I concur with N2MINI. You didn't tell us that Jan was going to be in your neck of the woods. We've got an RMW tune on one of the GP's along with one of his cams and header. Sweet ride! BTW, you also didn't mention how many miles are on the car. Even though it's an '06, the crank pulley is worth watching.

 

Heres what I would do.

Start with a pulley package (15%, plugs, belt). If you are happy with that, great. You can stop here knowing you haven't negatively affected your reliability or put any sort of adverse wear on your engine and you won't have any trouble with fuelling or additional heat unless you are driving like a maniac and redlining your car between every stop light.

If sound is what you are after, start with an intake, it makes the supercharger sound awesome IMO, then get an exhaust if you want a more aggressive tone.

If you decide you are unhappy with the performance of the pulley, go the route others have suggested and invest in larger injectors to make room for a cam, head, rmw tune etc.

 

It's an 06 with 42k miles. Relatively low for the model year at this point.

After speaking with Ian and Jan, they both agreed you don't have to do the tune or injectors at this level. However, they both feel like the car has too much timing (as well as some other small issues) and in the long haul, would be negatively affected by a pulley kit and could for sure benefit from the tune both in reliability and power.

 

I have a 06s in Florida and this is what I have done:
1)17% pulley from Way (the best out there IMO)
2) Home made cold air intake, put a large cone filter in the box, and make a whole from the box to the brake fluid space, there is a writeup here on tht forum about that.

These two Mods will already give you enough power to get a whole bunch of tickets.

Now where I feel is more important than increasing power, getting it to the tarmac.

1)Get rid of the run flats and put some good tires, and if you like increase size to 215/45/17.
2) put some good struts, Bilstein Sports, Koni Yellows etc.
3) Sport springs and lower the original SUV stance.

For my car I choose the H&R Sports (the only one that has specific springs for convertibles and Koni Yellows because they are adjustable. Also put a Eibach rear swaybar (best bang for the buck. For tires I went with the Hankook V2, although many swear by the V12's.

Overall cost you are talking Pulley + Cold Plugs + Belt + filter + pulley tool around USD 300

Koni package USD 660, Springs USD 220, sway bar USD 120, Tires USD 500 (Mounted Balanced and alligned)

So for a grand total of USD 1800 you have a great car that will give many Porsche owners a hard time on twisty roads (which we do not have in Miami). BTW, as you know, just changing the tires on a 991 will cost you that!

 

I agree with pretty much everything here.

I would suggest an intercooler upgrade if you're gonna use a 17% pulley.
If you're gonna stay stock use a 15%.

I hear it gets hot in florida

 

Hot would be an understatement.

Here's the end result.

15% pulley, plugs, 450cc injectors, cam and a custom tune next month from Jan.

Should be fun and reliable.

Appreciate all the tips. I may do the intake or exhaust down the road, but from what I've learned is that the stock stuff breaths pretty well up to about 250hp. So I'm fine. For now

 

Have a go at the hobo CAI It's easy really just cutting 2 holes in some plastic using some glue and some plastic pipe. just as good as the JCW air box.
Doesn't really make massive difference in short runs but when the heat builds up the power disappears.

And it makes a nice whine

I am gonna do the recently discovered Bosch 380cc Injectors from a Focus STI 225 and a DIY JCW tune.

 

You're quite the shade tree mechanic!

 

Let us know where you are getting the tune done and the difference before and after.

 

It's being done in about a month in a town just east of Orlando. Jan is coming in to tune 10 or so cars that day. Unfortunately I won't have a "before" dyno run but I will have an after. Unless we can make some other arrangements. We're doing all the mods the day before the tune and then the dyno tune after. The car is bone stock right now.

 

The moment you begin shoving more air (boost) into your engine, is the same moment that you should begin making efforts to reduce back-pressure (exhaust system) and reducing the engine effort required to pull in fresh air on piston intake stroke (cold air intake). People buy a pulley, toss it on their car, and nearly double the amount air being stuffed into the motor without supporting modifications; it's absurd. Sure, a pulley gives the most bang for your buck, but don't forget that not only are the intake and exhaust pieces fun, they're beneficial, too.

 

Agree, my next $$$ will be invested on a less restricted exhaust.

BTW even before doing anything to the HP on a MINI I still think that getting power to the tarmac is most important.

