Stopped by Crevier MINI today to talk about the JCW. The salesperson there had driven a JCW and said you get the power in third and fourth. While I'd certainly appreciate that, I'm more concerned with the down-low RPMs because of the lag under 2k. I want more power in 1st gear and overall. Unfortunately, they won't have a JCW for test driving.

He suggested that instead of JCW I get the Borla exhaust system with the K/N cold air intake. It would cost half as much at least, and would still have the same warrantee.

I've looked here http://www.mcshp.org/data.html but didn't see any HP figures for the K/N.

Can anyone tell me what would be the overall change to an MCS with this alternative? What kind of driving experience/HP/Torque does it over vs. the JCW and vs. stock MCS?

Would it give me more hp for the dollar than the JCW? Or is it just a cheap alternative and really I won't be happy unless I go whole hog?

Thanks guys!

 

With all due respect, your dealer knows squat!
-The Works Kit gives torque, power and acceleration boost in 1-2 3rd that is outstanding (& measurable.) Upper-end stuff to boot!
-The Kit does more than just boost the SS (via reduction pully.) It's a smooth & seemless performer: Very refined!
-The Borla exhaust is the worst one on the market (interior droning that will NOT go away.) A headache waiting to happen!
-Reduction Pully, exhaust & intakes without ECU remappimg "does not a great Cooper make": I've driven too many Cooper S cars w/ tons of mods running stock ECU's & the results were not impressive AT ALL (it's the "Jerky Boys make a car run faster" theme. Crude is descriptive.)
-Your dealer needs to do a little research (1st hand driving experience BEFORE telling tales.)

 

Having owned two Ss and driven the Cooper Works...
it just isn't worth the money. And I don't work very
hard for mine.

 

>> And I don't work very
>>hard for mine.


thus the almost 3600 posts


and marksmith..i disagree borla is the worst exhaust. i dont have it, but i disagree with u

 

>>>> And I don't work very
>>>>hard for mine.
>>
>>
>>thus the almost 3600 posts
>>
>>

 

The works (and any other package with a reduced pulley) will have better off-the-line performance. Personally I don't think it's worth the money.

Too, I've ridden in a car with the pulley and ECU and it was much faster and smooth as well.

As to your dealer's recommendation of the Borla and K&N, a couple of observations.
--The borla is reputed to have modest noise and performance incrases.
--There've been a couple of vendors who've actually posted good numbers from the K&N, though I can't recall where at the moment.

If you don't mind the risk, the pulley modification is great. I'd do intake next and skip exhaust altogether for the moment. There're still a lot of vendors with promised products coming out soon.

HTH, Jeff

 

cat-
Before you believe anything that the dealer tells you, try reading about 1000 to 3000 posts here on MCO in the performance Modifications
Topic area to learn about the dozens of upgrades you can do that will be good choices.

However most of these upgrades will void the MINI warranty for the part you are upgrading. The pulley upgrade is a major change and a big reason for your
dealer to void the engine warranty- can you live with that? If not then stick to the smaller upgrades or go for the JCW kit upgrade- only for the Cooper S.
At least with the JCW kit upgrade you get to keep your MINI warranty.

A cold air intake and Borla exhaust is a mild upgrade in terms of HP addition. Exhaust loudness is slightly increased. Voids your exhaust warranty. Rough cost for both is $150 to 250 plus $700 to $900 installed for the exhaust.

 

i agree do intake exhaust..and then see how u feel

 

I was told that having the dealer do the Borla exhaust wouldn't void the warrantee. I'd like to keep the warrantee intact as long as I have it - I've never had such a good warrantee before so I'm not ready to give it up. :smile:

Hmmm... difficult decision. I've been reading all the posts here but it's difficult to learn from them because there's rarely any consensus! LOL!

And yeah, I don't want to lose the spirit of the MINI. I love the way it drives, I just want a little ... more.

 

>>However most of these upgrades will void the MINI warranty for the part you are upgrading

It wont automatically void the warrenty. If something goes wrong or breaks and the dealer can prove it was the aftermarket part that caused the problem then it would void the warrenty. An intake and exhaust shouldn't cause any problems so I'd go for those first.

 

>>A cold air intake and Borla exhaust is a mild upgrade in terms of HP addition. Exhaust loudness is slightly increased. Voids your exhaust warranty. >>>


Voids the exhaust warranty? What exhaust warranty? If you replace the exhaust with an aftermarket one (and the good ones are warrantied for far longer than the stock one) why would you possibly need the stock exhaust warrantied???

