I think I am going to do the pulley pretty soon. I know it is better to remap the ECU as well but I just can't put the money together at the moment. Can I get some impression from those of you who are running just with lighter pulley and stock ECU? Some advice will be great. Thanks :smile:

 

i just have my pulley installed, the mini seem to run very smooth. The Mini seem to be design to run with the 15% pulley.
I don't think the ECU remap is a must do

I do see a future ECU remap for me, just wanted to pushing a bit more power

 

I HAD the 15% pulley with stock ECU. The data shows that there is no harm in this whatsoever. You can get even more power with an ECU on top of the pulley. But don't worry about just adding the pulley. It's nothing but loads of fun. Oh yeah - like I said, I HAD the 15% pulley. Recently changed it to a 19% and I'm STILL with the stock ECU. The 19% pulley is unbelievable. Extremely smooth, loads of power down low and off the line. In fact, there is SO much power in 1st gear, it's impossible to floor it (wheels spin or DSC lights and lots of torque steet when the tires do connect). You have to wait until 2nd or third to really gun it. Besides, with all this torque I rarely have to floor it any more. Now flooring it is done just as a little "treat"!

 

>>I think I am going to do the pulley pretty soon. I know it is better to remap the ECU as well but I just can't put the money together at the moment. Can I get some impression from those of you who are running just with lighter pulley and stock ECU? Some advice will be great. Thanks :smile:

I spoke to Helix13 and the bottomline is that the pulley upgrade will work just fine by itself along with the stock ECU.
When you are ready for more power and torque then add the ECU upgrade.
The pulley upgrade and ECU upgrade make for a mighty pair when you do get around to it.
Have fun.

 

I have been running a 15% reduction pulley for about 2,000 miles now. I was recently upgraded to v36. I have the stock airbox and filter as well. The car is having no known issues. The general consensous is just what has been reported above. The only downside is your blower, and most likely engine/powertrain warranty will be null and void. No matter what size pulley you put on.

It does make the car a little easier to drive since it creates boost earlier, I don't have to wind it up as much, unless I want too.

A couple of vendors have claimed that modifying the ECU was safer, but when asked to provide data to support this, or a single testimony of a failed engine, they haven't been heard from since as best as I can tell.

Going to a one colder range of plug, like MINI does in the JCW, seems to be a good idea for a little extra detonation prevention, but running the stock ECU apparently is not a safety issue.

 

I got a 15% pulley in November and am not planning on the ECu any time soon. All I can say is "Do it!". Well worth the $400 I spent, even if only for the dirty looks from the wife.

 

thanks everybody. I am going to do it in Vegas I think.

 

Damn fine idea! I do it in Vegas whenever I can talk the wife int it.

 

Been running the 15% pulley with a stock ecu since June, '03. About 10K miles. No problems, just lots more power.