I have a 02 Cooper S, and I drive the thing.... well I DRIVE it hard!! The front tires are almost to the wear indicators....and I just had my first service!!

The reason I'm here is to help the common Mini Owner..( are there any??). I have a few race cars, and have been building Fords for a long time, I got the Mini and of course, I get into the mods for performance..!! I sit and read about all the new stuff and wonder....HMMmm... instead of buying this...I'll try common sence first!! ( or performance thru experiance..vs Visa/mastercard) The first thing I went for was the air box... did you know the highest air force/pressure is right in front of the windshiels... where those vents are?? Oh...power and force... I opened up the hole between the air box and the air vent...there is a small hole there all ready about 1 inch dia... I opend it up to 4 inch, "O-ringed " it like the original.. the bennifits... "seems" more power and the blower is louder... Cool!! (note the word "seems&quot

Then came the exhaust... TWO mufflers??? and a supercharger?? HMMmmmm... I have read the posts on this exhaust...800.00 or this Exhaust 500.00...blah blah...! I went to a good Exhaust shop and asked if he could remove the pass side and just use the exhaut side muffler... Duh!! piece of cake!! He first made cuts in the original exhaust system where it goes to the pass muffler. he installed (welded) a connector there, then to the Dr side muffler... again welded connectors there...NOW I can un-bolt the pass muffler in the garage...OR install it back in!! Then he made a connecter pipe from the exhaust pipe to the dr side muffler... and Bolted that in!! So now , I have the pass side muffler removed and the dr side is the only muffler and havent disturbed any of the "cute" tail pipes !! Bennifits...

Well like I said I DRIVE!! 90 to 95 on any trip.. Orlando, Texas, or North...any freeway.. I'm locked on the cruise at 90-95 and rocking on the Radar detector.
The best I could get on mileage was 24... then 27 MPH at 90 miles an hour (air mod)!! After the exhaust mod... the Mini now sounds like an expensive European Sports car ( not the "Ricer " sound) and on a 1200 mile trip... got 30 MPG!! that is plus 3 for less than 100.00 worth of mods!! The power.. oh yeah its there !! dyno numbers?? Nope!! just faster than a speeding bullet and now , Gas mileage to boot!!

Hope this helps... you dont need a bazillon dollars to make these things Faster and better!!

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

Thumper

 

>>Hope this helps... you dont need a bazillion dollars to make these things Faster and better!!


Nice post, Thumper, thanks for the tips! Great passion and very clever and practical ideas. Love to see some pics of the muffler work if you can swing them. I have been holding off on the exhaust and would like to see what you've done.

Ravenwhyte

 

welded connector


can your explain this more or post pics?
im taking it to my shop tomorrow to try to explain this to my buddie and maybe get it done but what kind of connectors did you use? i want to be able to get back to stock with out rewelding


and also did you cut a hole in the air box and connect a tube from the under the windshiled vent to the box?

thanks for your help and AWESOME ideas!

-Charles

 

i had the resonator removed from mine, too. love the sound and i'm sure the car's quicker, but now i get a good amount of vibration at idle when my a/c is engaged. a touch of throttle smooths it out, but it comes back when i let off. just curious: have you experienced the same?

 

Cool... I'll try some pix tonite.... It has been rain for almost 40 nights here in N. Fl. so I'll try in the garage... If not mail me at Thumper460@hotmail.com , I know I can send pix on the email!!

No I dont have any vibration felt at low idle speed!! the heat sheald had to be "modified" to clear one of the clamps , but other than the Killer exhaust note, and power and the mileage... it is "just sweet" as they say down here...

I'll try for pix, in next post!!

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

Thumper

 

Nope...dont see how to do pix???[img]documents mini stuff[/img][img]mini stuff[/img] Duh...knowing this isnt working...!!

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

Thumper

 

we need pics of the exhaust

 

This seems like a NEW How-To! Please Dyno it and let us know!

GoFast!

 

Excuse the crudeness, but this picture should explain what I think he's talking about.



_________________
[img]albums/album25/aln.gif[/img] see my MCS at VinceAndJessica.com
Alta 15% pulley, Stebro exhaust, Pipercross intake, Progress 22mm rear anti-sway bar.

