I drove a Cooper S today with an EVOtech ECU, Mini-Madness intake, and Borla sport exhaust. It's a package that Mini of Sterling offers called the SX package. Although I think it commonly includes a regular Borla exhaust and they have a demo model that they'll be adding the pulley to shortly. Let me just say. IT'S LOUD! It sounds good, but it's LOUD! REALLY LOUD!

Are you beginning to get the picture? The entire package felt very good. It didn't feel as strong as the Cooper Works package I drove last month. Still it felt very civilized and with the exception of the Boeing in the back seat you'd be hardpressed to notice the changes there.

Back to the exhaust, you get a little burble on deceleration but the decible level is constant regardless or rpm. Tooling around at 3k in 3rd and it's loud. 5k? LOUDER. It really reminded me of a stock Acura NSX-R I drove a long while back. Too loud for cockpit conversation. The car had a H-K sound system that could drone it but at that point you could feel the door thumping from the bass.

It's definitely a great move for someone who wants a little more power but doesn't want to go all the way.