After much reflection and consideration, my R53--5 years old and 87,000 miles--finally has a 15% reduction pulley!

I got the typical package from Way Motor Works, and Way hooked me up with a San Diego pulley installer extraordinaire by the name of Blair.

Blair was a great guy, clearly knew what he was doing, and was very detail oriented even when it came to things unrelated to his task (like realizing my intercooler is being held on by one bolt instead of 4, and that I'm missing skid plates front and rear). He kept commenting about how smoothly the process went, and we decided that my Mini was just begging for more mods. I'm not planning on going far (DDM intake, rear bar and new dampers/springs in the next few months), but it was great to have the first step of the process go so painlessly.

As for the pulley, well, you all know the story. It's a wonderful thing. Blair unplugged the ECU to reset it after the install, but it will still have some learning to do with the pulley. Even so, the power increase above maybe 3000 rpm is noticeable, and more importantly everything is a lot smoother. There's no hesitation starting from a stop, and the weird "bump" that hit when the tach dropped below 2000 rpm disappeared. Whether that's all from the pulley, or partially due to the ECU reset, I don't know - but it's great nevertheless!

Do I wish I would have done it 5 years ago? Not really, my Mini has served me well, but I am looking forward to the next 5 years more eagerly.

 

Welcome to the party. I was fashionably late too....got mine a couple of months ago. I've met Way before....and he is a great guy to get info+parts from. Congrats....and I still wonder why I waited so long!!

 

welcome

 

Glad you like the upgrade.. The pulley is a great start... But watch out, modding can become addicting.. My MINI is proof of that..

Happy Motoring

 

+1

VERY addictive!

 

I was a late bloomer, too - Way's package @ 58K, installed by WMW at the Dragon. 19K later, I'm still LOVING it. Congratulations and many more happy miles.

 

That's Great news, Glad your so happy with our pulley kit.

Call us when you need another hit of the modding drugs.

 

What does the cooper s boost to (PSI) when you do a pulley upgrade?

 

I found this on the Mini Madness site: "Stock Mini Cooper S engines will see a 3-4 pound increase in boost."

More common are reported horsepower gains. Alta's site shows a dyno chart with a 10 whp gain from a 15% pulley. Usually people posting dyno runs have multiple mods so it's difficult to say what each mod does by itself.

 

That is correct with a 15% pulley you'll typically see about 4lbs of boost.

As for horsepower it's at least a 10hp gain, I usually say it's about 15hp. But the numbers don't matter, it's the real world gain that you'll feel it. Not just snake oil power.

 

I didn't get mine until 70K miles. But mine was less than 3 years old at the time. Greatest mod ever.

 

what is the average price that everyone is paying for this mod? also, if getting this done, is there any other mods that would be smart to do at this time?

 

I can't wait to get this done myself.

Mind sharing how much the price for this out the door was?

 

Way's site has the standard package of pulley, spark plugs, belt and belt tensioner disaster averting device.

Many people add an intake at the same time, but I opted for just an Alta foam filter. Adding an exhaust is another common addition. I didn't get an intake or exhaust because I wasn't looking for more noise.

Way has a non-custom tune that would be a good complement to the pulley and because it isn't customized you don't have to worry about changing it if you add more mods. (Of course it isn't as effective as a custom tune)

An underrated mod is the BSH lower engine mount. I'm going to do a write-up about it, but for now I'll say that it does a lot to change the attitude of the car - great bang for the buck.

I paid $250 for the install (pulley, belt, tensioner thing, plugs).

 

I think this package makes the most sense for me too. I like the way it sounds now, but I want more take off.
Is this considered a safe mod? I mean is it better for the motor to do the intake and exhaust at the same time as the pulley?
I know people have been doing this for years now, just wanting to do the right things.

 

It doesn't really matter...the pulley package WMW sells is great. Adding the CAI and exaust do more for sound...and helps you feel faster....the order does not matter, simply do then as time or $ allows.
You will find that it is quiet this week around here...many folks, and a lot of vendors are at the "dragon" event (including WMW). A few have even shut down their shops for the week to concentrate on the event...

 

Thanks, for the input. I've read a lot of your posts today. Sorry boss

 

I had Way install mine at AMVIV last year. The increase was immediately noticeable, but what really completed the picture was installing an Alta CAI when I got home.