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The Mini E.R.A. Turbo

Here some history:

During the 1930`s, English Racing Automobiles Ltd.(ERA) produced one of the finest single
seater sports cars in the world.
The six cilinder overhead cam Riley engines, in 1.5 and 2.0 litre guises, ensured that the
ERA held most of the hillclimb and sprint records.
With the outbreak of WW2 production ceased, and by the mid `40s the ERA company was
in decline. But the old racers were dusted off and continued to win many of the post war
races, keeping the ERA name alive.

In the mid `80s, the chairman of ERA, David Sankey, had a novel idea. "I want to fit a
MG metro turbo engine into a Mini shell, and create the fastest production Mini". Rover was
highly sceptical of the idea and it took Sankey months of "painfull negotiations" to convince
the Longbridge hierarchy to accept ERA`s proposal. "It was obvious that Rover were looking
to kill off the Mini," says Sankey. "Only the Mini City was in production at the time and, apart
of the Brits, only Japan was buying the Mini in sufficient numbers.

The ERA modifications were major: the bulkhead needed intensive reshaping to allow the
turbo and accillaries to fit under the bonnet. "That was the least of the problems", comments
Sankey. After a long term testing around the track at Bruntingthorpe and MIRA, ERA found
that the power was a bit much for the gearbox. "The synchros would die a death after 2,000
miles and the engine would lose compression in the middle cilinders - a common fault on
the metro turbo, too.

The engine was de-tuned slightly and the mapping adjusted so there was less torque at low
revs and more torque higher up the rev band. The gearboxes stopped blowing up with such
regularity, but it was never a ideal solution. They experimented with a number of gearboxes
on the two prototypes. The poor cars were well trashed, using a number of four, five, and even
a six - speed box, som with synchro, while others were dog engaged, and made by Jack
Night, of course. However, the fitting of an exotic box deemed too high, and all of the production
cars were fitted with a standard four speed unit.

The ERA turbo has centre mounted auxiliary gauges and lower centre console hide usual
heater eyesore. Note: five VDO and one smiths gauge! Japanese export models (most of the
ERA`s production) had full airconditioning.

Line of sight speedo and tacho to conform with modern construction and use requirements. No
red line on tacho. Small 1.5Bar turbo boost gauge at bottom right of auxiliary gauge cluster
in centre of dash.

Engine bay looks amateurish and the turbo creates high under bonnet temperatures.

ERA Specifications
It took ERA around 50 hours to carry out the following modifications
to the cars, wich were almost always painted red or green.

• Fitted with MG Metro turbo engine, clutch gearbox and modified exhaust.

• Re-mapped ECU and turbo control.

• Spill system fuel pipe layout with modified fuel tank and up-rated fuel pump
  and filter.

• Dump valve in carburettor float chamber to drain on shut down and improve hot start.

• Fuel pressure regulator to increase pressure on hot start.

• Increased waterpump drive pulley diameter.

• Rubber shroud fitted around radiator for improved airflow and reduced fan noise.

• Secondary water radiator, front mounted.

• Oil cooler front mounted.

• 64 modifications to the shell, including bulkhead clearance for turbo, stiffeners, wheel-
  arch modifications to allow clearance for the 13" wheels, various brackets and fixings
  for body kit and interior trim.

• And, and, and, and.

Only 480 cars (and possible up to four pre-production models) were produced between 1988 and 1991. Over
300 ERAs went to Japan, 110 to the UK, the remainder were mainly bought by western Europeans.

Special bonnet vent designed not as intake but to let hot air out of the engine bay. A hard
pushed turbo unit can glow red hot so a through-flow of hot air is essential to avoid damage
to non-metal components.

Conventional Mini rubber suspension. Early cars had Spax dampers, late cars had Konis. Metro
turbo vented disks and 4-pot calipers for the better braking power.

Layout of the ERA turbo feulsystem with pressure regulator and fuel pipes.

The ERA turbos braking system had split system at the front, the very same
as the MG metro turbo.

Here some spec. of the ERA Mini turbo.

1275cc engine displacement.
9.4 : 1 compression ratio.
33mm intake, 29mm exhaust valves (exh. sodium cooled)
Four speed gearbox with 3.21 : 1 diff.
Power 94BHP at 6130rpm, torque 87lbf/ft at 3600rpm.

This is the layout of the box, if you want to install a turbo in youre Mini, the measurements are approx.( as I made it in my Mini)

Two production Mini ERA turbos. Pitty me I don`t have one.

Layout of the ERAs engine bay and carburettor.

1. Turbo unit.

2. oil intake.

3. oil drain.

4. waste gate actuator.

5. waste gate.

6. intake manifold.

7. plenum chamber.

8. hose.

9. hose.

10. turbo boost solenoid.

11. fuel pressure regulator.

12. E.C.U.

13. Carburettor.

14. Carb. vent valve.

15. Crank case vent. hose

16. mixture screw.

Most of this page is taken from Miniworld magazine.

Pages made by Marx 1998.