There’s nothing mini about Mini’s newfound power

Prodrive has introduced a significant performance upgrade to the MINI John Cooper Works engine, bringing an additional 8 bhp and a similar increase in torque for the 33mm restricted World Rally Car specification unit and 5 bhp for the 30mm restricted S2000.

Working within the engine’s existing homologation, the performance has been improved by increasing the compression ratio and optimising the cam timing and knock control.

Prodrive’s race engine team has been working on this development since the beginning of the year.

[quote]Jason Hill, chief engineer, race engines, said: “We have taken advantage of the latitude within the engine’s current homologation to make some significant improvements. While the peak power and torque figures speak for themselves, the area under the power curve is much greater, and this is the most important change as it makes the engine far more responsive and flexible, something drivers will immediately notice.”[/quote]

The engine will be first used in competition by Michal Kosciuszko in his Lotos Team MINI WRC at Rally Portugal next week and is available as an upgrade to all existing MINI WRC and S2000 competitors with the latest specification of car.

Source: Prodrive