22 replies to this topic

[Massey]

Hello there i am looking to buy a mini at the moment and i dont know what to get a 1000cc or a 1275 but i dont know because of the videos i have seen with the 1000's with 120bhp+ with a turbo is a lot of work im guessing lowcompression pistons and so on or better to go for a 1275 and get a stage 1 and go up to what ever i prefer ....
but one thing that will sway me either way is the price
thanks for looking any advice is better than none
thanks

[haz]

the difference in price between a 1275 stage 1 and a 120bhp 998 turbo is probably about £6000.

you could pick up a complete 1275 stage 1 for 2-300 and if its been looked after and its a reasonable milage, it'll run without any major problems for up to 100k... if you expect to get 10k out of a 120bhp 998 you're having a laugh, it'll need rebuilding every 3 sets of traffic lights.

my advice would be to forget turbos, it wasnt a good idea when rover put them on and it still isnt now. 1275, a nice cam, ported head and a hif44 should do you fine and run reliably enough for a daily drive, if you're lucky you might see 80 ponies at the fly on a mild tune 1275. Incase you were wondering, a good 1275 with a stage 1 kit will hit around 60bhp and 65lbft.

hope that helps

[Wil_h]

the difference in price between a 1275 stage 1 and a 120bhp 998 turbo is probably about £6000.

you could pick up a complete 1275 stage 1 for 2-300 and if its been looked after and its a reasonable milage, it'll run without any major problems for up to 100k... if you expect to get 10k out of a 120bhp 998 you're having a laugh, it'll need rebuilding every 3 sets of traffic lights.

my advice would be to forget turbos, it wasnt a good idea when rover put them on and it still isnt now. 1275, a nice cam, ported head and a hif44 should do you fine and run reliably enough for a daily drive, if you're lucky you might see 80 ponies at the fly on a mild tune 1275. Incase you were wondering, a good 1275 with a stage 1 kit will hit around 60bhp and 65lbft.

hope that helps

There is so much wrong with what you say here. You seem to have a general exception to turbos, why is this? The turbo is a fantastic addition to the A-series. If done properly you can get great power and great MPG. All this and the longevity of the engine is no less than a high power normally aspirated engine.

[Massey]

my advice would be to forget turbos, it wasnt a good idea when rover put them on and it still isnt now. 1275, a nice cam, ported head and a hif44 should do you fine and run reliably enough for a daily drive, if you're lucky you might see 80 ponies at the fly on a mild tune 1275. Incase you were wondering, a good 1275 with a stage 1 kit will hit around 60bhp and 65lbft.

hope that helps

Yer this does help a bit thanks
but im looking to put some twin SU 45's and get a fully flowed head with a 275 cam then thing about increasing the bore i want to aim for the 100bhp i have seen so many people hit it i just want to wipe the smile off a nob with a 1.6 corsa and just to be able to say im running a 1.3

and does any one know when the london to brighton is or the 09 brans to nurgbo is taking place?

[rozzer1275]

should just beat the corsa with 100bhp, minis handle 100 well, may get 100hp with that setup, depends what corsa i read on the net they do 0-60 in 9to9.5 sec, you will do it in about 8.5 to 9 depending on your grip and weight.

it will shock him that he can't overtake a car dating back to 1959.

i run 100bhp and with an extra 20bhp shot of noz i killed a punto turbo (140bhp) at the pod and lost to a clio sport 172bhp by 3 meters.

find a good engine supplier tell them what you want and your budget.
maybe 1330 or 1380 short block £800 for basic kit (+sur charge) a lot more for a real nice one.
good head 600-£700 a must have for power
big cam 276 or 286 £150 a must have for power
twin su will get a bit more (at a guess 5%) than single twin carb and manifolw £350, single carb and man £230
may need high lift roller rockers £170
decent ignition may want to consider ecu type eg omex £450 or budget ecu type megajolt £200 to £350
exhaust and manifold £140
moded clutch
moded diff pin or 4 pin
rolling road tune £150

turbo cars are fun though but have to get the fueling and ignition right or you will melt things quick with a turbo

Edited by rozzer1275, 07 January 2009 - 10:56 PM.

