Hey guys, I have a 05 mini cooper s with 19k miles.. no mods.. I dont want to get into heavy modding, but I am interested in exhaust right now.. something that will gain a little power, but most of all sound excellent.

I was looking at magnaflows, but its like 800-900.

I was also looking at other bolton exhausts, full catbacks..
and Im considering just getting a muffler shop to weldin replacement magnaflow or something like that..

Opinions?

 

While I haven't heard the magnaflow in person, from what I have read in my time on the board is that it is fairly loud. Granted that is a very relative statement. I have a race header (no cat) and the one ball exhaust which is a stock exhaust with one side of the rear section removed. It is a cost and weight effective modification but I would definitely not say it sounds great. My plan is to have a magnaflow metallic cat welded in and a magnaflow muffler installed in the stock location with 2.5" piping. Any bigger would most likely just make lots of noise and not a whole lot more gain.

 

This Scorpion Exhaust is pretty sweet....Bavarian Auto Sport sells them. Heard one on an 05 R53 and it sounded awesome....came with dual oval heavy chome tips. Only $549.00 and they have free shipping on some orders over $150.00 I think. http://www.bavauto.com/ Put in your car info and find link on left column for perf exhausts.



INFO;
New ! From England, Scorpion stainless steel performance exhaust systems have been sought after by tuners the world over. Now these free-flow, stainless steel systems are available in the U.S. from Bavarian Autosport! They have been engineered to deliver a horsepower boost yet not be quite as loud as other free-flow systems. And they're built to last using the best 304 stainless steel. - TUV certified.



I also believe you can find a cat back JCW exhaust for about that same price w/o resonator. That is what I am running now and offers the power gains and yet no intollerable highway drone.....

 

I have the Scorpion on mine and it is a really nice exhaust. No drone on the highway at all. here is a link to mine and another video I found on youtube.

mine-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXmjQkCFRs8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLkRYT9SS7g

 

I would suggest you look into Invidia Catback. You can get it for 600 if you shop around. It sounds and looks awesome. Here is a link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxTqxUN24rU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyFe4780akA

 

There was a post a while back which said the one-ball gave about the same HP gain as any system. And the one-ball can be done for about $50. Not much louder than stock with a little growl.
If you have a sound you want in particular then a whole system is the way to go.

 

Sorry man, there is no way that the one ball gives the same gains as a 2.5" system like alta since it also removes one side. Dual exhausts are a waste though. I can see them making about the same power as a one-ball. Plus the interior of the OEM mufflers is not exactly performance minded.

 

The Magnaflow will be very loud and drone on the highway.

I'd suggest a Milltek or Stratmosphere Catback. They are both the highest quality and fit perfect. They also make really good torque gains while giving you a good sound, but not droning or being too loud. I've installed many of them and use one on each of my MINI's except the race car.

 

And you support this conclusion on the basis of what? You have absolutely no idea how either system changes exhaust scavenging in our engines, and that is how you are going to make torque on the low end with an exhaust. At high RPM you are probably right though, the Alto is better, low back pressure is the way to go in that area.

 

1. Back pressure is a myth. Header design has much much more of an impact on the power curve than the exhaust. Length and diameter of runners. This is inline with you mentioning scavenging.
2. I have seen endless dyno's of single vs dual exhausts on my previous car, S2000, which also comes with a exhaust that splits into two tracts, and in nearly every test a single exhaust tract performed better given identical specs (ID of piping, internal muffler construction/design).
3. He was stating the one-ball is supposed to perform similarly to quality after market exhausts. I wanted to show that this *SHOULD* not be the case.

give me a break. Im trying to give him the best knowledge/advice I can.

 

Tell you what. I have access to my own engine dyno. I'm going to be testing some 600cc Suzuki motors on it for an SAE car. I can run some tests with regards to backpressure and see what the results are and post them up here.

 

ok, Im sure you will find splitting the exhaust to reduce power. If you are trying to prove backpressure then I think you should read some books out of your school's library. Also remember that different camshaft durations respond different to header designs. Unless you have 600cc camshafts that are similar to MCS stlye ones on your motorcycle engine your conclusions will lack any substance. Not to mention you will be revving to a number approaching twice the normal redline of a MCS.
Tell you what You want to start a forum fight? Just go read a book about race car(motor) engineering. Tell me what you read.