Well, the CAI arrived at work this morning and I eagerly awaited the trip home to pick up a work light so I could see what I was doing tonight.

This is the first mod I've ever installed in a car so it took me a couple of hours since it was dark, freezing and I didn't want to screw it up. heh

The install was pretty straight forward, getting those bolts on for Alta's air box with the large washers on the bottom was quite a PITA though. I didn't need much in the way of tools to get the job done so this seems like a great first mod. Really introduced me to the layout under the hood in a good way.

The car felt more responsive pretty immediately. I noticed that the lower gears seemed to kick a little harder. First gear certainly seemed to jump up to redline faster... but I don't know if that was just me.

The gains seemed far less once I rose above 4000 - 4500 RPM and below 3000 I didn't feel too much of an increase. The car's sweetspot on shifts seems to have changed slightly and there's an overall characteristic that's changed and makes the car feel slightly more agile. Flooring the pedal doesn't feel too different from before, but when I'm already cruising and I want a short burst of speed, it does seem to kick in a little harder which is satisfying.

I hope I'm not talking out of my *** and it's all a placebo effect from the sound. hehe

I was hearing a lot more engine sounds than I thought I would. The CAI is a lot louder than I anticipated.

I can hear the turbo sucking in air now which has a high-pitched airflow noise. Not to be mistaken with a tonal whine, seems like it mainly sits around the 11KHz - 15KHz range (I make a living as a sound designer) and has a sort of "white noise" aspect to it. Much "breathier" than I expected, I thought it might have a little more tone.

I can also hear a slower air release while I'm driving normally that is fairly constant. When there seems to be a low amount of pressure, that bypass valve sounds like it might be letting out a consistent amount of air at low velocity.

The spurts of pressure being released through the valve is very noticeable when more boost is being applied upon hitting the clutch. It has a very short attack to the sound followed by a satisfying tail of air being vented. Kind of like... PUH!SHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh

It's nice to hear the valve working and it's a lot more noise than I thought it would be which will take a little getting used to.

Overall though I'm really happy to hear more of what the engine is doing when I drive. I feel more connected to the car overall and while it may be a subjective result, "feeling" the engine better is a great thing in my book.

 

Sounds like you you are happy with your new mod. no pun intended (i crack myself up)
Since you are a "sound designer" and seem to know about the physics of sound waves, perhaps you could come up with a high quality recording of the "PUH!SHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh" sound to share with the rest of us

 

I don't have the appropriate field gear, but I can grab some stuff from work. That'll be fun to do anyway though!

It might be nice to look into ways of mounting mics on the car to record various driving noise as well so it's not just sounds of revving in neutral. Wish we had some decent pzm or lavalier mics since they're better suited to that sort of thing (they're small).

But yeah... you could say that I'm pretty happy! Here's to a start on turning my mini into a monster 1 mod at a time!

 

i just installed it today, however, mine is the EU MCS, the package is not as fit as it should be, the elbow doesn't really fit with the filter holder.....i have forced it to fit by loosing the 2 bolts on the holder, tight the hose and then tight the holder's screws again, it is a bit twisted now....

adam, isn't it like this for EU model...not so fit??

 

I have had mine on for 3 weeks now, am noticing all the sounds also. Also noticing about 1.5 extra MPG. Thats what I like!

 

I just installed my Alta CIA today and I DO have the appropriate field recording gear So I'll see what I can come up with. It would be nice to get some sounds from inside and outside the car.

As far as the installation went, I found connecting the fresh air hose to be a big PIA! I had to really man handle it to get it working, don't know if anyone else experienced that or not, but I ended up with a slight kink in the reducer fitting hmmm.... other than that it was an easy install. I drove around all day with the stereo off, just enjoying how great the car sounds!

 

see the pics.....the filter is a bit tends to the firewall...not as hoz as other mini fans pics...

is the bov cover like how you installed?

it sounds great....when let gas off...phewwwwwww

the air sucking sound sounds like the mini is taking offffff......

btw, mine is MCSa 07

 

I had to man handle it a bit to get it in place as well.

I'm moving to TX in a couple days and one of the guys in the audio department I'll be working with has a bunch of really nice field gear (he recorded a ton of the engines for Project Gotham Racing 3).

He talked about recording the Mini to add to his collection so we might have a fun time with that!

I've been giving a lot of thought to the borla exhaust systems that have been released as well and I'd love to have a good quality comparison between the stock exhaust and whatever I end up installing after market.

 

Hey thank you again for the business! To trim up the install a bit. Loosen the Inlet Tube at the Turbo, Then loosen the bolts securing the air box to the manifold. Then rotate the assembly to where you desire and tighten the air box first, then the turbo inlet hose. You can also loosen the clamps to the silicone elbow an inlet tube and make it so you can partially see the supplied aluminum extension tube as well.

Thanks again! Let me know how I can help further!