[cafemoc]

Well...OctaneGuy and I ordered MTH cable many month ago, took forever to get here in states, but finally I got a cable.

I flashed my ECU on Friday night, send it to Franz(MTH), he send it back to me Sunday morning 5:30 AM. Immediately I uploaded to my CVT MINI, I took it to 110 fwy, acceleration was different, "D" mode felt like "SD" mode, and "SD" mode was much smoother, car pulled much harder than before, its definitely worth for the update.

One thing I noticed was I didn't hit rev limiter, normally when I rev
up to 6,000rpm, rev limiter kicks in on CVT, but it
didn't go above 6,000rpm, but enough to go FAST!

There is not many performance mod on CVT, and I would think this MTH chip mod is worth for money.

 

[Me and My Mini]

How's the fuel comsumption like?

 

[cafemoc]

Fuel Consumption with MTH chip?

I haven't driven that much to tell fuel consumption yet.
It revs up much quicker than before, but I can't tell at this moment.
I will keep you posted.

 

[cafemoc]

Driving Style changed

I had to change my driving style after the MTH mod.
It seems like "1-D-SD" flick doesn't work, or timing is different from before, and I can't make it work. Instead I just put it in "SD", kick gas pedal at the light, and MINI respond very quickly.
There is no lags(seems to be that way) and I don't have to manually shift as often as used to be.

I still haven't reached rev limiter yet, I was trying to rev up more than 6,000 rpm, but some reason rev was always under 6,000 rpm, and never hit above that.

I've just drove over 100 miles so far, and I still have to figure it out how to drive CVT with MTH mod.

 

[mataku]

hm.. i've read about the MTH mod and was pretty interested in it, but since I don't have my Cooper CVT yet and since I couldn't find a "personal" experience comment was a bit hesitant, but you seem to enjoy it very much. How much did it cost total for everything?

 

[cafemoc]

Cost about $200 US

I couldn't remeber exact numbers, but I ordered ODBII cable with USB interface back in August for $130 US (incl.shipping from Germany), and MTH mod was arround $70 US.

 

[nonsequitur]

Allow some odd questions:
What are these components you bought designed to do?
Do you have access to the software onboard the car?
Are you modifying that software in any way with this mod?
Do you know of any expertise to look at the code?

 

[cafemoc]

ODBII cable with USB interface

well...ODBII cable I purchased allow me to connect PC to ECU on MINI, and software form MTH flash ECU, download to your laptop.
You won't be able to view ECU file, its encrypted.
I e-mailed ECU file back to MTH to mod for CVT MINI, then I uploaded to MINI.
I have no knowledge of ECU coding.

Here is the link: http://www.mth-powerchip.de/
Here is NAM thread: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29218&page=1

The reason I started this thread is I need to re-define CVT driving technique after MTH mod, and try to get as much as informations from MTH modded CVT MINI owners.

Thanks,

-- Toshi

 

[mataku]

took this little tid bit from NAM:

The CVT flash works like this......
lets say you drive 10 mph and you step on the gas. The engine will now rev to 3000 rpm and starts accelerating from there. Franz maps his software to rev up to 3500 rpm and starts accelerating from there. This is done thru the entire band I believe. Hope this helps.
Update for CVT people.......

You need to tell Franz if you want the tranny mod in the file or not otherwise you will only get the normal CVT flash.
scobib has the flash with the tranny mod.

Did you ask for the tranny mod or no?

 

[mataku]

scratch that question.. looked through NAM and saw that you posted that you did get the tranny mod.

 

[nonsequitur]

Thanks! So what is being modified here? It looks like the maps are being tweaked, but do you know specifically? Can the CVT gearbox software be modified? Can he get rid of the dreaded "shift" when floored!!

 

[cafemoc]

Tranny Mod

I asked Franz(MTH) what had been tweaked, but he didn't answer any of questions, but his MTH ECU flash w/ tranny mod made huge performance difference.

1) the dreaded "shift" when floored!!
Even "D" mode, car responds quicker, "SD" is much better though, when getting on freeway, MINI accelerates quicker/faster.
2) Gas mileage
I haven't notice any difference so far. MINI rev up smoother, and quicker, but that's when you needed, otherwise I am getting same gas mileage.

