster than a std S. If I wasn't bothered about the warranty I'd get this over Hartge.

[AidenL]

I didn't know they tweaked the head though?

[bigbaddaboom]

Don't they do different conversions, Max has the S200 one which is a pulley and ECU remap. The S225 is more extensive I think...

[AidenL]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigbaddaboom

Don't they do different conversions, Max has the S200 one which is a pulley and ECU remap. The S225 is more extensive I think...

Ah, that explains it..........thank you !

[duncanbanana]

I also have the S200 conversion so will be interesting to see the difference between my car and the S225

[QQQ]

Can you check whether the S225 come with the Janspeed full exhaust? Very curious about the sound of that, would appreciate if you would let me know.

TIA

[DinkaDonka]

I am getting my car hartge'd in the near future, i considered the GGR but decided against it but the S225 sounds very tepmting , i shall look forward to your report!

Dink

[LMB]

225bhp......he he he

Have fun.

[duncanbanana]

I cant wait to try it .Apparantly it costs for the conversion £3495, that includes the pulley conversion , ECU reprogram , Gas flowed head with bigger exhaust ports and new manifold with sports cat i think.
If you have the S200 conversion already I think it costs about £2700 but not too sure on that but I will find out tomorrow and I dont know if thats including VAT on any of the prices
If it does inc VAT I wonder how many potential JCW customers are tempted by it if it is the same price?

[duncanbanana]

Quote: Originally Posted by QQQ

Can you check whether the S225 come with the Janspeed full exhaust? Very curious about the sound of that, would appreciate if you would let me know.

TIA

when I originally tested the S200 in June I think it had a Janspeed exhaust on but only from the cat , they were putting on the manifold later when they got it in, and it did sound very nice

[bigbaddaboom]

Quote: Originally Posted by duncanbanana

I cant wait to try it .Apparantly it costs for the conversion £3495, ..... If it does inc VAT I wonder how many potential JCW customers are tempted by it if it is the same price?

Probably not as many as you think, after all if their thinking of spending that kind of money their probably thinking of the warranty and not really the power...

[bigbaddaboom]

Good luck Max I totally think you won't have any issues. SOunds like you have one of the better dealers.

[duncanbanana]

Quote: Originally Posted by Max

OK big I hear u. Worth waiting 3 yrs until warranty expires? (probably not )

On a related issue, I'm booked in for tlc first service on Tuesday.

I asked if I should bring my tlc book and they said yes please.

Looks like I might be ok then? (they know I got the GGR)

We'll see.

regards

You will have to let us know how you get on

[bigbaddaboom]

Yeah enjoy yourslef Duncan! 200+ is a hoot and I'm sure 225 will be rocking!

[duncanbanana]

Ive only got a drive for about half an hour, I hope I can get more but will make the most of it !!!!

[LMB]

Good luck Max.

[duncanbanana]

Ok i will take some pics

[LMB]

I think you'll be ok.