[haz]

the difference in price between a 1275 stage 1 and a 120bhp 998 turbo is probably about £6000.

you could pick up a complete 1275 stage 1 for 2-300 and if its been looked after and its a reasonable milage, it'll run without any major problems for up to 100k... if you expect to get 10k out of a 120bhp 998 you're having a laugh, it'll need rebuilding every 3 sets of traffic lights.

my advice would be to forget turbos, it wasnt a good idea when rover put them on and it still isnt now. 1275, a nice cam, ported head and a hif44 should do you fine and run reliably enough for a daily drive, if you're lucky you might see 80 ponies at the fly on a mild tune 1275. Incase you were wondering, a good 1275 with a stage 1 kit will hit around 60bhp and 65lbft.

hope that helps

There is so much wrong with what you say here. You seem to have a general exception to turbos, why is this? The turbo is a fantastic addition to the A-series. If done properly you can get great power and great MPG. All this and the longevity of the engine is no less than a high power normally aspirated engine.

Well, let me put it this way... you wouldnt run a turbo off your gearbox oil in a modern car would you? Its probably the most rediculous peice of automotive engineering I've ever come accross. An afterthought botch is what it is! I'm not saying they dont work because they do, and im not saying you cant get good power out of them, because you can. What I am saying is that its not a good idea for a daily driver, longevity IS the issue and they are renound for their lack there of. Maybe if you ran some kind of stand alone slosh tank you could avoid the swarf issue, i dunno, its too much of a headache... stick n/a with the A-series for my money. Having said that, I cant comment on the charger route as its not something im familar with, other than they're expensive and require plenty of fettling...

Edited by haz, 08 January 2009 - 12:38 PM.

[Jordie]

No you wouldnt. because gearbox oil in a modern car is a different type of oil!!!

Minis share the same engine oil for gearbox and engine. Where as a modern car runs engine oil and a seperate gearbox oil....

Jordie

[mini_mission]

the difference in price between a 1275 stage 1 and a 120bhp 998 turbo is probably about £6000.

you could pick up a complete 1275 stage 1 for 2-300 and if its been looked after and its a reasonable milage, it'll run without any major problems for up to 100k... if you expect to get 10k out of a 120bhp 998 you're having a laugh, it'll need rebuilding every 3 sets of traffic lights.

my advice would be to forget turbos, it wasnt a good idea when rover put them on and it still isnt now. 1275, a nice cam, ported head and a hif44 should do you fine and run reliably enough for a daily drive, if you're lucky you might see 80 ponies at the fly on a mild tune 1275. Incase you were wondering, a good 1275 with a stage 1 kit will hit around 60bhp and 65lbft.

hope that helps

There is so much wrong with what you say here. You seem to have a general exception to turbos, why is this? The turbo is a fantastic addition to the A-series. If done properly you can get great power and great MPG. All this and the longevity of the engine is no less than a high power normally aspirated engine.

Well, let me put it this way... you wouldnt run a turbo off your gearbox oil in a modern car would you? Its probably the most rediculous peice of automotive engineering I've ever come accross. An afterthought botch is what it is! I'm not saying they dont work because they do, and im not saying you cant get good power out of them, because you can. What I am saying is that its not a good idea for a daily driver, longevity IS the issue and they are renound for their lack there of. Maybe if you ran some kind of stand alone slosh tank you could avoid the swarf issue, i dunno, its too much of a headache... stick n/a with the A-series for my money. Having said that, I cant comment on the charger route as its not something im familar with, other than they're expensive and require plenty of fettling...

A chap on here called bud666 will completely disagree- I believe he is running 160 ponies with a bog standard bottom end, cheapo pistons and as a daily driver with no problems. the key, as with any high performance a series, is maintenance.

Plus, there is no need to rev the tatties off it.

Edited by mini_mission, 08 January 2009 - 12:52 PM.

[haz]

well yea exactly... and its therefore full of swarf, which is my point.

