Hello.

I want to do some tuning on my MCS, I am planing on adding an Alta 15% supercharger pulley, now that my car has 21,033 miles I thought I should change the pulley belt, but Im not sure if this is necessary, I am also getting the JCW intake and the M7 ram air intake hood scoop.

To improve the brakes Ill change the brake caliper bushing stiffening kit (the one from mini mania), Braided stainless steel brake lines, ATE super blue brake fluid, and the brake pads, but I dont know which ones shoud I get, Im between the Hawk ceramic brake pads, Hawk HP+, Axxis delux plus and Axxis ultimate.

For handling Ill get the H-sport sway bars, the front one will be 27mm and the rear 25.5mm.

Im looking for the safest way to tune my car,and Ill use it almost all the time on street, and some times on the racetrack.
Any suggestions?

 

Id say you have quite a bit of money in your piggy bank.. Thats gotta be sweet to put all that on at once. Hawk brakepads are IMO the best. No brake dust.....

 

If you want to decrease the understeer then you dont want a stiffer front sway bar, only a stiffer rear.

 

I agree, for the street just get the rear bar. Aside from that, you have a great little list there.


Let us know how you like the car once you get it all installed.

 

 

The thing with the front sway bar is that Im gettion a good deal, and I live in Mexico, so it is complicated to bring the parts down here, so I thought if Im getting all this why dont I get the front one, if I i dont and I change my mind, it would be dificult to go up there and bring it back here.

Im also looking for an intake which doesnt make a lot of noise, I know it is expensive but Ive heard that the sound begins at 4500 rpm.

 

Does anyone has a pic of the m7 ram scoop, Ive seen some and I think it doesent looks nice to me, the intercooler shows too much, doesent it?
Would I heve similar performance if I install an alta V2 intercooler air diverter?

 

Wow Raul, it seems brave to have a Mini in Mexico, so many car thefts down there.
Glad you're on NAM now, you'll learn and enjoy alot here.

Happy Motoring!!

 

Tire Rack has a good comparison chart of brake pads including the Hawk models. I've used Akebono ceramics on my wife's Taurus SHO and they're virtually dustless, as should be the Hawk ceramics. I've put Hawk HP+ on a couple other cars and would say they are not dustless, but acceptable. If you plan to track the car I'd go with the HP+ over the ceramics, tho'. There's always a tradeoff...

 

Hey Raul, I wanted to put in a word for the Dinan CAI as well. It has been great in my car and definitely on the quiter side as well as less expensive than the JCW as I understand it.

Look forward to hearing from you on how you like your brakes. That's one of the next things I'm interested in for my MINI.

 

nevermind

 

Installing the front bar is a major job, btw.

 

Ive heard the mini is almost impossible to steal without the key,,,and everytime you put your key in it changes the lock code or something

Jack

 

I'll put my open-cowl JCW intake with Madness filter up against your Alta. It screams!

 

Get a custom tune on a dyno!! It is well worth the money. The bad side is there are really only two tunners that do it. One is on the east coast and the other is in the LA area. I gained over 30 with a tune alone, plus I know my car runs safe
M

 

HEY RAUL
Give brad or Steve a call up at the custom mini shop (559-320-0004) or check out there webb site. they do a lot of shipping out of the country. plus like there slogan says they "they live and breathe MINIS" they should be able to give you and provide you with a lot of good ideas or parts.

 

But you had to modify it to get like that...mines gangsta

 

Raul, it looks like you may stil be running the oem S-Lites and possibly even runflats. If so, I would definitely start there.

• My personal suggestion would be Team Dynamics PR1 17x7 wheels with Kuhmo MX or Falken Azenis RT615s. That would be a very light, sticky and cost effective package.
• Another cheap and effective suspension upgrade are wheel spacers. With the wheels above, you could run 15mm spacers up front and 5mm in the rear. This will give you more cornering grip and reduced understeer, letting you run with a softer rear bar while still achieving neutral handling. H&R and Eibach both make good spacer kits for the Mini. You could also go less aggressive and run 5mm up front only.

My $0.02.

 

Ive cheked out the dinan intake, but do I necessarily need an engine software? Ill like too keep my car as OEM as posible.

I know Mexico its a little bit insecure, but you just have to pay attention on where to park and have to be on watch for anything strange or kind of dangerous.
With time youll get used to it.

Yes I do run in the oem s-lites and the runflats, the thing is that here in Mexico we have lots of bumps and potholes, thats why I dont want to lower the car or change the springs neither.

 

You can do a 15% pulley, intake, exhaust, and probably a couple other things before you need to get a new tune. The stock software adapts to a wide variety of mods.

If you ride on bad roads, how about some light 15" wheels. They'll soften the ride and reduce rotating mass quite a bit.

 

On the Dinan CAI, I know it is recommended to get the software upgrade both by Dinan and by my particular dealer that did the install, but I've definitely seen people on here running just the CAI. The only issue might be the warranty - because it's recommended, they may void the CAI's warranty if you don't get the ecu flash, but I don't know that for certain or if that is an issue for you.

 

I also would hold on the cost of a "Tune" I am at a comfortable 181 WHP in Fl. heat !! For safety I added a W/M system to control the engine intake heat., 1-ball exhaust and 15% WITH belt change as noted above!! My next mods will be a custom ground camshaft.. Ported Head... and just for the add'l squirt every now and then... a Nitrous dry system.

With the w/m ( 11 whp gain) I dont feel a larger I/C is needed !! Head and cam ..yes!! I want to be at 225-235 on existing tune, then spray a few more when I need it, and still have the 1 - ball / stock I/C and injectors. WE feel the stock tune will carry all this. and IF we do tune later.. it will be a great benefit!! Yes?? We are looking into having the software to do that here in NE Fl. area in the near future... Hope this helps...

Just me..................................

Thumper

PS.. we pulled 220 WHP/ 198 tq on an extreeeeeeemly small shot of Nitrious..

 

Nitrous in Mini = VBIED (Vehicule Borne Improvised Explosive Device)

 

LOL... Yes I can agree to that IF There isnt 20 years of experiance from street and drag racing going INTO this prodject!! Also we are starting a SMALL jet and work up to a pre decided HP /Tq level.. and then pass the results to everyone.. It will be a Dyno.. spray.. dyno ...change.. dyno.. ect, to keep a good record and HP gains..!!

Just me.................................

Thumper

 

I agree that the stock software can adapt to mods but that doesn't mean its doing its best. I have seen great things with software for power, TB responce, idle, and rpm limiter raised. I only beileve in custom software, I'm not really a fan of canned flash's.
Having custom software pulls all your mods together and safetly is key. I blew my first motor up because I put mods on like yourself with no sofware and then "BOOM" I blew a pistion driving 40mph in 4th gear. That cost me $6000 to fix.
Mario