Weight and balance...

I just went a weighed the pass side muffler on the scale that will cause all the "OMG" in this house and then tastless food for a month!! and the muffler weighs 22 lbs!! I guess it could cause a balance problem.....??

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

Thumper

 

If all goes well, I'll be getting mine removed next Saturday. Went today and the guy said it would be $40 to $60. For that price I can see for myself if it works or not. I don't think I'll go with the flanges. Full weld for me. If I want to put it back in, I'll just cut and weld again.

22lbs on the pass side will upset the car? Jeez I hope not. My wifie weighs just a tick over that! Guess I could just tell her now she can't ride in the car anymore.

_________________
Silver S, 17" 5 spoke Alessio wheels, BMP Air Intake, Air box mod, Alta pulley.

 

If someone is that concerned about balance (we are not talking about a lot of weight here), they are not going to be running the stock suspension. They will (or should) have a suspension that can be corner balanced.

The concern about balance also assumes that the car in its stock form is correctly corner balanced. Has anyone done that?

Don't worry about it.

 

Just looking for an update on this mod. Did any more of you do it? And if so, what are your thoughts a month or two into it?

 

>>>>
>>>>About the exhaust though - for anyone who plans on keeping their MINI for several years should just go ahead and invest in a stainless exhaust system, that factory hunk will rust through by 80K miles I'll bet.
>>
>>The exhaust on my 95 E36 M3 was as good as new after 100K miles.
>>I think this depends a lot on where you live.

For rust in exhaust systems what you need to consider is how you drive the car. Short trips and low mileage will lead to moisture in the system and not enough heat to burn it all dry so you are more likely to get internal rust forming even in a short time. Long highway trips that run the exhaust hot are good and better for the life of the vehicle- many lasting 8 or more years and certainly can be over 80,000 miles. I live in Hawaii where the salt and moisture should destroy exhausts with rust but it doesn't if you do mostly highway driving (yes some of us do drive like that). I have a Nissan Maxima 1995 with 102,000 miles and the original exhaust doing fine.

 

I have been thinking about doing the same, for those who have done it please post an audio clip. also how did it effect peformance I am concerned you may lose to much backpressure resulting in a loss of torque. Thanks

 

Just trying to revive this thread. I'm going to my local shop this week to get it done. I was thinking about some concerns people are having over the weight distrubution problem of having the resonator completely removed. The optimum position for this mod is to have the muffler run back to the resonator side (passenger side). A way you could do this is possibly flip this section over 180 degrees and it should all line up with the muffler now on the passenger side. The only issue may be the hangers but that can be rewelded on. This is assuming that the pipe from the muffler to the tips does not have any up/down bends. One will be fabricating a new pipe from the main pipe to the muffler anyway. What do you all think?

Amit

 

Weight Distribution with this mod??????
We are only talking 20 pounds here folks.
If this were a problem then let see...I weigh 210 my wife weighs 120. seems like if I were driving and she riding in the passenger side... hmm I could never turn right without tipping over?
I think this is a good low buck mod. I might get a little worried if you do the pulley and maybe a header. You might end up with you muffler having a problem dealing with the increased volume of air coming out.
But, as for weight distribution...You will never notice it!

 

Don't worry too much about the weight and distribution of it.
Don't flip over the muffler and try and mount it upside down. That would mean more cutting and the upside down nature of the muffler might affect moisture formation and water pooling rather than dripping from a structure of steel not meant to be hanging upside down. It is not a simple round can- it is asymmetrial and not the same right side up and upside down.

Just stick to the mod as originally described and enjoy the cheap fun you will have.
Nothing wrong with a little fun now and then.

 

Getting back to your airbox mod - the rear wall of the bottom portion of the box is only about 3 inches high, plus you have to leave room for filter clearance. Also, fresh air comes through an additional plastic divider located directly behind this. My question is twofold. How do you get a four inch hole in a three inch space (are you in fact using the stock airbox, or an aftermarket box with this mod? Because if you are using the stock filter, and you cut the top portion of the box as well, you'll bypass the filter totally, and get dirty, unfiltered air into the engine. Not Good!) And second, where would you find a gromet like the stock one with enough depth to seal to the wall of the rear divider to keep hot engine air from lowering combustion efficiency? This has really been my only hangup for not slicing into the airbox sooner... coming up with a solution to maintain the cool air. In any eventuality, I'll be going with an aftermarket box soon.

