Performance Tuning with Manufacturer's Warranty
 

Mini Cooper dealers offer a “John Cooper Works” tuning upgrade package for just over $2000 that does not void the manufacturer’s warranty, would you be interested in this option for your BRZ, FR-S or GT86?

POLL

Please take the poll & share it, maybe Toyota & Subaru will have a light bulb moment.

the poll says:
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"If dealers could offer a performance upgrade of 25 HP for $2500 for FR-S, GT86 & BRZ that did not affect your warranty, would you be?"

for 2,500 bucks, i better be getting a set of knee pads and a goddamn armrest included.

but really, $2,500 for just 25 hp? I think most people would rather just buy bolt ons and have a car that performs a little better, and sounds/looks how they want, POSSIBLY without any warranty problems anyways with just bolt ons.

put into perspective, $2,500 can get you some nice performance mods, AND a good tune that would put you well over 25hp i would imagine, and if its one of the tunes that arent detectable, you still got warranty son!

$100 per HP is a figure I thought reasonable.

With chip tuning done in a shop, that's maybe 8 to 11 HP, and you might not be too far from the $100 per HP rate. If it is detected, you lose your warranty, and you might have to pay for any work done previously under warranty (that's in my BRZ manual.)

If you're in an accident where I live, and the chip tuning is detected that hasn't been approved by the state inspection service and noted in your paperwork, you're in deep, and your insurer will also void your policy. It could potentially wipe you out.

Anyway, my thought was, if something like this happens, I'd like to upgrade via my dealer:

"According to Auto Express, the BRZ STI, which will be revealed next spring, will forgo a turbocharger due to a lack of space under the hood. Despite this, peak output should still rise from the BRZ’s 200-horsepower rating to somewhere around 220 to 230 horsepower in the BRZ STI thanks to changes to the exhaust system and variable valve timing."

2 grand is a little much for 25hp, now if if came with some suspension upgrade, lighter wheels, and 25hp I'd go for that.

Guys, to keep it real, a Mini Cooper S to John Cooper Works upgrade is from 181hp to 197 hp, that's 16 hp for $2120.

A JCW suspension is $1416.

In a car as light as ours, you will feel 25 hp.

Ide rather go innovate sc route for a little more and actually feel like i got my money's worth...

Herein lies the challenge with our car. Can you easily get +25HP gains for $2500 with bolt on/tune? I'm not sure that you can. Going forced induction can get some impressive numbers but you are well above $4K at that point.

Right, below is a video I took during a ride-along in a super-charged BRZ with 245 HP, and in Europe this is way above $100 per HP. Still, this is what 45 HP is like, again, we would definately notice an extra 25 HP

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrVIKkh6Wk8"]Supercharged BRZ - YouTube[/ame]