the OEM wheels are fine as well. I run 40 mm offset on my car, and will likely use 5-10mm spacers at some point soon, to equal 35-30 mm offset. So don't get too hung up yet. The width is the killer more than offset.

 

Water injection will help for sure. I would suggest the ALTA FMIC and the Water Injection kit for your application. That would help your situation a ton!

 

Simply put NO NO NO NO NO NO! I think this was already answered but I wanted to poke at you anyway!

Use the cleaner we recommend HERE!

 

BTW: Guys and gals. We did some serious dynoing on the R56 mule (not Howard) on Friday night. I am simply AMAZED at how much power we are getting out of these cars withOUT ecu changes. Look for more charts a coming! (Plus we will be officially releasing the Inlet Hose for the car later this week.) I can say that the boost tubes are a DEFINATE worthwhile upgrade for performance. Yikes!

ALTA2 where are you dyno guru to lay upon us your heaviness and knowledge?


Have a great night everyone!

 

Hi Adam, I just sent you an email, but a couple quick questions. I'm planning to order the cold air intake, boost tubes upgrade and intercooler air diverter.

Firstly, are there any shops in the Philadelphia area which you could recommend for installation? I know pretty much any old shop could install such simple parts. However, I'd feel a lot more comfortable going to one which someone here on NAM has experience with or at least has heard good things about.

Second, I see you mentioned above that the boost tubes upgrades reaps an increase in horsepower. But on the site there are no graphs or even claims of increases. So is it a purely cosmetic upgrade (which I've heard many say)? And regardless does it at least result in any change in noise?

Finally, can I expect any performance gains from the intercooler air diverter? I read that it decreases drag which is great in itself. But I'd suspect that cooler temperatures would result in at least a slight increase in power, no?

ALTA catback exhaust, downpipe and front-mounted intercooler soon (hopefully) to follow.

THANKS

 

For installation in PA we chould pole Candyman here (where are you?) They are an authorized reseller and sell to what would be local dealers to you. He can also be reached at chris@jscspeed.com

Second: Coming soon! There were gains, but no dyno charts at the time the part was released. Now we have some and ALTA2 is cleaning them up. There is a slight change in noise, but I have had these on Howard for a few months and I haven't noticed any change at cruise etc. It is NOT purely cosmetic as earlier thought.

Finally: The diverter will keep airflow going through the core proerly. Thus increasing its efficiency. While hard to show in a dyno plot on a stationary vehicle, but the FMIC will be working more efficiently.

Hope that helps! Let me know how I can ever help further!

adam@altaminiperformance.com

 

There's Helix in Philly. Probably know as much about Mini's as anyone in the country.

They're also working on an ECU tuning solution, but maybe I shouldn't be mentioning that on the 'Official Alta' thread...

Chris (Candyman) also has the turboback Alta exhaust system, and I think he posted a dyno chart on their site JSCSpeed.com

 

OUCH! I'm hurt, wounded and bleeding. Please someone save me...arrrggghhhhhh.......................

Seriously, I want clients to get taken care of, I would prefer they purchase and install ALTA products, but ultimately we are all enthusiasts and I want to see the potential client happy.

bleeding............

adam@altaminiperformance.com

 

So far, the only product I've purchased for my R56 is a swaybar, made by guess who? Alta. And I got it at JSCSpeed... We do need to discuss a few errors and omissions in the install instructions though. I suspect they were for the R53, and not the R56, and minor differences at that.

I just test drove a JCW Stage I engine kit, and was not entirely impressed with it. So as soon as you guys get it together with a tuning kit or software, we'll likely be doing business again. But so far the only thing I've seen in that respect have been promises, and we know how expensive promises are...

Not bleeding, but chomping at the bit...

James

 

Hey I want to help. What information do you need to help make your decision? the ECU is REALLY not needed to get significant benefit from the other ALTA products offered for the R56, but will bring everything together for SURE. I truly feel bad, that you express that promises were given by myself and not followed through. Let me know in specific what you mean so I can fix it ASAP.

ALTA has released more products for the R56 than any other mfr. (that I am aware of) in a VERY short period of time, backed up by dyno results, DIY's and how-tos. Just let me know how I have failed you so I can get back on track.