 

I'm going to check this out with my local muffler shop in the morning. All I need now is a new set of tips and I'll be doing good.

Any good pics of the airbox mod would be appreciated also -

 

Yep!! that is the idea... I was told how to down load the pixs... havent done it yet... If your interested I'll do it at my address... cool?? Thumper460@hotmail.com

Dyno it... LOL !! Nope!! dont care to spend the bucks to the results I already know!!
If there are math guys out there .. they can help... weight.. to speed... to HP... too... who cares.. it is awesome and works!! Cool??

Just me.......

Thumper

 

Just a sec.... Pix comming.....
One vote for MINI innovator of the month! Way to get it done Thumper460!
1.
!!!

-s.b.
_________________
MINI: The best horse for the buck!

 

that is good milage, i just got 30 mpg with a 2.8 vr6 with almost the same mods. and i love going fast as well. just curiosly around what rpm are you sitting at in 6th gear?

 

This seems like such a good idea. Does anyone see a downside to it. It hink that I will call some local shops and see what prices they quote. Thanks for the pix, I will use them to help explain what I want done at the shop

Good thinking, (just you) Thumper

 

Greetings!

I have often thought that a good fabricator at a muffler shop could do a great system for the price of what I've seen people pay for exhausts in this forum !!
Best Regards,
Ron

 

Couldn't agree more. Such a simple concept, and I would bet the dyno is going to end up looking a lot like these high end catbacks.

A local shop is talking about testing this out on one of their in-house MCS's...I'm second in line if all goes well!!!

 

Hey, since you're only like 5 minutes away from my house I'd really like to come by and see the innovation in flesh. You could e-mail em to me if you forgot it's bcn03@fsu.edu

I understand about the dyno. I feel the same way, it'd be nice to know the numbers but it's really all about driving it. My friends (some ricers some not) think I'm gay for getting one but they are all about straight line and power, I'm about driving and having fun.

 

I checked with the local shop, who has also done a few of the Borla set-ups on the MINI, and they liked the design and quoted me $80.00 for the entire job. I'm trying to decide if I want to drop out the entire side off for weight reduction or just block it off???

 

Drop it all together. If you were blocking it off, why would you want the weight?

 

Looks like a logical way to get the HP for a lot less. I'd like to hear it - how is the drone?

 

This thread's topic is an interesting analogy, but lightning bolts travel at speeds up to 93,000 miles per second. Something makes me think you've a long way to go before the MINI is that fast.

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.

_________________
[img]albums/album25/aln.gif[/img]
Alta 15% reduction pulley, Stebro cat back exhaust, insulated Pipercross intake,
Progress 22mm rear anti-sway bar. VinceAndJessica.com

 

Orbhot-
I hear what you're saying, and I totally agree--if we're talking about the exhaust for my JEEP. But for my MINI? I really don't care that much for the exhausts that are out there as far as design, performance gains, styling or price. So why not just spend $100 modifying a decent system and riding it for 79,000 miles?

Let's chat again in 5 years.



_________________

 

80 K.... have you seen the system?? The exhaust shop can use the pipe that is coated that doesnt rust... I'm glad there is an interest out there... I really had a hard time thinking the BMW crowd was all in to spending money!! LOL... but we are The Mini Crowd!! Cool?? LOL!!

As for the speed of lightening...cool!! I was just about there last nite!! LOL but then there was this turn and I had to down shift and slide around that Vette!! LOL....

Keep the ideas coming.. and SAFE motoring !!

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

Thumper

 

>>This seems like such a good idea. Does anyone see a downside to it. It hink that I will call some local shops and see what prices they quote. Thanks for the pix, I will use them to help explain what I want done at the shop
>>
>>Good thinking, (just you) Thumper

The only thing I can think of the weight distribution of the car. There is a reason why the quicksilver muffler is on the right side. They want to balance the weight
vs driver's weight. By taking the passenger (right) side muffler out, essentially makes the left side of the car heavier.

But if you are not after that last 0.5 second at the track, I can't see how this would hurt. I have a custom exhaust fab guy that i know, I think I may just do this.

 

>>
>>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.

Bora
SF Bay Area resident.