MINI Countryman Tuning

"Thank you for reading this MINI Countryman tuning article."

The Countryman is a good car tuning project to carry out. If you do your research then you can create an awesome Countryman but don't be fooled there are lots of sports upgrades out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

We look into Countryman tuning and provide tips on the greatest upgrades. MINI Countrymans offer good returns when tuned and with a few sensible performance modifications you can dramatically increase your driving opportunities.

Our aim in engine tuning should be to increase peak power and torque at the top end.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Engine tuning mods.

This list of the stages and modified modifications are usually installed by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you start.

Getting the best sports upgrades for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 competition upgrades just won't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

Stage 1 modifications: Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel, Alloy wheels, Panel air filter, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Remap.

Stage 2 modifications: Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injector, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, Power/Sport clutch.

Stage 3 modifications: Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Sports gearbox, Engine balancing, Competition cam.

Peak power is good on competition cars but for a daily driven car you need a wide power band and perhaps extending the rev range.

First generation

• 1.6 L I4 (One/Cooper)
• 1.6 L Prince turbocharged i4 (Cooper S)
• 1.6 L BMW N47 diesel i4 (Cooper D and One D)
• 2.0 L BMW N47 diesel i4 (Cooper D Automatic and Cooper SD models)

Second generation

• 1.5L BMW B38 turbocharged I-3 (Cooper)
• 1.5L BMW B37 turbodiesel I-3 (Cooper D)
• 2.0L BMW B48 turbocharged I-4 (Cooper S, JCW Countryman)
• 2.0L BMW B47 turbodiesel I-4 (Cooper SD)
• 1.5L BMW B38 turbocharged I-3 + electric motor (Cooper S E)

In this article we shall give an overview and introduction to the best performance parts for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance modification.A fast road camshaft usually works out as one of the best NASP power modifications you can do with a single part fitted to your engine.

It improves the intake and exhaust flow and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to pay attention to the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

If you find you suffer from flat spots and surges after your sports upgrades you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Improved injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned Countrymans uprated injectors.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up. Contrary to popular belief there is generally a small power gain got by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you raise the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Derestricting the flow of air into the engine is the primary part of tuning so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and often rob you of power on most cars.

Sports exhausts can help equal out the flow of gases through the engine. But if the exhaust pipe is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of the flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

Getting the cylinder head polished and ported will further help more air into each cylinder. This is definitely a job for a pro with a flow bench. In nearly all cases of Countryman tuning your clutch will start to fail and this should be improved - read our guide on clutches for more information. The best mods we recommend for your Countryman are a remap especially on a turbo, a fast road camshaft and sports exhaust, with a good air intake.

Remaps offer phenomenal power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a flashed ecu on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twincharging conversions and making some seriously high power figures.

Adding forced induction will see significant power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Turbos are generally harder to add than a supercharger. It is difficult to map fuelling with a turbo as the boost increases exponentially with rpm.

Superchargers, however will give a boost which is directly proportional to engine speed so is simpler. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engine compression ratio .

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for people first priority in your Countryman tuning project.

If you set the toe out to 0.9 to 1.5 degrees on the front, and add some negative camber then cornering will radically benefit.

We suggest that you fit performance suspension and lower the car by 21mm - 35 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with performance suspension.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Alloy wheels will help the brakes cool down and are usually less heavy than the steel ones. We can't go into too much detail here about tyres but they are how the car puts the power down on the road so are a critical choice. directional tread pattern tyres work well on Countryman, and make a big difference over budget tyres. The drawback to large alloys on your Countryman is that you alter your effective final drive ratio so this will have a detrimental effect on acceleration and performance.

Although some people have with bigger wheels without issues we would stick to a 17 inch rim size as the maximum.

There is a more updated version of this MINI Countryman Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Countryman options in more detail with our Countryman owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased MINI tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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