Thanks again for the comments and concerns!

adam@altaminiperformance.com

 

I think most of the people who are undecided would like to see the dyno for the CAI and the Turbo Back Exhaust installed together, to see what are the real gains of those two products combined.

 

dyno runs are DONE! (Not a promise but actually.) However, they (Jeff P and John H.) are finishing the logos and layout for the dyno plot borders etc. I was told by both of them, that they will be on the site later today or tomorrow at the latest.

MY personal apologies for the delay!

anything else I can do for the group? Just let me know!

adam@altaminiperformance.com

 

I've got several places I'd reccomend in the Philly area,

Helix is definately a great choice as they are Mini experts and located right in Philly; but they don't carry Alta so you'd have to bring your Alta parts down there. I know where you can get the Alta parts to bring down there

Up north, R/T Tuning in Landsdale PA (up Rte. 309) is very good - we used them for alot of tuning and engine work. They're familiar w/ Minis too since we keep bring ours in over there for dynoing.

I've got some more I can reccomend based on geography and location.

 

I was just teasing, Adam. But I thought I read you were working on some sort of ECU mod, software or something that would compliment the intake and exhaust. Am I mistaken about that?

As far as the swaybar install instructions, I think they say the lower strut bolt is 21mm, where it is actually 18mm (again if I remember correctly). And the driver's side strut does not have to be removed to get the old bar out or the new one in. Although it might make it a bit easier to work with off. I just left it on, and had no trouble. Also the bar includes 4 washers, but the OEM clamps don't use any, and the bolts are so short, that giving up the space the washers take up, it seemed preferable to leave them off. It would be nice to have approximate torque specs, as I've heard stories of stripped subframes (actually 1 story on MotoringFile).

As far as support, you guys are the best in standing behind the stuff you make. I appreciate that, and was the reason I got the Alta swaybar (as well as having 3 adjustment points).

 

jascooper: YES we do have an ECU upgrade coming. We are hoping to release the details of our relationship by SEMA (Nov 1st) but have been sworn to secrecy by the ECU parent company. So no unbroken promises, just delay for marketing reasons. The product will be a nice upgrade for the R56 and have exclusive mapping for ALTA products.

On the swaybar, we can/should remove those washers. Energy Suspension packs them in the hardware set without our encouragement. I believe we should change the instructions to say to throw them away (or into the bolts bin!) I will check on the lower bolt in mm. Likely the GP and R56 take the same larger bolt vs. the other R53 models. The strut removal is "required" but as you were able to discover not "required" to some clients. Partially based on how high they raise the car on stands etc. Glad you didn't have to remove it.

Thank you again for the business and the support!

 

Adam, any idea when you guys are gonna get more exhausts in stock?

 

Hey Adam,
Can you explain wht the Inlet hose is for?
And would you say I should go with the Boost Tubes next as a part of my upgrades? I know you mentioned Down Pipe to me at GPI but I figure I can kinda wait on that for now.

 

I'm not seein those gauges on the site yet... .....

 

I'm sure they'll be up there soon.
Besides...do you really need those extra gauges yet

 

Yes

 

The bolt on the R56 was smaller than what the instructions called for. I believe the instructions say 21mm and the R56 has an 18mm bolt on the lower end. No big deal though. I actually raised my car just high enough to fit the jack stands (fully lowered). You have to remove the passenger side strut, but once the bar is threaded out of the car it merely takes a little rotation to get past the driver's side strut (like trying to carry a table in a narrow door. Put one set of legs through and rotate the table to get the other legs through). And it seems the R56 doesn't have a wiring harness to contend with; at least not that I saw. In the end, it's all good...

 

are you by chance talking about the front sway bar...or am I completely wrong?

 

Nope. Rear swaybar. I don't think I have enough talent to do the front swaybar. And for my driving, I think the front bar is unnecessary.

 

BUT: yours may have already shipped to your dealer. You need to check with them. I will have more early next week according to the polisher.

Sorry for the delay!

adam@altaminiperformance.com

 

The inlet hose goes from the turbo to the intake system. The boost tubes replace the intercooler boost tube muffler thingy and the hoses the connect to the intercooler and throttle body. (I think I may have pointed to both on Howard last weekend. Sorry if I goofed.) You may be able to install them yourself, without having to have GPi do it. Let me know if I can answer any questions though! Thanks for asking! adam@altaminiperformance.com