My 05 S is now warranty free and I have waited quite a long time to do some real mod's. After carefull thought my first mod will be a cold air intake any thoughts on what the best system is out there for the price ? I am leaning toward an M7 intake any thoughts on this from the people out there who know ? Any to avoid ? Any deals ?

 

Maybe think about a pulley first, A CAI won't do much for you at this point in the game other than give you some noise ! A pulley will give you a VERY noticeable difference in your car's performance, more so than most any other mod you will do ! At some point you might want to do the intake but, I would wait until you mod the exhaust as well since the two compliment each other !

Opinions very on this subject though !

 

let me be the first to suggest the search function as this has been discussed countless times. but with that said, I went with Alta. It offers isolation of the filter from the hot engine, comes with a replacement tube thats much smoother, and its one of the louder units. CAI was my very first mod too.

 

I must agree, there is SO much info on this subject already, You can search for day's on the question you're asking !

 

start with a pulley... Then every time you have the urge to splurge, put the money in a piggy bank and save for a head.

Matt

unless, of course, you want to buy one of my shiftlights! Then it's a whole nother ball of wax!

 

I want one ! LOL !

 

Whatever intake you get, buy an itg filter for it. They even make panel filters for the stock intake.

 

Oh, oh, oh - can I be the one who says, "Sign up for a driver's school," please?

Okay, I'm just gonna go for it: Sign up for a driver's school! The best way to go faster is to learn how to drive better.

Thanks, that was fun.

 

M7 intake is great - nice supercharger "growl!"

 

We sell both the DDM and the M7. DDM was the original designer of that intake. I like the Stainless steel version because it will never rust and stainless will reflect heat better than standard steel. It's a great intake, use it on my own car.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...cat=271&page=1

Call us with any questions always glad to help.

 

At a minimum go to an Auto Cross or two. I've seen modded MINI's mauled by a guy who runs a stock 6th gen civic. Guess why.

 

for Intake needs, search the Hybrid Dave F Cold Air Intake, from tests done in the UK..it outperforms every CAI out there..

and plus its the cheapest out of the lot....

here is a snippet from one of the tests done:


Just done a little back to back with the JCW v Hybrid.

JCW With GRS FMIC
Boost - 13.9
Ambient Temps 20c

Hybrid With GRS FMIC
Boost 14.1
Ambient Temps 20c

XXX was running "The Hybrid" at the track with out any problems. When compared to the Alta it gained 0.6PSI and was running 3c lower.

 

Concur, start w/ the pulley. Equally important is to think about your mod development plans - how far do you want to go and/or how much are you willing to spend. Once this is clear then you can layout an orderly development which will save you some $ and time, typically via install.

Level 1 is typically viewed as pulley, CAI, exhaust and now a days a tune. Properly done you will exceed a JCW car.

Level 2 brings into play the addition of a head and definitely a tune.

Today there are several very complete vendors that can take you threw the entire engine development (when I started there wasn't). I would therefore suggest finding one near you and have them guide you threw the process.

Remember its also about balance so Level 1 suspension would be rear sway upgrade and non-runflats. As well Level 1 brakes would be SS lines, fluid and upgraded pads.

 

This is exactly what I was looking for a plan not just throwing parts on the car and hope they compliment each other. The pulley will wait for a few months so CAI, Exhaust re-tune then pulley. Anyone think the one ball approach is worth the effort for a few months ?

 

All good suggestions, let me throw in another angle.

No matter how much HP you generate through a pulley or CAI, etc the real fun of this car is in how it handles the twisties.

First stop on my mod journey was to get front/rear sway bars, strut brace, JCW Shocks and new springs with a 1" lower. HUGE difference in the handling.

Now that I got the suspension in good shape I can start thinkign about adding power to compliment it.

Good point made on the driving skills. I know I can get more outta this car if one of my Mods was me!

Good luck

 

If your starting w/ CAI and pulley - wait on the tune. If your going to do a full catback in a few months, no need to do an interim 1-ball (needless expense).

 

CAI, Exaust, tune and then pulley is doing it backwards !

Pulley, then exhaust and intake THEN tune ! I think all that are posting advice would agree !

One ball mod is a good mod and saves on a big chunk of money since there are minimal gains from a cat back compared to the 'One ball mod". I myself did the "One ball mod" and found it worked very well. Of course I then got the green light from the misses to get a Milltek cat back, couldn't be happier !

 

and you'll see that the "starter mods" are very close in price to the real power adders. Really, if you've gotta have a CAI, go for it, but it costs more than the pulley does, although if you don't install it yourself the pullly is more total dollars. But the pulley will do much more for your car than any CAI will ever do.

An exhaust without head work or a header is a marginal gain at best, more for sound than power, and at a high price point per HP at that.

