I was just bragging to my brother in law (who is still awaiting the delivery of his MINI) that I was modding out my 2003 MCS with the following:

Replacing my JCW Air Intake with an Alta Air Intake
installing the Alta 15% pulley

He then bestowed this information on me:

"Be careful.....thinking that what the supplier says will work all the time. Are you increasing the size of the intercooler as well? If not your intake air temperature will go through the roof and you will be more prone to detonate in the summer months. High Octane 93 min will be needed all the time. I am just warning you."

I wanted to see if anyone else who has similar mods and uses their car as a daily driver has any issues or if I should be careful with my upgrades.

I want to go fast but not blow my engine.

Thanks
Garth

 

Ask Agro...he as a pulley upgrade and lives in Vegas. If the heat here doesn't cause problems, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Maybe your brother in law knows more than the many hundreds of us who have the same sort of pulley and mods, but nobody I know has had any serious problems just because of a 15% pulley.

 

sweet triple post!

 

No concerns whatsoever.

Maybe your brother-in-law's outlook is true in a general sense, but in the case of an R53 MINI, a larger intercooler is helpful, certainly, but not a necessary mod. There are thousands of MINI's in the USA with almost the exact same set up that you're getting. Worry not, my friend.

 

After reading about problem-free 15% pulleys for years on NAM I bit the bullet & got one put on at the dragon this May (along with a new belt & some colder plugs). My MINI is a DD. I love it & have had absolutely no problems for all of the 32 days it has been on