I had the opportunity to attend a local Mini club cruise on the weekend here in Perth (Western Australia). 19 Minis and around 40 people met up at a local park and then we all cruised out to the Perth hills for a 1 hr drive of approx 45km and some wonderful scenery through the native bush areas. Since my Mini is of course far from being on the road, my friend Rob invited me to ride along as a passenger, then also to drive his Mini for the 40km drive home after a lunch. He completed the same Toyota 4E-FTE engine swap in July 2013 (see his blog here glanzamini.blogspot.com) and although it has only travelled ~5000km since being registered, it has been running reliably with no mechanical issues. A couple of tweaks to fuel setup have been required and a few small issues still to be sorted out, namely the engine running quite rich and engine hesitation at low revs / off boost, and some boost creep problems.
Up close, it's a very well prepared and neatly put together car. However, what's it like to drive? Off boost, it's very civil and comfortable to drive. On 1/2 to 3/4 throttle, it's got a really good amount of power and torque around 3500rpm upward and builds boost quickly. At wide open throttle and full boost (~15psi)... well that's where you really have hold on, literally. The torque steer is intense as the boost comes on and you have to firmly hold on to the steering wheel to stop it darting off to the left. The current engine power is currently unknown but with a set of semi-slick tyres and LSD, I'm told it can sometimes break traction in 3rd gear!
So was it fun? Yes.
Was it a handful? At WOT, Yes.
Was it fast? Definitely.
Does it validate my decision to use the 4E-FTE engine for the engine conversion. Absolutely!
Up close, it's a very well prepared and neatly put together car. However, what's it like to drive? Off boost, it's very civil and comfortable to drive. On 1/2 to 3/4 throttle, it's got a really good amount of power and torque around 3500rpm upward and builds boost quickly. At wide open throttle and full boost (~15psi)... well that's where you really have hold on, literally. The torque steer is intense as the boost comes on and you have to firmly hold on to the steering wheel to stop it darting off to the left. The current engine power is currently unknown but with a set of semi-slick tyres and LSD, I'm told it can sometimes break traction in 3rd gear!
So was it fun? Yes.
Was it a handful? At WOT, Yes.
Was it fast? Definitely.
Does it validate my decision to use the 4E-FTE engine for the engine conversion. Absolutely!
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