Just bought a Sprint Booster and fitted it to my '03 Cooper 'S'............ AMAZING!
Totally transformed the way it drives. Feels like there is about 20% more torque available at low to medium revs. I know it doesn't actually add any more power to the engine but it just feels sooooo much more responsive to any throttle input.
If the throttle moved at a constant speed it would be caught out in different circumstances - say you had the motor set up for a speed that was good for large pedal movements ie flooring the car from idle to max - then what about small movements of the throttle say you were at 60mph and wanted to go to 64 mph -this would give a jerky response and little fine control - the opposite is also true a slow throttle speed would be great for slight speed variation but not much use with large input demands .
How I believe the system works is like a servo loop system - the ECU sits beween the throttle and the pedal -it looks at the present throttle position and the demand signal from the pedal then it must calculate 2 things how fast and how far to allow the throttle to move
how fast depends on the size of the pedal input , and the error between the current throttle position and the demanded position , How far depends on similar inputs.
the error signals would be put through an integrator circuit to stop a "stand off" ie as the distance gets closer to the required throttle position ,the speed slows down .
The factory would set this response speed for the "average " driver , taking into account the poor standards of driving ability (my missus parking for example )
A remap may already alter this response signal ,so adding a booster could be adding to an already quickened response -
If the car is tuned then adding a faster throttle opening would make the response more drastic as more power is available per degree of throttle opening - but this is the goal of the booster after all and you would think someone fitting one is not an "average " driver
it's worth noting that when andrey & others at lohen test drove my car (which is modified/tuned) with a sprint booster, that they found it too sensitive and not driveable. they thought it was "overkill". although i did think the car was cool - v.v.aggressive. they're certainly not "average" drivers! i don't skill is necessarily as much of an issue as it being a subjective opinion.
I recall reading very early on in mini life about 5 years ago that cruise control fully open would give you more throttle than foot flat to the floor. Dont know if its true but if it is would the SB not give you the same sort of advantage of opening the throttle further than foot to the floor?
Any how i love mine, was used to it after the first drive and my s works is very highly tuned.
Fitted the Sprint Booster - all I can say is WOW - what a difference!! well happy so far Just out of interest 1 of the reviews on Mini Mania said something about this being similar to 'Plasma Booster' and potentially killing ECUs - is there anything to worry about with this mod?
It will not harm the ECU at all- you are about the third person on here to describe the difference as wow! , could you be a bit more descriptive for those who require feedback ,and include your car spec if possible,thanks
No worries - I've got a standard R56 Cooper S (no mods) I fitted the Sprint booster in about 5minutes using the instructions from the Mini Mania site.Once fitted I immediately noticed a difference by just blipping the throttle - with the sport button OFF - when i pulled out onto the road the difference in performance was / is massive, the car feels as if it has loads more power even though apparently it hasn't. Throttle response is instant and the car feels more responsive than it did with the sport button on pre sprint Booster. With the sport button ON there is still an added improvement to responsiveness but not the difference there was pre Sprint Booster but it's still improved by a good 10%over standard. With full throttle the car really does pick up but it is pulling away from a stand still or from low revs that the real difference is felt.
I'm worried about going too far with engine modding at the moment through fear of losing my warranty, the sprint booster can be taken off in 5 minutes if need be and I've been assured the ECU will not be harmed. I've looked on different sites for other makes of car who've fitted this and all their responses have been positive.
I'm well chuffed with this device so far, a couple of mates have driven my car and are now saying they'll be ordering Sprint Boosters!
I'll describe it, i've not got one but when Chris was let loose on my car he changed the Throttle Map as well.
The easiest way to think of it is slapping the pedal harder when you accelerate, rather than the throttle opening in a lateral manner, it's more of a constantly increasing curve.
So standard might be:
10% pedal travel = 10% throttle open in .10 seconds
20% pedal travel = 20% throttle open in .25 seconds
Whereas a remap / spirntbooster is:
10% pedal travel = 15% throttle open in .8 seconds
20% pedal travel = 25% throttle open in .15 seconds.
Well, I've just got a Sprint Booster for the ONE (Thanks to Dave at ThinkMini!).
Easy to fit (used the Minimania instructions) & the results are very surprising. Throttle response is instantaneous now.
You have to adapt to the new throttle response, as pulling away in 1st gear ends up in the front wheels spinninig!! It feels quicker when going up the gears & you can blip the throttle when going down the gears. It really has transformed the car.
Only had a quick 15 mins test drive after fitting it, but around the town, it feels very nippy.
Interesting.
I have just visited the sprint booster web site.
Under compatibility it lists the mini cooper manual and auto but not the Cooper S or the JCW.
i purchased one of these a couple of weeks ago after trying one belonging to a friend in my jcw s. what a difference amazing throttle response .i agree with jontdi that you need to adjust your driving style as its easy to spin the front wheels while pulling away ,on occasions i have managed to spin them in 2nd and 3rd in the dry. buy one !!!!
