I'm taking my MCS to Jan's FL tuning session in a couple weeks, after some discussion with a trusted MINI tech, I'm now worried that my HAI may do more harm than good. Should I purchase a proper intake for the car, such as the Alta unit, keep the HAI, or reinstall the stock airbox? And if you recommend installing the stock airbox, would it be worthwhile to modify it in some way, perhaps to hold the HAI filter in the stock position with some holes drilled in the back? Car funds are limited now that I have to pay for the tune, dyno time, and JCW injectors, so keep this in mind in giving me advice.

For what it's worth, my current power-adders are the HAI, 15% pulley, and one-ball. Colder plugs (NGK BKR7EIX-11) and JCW 380s coming soon, in preparation for the tune.

 

any thoughts?

 

why dont you call up jan and ask the man yourself? i gaurantee he's gonna give you the best answer

 

/\+1

 

The general consensus with intakes now adays is that the JCW box is one of the most efficient out there . Jan seems to concur.

 

depending on what you plan on doing with the car in the future you should be able to run the stock injectors
Mine dose and i have compareable mods to the car
the injectors just redline limit me for now im at like 7100 ish
if i had his cam and injectors i would be running around 7500
it all comes down to you whats more important to you right now
personaly i would buy the airbox and say screw the injectors for right now

 

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll be giving Jan a call tomorrow to discuss my options with him.

 

I don't know if I'd be reving up to 7500 RPM's very often with the stock valvesprings...that could be expensive .

You're going to start running out of fuel much past 7,000 RPM's with the stock 340 CC injectors.

 

I'm also going to the dyno day in Florida and find myself trying to get all mods done/change things around before the tuning. Definitely give Jan a call tho.

 

nah you can do it its just not brilliant (the 7500) i mean
personaly theres no reason to go that fast beacause of the tq a mini has when boosted.
i just in this case think that he would be better off buying the airbox insted of the injectors.

 

There's lots of reasons to do it, but like I said I wouldn't do it on the stock valvetrain. On the track being able to wind out the engine for another 3 seconds instead of wasting time with a shift is infinitely beneficial.

You'd make about as much power by swapping out the airbox as you would by putting injectors in that can actually flow enough fuel to run the engine safely at higher RPM's. Many people have gotten tunes and run out of fuel at 6900+ RPM's (Dipped into the low 12's for AF).

Running air fuels that lean for extended periods of time is just asking for trouble. For the $260 a new set of 380's costs I'd put them in. It's cheap insurance. You can find intakes all day long on the NAM Marketplace for almost nothing. At the level of power you guys are making intake filter volume isn't really a concern, when you start putting down another 15-20 HP then you'll start reaching bottlenecks.

 

You know what I think rustyboy has a point.
Maby he should be shiny boy
thanks for putting me in my place and giving me a diffrent outlook

Cheers, Colin

 

Shiny! I'm definitely not shiny . I'm actually quite tan (All that sun from AMVIV ).

 

I think that the general consensus is more that a sealed CAI box is more desirable than a HAI or an open CAI (seals up against the hood).

 

I know what im buying next. besides the oiled filter element i have on the car now blows too much oil down the inside of the intercooler.....
Crap

 

How much oil is on that filter ?

If you've found your IC to be oily - try a oil catch can.

 

Jan seems to like the JCW box so much. He is the least person to recommend aftermarket products over JCW. Some other vendors would ask you change JCW parts to market thiers.

 

contact Peter at Minspeed -

1) I know he has ITG fanel filters for the stock box.
2) He might have a round ITG filter that works in the stock CAI.
3) He is selling out his CAI box and its on sale.

 

Part of the reason he likes it so much is because it's made out of plastic instead of metal. The boxes retain a lot of heat. With this new Voltage CAI (Molded Fiberglass) it seems there may be a new favorite (Considering the cost difference between the JCW box and the sealed Voltage box).

Another thing to consider, most of the RMW mods are internal. With the JCW box, his head, cam, tune, exhaust, there isn't really anything out of the ordinary in the engine bay. The exhaust tone is obvious, but you're a lot more likely to get hassled in CA with an intake than you are with an exhaust.

 

what's your opinion on the dinan intake?