However, that exhaust idea... true hotrod style.

 

Nice Muffler Mod. If I do this right she (it's the wifes car!) won't even notice!
Killer!
Cris

 

Who has performed this mod, and how do they like it?

 

isnt this air-box mod the one that Randy pointed out to us a while ago? i told people in another post the Helix was making exhausts with the one half cut off. Give him a call.

 

Just had my resonator removed today. Haven't driven it much yet. But it sounds right. Goiing to give it a good go this evening on my way home from the office. I'll post details tonight. Oh it does sound Britishy. :smile:

Amit

 

The airbox mod randy performed had the top half of the box removed, and replaced with an aftermarket unit. The unit also came with an aftermarket stack-style filter. with the stock airbox, fresh air from the ductwork enters just the bottom portion of the box, from both the front and rear. The air is then forced up through the filter, into the top portion of the box, and sucked into the engine through the intercooler.

The mod mentioned in this thread is suspicious to me because either hot engine compartment air is being allowed into the airbox, because the grommit required is a really special piece, or air is being allowed past the air filter, which can really mess up your engine. If this mod was done sealing the airbox correctly, I am wondering where this grommet was purchased.

 

How does this change the volume / note of the exhaust?

I had the Magnaflow and it was too loud.


-J

 

Ok, had to step out for an appointment so got to test out the new exhaust. Well, it sounds brilliant. Not too loud but distinct. It comes alive when giving it a good foot of gas otherwise it sounds normal. It's a little throaty but not obnoxious, for the money it works. Pros: Nicer sound, less weight (If the stock weight is around 45lbs then I lost 20lbs, feels like it when you hold the resonator in your hand), & CHEAP! (I spent CN$150). Cons: You lose the look of having two cans (muffler/resonator) under the car, & two some it may sound like a ghetto cheapy mod.

So far well worth it. I went with having it all welded together, i see in the previous posts pics that they had flanges to bolt the pieces together. I also took the resonator out completely. I don't plan on putting it all back together, this is done to satisfy my cravings till I save up for a true aftermarket catback system.

Next test: Lapping day next weekend....9 MINI Cooper Ss at Shannonville :smile:

cheers,

Amit

 

djafactor - Could you post a picture of what yours looks like?

To whoever did this mod - Do they do the welding with the system in place? Is it arc or acetylene welding? Isn't it close to the gas tank?

 

I had my exhaust system modified a couple of weeks ago and love it. Small increase in gas mileage, about three MPH and nice sound for only $60.

Vincent

 

I'm going back to the shop tomorrow to get the tips adjusted (they are a tad off center) so i'll take some pics. I left my memory card at home this morning.

Just got back from another run. Went through all sorts of different types of scenerios, tunnels, highway, stop-and-go traffic, etc. All in all i'm very happy. From outside the car you can here it rumble a little more at idle, give it some gas and it really sounds nice. I sat in my garage pumping the accelerator like a riceboy just to hear the changed note. On the highway, believe it or not, I think the car sounds quieter. i was cruisiing between 70-80mph and it really sounded quiet. Maybe it's just me. Going through tunnels is fun, we have a 2km one here in Montreal that runs under the city.

We welded mine on with a ring weld. The bend from the main pipe to the muffler is a little tricky as you have to bend it two ways and also a different angle (I'll show in the pics tommorow). The guy did the job without removing the exhaust. If you are planning on changing your exhaust in the future I would highly recommend this mod to calm your appetite. This along with the airbox mod are cheap and effective.

Ok i'm going to go drive again :smile:

Amit

 

Been waiting to here an update from djafactor,
Did you get a chance to make a sound file?

Any more pictures?

 

Sorry no sound files but here are some pics...




Amit

 

So seat of the pants how much of an HP gain are we talking here?

Have you ridden or drove other MCS's with diffrent exausts?
-Techno

 

It's hard to say. It definitely has something. I'll find out this weekend at the track. There will be a bunch of MINIs there that I can compare with. A couple of guys are running Magnaflows so it should be a good test.

I'm not very good at judging hp gains by my butt. :smile:

I'll have updates sunday night

Amit

 

I just removed the muffler at a local shop muffler here in ft lauderdale and it sound exactly like a 94 bmw 525i, I love the sound and for the money 50 US can bit that, futhermore that exhaust is really heavy, if somebody wants to find out more you can email me at romanpharmd@netzero.com