If all were the same price what would you choose for your R53:

Magnaflow
Borla
Invidia
Alta

Only these choices. I already read the exhaust sticky but I want to know what some of you think.

 

Ive had the borla and the invidia (which I currently have) I would go for the Invidia. looks, fitment and sound is above and beyond.

 

Of those, Id prob choose the invidia

 

I'd chose none of the above, sorry.

I have a PlayMini catback and it's awesome

 

I'd have to go Borla in this case because you spelled Milltek wrong the other 3 times.

 

I have a Magnaflow system because of cost. If cost was not an issue, I would get the Borla.

 

x2

 

Okay majority so far is Borla. But which one? Street or Sport?(aggressive)

Note, I like the Magnaflow system due to 2.5" throughout the whole system versus Invidia's 2.35" and Borla's 2.25"

Does Borla have a 2.5" system?

 

I say Magnaflow. It didnt have any installation problems. Its a good system. oh and its loud

 

I think I'm going Magnaflow route. The 05-06 system is so nice looking. Major factor is that it's 2.5" throughout, dual side and the cheapest of the 4. I wish the Borla were not 2.25".

 

I have the Magnaflow and love it. It's not for those who want a quiet exhaust, but if you like to hear the power, this is the one.

Kevin

 

I know you said no suggestions and you seem pretty decided on the Magnaflow, but I'll pretend I didn't read that for the moment . Did you consider the Remus Cooper S Group A System? I had a chance to see one of those in person and it's pretty sweet. The 3" tips look awesome and it has a great sound. If you called RemusUSA and spoke to Duffy he might give you a nice deal on one of those. Anyway, I felt it was worth mentioning.

That being said, the Magnaflow should be pretty loud and it does look nice in the picture. Hope you'll be happy with it

 

The Magnaflow will give you good HP numbers but you won't get the torque that you can with a Milltek.

So out of your list I would say the borla would be the best of them. But still I would go with a Stratmosphere or Milltek for the torque numbers and no drone.

 

Not on the list but Quicksilver. Love it love it love it.

Best looking/sounding exhaust for the MINI imo. Get compliments on it weekly, if not daily.

Had to go to the dealership today to get the tire pressure warning light looked at, and I got a pretty decent sized "crowd" around my car because of my exhaust/intake sound. Service techs, the manager a couple of salesmen and a guy looking to buy a MINI. They were loving the sound.

 

magnaflow hands down.

 

I went with Magnaflow. My only concern is possible drone. I'll be doing a 2 base dyno runs before and 2 after exhaust install, no tuning.

 

I wouldnt choose any of those either, go with best, Miltek! Best sound and look.

 

Another vote for Invidia. Unique look with the titanium tips, not too loud, beautiful finsh and workmanship.

 

Alta or Ireland. IMHO, dual 2.5" exhaust and all the extra mufflers/weight is not needed for the mini.

Here's a local shop selling borla mini exhaust for a killer deal:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218...=mini%20cooper

 

Magnaflow doesn't charge extra for the drone.

 

They didn't charge me extra for no drone either.

Kevin

 

That's very good to hear.

 

Borla was my 1st choice but only 2.25". This is because they use very similar technology like Corsa to rid of drone in the resonator and mufflers, which then allows the engine sound to be heard.
Invidia was 3rd choice but 2.35" and they don't offer the same warranty and/or service as Magnaflow or Borla. I consider this system a smaller diameter round-canned Magnaflow.

Anyways I wanted something that can flow with 2 mufflers, with minimal backpressure as I may go Sprintex next year so I don't want to buy twice. I currently have a custom one ball with no resonator in mid-pipe and HATE IT.

Also I don't know what kind of drone people are experiencing, I was hard pressed to find a clip of the 04-06' system on youtube or on a local MINI. The 02-03(15742) looks like it will create turbulence and vibration at 2 spots under the hatch area, which is horrible, also being same side offset in and out not utilizing the muffler as much. A custom system could possibly cause more drone than the 02-03, because all you're doing is throwing parts together hoping for a better sound at a lesser cost, but it's not sound tuned and should only be used for race applications. The redesigned 04-06(16662) looks good, welded in Y, offset in middle out utilizing more of the muffler and stays independent all the way to the tips, overall it seems better than 15742.

Either way it's on the way already, so I can't wait to get it.

Pics for reference.

 

Have you seen any dyno results going from 2.25 to 2.50? The main exhaust pipe is a single 2.5 and the MCS exhaust seems short enough that I doubt it has cooled enough to require dual 2.5"s vs a single 2.5" or dual 2.25". It seems that all the systems give about the same HP.


I totally agree about having to buy twice. I'm in the same boat. Coming for 5.0 mustang racing, it seems that mini exhaust systems are way over engineered and expensive, that is why I'm still running the one ball exhaust. Speaking of one-ball. Can you give a bit more info on your custom exhaust and if possible post a few pics?

TIA,
Marcus

 

I wouldn't know about the exhaust velocity and heat retention of a R53 pumping 13-15psi using a single 2.5" like Alta or dual 2.5" like Magnaflow setup. I thought one ***** were made for reducing weight, corner balancing and saving $$, it seems the saving money part with a decent brand is not much of a savings with MINI tax and all. Besides Borla's and Magnaflow's warranty I feel is the best in the industry, Milltek, Stratmos, Invidia, Alta cannot come close to that level of protection even when some cost the same or more.

To somewhat answer the 2.25" on a 1.6L eaton blown car question. I know from personal experience on 2 other Eaton m42 equipped 1.6L cars I've owned, one being a 90 CRX and other a Miata that had a Thermal R&D 60mm(2.35") system. Both cars at 11-12psi setups and produced around same power and tq. The CRX benefited later with just a 2.5" collector on Kamikaze 4-1 catless header and full 2.5" exhaust. Less PSI was seen on datalogs but more power was produced, not only that but the car became free revving, gained power throughout the band and peak, this also allowed the Eaton to work less and stay cooler. This was over 5 years ago, I could only imagine this would be the case with the R53 today being the Tritec is very similar to those 2.

Anyways my one ball is nothing special. It's like any other custom one ball cat-back with no resonator and 1 muffler(Dynomax Super Turbo) sitting on the passenger side exiting like a non-S cooper would. The Dynomax is offset in and center out, and it's not straight thru design. It's very loud and obnoxious. I'll try to get pics/vids, but it's raining today.

And on your 5.0 comment, I built/tracked a 95' 5.0 Cobra, which I owned until August of this year.