Ecotec Expertise

Our partnership with Secant now affords us real expertise with the Ecotec powertrain. We will be looking at solutions for the 2.4 & 2.0 Ecotecs found in the Solstice/Sky.

Anyone can bolt on a bigger turbo or other mechanical bits. What our friends at Secant can do is deliver a properly tuned solution. Engine calibration and mechanical integration at OEM levels is what these guys do daily. Since our guys understand these motors AND how to tune them safely, we expect to have some great power solutions sorted.
M62 Blower on this kit:


TVS blower on this LSJ equipped Lotus Exige is the same gen as ZR1 & CTS-V:

We are interested in your feedback on what type of performance you are interested in with your Sky/Solstice. Give us a call or shoot us an email with your thoughts. We intend to continue to sort solutions for these cars and hope to get a clear idea of the items you would like.

Ecotec in a Lotus!

One of the products from our partnership with Secant Engineering is a full powertrain swap for the Elise/Exige + power ehancement for the Atom2. The Secant boys have done an exceptionally nice job in integrating the Ecotec powertrain into their Exige. Their OEM-like approach is evident when you see how clean the engine bay looks.

Secant has already commercialized their Stage 1 kit. It produces 280hp & 241ft-lbs of torque. The power of this kit is impressive BUT so is how docile the car is around town and in day to day use.

The engine shown above was built for us by GM Racing. We will be plugging it into Secant's Exige. We're undertaking this minor surgery at our shop this weekend. This motor is fully built to withstand the added power that will be generated thx to the new TVS supercharger that we are bolting to it. This is the same blower on the new ZR1. It is very efficient and can move massive amounts of air. We'll also raise the rev limiter to 7,500rpm.

We are shooting for approx 325hp. Our ultimate goal is to offer SAFE and RELIABLE power upgrades. We're confident that our aero, brake & suspension solutions are ready for this level of power. Delivering a balanced solution is high on our list.

If you have some free time this Saturday, feel to stop by between the hours of 10-2pm.

monkeyBAR update!

We've been running our monkeyBAR in our R56 for almost two months now and love it! There's something about being strapped into a sporty car that inspires confidence. Our R56 harness bar solution helps us focus on enjoying the MINI and not trying to stay in the seat!

We recently installed the final production black powder coated monkeyBAR in a costumer's R56. It looks great with the blue Schroth PROFI II harness and blue leather inserts on the seats.

More MINI Harness Bar Pictures

The R56 Harness Bar is In!

Phil & Jeff @ Burkebuilt have sorted a great solution for our R56!  Our approach is similar yet simplified over the Brey Krause solution for the 1st Gen MINI.  We've added an additional rearward mounting point.  This bar is seriously solid.

Our bar will unbolt easily enough for quick removal after the track day.  

Here are some of the key features:

• Bolt-in - no mods neccesary
• Loads into 5 solid locations onto the chassis
• Takes wrap around style shoulder belts with guides
• Fire extinguisher mounting plate
• Almost full seat travel (less 1")
• Rear seat bottom can be installed
• Works with stock seat
• DOM tubing

More info to come as we continue to finalize this complete kit.  Contact us if you are interested.

We are fitting the same harness that we've developed for the Lotus Elise/Exige: Schroth Profi II with ASM.  This HANs compliant harness can safely be run as a 4pt solution allowing you to use your stock seats.  This can be upgraded to 5 or 6pt if you choose to run a race seat.

  

Harness Bar Fitment

We attempted to fit the BreyKrause harness bar into our R56 and have found the following issues:

• Seat travel is reduced significantly for taller drivers
• New brackets are required to bolt the bar into 2nd Gen MINIs

This picture shows Jeff in our car.  He has a 34" inseam and can not get enough leg room - we

 placed a rubber pad between the seat and the bar (see the circled area).  MINI has done a great job in creating a ton of seat travel with our car but it runs into the harness bar.  With an average sized driver (see Phil below) there is enough room.  

The BK bar attaches to the rear belt mounting points via rear seat brackets and to the front with additional supports and brackets.  We've discovered that almost all of these will need to be redesigned to fit the R55/56.  They are very close but not close enough for us.  

Though it is an excellent bar, the BreyKrause bar was designed for the 1st gen MINI.   We had hoped to get it to fit but we did not succeed.  With our partners, BurkeBilt, we will now design one that will work.  Luckily we have a bit of experience as we were the first to develop a harness bar to the Lotus Elise in the US.  

Mini Harness Bar Under Development!

The Brey Krause harness bar arrived today. Its an very well engineered and fabricated part. We know the bar isn't designed for the second generation MINI's, but we are going to create one that will. Stay tuned!