Hey, if I blow away a Camaro, can I get a cult sticker too?

Buy the parts that work and get a tune. Stay away from canned tuna especially when sold in stages.

 

Intense- So you are recommending pulley/injectors/tune over pulley and cam, which wont be tuned for a year at least... Also, you made 212whp just from a 17% and CAI, as I'm seeing in your sig?!? You must have had a strong car...

I am still slightly confused about the injectors though. I understand that 380s may be important in keeping the car safe when raising the redline. However, I never drive very close to the redline (6K at the most), so I don't know if I would really need the redline raised much. What I would like out of my car is to not have to rev to 4K all the time to feel like Im moving or drop a gear to safely pass, as well as beat up on some Camaros. So I do need them? (like I said, I do not track the car, etc).

 

I'd like to subscribe to your cult newsletter. How do I sign up?

 

I just had another thought. I have always been debating about whether a header would be worth the money. How much more hp would a header net you, assuming the car is tuned? I would probably do an OBX with stock cat welded in.

Old Rick mentioned that it probably wouldn't be worth getting the cam w/o header. Would the 10 hp claimed by the cam be significantly reduced w/o header, valves...etc?

 

Get the RMW street header. Works very well, built like a truck and very well priced.
call and talk to to Jan. Save your time and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

I would consider it but I am worried about the legality of it. I remember a thread a few weeks ago where Old Rick and I were debating this and I found an EPA citation that I thought made it sound like it was ok, but I'm still not 100% postive.

 

canned tuna .......makes a good sandwich,but not much TORQUE!

 

You're complaining about low end power and considering an OBX hearder? Don't think this makes any sense. A header will reduce (or at best have no impact) low end power, whereas gains are seen up high in the rpm range. Perhaps Jan can chime in again, but I believe the only exception to this for the MINI is the RMW header(s). And I think the same goes for aftermarket cams.

If you only looking for low end power and great every day drivability, just get a pulley, cai, exhaust and RMW tune. In fact, being that you have an '05, you make even be able to forget about the exhaust. Jan has tuned a few '05 & '06 MCS's to 200hp +/- with just pulley & cai.

 

I was never 'complaining' about low end power. Maybe you just read my mind, because I do want more low-end.

I think the pulley and tune might just be the thing I need.

 

As long as you pass a sniff test (if you need to in Philly) I doubt any inspection dude or officer would even notice it. First, it's at the back of the engine under a heat sheild, so they'd have a really good to look under the car. Second, the stock header on the MCS is not cast iron like on many/most cars. It's steel (SS?) and so are aftermarket ones.

 

I had 17%, cai, cat back, 380's, intercooler and made 182 whp before being tuned. Same mods and a RMW tune netted me 212 whp

If you have the money for pulley, cam, injectors and tune thats what I would do. The injectors are cheap and easy to install, good insurance if you need it.


My redline was only raised to 7100, of course you don't have to have it raised at all. There are two main reasons for larger injectors.
1- Having them operate within a safe duty cycle with mods +Tune
2- More for a tuner to play with and to keep your engine from leaning out.
You can find them for less than $200 and their super easy to install

I believe the Cam would get you a little more low down torque where your looking for it, but honestly I don't have one so I'm not entirely sure.

Have you thought about a smaller pulley for more down low power and torque? Like a 17%? If your not going to have your car at redline much and are just looking for lower of the line ooomph. A 17% - 19% might be exactly what your looking for.

 

Jan do you have any plans of coming to ny/tri state area again? I know I missed the last one...i kind of slipped out of the Mini community for a few months and missed the best mod I could have done to my car so far. I had it dyno'd on a dyno dynamics back in May and it put out 168whp 161 ft/lbs. I was told they run very low and any other dyno would be around 185 whp is that true? if so I'm sure you can get my car over 200 even without an IC!!!.....hehehe

 

Thanks for the info!

I already bought an ALTA 15%, belt, and colder plugs. I was seriously debating between the 15% and 17%. I searched through all of those old "which pulley should I get" threads. 15% is the most popular and it is the safest choice. I honestly believe that with my driving habits the 17% would have been the better choice but I chose to stick with the safe(r) option. Im not saying that 17% will destroy your car, but I was just being prudent.

 

STOP LISTENING TO "OLD RICK"
Call Jan. Talk to the man and Eric at Helix, they'll work out a plan to get you where you want to be. Opinions are like *********s -we all have them. Cut to chase and do it right.

 

I've PMed Jan a bunch of times and I've talked to the Helix guys. Like I said earlier, they said I should finish modding and then custom tune. Makes sense. I like to hear everyone's opinions though- that's why I started this thread. I want to hear opinions from professionals (Jan, Eric, etc), their customers, and those who have contrary opinions, like OldRick. Just a little balance, that's all.

Don't worry, I see the light.

 

I still can't believe after all of the data we have shown that people still think throttle bodies/plug wires/coil packs actually make a difference on the car. We have traced so many issues to these aftermarket parts.

Stick with the stock stuff as it works great. At what point do people realise you are just spending money to spend money? Save your money for the parts that count

How many dyno days do we have to do to show the highest hp cars are running the fewest aftermarket components? The evidence is overwhelming.

Here is the receipe for going fast


1. Pulley
2. ported cylinder head
3. cam
4. proper belt
5. proper sized injectors
6. correct type header
7. proper custom tune



there is a reason we don't have a huge product line.....

NO NEED FOR IT...... a properly designed system like ours makes more power than kits costing 2x as much

 

Jan, what about exhaust? I'm sure your's works great with that set up, but what are your thoughts on the oem vs (for example) the Milltek?

 

with the shorty header we have seen good results with the stocker

we also had good results with the Miltek

 

Thanks for Cultivating me at the Helix January tune session

 

looks like these stickers are going to be a hit

thanks for the business Chuck!


anyone think I should hire OldRick for marketing director?

 

I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!! maybe he should come to the next tune to get real DYNO numbers.

 

Jan, do you really have stickers? (non-cult) I'm sure a bunch of us from the Seattle tuning session would want some.

 

I'm kinda middle of the road on this one.

The reality is that stock MINI's aren't individually dyno tuned at the factory. They all have a standard flash, with standard settings, based as I understand it around a set of assumptions on octane, performance vs. driveability vs. other trade-offs, buffers to allow the same tune to work on "Monday builds" as "Friday builds", etc.

A *good* "canned" tune is similar, except based on a different set of assumptions for both car build (e.g. pulley size) and octane/performance characteristics. While this isn't likely to yield an optimized tune, it's also not just "crossing your fingers"....

My MTH tune definitely improved the driveability of my car over the same config (pulley, intake, exhaust) without the tune. But I have no dyno numbers either way.

That said, I'm upgrading my MTH tune to an RMW dyno tune because, I agree, that's the only way to really optimize the car...

Edit: OOPS... I missed a whole page of posts... oh well... my comments still stand... can't wait for next Friday...

 

yes, I got more in the other day

Everyone that wants some that didn't get them at the tuning day please email me with address so I can send them out

Please specify if you want black or white lettering

 

there are MANY dyno sheets on this forum that had canned tunes that were worse than stock