I haven't shift manually after the MTH mod, I guess I really don't have to shift that often. I use "D" for most of my commuting.

 

[mataku]

i've heard a lot of complaints about the shift when floored so it's good that the MTH fixes that... although I've always wondered why don't people just stick i little bit of something between the accelerator and the floor so that when you hit the throttle all the way it only really goes 3/4 the way.

 

[nonsequitur]

I don't read in these notes that the "shift" software is disabled, but that is one of the questions to clarify. Does the car still "shift" when floored?

There's a reason why a simple shim under the e-throttle pedal isn't workable. That switch may help at Launch (I think) by changing the engine map. From a Full Stop, its probable that "floored" gives an advantage over 85% throttle (at resistance point)... for some period of time or feet or speed, then switching back to 85% throttle in SD for the best turbine-smooth acceleration to the final speed or objective.

This little foot adjustment is real disruptive and hard to do, so I found that it's better to set up your foot and forget about the floored part for normal driving or track days, not drags.

This is also why this whole subject of MINI software gets me going.

I've been looking for a testing partner to do this validation work. It is possible to download data from the car so that we know, for instance, that the actual resistance point is at 87% throttle position (or 93% or whatever). I'd like to know this stuff definitively so it can be discussed and experimented.

MINIUSA, are you reading this?
Can't you please just take that little software code out?

 

[cafemoc]

Improved 10mph Yo-Yoing

So far I didn't experience harsh yo-yoing below 10mph in traffic. Its much smoother in low speed, but again I haven't done much of driving to prove it.
First fill up after MTH mod was 280.1 miles, 9.633 gallons of 91 octane Chevron gas.
Most of my driving is freeway, I would say 75% freeway and 25% city.

I am using "D" mode for commuting, and very little shifting.

 

[nonsequitur]

So far I didn't experience harsh yo-yoing below 10mph in traffic.

That's good.

I am using "D" mode for commuting, and very little shifting.

I don't think I know your situation. Is this car still in the break-in period?

Software induced "shifting" only occurs when the pedal is floored and held down while accelerating. Have you "floored" it, and held it there, onto that 75% freeway experience yet?

 

[cafemoc]

I have little over 30k miles on 03 CVT with K&N drop-in filter, M7 Plasma Booster, and Rogue exhaust installed.
Yes, I floored, and held it there few times. I floored with "D" and "SD" and held there for few seconds, but not from complete stop though, while driving on freeway. I don't recall any shifting while accelerating.

 

[nonsequitur]

I have little over 30k miles on 03 CVT with K&N drop-in filter, M7 Plasma Booster, and Rogue exhaust installed.

I should have paged back further. Thanks for the update.

Yes, I floored, and held it there few times. I floored with "D" and "SD" and held there for few seconds, but not from complete stop though, while driving on freeway. I don't recall any shifting while accelerating.

My guess is that you're not able to see it hit red line in that short time? A complete stop won't matter, but if you start out slow on the on-ramp and floor it to merge, you should get at least one redline (6000rpm) encounter. I'm curious what happens at 6000rpm; does it stay there steady, or does it drop back to 5400rpm and run up to 6000rpm again?

 

[cafemoc]

6,000 rpm with "D"

You know what, I was actually checking rpm while accelerating, and it was "D". I saw it hit 6,000 rpm, but didn't limit rev though, unlike "SD" or manual mode, it stayed there.

I was doing with "SD", but it didn't go up to 6,000 rpm for some reason, it went to 5,500 or little above, then didn't move above, didn't hit rev limiter. May be I wasn't accelerate hard enough, but that's my impression. Before MTH mod I always hit rev limiter with "SD" when I floored, then rev dropped to 4,000 rpm for a second or so.

 

[nonsequitur]

Rather than speculate, I'll ask you to try the procedure on the freeway (or some other suitable road). From very low speed, push the accelerator "all the way to the floor (hard against the pedal stop, past the resistance/switch point)", don't lift:

In both D or SD, the rpm will rapidly come up to the 6000rpm redline...
What happens then?