Exclusivity adds like 10hp anyway right?


Yeah he said he has had a good amount that have rusted apart or blown of the "packing" making them leak and sound horrible. I was on the fence about it between the Magnaflow and Invidia so I guess it was an easy choice coming from someone like Way. Probably couldn't have gone too wrong either way though.

 

awesome choice in the end i think.

 

I think a good choice in the end. I have a Helix FMIC waiting on my bench for me to put it in on Saturday. I figured it's good to have cooling reliability from the beginning of what I know is going to be a long and drawn-out project.

I was considering getting a muffler delete for the IC piping, but have reconsidered it since ready a few threads lately that advised against it. Even found one on MiniMania for $99 that connects to the stock couplers.

As far as exhaust goes, personally I would wait to have a DP before I install a cat-back system. The gains from an exhaust are far less than what I have gained from flashing the ECU. Now I'll be able to run stage 1.5 worry-free.

 

Also, Individia exhausts are awesome. I've never seen one on a Mini in person.

 

Im planning on the IC going in Sunday and then maybe a week or two before the exhaust since its taking about a week to ship here unfortunately. I'm excited to say the least.

 

Yeah i got the Alta intercooler on my bench waiting to go on. before i get blasted i got it for 1/4 of the new price from someone who bought it for his race car but wasn't allowed to use it.

I got the mini mania muffler delete for $50 when they had a sale so that was worth it for the sucking sounds it added but wouldn't have been happy with it if i paid full price. It didn't do much else.

Definitely get the DP before a full system. adds awesome power and sound. that's what i did. it gave me a massive power gain where as the JCW exhaust just made it rev a bit easier and smoother over stock.

 

Prior to doing your IC install, I recommend (if convenient) driving over to your MINI parts department and buying a few of the pop-it tabs. They are really cheap, but if (IF! ) you break any during install you will be delayed unnecessarily.

 

Thanks for the tip. I have heard that those tabs are a complete PITA. Might swing by and grab a few extra before trying to install.

 

Welp, no broken pop-it tabs, a different style crash bumper on 2011s and 3ish hours of work and my Forge is installed. Seems to give some lower end power off the line and def keeps temps down but need to get either gauges or a scangauge for exact numbers. Week or two I will have the Magnaflow on too for some growl


On that note two things were different when installing on the 2011 and they offset the install time.

1. Different crash bumper design made for a drill press and some ingenuity to get the top bolted down, had to drill two holes to access the inside of the crash bumper to get the bolt all the way in and then drill another to bolt down the FMIC.
2. To take from the extra time to drill into the hard crash bumper...not shaving of the lower front grill was needed.

 

Can you please explain this a little bit more for someone (me) who has no idea what it looks like behind a MINI bumper? I am going up to see Way late next week to get a FMIC installed and he is pushing the Forge FMIC because of the ability to bolt it to the car (vs the wedge in/hold in by the hot/cold tubes Helix way). The Forge website actually says however:

"* 2010 model year vehicles -due to a change in the crash bumper design on the 2010 model year vehicles our intercooler kit is not suitable."

so I was a bit worried.

I have also been reading a good bit about the two FMIC's and am wondering if the Helix is actually the better product. Also, I've yet to read where anyone has had any problem with the way it mounts (fitment issues as some say). Anybody care to comment to this? Anyone??? Beuller? Beuller?

 

Just installed a Helix last week, fitment issues, none, ease of installation, pretty darn easy. The hardest part I encountered was taking off one of the electrical plugs off of one of the fog lamps, it was just being stubborn.
You can do this install yourself if you have a couple of screwdrivers and the right Torx driver, might be T25.
Go on Alta's site, they have some pretty good directions on how to take off the bumper, but it varied slightly from my 2010, good luck.

 

Basically the crash bumper on the 2011 is a little different and the top bolt tab on the FMIC requires you to drill a hole through both sides of it instead of just the single piece as per the instructions. It was pretty easy to get it done but the metal is VERY strong so make sure you have spare drill bits and get the strongest bits you can find. Drill press made this much easier as well. Might have pictures somewhere and I will pst if I find them.

Don't let it sway towards not getting it though. I did it myself and it was easy for the first time ever installing it. Can't go wrong with Helix or Forged but I def like how Forged mounts their FMIC much better than Helix. Performance is probably near the same.

 

Thank you very much. Way is going to do the job for me so it will be his drill bits!

I DID just get this email from Forge:

Sir,

At this time, we do not have a solution to the fitment of an intercooler onto a 2010 and newer R56 vehicle. There are differences to the front structure and bumper support of the vehicle that prevent fitment of the core, and we have not yet been able to gain access to a vehicle to determine a solution.

Kind Regards,

Mike Lombardi

Forge Motorsport US
6536 Pinecastle Blvd.
Suite C
Orlando FL 32809
P) 407-447-5363
F) 407-447-5361

I am thinking of emailing him your answer.

 

Probably because of them being a company they dont want to recommend drilling too many holes in the crash bumper for some reason, probably structurally/safety reasons. I dont really think 2 1/4" holes will do anything but it was a challenge getting it through the back side steel since its so strong. Let them know about it since I assume they havnt tried to throw one on a 2011 yet. Way was saying that even in 2011 the front bumper design is different depending on when it was made. Mine is an early 2011 so yours may be different still. If you get it done by Way he will certainly be able to figure it out.