I've heard the pros: more HP, eliminates the stumble (or almost), and even better MPG.

What are the cons, short- and long-term?

 

Premature run-ins with the police.

 

It "may" void your warranty and it costs $$ unlike free improvements like the intake plenum mod for your intake.

Jim

 

I'll let you know if I think of any Listen to me, you want the pulley, you need the pulley, you want the pulley, you need the pulley........

X2

 

>>I'll let you know if I think of any

 

aside from the reality that power cost money I cant really think of any downsides to the upgrade. The car won't feel like it has 1000hp like some describe it as, but it is one hell of an upgrade for the money, aside from nitrous or chipping a turbo based car you won't find this kind of bargin.

 

No one knows the long term effects since the cars haven't been out that long. I think the highest mileage anyone has gotten to has been 35 or 40 thousand, so far. A lot of the debate will hinge around how long you plan on keeping the car. If you're just going to run it a few years, then sell it, you shouldn't have a problem. If you want to keep it a long time, you may want to think it over a bit.

Simple theory says that the higher the performance boost above original, the shorter the lifespan of the parts.

Not spreading rumors but, and it'd be nice if someone with the knowlege would step in, I've heard that there's been increased supercharger failures with pulleyed cars driven hard in high temperatures. Like I said, this may oy not be true.

 

My salesman explained to me that the shaft that drives the supercharger also runs the water pump, and has had a customer or 2 that have burned up their engines (in what manner i have no idea).

it's hearsay and rumor at this point... Randy BMC can probably shed some light.

 

>>My salesman explained to me that the shaft that drives the supercharger also runs the water pump, and has had a customer or 2 that have burned up their engines (in what manner i have no idea).
>>
>>it's hearsay and rumor at this point... Randy BMC can probably shed some light.
>>
>>
The serpentine belt will run the same speed as it has with the original pulley, it's the super charger that runs faster, because of the smaller pulley. not the belt.

As for long term, I wouldn't worry about that, MINI wouldn't offer it in the JCW package if they though it could cause problems.

 

>>The serpentine belt will run the same speed as it has with the original pulley, it's the super charger that runs faster, because of the smaller pulley. not the belt.
>>

Mcooper
True, but on the MCS the water pump is driven off the backend of the s/c
so the waterpump ALSO spins faster

_________________
DS/B/B MCS with every option known to man
- CD changer

 

>>Mcooper
>>True, but on the MCS the water pump is driven off the backend of the s/c
>>so the waterpump ALSO spins faster

Ahh! I see, said the blind man!

 

pro's:
it's the silver bullet for a mcs..the car runs like a rocket......

con's:
we don't know yet....when someone has 10k+ miles on their MCS w/ a pulley... we'lll see...

peace,
d

 

Helix probably has 10k on his, the very first. My car has about 5k, which includes four or five sessions at the drags. Jeff and Suprchrgdmin have even more and more track runs; all without a reported problem. Randy I'm sure has some miles, including road racing track time.

 

>>As for long term, I wouldn't worry about that, MINI wouldn't offer it in the JCW package if they though it could cause problems.

This is an interesting thread, and it's a subject I've been wondering about for my own car...

As for the "MINI wouldn't offer it in the JCW package..." point, it's important to note that the JCW package includes a re-designed supercharger AND the pulley modification is more conservative than what is being offered (I believe) by Helix and Randy among others. Thus, the MINI-sanctioned pulley mod IS NOT the same. Maybe MINI knows something...

For what it's worth. I really don't know myself, but this is what my dealer (who installs both the JCW and other Helix-ish pulley mods) says.

 

>>Helix probably has 10k on his, the very first. My car has about 5k, which includes four or five sessions at the drags. Jeff and Suprchrgdmin have even more and more track runs; all without a reported problem. Randy I'm sure has some miles, including road racing track time.
>>>>>>>


Had my pulley installed at 11k miles. Just hit 21k miles this morning. Good as new...in fact, and I'm not kidding, it FEELS faster! Although I think around 20k a car hits its performance peak, no?

ECU coming up....look out!

 

>>As for the "MINI wouldn't offer it in the JCW package..." point, it's important to note that the JCW package includes a re-designed supercharger AND the pulley modification is more conservative than what is being offered (I believe) by Helix and Randy among others. Thus, the MINI-sanctioned pulley mod IS NOT the same. Maybe MINI knows something...
>>

This is bad info. They are both essentially 15% reduction. I believe the Helix and Alta pulleys are literally a COUPLE of hundreths of millimeters smaller. SO maybe Helix and other aftermarket are 15% and JCW uses 14.985%. They really are
that close in size. So they are essentially so all intents and purposes the same size. THe supercharger coatings is another hot debate but it seems that the majority of the info same there really isn't any significant difference between the coatings and one "expert" that I just recently saw his opinion was that the standard MCS coating was the ideal coating for power AND durability while the JCW coating might help a bit in power by securing the boost levels better but does NOTHING to increase durability. More than likely, I'd guess that JCW changed the coating for the sole purpose of making people believe that their supercharger is better, it's new and better thought out when in fact, that is NOT the case.

BTW, although I have 10k miles on the pulley, I have not taken MINI to the track. However, I do redline and hit the fuel cut-off way more often than I'd like to admit.