[haz]

A chap on here called bud666 will completely disagree- I believe he is running 160 ponies with a bog standard bottom end, cheapo pistons and as a daily driver with no problems. the key, as with any high performance a series, is maintenance.

Plus, there is no need to rev the tatties off it.

im surprised a standard box can take 160 bhp, and where do you draw the line with maintenance? dropping your oil every 1k or so could get a little tedious, and regular HG changes too? I'm guessing but I'd assume its a rigerous and comprehensive maintenance schedule if its a daily drive and he covers a good milage

anyway point is, this fella wants a budget build to acheive 100bhp... id probably say you can acheive that cheaper going down the turbo rought if you're lucky. I know that sourcing the parts can be a pain though and even then, the likelyhood of getting serviceable parts is somewhere between slim and non. N/A is the way to go if you don't want to be searching for, repairing, customising and fettling bits... if thats your cup of tea then by all means, drink it. I'm just offering my 2 pennies worth.

[bloomers]

100 bhp...How budget are we talking lol.

[miniboo]

Haz: the turbo takes its oil feed form the filtered side of the engine. if its good enough for the bearings and cam etc etc tyhen it is good enough for the turbo.

[john1.2pearl]

Well, let me put it this way... you wouldnt run a turbo off your gearbox oil in a modern car would you? Its probably the most rediculous peice of automotive engineering I've ever come accross. An afterthought botch is what it is! I'm not saying they dont work because they do, and im not saying you cant get good power out of them, because you can. What I am saying is that its not a good idea for a daily driver, longevity IS the issue and they are renound for their lack there of. Maybe if you ran some kind of stand alone slosh tank you could avoid the swarf issue, i dunno, its too much of a headache... stick n/a with the A-series for my money. Having said that, I cant comment on the charger route as its not something im familar with, other than they're expensive and require plenty of fettling...

1. You cant possibly compare an A-series engine/gearbox with an engine of the modern variety simply because the modern one has a seperate gearbox, also why would you want to run a turbo from a gearbox of which has no oil pump and uses hypoid gear oil instead of using pefectly good clean engine oil

2. To say that it is " Probably the most rediculous piece of automotive engineering ive ever come across. An afterthought botch is what it is " you must have no experiance with turbo'd engines and where you got the idea from that there is a swarf issue is beyond me The turbo oil feed is taken from a freshly filtered oil-way.

3. I've seen many metro turbo engines with 60,000 + miles on them and still run as good as the first day they started, the unreliability comes when people who dont stick to service intervals and are clueless about turbo'd engines decide ... oooh i want more power hmmm ill whack on a bleed valve and turn up the boost pressure without considering timing, fueling, compression ratio, charge temperature, pistons there using etc... then the turbo engine gets its name for being "unreliable"

not starting an argument they just arnt as unreliable as people make out they are !

Edited by john1.2pearl, 08 January 2009 - 07:36 PM.

[Sam Walters]

Alot of people spouting off on this thread who seem not to know a lot. Listen to people like wil_h they know their stuff!

My personal advice would be if you want to keep a 998.

Get a good 998 engine, for a full on budget 998 turbo I would whip the head off and turn the engine over by hand to get a look at the bores and the state of the top of the pistons, listen for knocks and rattles while its running.



You will need all the metro turbo gubbins, id get a t2 turbo and an adapter plate to fit it to the t3 manifold.

As far as a gearbox goes id get a refurbished one with a cross pin diff. shouldn’t be more then 300 quid.

Bolt that up.

Put a 940 casting head on, the block will need pocketing. Slark engineering can do this with the engine still in the car.



Cooling and fuelling will need to be looked at also.

[In-a-mini]

Yeah a 998 turbo is pretty common now especialy with the price of turbo engines going sky high. also one thing to remember is the toming which is one hing turbos are real fussy on the turbo dizzy is specific to the turbo but also is setup for a 1275 so when fitting to a 998cc then the curve will not be ideal. and i i remember the turbo sits lowerand think it may start to have clearence issues with the turbo box and if an adapter for a t2 is fitted then this may exagerate it.