 

yeah youll need a good set of tires, i switched from the OEM 17's with Khumo A/S run flats on them to ultraleggera 17's with BF rivals, and boy that made a noticable difference, no more spinning with roll ons and instant grip, not to mention nearly 80 lbs of rotational mass

 

A 15% crams in about an extra 20% more air, don't know where you came up with double lol. But I agree with everything else.

 

Stock boost is 10psi; most people running a 15% pulley report 16psi after installation. Additionally, we have many folks running 17%+ pulleys. That's considerably more than a 20% increase. I'm not sure about the change in CFM, as I don't have the stock CFM spec for an Eaton M45 equipped with a stock R53 pulley. However, yes, saying "twice the air" is hyperbolic, but the point is there. You're really doing yourself a disservice increasing boost without applying supporting modifications.

 

20% is the difference in cfm between a stock s/c and one with a 15%. Keep in mind N/A cars technically run at 14.7psi because that is the atmospheric pressure at sea level. Stock boost is about 10.5 psi so that is theoretically 25.2psi. So with a 15% that value would be 30.7psi (assuming a 15% makes 16psi). 30.7/25.2=21.8. So thats actually a 22% increase in pressure

But yes, I agree with everything else you say about supporting mods.

 

The experts I've spoken to (and their names have been referenced in this thread) say that the stock airbox will flow over 400hp. Aftermarket intakes are for noise, not performance

 

So here's what I went with:

RMW custom tune
RMW custom injectors
RMW header/cat
RMW cam
WMW 15% pulley

I'm sticking with the stock airbox and the stock exhaust. The car won't sound terribly fast, but it should scoot. Dollar per hp, this seems to be the best combo using the stock supercharger, heads, and intercooler. Replacing those items while increasing HP significantly, gets expensive and I assume will increase engine wear significantly at those HP levels.

RMW will be here next month to do the tune. Should be interesting.

 

Fair enough. Once all figures are converted to PSIA, the percentage of change decreases when compared to PSIG figures.

It's probably more appropriate to PM me, but where are you finding the CFM figures you're referencing ? It's my understanding that the Eaton M45, like it's name suggests, moves 45 cubic inches of air per revolution, however I'm missing several other bits of the equation, I.E: Crank pulley diameter and SC pulley diameter. With these, I can calculate the drive ratio, and finally supercharger revolution & CFM at a given RPM. PM me if you have this info. Thanks

Sorry for thread-jacking, fellas.

 

Man, that's a cool list, but there's a reason that when all reputable tuners / tuning shops offer a "staged" tune (generally increased boost + fuel / timing tuning) they suggest, and in many cases require that you have breathing modifications to match the increased boost, timing, and EGTs's. You're doing things backwards, though, the header will help a bit. Regardless, enjoy your newly transformed car; it'll be quite fun.

 

deputydog95 -
Your list sounds great. I would also "one ball" the stock exhaust to make a bit more noise. Cheap to do.

 

only reason why i went to a aftermarket CAI.. NOISE plus the washable filter is a nice touch

also with all those mods, why wouldnt you want to hear or SC? i can understand about the exhaust, one ball it, plenty fine and super cheap.

make your own box for a CAI, you wont need a radio!

 

Remember, the parts industry at the end of the day is a business and they want to sell you parts I spoke to Jan and Ian. They both said don't waste my money on the intake and go ahead with a cat back if I wanted a little more noise. The biggest cork in the air flow according them was the header and cat. The stock intake and stock cat back exhaust will flow more than enough power.

I'm trying to avoid more noise

It's a daily for me and I use the phone a lot. I don't want it to sound like I'm in a scene from Mad Max when I'm on the phone with a customer

 

Hahaha. Trust me, I hear ya on the Mad Max bit...

While I agree that those who suggest specifically their parts are partially in it for the profit, though, the science is still there as to why it's needed. Even with a header, you have two significant bottlenecks that remain.

And I can't help but build on the above comment: It seems that RMW sold you quite literally everything they could within reason, and make no mistake, if they actually offered an exhaust and intake system....they would've recommended you buy it

 

i have to many known as the loudest cat back you can buy premade.... and the loudest CAI. neither of which cruising are overwhelming or could be heard on the phone, low acceleration you can hear, phone can barely, but at moderate accel like (getting on highway) people notice. i wouldnt reconmend the magnaflow catback if you do alot of spirited driving on the phone and the CAI basically magnifies it after 3500 rpm