 

>>con's:
>>we don't know yet....when someone has 10k+ miles on their MCS w/ a pulley... we'lll see...


I'm at about 8 right now. In a couple weeks I'm driving the MINI out to California (one way trip this time), so I should have 10 k on the pulley shortly. My MINI is at 32k right now.

 

My unscientific choice of 10k miles comes from ...my experience or lack thereof of owning cars...over the last 30 or so years.

I've always followed the rule that if a cars engine makes it thru the 1st 10k miles...(most likely...unscientific as that might be) the engine will....survive.

I figured (educated guess) that the pulley/supercharger combo. would ..probably...kinda ...sorta...maybe...fall into the same category.

How many pulleys have been installed ...???
I don't know....:smile:
300-400 maybe....
I'd be curious to others ...best ..guestamate????

How many total cars w/ the pulley installed have 10k+ ????
I don't know.....:smile:
10 maybe....

Time will tell....!!!!


Peace,
D

 

>>MINI wouldn't offer it in the JCW package if they though it could cause problems.<<

If MINI were so confident in the JCW package I think they should have warrantied it for more than just 2 years. I feel that if it was something they didn't think wore out faster they would have covered a longer period.

10k miles is pretty short term thinking! I'm looking at whether a motor that'll normally run 100K or better will fail after only 50K or 60K. I've got long term plans for my car that don't include an early motor failure....especially if MINI, as planned in '05, changes to an entirely new one. Parts for these early motors might be a little scarce in the coming years.

>>the pulley modification is more conservative than what is being offered (I believe) by Helix and Randy among others<<

The dealer's mechanic I go to also mentioned that the JCW was larger than (specifially mentioned) the Helix pulley. He was talking only a 10 to 12% reduction on the JCW, while Helix gave a full 15%

 

>>The dealer's mechanic I go to also mentioned that the JCW was larger than (specifially mentioned) the Helix pulley. He was talking only a 10 to 12% reduction on the JCW, while Helix gave a full 15%
>>


Again, this just isn't true. There is another thread on here somewhere with the exact measurements - maybe jlm knows???

The JCW is also 15% even JCW will tell you that - call them and ask them - no matter what your dealer thinks. Seriously, here is a quote from RANDY:

"After talking with Eaton sources, the graphite is just about identical to the efficiency rates of the epoxy coating the stock M45 uses. The other difference in the supercharger is the pulley size of 2.21 inches (the aftermarket pulleys are all 2.18 inches, so the reduction is almost identical). "


OK? There is a 3 hundreds of an inch difference in size! 0.03 inches!!! What is that...1%? Ok maybe 1% so the JCW is 14% instead of 15%. Here's a good thread on this Pulley

 

I've got the pulley courtesy of Randy during his visit to south Florida in May.

The only con I can think of is -- conning yourself out of having one !!

Ron

 

I think the con about the 15% pulley is that it's not like an intake where you can pop your hood and go, look look what i got! Instead you got people scratching their heads wondering, what is it, where am I supposed to look, I dont see a change!

 

>>I think the con about the 15% pulley is that it's not like an intake where you can pop your hood and go, look look what i got! Instead you got people scratching their heads wondering, what is it, where am I supposed to look, I dont see a change!

 

>>The dealer's mechanic I go to also mentioned that the JCW was larger than (specifially mentioned) the Helix pulley. He was talking only a 10 to 12% reduction on the JCW, while Helix gave a full 15%<<

>>Again, this just isn't true. There is another thread on here somewhere with the exact measurements - maybe jlm knows???<<

I'm just relaying on the words of the guy who had just finished installing his 5th JCW kit and had a Helix pulley on hand. Personally, I've never compared the 2 side by side. Next time i'm at the dealer's, I'll question him a bit further on the issue.

 

My car only has 3500 miles, Eric at Helix installed a puley on it a week ago. My impression so far?

Pros.
15% pulley has made my car a hole lot more driveble, stumble gone.
More fun to drive, noticeble torque gain all the way from the bottom.
Better fuel economy than stock.

Cons.
Potential for premature engine problems. (I have spare vehicles to get myself to work)
Potential for expensive out of pocket repair. (Could offset with additional coverage from my insurance company)
Greater chance I'll be pulled over for speeding or even worst, street racing. (That could've happened anyway)
More torque steer.
Alittle worst fuel economy compared to just having the Alta intake system.
Still get smoked by WRX , RSXs, etc.

My 2 cents,
Will I regret going for the pulley? Who knows? Time will tell.
As of now, I'm very happy with the improvement the Alta intake and the pulley have made. I'm just going to enjoy the car much more. Perhaps I'll do the ECU next year when I have more confidece in whats been offered. I will not do an aftermarket exhaust, I love the note from the stock system and is more of a sleeper that way. It's hard to justify giving up the engine or the super charger warranty, it is not a good or rational decission but nor was the purchase of this car. Total cost of mods so far is $640.00 , that's a lot less than the cost a works kit. If i loose my gamble
then the money saved when compared to the works kit will be spent. Se la vi. If you are considering the pulley and can some how in you head justify it. You are in for a treat. Here is another, for the price of a worx kit you can buy a used Yamaha R6 thats capable of mid 10's in the quarter mile. It's all about priorities and perspective.
Watch out, there is a sleeper coming to get u.
Happy motoring.