 

Have no idea where you got that one from. I have never heard a Borla owner say their exhaust drones. The S Borla (regular) is known for a lack of drone, a slight increase in volume with a slight decrease in pitch and 4-6 HP. Even d-mini-ero will testify that there is NO drone!

 

Ok, I give. What is an "SS"

I think you have mistaken Borla for the Magnaflow... It's the Magnaflow that drones.
It's even worse with the sunroof cracked.

The pulley gives a very impressive amount of power.
Can you give me a California translation of "it's the "Jerky Boys make a car run faster" theme. Crude is descriptive."

Cat,
Have that dealer read or give you the Works brochure


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

 

I don't have the exact brochure but I've read all about it - here, Edmunds' review, JC's Website, etc.

I'm REALLY tempted, but I'll wait until Ive driven the car for a year, had no major problems, and get a good bonus from work. :smile: And maybe by then there will be something better.

I'm hoping this will be the first car I keep for more than 4 years! (knock on wood) It'll be the first car I've ever modded. Hoping for a FUN learning experience, not a frustrating one! LOL!

 

cat
What part of So Cal?
When you get your car hook up with a local MINI enthusiast club
or join us Norcalminis. http://www.norcalminis.com

or

If you know somebody that has a MINI and belongs to a club - ride a long with them
Clubs are a wealth of info.

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

 

>>Stopped by Crevier MINI today to talk about the JCW. The salesperson there had driven a JCW and said you get the power in third and fourth. While I'd certainly appreciate that, I'm more concerned with the down-low RPMs because of the lag under 2k. I want more power in 1st gear and overall. Unfortunately, they won't have a JCW for test driving.

Your dealer like mine is an installer for Mini-Madness. With my dealer you can get the pulley, evotcech ecu, exhaust (borla standard but they'll do a quicksilver) and rogue (madness) intake all for $3,500 but you can parcel it out as well.

They have explained to me that the dealer will enforce the warranty regardless of the mods as a dealer installed accessory basically. However, if you need work down out of town, you might be in a fix. You're warranty is with the dealership at that point, not MINIUSA.

 

Hiya Minihuni! I'm in Orange County. If you know of any local clubs in this area let me know, I was just going to rely on this forum. :smile:

Hiya Teldon! you're familiar Crevier? They didn't mention the Mini-Madness angle, guess I'll have to have another talk with them when I'm ready to mod! :smile: Woo hoo!

Thanks for the help guys!

 

I have the Borla exhaust, there is NO DRONE. It is slightly louder then stock with a 3-5 HP increase.

 

Make sure before you buy a JCW or have your S modified by the dealer to a works upgrade, that you actually test drive it hard, in town, on the expressway, redline it a few times, really drive it hard....I did and was very unenthused, very overpriced for the modest gains over the MCS. I see a lot of posts here from people that don't even own a MCS yet, touting the huge perfromance gains of the JCW over a MCS...I have over 20K miles on my MCS and certainly can tell the difference between the 2...unless I have the world's fastest MCS or the North Scottsdale MINI has the world's slowest JCW, then I don't get what all the hype is about for $6K or more for the JCW....cheers !

 

right now (this may change) I'm leaning more towards another package from somewhere else over the JCW, as long as the package includes an ECU update to keep things smooth. Since I'm a computer person, I like the idea of the software matching the hardware upgrades, rather than fighting against them.

 

Cat, give SoCal MINI Maniacs a holler at http://www.scmm.org. We range from San Diego to Lancaster with National and International members. We're over 200 strong now. Email or send me a PM if you have any more questions.

_________________
Treasurer, SCMM | paul@scmm.org | Future MINI owner: [insert name here] Who the hell knows what it will look like??!!

 

>>Hiya Minihuni! I'm in Orange County. If you know of any local clubs in this area let me know, I was just going to rely on this forum. :smile:
>>
>>Hiya Teldon! you're familiar Crevier? They didn't mention the Mini-Madness angle, guess I'll have to have another talk with them when I'm ready to mod! :smile: Woo hoo!
>>
>>Thanks for the help guys!
>>

Actually I'm not familar with Crevier, but I was on the mini-madness website the other day and saw them listed as a "full line dealera" along with my dealer in Virginia.

http://www.mini-madness.com/dealer.htm

Apart from that I don't know anything about Crevier, but it's worth enquiring on your end. Looking at the list closer it says they're just a "dealer" and doesn't mention "installer" but as I said, it sounds worth checking out.

Good luck.

Tom