u/SedimentSock82

I have a Snow stage 2 water meth system in my heavily modified '11 Cooper S and since I got it, I didn't seem to get the power boost I was expecting. After it stopped working a couple months ago, it went on the back burner until after I did the suspension / chassis upgrades.

Long story short, the shop that installed it did not secure the power wire for the solenoid (and used some weird connector that wasn't working right) causing the solenoid to flutter / cut out. Now that it is fixed and spraying...holy crap it takes off even harder when the turbo spools up.

Heading to a dyno in a few weeks.

My car is no slouch with its R300/RPM Stage 3 setup but after getting water meth injection, the performance increase wasn't as much as I was expecting. The past couple months It hasn't worked at all but as I was in the midst of doing a complete suspension and chassis build, that went on the back burner.

Got the system looked at by the owner of the shop that installed it and the solenoid was not getting power due to the connector not being connected properly which caused the solenoid to flutter if it work at all.

After getting it soldered and secured better, it now sprays the way it is meant to and while my R56 was fast before, the water meth took it up a few notches.

https://preview.redd.it/hj04n0i3ub9h1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd83b0ccd7da5c1e3361251fb6889a91afa53c50

https://preview.redd.it/xkromq4wpc6h1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=35d99edb389dd33148e26c5a8570c15161cfa928

I’ve driven manuals for over 20 years with my current passion project being a 6 speed 2011 Cooper S.

While it was a blast rowing through the gears when it was stock, I replaced the shifter years ago for a CAE which made it even more fun (I would highly recommend one).

As it is already at 300hp on water meth and I finished up a massive suspension / chassis stiffening performance rebuild, I am at the tail end of stuff I can do without tearing open the engine so I have been on a Powerflex kick with the FCABs and trailing arm bushings and now I have the lower torque mount.

That last mod alone made it (somehow) even more sharper to shift even though it made the steering/pedals vibrate at lower speeds. If you want a sharper feeling, don’t overlook replacing the rubber bushings with Powerflex polyurethane ones.

And then I decided to go nuts and do an entire suspension / chassis stiffening build session. As I had noticed that even with a Wavetrac up front, it would plow forward in a corner if I went anywhere near the throttle so I decided to just go nuts on a build

Went with Bilstein B8 shocks with Eibach lowering springs and wanted to be sure it wouldn’t have an issue with the alignment with lowering so opted for M7 Maxx-G camber / endlinks. That then turned into putting the massive H&R front sway bar since the suspension would be torn out anyway. I then decided on a 22mm Alta rear sway bar plus Powerflex purple FCAB’s, trailing arm and lower torque mount bushings and finishing it up with the AEM front strut brace (already run the Racing Dynamics CF rear one).

While it does have a reverberation in the pedals/steering at low speeds due to the lower torque mount and it is more rough riding, there is less rattling and paired with my 300+hp N18, I would describe it’s handling and willingness to go as being ‘manic’

My steering wheel is no longer useless

I run a heavily modified '11 Cooper S R56 and after 4 years and many thousands put into the engine to get to 300+hp the right way, I decided to tackle the suspension and chassis stiffening with front/rear strut braces, 27mm/22mm sway bars, M7 camber and endlinks, Billstein B8 shocks with Eibach lowering springs along with Powerflex FCAB's, trailing arm, steering rack and now the lower torque mount.

While I was expecting to feel more vibration in the pedals and steering wheel, it dialed up the engine's responsiveness to 11 and makes it even more satisfying to shift with the CAE.

While Powerflex will make your car buzz more, the performance increase is worth the trade off

Early last week, I bonked my knee on my dash which caused a bruise (naturally) but due to warfarin that I have been on since a 2013 aortic valve transplant, this one ballooned up and moved to the side of my calf.

They drained it but after the skin turned black, I was quickly admitted and have been in the hospital and had surgery Thursday which removed the skin and a wound vac attached in hopes it will scab over and prevent a skin graft.

This isn’t my first hospital visit and definitely won’t be the last but luckily my skin heals well so hopefully I won’t need a graft.

Sadly, I lost my decent calf tribal tattoo

I have had my Cooper S from 77k miles to 119k and as I have noticed occasional cold start RPM stumbling so I figured it was time to bite the bullet and get it walnut blasted (gives my water meth the chance to steam clean)

5hrs and $1170 later, it is done after the blasting and opting to get the combustion chamber and injector cleanings as well. I thought it was fast before but now it is manic in its responsiveness and acceleration. I've always been able to do 6th gear highway pulls with ease and never have to drop a gear to pass but now even doing that sucks me back into the seat.

Next will be replacing more stock rubber with Powerflex with the lower torque mount, upper gear box and upper engine mount coming in a few weeks.

https://preview.redd.it/pe70jqihesyg1.jpg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4afeca46ee22f603897c2f4f851a666ca876fe97