That's not to say that CAIs and exhaust systems aren't bad parts. The nice thing about them is the relatively easy install, and the change in car charecter, mostly via the change in sound. But they can't really do much for a motor that just doesn't breath that well, and until you change that, they're really more potential than high performance parts.

Like others have said, set a goal, and then work towards it. But talk to experts if this is your first time doing serious mods to a car, and make a sane dev path to get to your goal. There are tons of threads here that show that if you bolt on this and bolt on that, you'll buy lots of parts more than once, fail to exploit synergies between parts, and pretty much make your credit card company happier than you are.

Now on the suspension, I'm a bit of a black sheep. I think the first thing to do is camber plates, then a mild rear bar. Put good high performance rubber on as soon as you can (But camber plates on my car doubled the life of my tires, so they paid for themselves in less than a year!) The downside of camber plates is the install is a bit more complicated than the rear bar (But easily doable in a driveway) and require an alignment afterwords. I know the "rear bar" is near gospel for many as the first suspension mod, but it doesn't do anything about the horrible contact patch managment on the front tires, and actually will increase wear on the outside front tires by transfering more weight.

Couldn't agree more about driver training. There is no substitute for "tightening the nut behind the wheel" and it pays off in every car you drive, not just the one that mods are bolted to.

On the more boring side of the issue, if this is a new world to you, I'd reccommend getting some books from Amazon about automotive performance, handling and modification. While there is tons of info on the internet, it tends to be more diluted with miss-information and just plain BS, making it harder to learn the truth. Books don't add and sound or fury to your car, but nothing is better than a good grasp of the fundimental concepts, no matter the subject under discussion. If one doesn't want to learn the fundimentals, probably the best thing to do is to trust your car to a local expert and just break out the checkbook. Sad but true....

Matt

 

A wise DR, and everything you say makes sense I want to as they say follow the yellow brick road as for driver skills I have taken skip barbers formula course 2.0 liter open wheelers and his 2 day high performance driving school in lime rock CT a few years ago (really helps highly recomended ). I appreciate all the advice any comments on what NAM drivers recommend as best CAI, SHORT SHIFTER, EXHAUST, INTERCOOLER ETC.... so many different choices and threads...

 

To save you the search, and reading probably more than 100 pages of posts, the stock intercooler - S or GP, is the best option. Adding a simple diverter in place of the plastic cover will help.

The rest is more down to personal preference - CAI and exhaust sound, how short you want your shifter to be, etc.

 

You first have to think about your priorities associated with appearance, sound, performance, and driver training. Some people are more into bling and others into performance.

You stated that after much thought you want to do a CAI first. If that is your decision than you still need to decide what kind of CAI. You might want a closed intake like the JCW or Dinan designs, or an open intake like the Mini Madness or Alta design. In my opinion the open CAI looks cooler and is usally cheaper but you might fail smog inspection in strict states. The closed intake might keep heat away a little better and be a little quieter. There can be a lot of debut on performance differences but the two designs seem to be about equal. I had a Mini Madness on my 2003 MCS and now a JCW on my 2006 MCS. The flap has been removed on my JCW so the sound is about the same as an open CAI.

If you go the open CAI route, I suggest you cut a hole in the back cowl panel to get more air into the filter. Mini Madness sells a replacement panel with the hole already cut if you do not want to do it yourself. You get more noise which I like but other do not. Again priorities and preferences.

However all that said, I agree with the other posters that a CAI is probably not the best first mod.
Engine: Pulley, Exhaust, CAI, then Tune.
Suspension: Tires, Front Camber Plates, Springs/Shocks, then Rear Bar.

However, I did not follow that route on my 2003 MCS because I wanted better appearance and sound before real perfomance. I installed lowering springs the first week I had the car. I installed a Borla exhaust the second week. After that I always had a long list of future mod plans.

Think twice before you start the mod process because you will not be able to stop.

 

I've had my car for two years, and I still dont have a plan for it....i think i know what i want and somethnig else catches my attention and i make a snap purchase. Congrats on your organization and prioritizing. Thats probably best...if not, you'll do what i did.... Spend more on turning your interior black than it costs for a head or coilover setup.

 

Exactly what I am trying to avoid, and the information on this site is excelent as are the members. I have done a few bling mods JCW scoop, bigger tips, 3rd break light, chrome int package, piaa h-11 yellow fog light bulbs, front spoiler lip, M7 rear grill, shorty antenna, custom shift ****, JCW intercooler cover but as I said all just bling, now th fun begins..

 

you could have had a much better handling/performing car. While it's always a personal choice, I'm a fan of performance over bling.... Not that there's anything wrong with improving looks or customizing stuff like that.

On my 02, I've spent close to nothing on the looks and it shows! Only thing you really notice from the outside is lighter wheels, upgraded brakes, a "no-holes" front license plate mount, and an actual size sticker!

Oh, and I took off the cooper S badges, but that only cost some dental floss.

Matt