Personally I think at £160 they are a total waste of money unless all you want improved throttle response and no change to the engine and even then they are overpriced for what you get.
You can get a full live custom remap which includes an improved throttle response map for £350 (on a MCS) or £235 (on a One/MC). Not only do you get the improvement in response, the power is delivered how you want it, fuel economy can be improved and an increase in power and torque where you want it!
So why is a sprint booster half the cost of such a remap when it's only a small percentage of what you get from a full custom remap?
Personally I think at £160 they are a total waste of money unless all you want improved throttle response and no change to the engine and even then they are overpriced for what you get.
You can get a full live custom remap which includes an improved throttle response map for £350. Not only do you get the improvement in response, the power is delivered how you want it, fuel economy can be improved and an increase in power and torque where you want it!
So why is a sprint booster half the cost of such a remap when it's only a small percentage of what you get from a full custom remap?
I have a One with minimal mods, so the generic map is fine.
I can understand that a Cooper S engine needs to be set up correctly. Believe me,I've had a custom map on Fabia vRS & have one on my Leon TDI Sport. When you're producing 410Nm of torque, I don't want the turbo going bang!
Still paid less than £235 though!
Now, can you wind you neck in please??!! (That's said in jest, BTW)
Lol, I just have a big issue with the Bluefin as I've seen a guy spending in excess of £600 on one for his MCS with a unhelpful Mini Tuner and not being happy with it. Had all sorts of problems with engine det . If he had used Lohen at least they offer a 7 day refund if you ain't happy. I have mates who say "why don't you get it bluefinned" all the time and it gets tiresome educating these people
If we had a TDI or Turbo then I'm sure things would be great but it doesn't quite work like the VAG. I guess thats the price you pay for WHIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNE!
How the fetch did you get all that for under £235??
I have a cooper with blue fin.
Yes its compatible in conjunction with the bluefin as it only alters the signal from the pedel.
Without bluefin the throttle is fairly poor in my view, when used together this thing will knock ya socks off
Im going to order a sprint booster i think. But i dont want it to open the throttle more that it does at the moment for any given pedal position. I just want it to get to that throttle position when my foot gets to the corresponding pedal position instantly. Is this what the sprint booster does?
Because minis are electronic instead of drive by wire, it takes like 0.3 seconds for the throttle to respond to you putting the foot down or even pushing the accelerator a little bit.
So what the sprintbooster does is reduces that time.
Pedal pushed in 20%, throttle opens 20% 0.3 seconds later it goes.
Sprintbooster- pedal pushed in 20%, throttle opens up 25% or so, 0.1 seconds later it goes.
Just makes the car more responsive and a little bit quicker without changing the power or opening the throttle for longer or more at a different distance on the pedal.
Because minis are electronic instead of drive by wire, it takes like 0.3 seconds for the throttle to respond to you putting the foot down or even pushing the accelerator a little bit.
So what the sprintbooster does is reduces that time.
Pedal pushed in 20%, throttle opens 20% 0.3 seconds later it goes.
Sprintbooster- pedal pushed in 20%, throttle opens up 25% or so, 0.1 seconds later it goes.
Just makes the car more responsive and a little bit quicker without changing the power or opening the throttle for longer or more at a different distance on the pedal.
Eh? You seem to be contradicting yourself in a few places there...
We know it makes the throttle open more quickly when the pedal is pushed, but it either also increases the throttle opening for a set pedal distance, or it doesn't. Which is it?
It can't open the throttle any more, as that is a mechanical operation.
All it does is speed up the siganl from when you press the accelerator to the thottle body, thus opening the throttle quicker.
Ive just fitted the Sprint Booster to my Bluefinned Mini ONE and OMG what a difference! I dunno how it does it but it really feels like theres so much more grunt low down and its very quick to pick up its feet. Before there was always a big surge at 4k revs but now that seems to kick in all the way from about 2k revs. Changing gear is so quick and it hardly looses any revs atall.
But did anyone else notice that their engine warning light came on after the Sprint Booster was fitted??? coz mine came on, Lohen said it was just coz the SB was altering the throttle signal and the ECU sees this as a fault. It can be put right with a trip to Lohen.
yer it makes a huge difference, not as much as the bluefin did but still it really makes it feel more eagre and it takes a bit of getting used to as it is easier to rev it loads when you set off
wheyy the engine light has gone away noe... perhaps the ecu has now learned the new improved accellerator signal?
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
MINI Cooper Forum
3.6M posts
159.9K members
Since 2001
Join our Mini Cooper Forums to talk about your new Mini. From reviews, mods, accessories, reliability concerns and more, this Mini Owners Club is full of info!