I'm sure there is a thread that compares the many aftermarket pulleys. Can someone point me in the right direction
Also, What pulley is most likely to go unnoticed by the dealer? What if any impact does it have on warranty or would it be easy to swap out for the stock one before a dealer visit? what horsepower & torque improvements are seen? I hear #s form 15 to 25 horses. What are the differences in RPM/MPH shift points? Does anyone think MINIUSA will offer performance parts as components rather than a full JCW kit? It doesn't seem like the full JCW kit offers much more power than an aftermarket Pulley and Intake combined.


Cheers,

J

 

>>I'm sure there is a thread that compares the many aftermarket pulleys. Can someone point me in the right direction
>>Also, What pulley is most likely to go unnoticed by the dealer? What if any impact does it have on warranty or would it be easy to swap out for the stock one before a dealer visit? what horsepower & torque improvements are seen? I hear #s form 15 to 25 horses. What are the differences in RPM/MPH shift points? Does anyone think MINIUSA will offer performance parts as components rather than a full JCW kit? It doesn't seem like the full JCW kit offers much more power than an aftermarket Pulley and Intake combined.

Your dealer and anyone else can easily tell you have the pulley upgrade. You just look at the part and it is not stock.
There are two major designs for the pulley upgrade and both will work just fine and are both reliable. The Helix pulley requires some special tools , is press on and works fine. The Alta is the other design and is easier to work with if you don't have the special tools. Most good tuners can install either type.

Warranty for the engine is void if there is trouble after the pulley is upgraded. Although the dealer must prove that your mod is the reason for the problem. You cannot swap out the stock version for the upgrade. You had better make sure this is a mod that you want.

Pulley upgrades give roughly 20+ HP improvement and more efficiency so better gas mileage for some.
JCW kit is offered as a complete kit only no separate parts are sold from any source.

No the JCW kit is actually less power than aftermarket mods.
The JCW kit exhaust is easily beaten by many cat-back systems and the JCW ECU is easily beat as well. JCW intake options are nil compared to Alta with hose. Plus you can add an exhaust header with sport cat, throttlebody upgrade, and more with the aftermarket products.

 

I am not sure what anyone else thinks, but I think you could purchase the Helix pulley which because of it's design allows you to interchange the pulley size quickly, and put a standard size pulley on when you take it to the shop.

The warranty in and of itself is not void if you put a smaller size pulley on the car, anymore than it is void by replacing the brake pads. What may come up is that if the dealer notices the pulley change and they can specifically link the pulley as the cause of the warranty problem. So if you change the pulley and the electric window ceases to work, the warranty would still be in place to correct the window, because it would be hard to make a case that a pulley mod somehow caused the window motor to burn out. Since to my knowledge no one has ever had an engine fail yet with the pulley mod (at least never reported here) it is pretty low risk.

The pulley mod can give 15-20hp. This is the range that Randy has seen and it seems to fluctuate from car to car.

Mini may offer separate component parts in the future. There is talk about Dinan parts being offered by Mini with warranty still intact. This is obviously dependent on Dinan getting some stuff out.

The JCW big cost items are a ported/polished head, which can be quite costly and a new supercharger with a different coating on the vanes. But this appears to have minimal efficiency improvement.

Overall the pulley is the biggest bang for the buck. It significantly improves the horsepower and torque across the entire range, and is only $169-$200.

 

Can't fool anyone when you install the new pulley, they look different from stock. I have the Alta and am 100% satisfied with it. A 15% reduction pulley is your best bang for the buck. $170.00 for a self install up to $400.00 installed should cover you. Thats anywhere from $8.50 to $26.66 x hp depending upon whose figures you believe, 15 or 20 additional hp. Try getting an ECU upgrade for $20 per hp! Also on the warranty voiding, it shouldn't affect the warranty on items not in the chain of the forced induction system. i.e. a failed oil pump, or fuel injector. Do the pulley and enjoy the mod.

 

None. They are all very obvious to a mechanic that knows anything about the MINI. And I would hope your dealer's mechanics know something about our cars!

About 15 HP. But the difference that seperates the pulley from other mods is you also gain up to 15lbs of torque also and that makes all the difference in the world.

Not sure what you're really asking here. RPM/MPH and their relationship do not change. Not unless you get smaller tires. Just making the MINI faster or more powerful will not change the gear ratios. So if 70mph in 6th gear has you at 3k RPM, it will still be 3k RPM after the pulley. You can, however, shift earlier and drive at lower RPMs because the pulley will give you the power you currently have about 800 RPMs or so sooner. So your MINI will pull at 3200 RPMs like it used to pull at 4000 RPMs.

Anyway, I have the Helix pulley and I highly recommend it. The type doesn't seem to really matter. It's who installs it that's the important thing.

 

Seeing that Helix is only 8 minutes from my work, and I needed a case of Yards ES Ale, I stopped by there this evening. I was poking around the lift and there was a box of prototype pulleys, the bolt-on type, that were the same size and smaller than 15%. Eric was a little cagey about what was there, but I gather that they are testing bolt-on type pulleys with 15% and smaller diameters. The plot thickens. :smile:

 

I believe there is experimenting being done with 17% reduction pulleys.