The mechanic that I'm having do the pulley mod says the 15% pulley mod requires an ECU tune and new software installed and advised I get the header and Bosch 380cc injectors installed at the same time so the tune can be all done at once.

Is that right? I've never read of anyone getting the pulley done and having a tune done. He said the car will run lean and eventually burn the motor out. I want to get the header done with the exhaust I'm having installed at the same time as well.

 

Get your car back and run as fast as you can away form that shop and take it to someone who understands our cars better. J/k.

With a 15% your fine without a tune but if your going with a 17% I would. You can only benefit from a tune and get things dialed in. All about whether you have deep pockets.

 

NO NO NO

I've done 600 pulleys and over 500 are on cars with stock injectors and stock ECU and they aren't broken.
The ECU in the MINI is really adaptive and using the map sensors on the engine will compensate for the pulley very well. Part of the reason that most normal tuners have trouble tuning these cars.

Do your pulley and enjoy it.

 

No it does not require a tune. Motor on.

 

If I add a header and 380cc injectors does it need an ECU tune?

 

Will it "need" a tune with the 380's & header? No.
Would it benefit from a tune? Yes.

 

If I don't tune it, will it destroy my engine? What are the benefits of the tune and what's detrimental without tuning it when adding these mods? I feel like the mechanic I chose to go with is racking up the expense.

 

I have a 17% pulley and no tune on my car and it runs great. As I understand, if you tune it, the engine makes better use of the extra power that's available. I don't think that it will hurt your car at all if you don't tune it.

Tunes aren't cheap (though they're frequently one of the most cost effective ways of adding power) and you'll need a new tune with each new mod to make the most power, so in that regard, your mechanic is right, if you plan to do all those mods, I'd do them, and then tune it, instead of paying for a tune after each individual mod. But you should have no problems with your car if you chose to just do the pulley and not tune it for now.

 

I had deep pockets until 2 weeks ago when I got laid off but I got a pay out package and I can finish the project on the projected budget but now all kinds of things are adding up.

I wanna get the header at least and keep the stock injectors if the 380's are just going to cost me more fuel, so I'll need a tune up for the headers with the Borla Agressive exhaust.

Might as well do it all in one go. Tune up is going to cost 1100 Aussie Dollars!

 

Just have them put the 15% pulley on your mini, and drive away. Nothing else is needed. You don't need a tune. You don't need 380cc injectors. You don't need whatever else they are trying to sell you.

 

Absolutely NO, it will not hurt a thing, thousands of Mini's have run on 15%,17% and even 19% pulleys with no tune, ECU will adapt itself, no problem.
Even if you all 3 at once, you wouldn't "need" a tune, that's these mods are so popular, there are maniy 100k + mile cars out there with these mods no tune.

 

Man, this guy is so unethical and dishonest! He keeps saying the just the pulley will destroy my engine by running so lean. He quoted me $3000aud just to do the pulley, exhaust and clutch. Tells me I have to discharge the air conditioning gas for an extra charge, tells me I need $200 dollars in transmission oil when I can get Redline MTL for $15 bucks. Tells me I need to replace the driveshaft nuts.

Now he tells me he won't work on my car because he's too good and too popular a MINI mechanic to honor the booking we agreed on to put my car in his home garage shop and keep my car for 4 weeks coz he only works on weekends. He's supposed to have this "great" reputation. Wish I can name and shame this guy so other people won't get shafted like I did.

I was referred by my local facebook club....everyone worships this guy but now he's just turned out to be arrogant, dishonest, dishonorable and just plain greedy.

 

I'm doing the pulley and race exhaust for sure but will there be a power benefit by doing the header and bosch 380cc injectors with no tune?

What's the benefit with a tune and what's the detriment without a tune? I'll get a tune eventually when the tax return comes along if I get the clutch/pulley/header/exhaust all done before the tax return.

BUT, the question is...do I really need the 380 fuel injectors with the other mods i'm doing at the same time or can I do the injectors later and then tune it?

 

From everything I have read, and the dyno charts I've seen....unless you have an aftermarket cylinder heads....a header won't do much except make your car louder. Sure, you might pick up 2-3hp on the top end of the rpms, but you will never feel that.

As far as 380cc injectors.....with an exhaust, intake, and pulley....they are not needed.

I went from the stock injectors to a set of Bosch 380cc injectors.......and even after a canned tune, I think the motor actually made more power with the stock injectors. There are guys running well over 225+hp with the 340cc injectors.

Unless you are doing mods other than the typical bolt on stuff like (aftermarket head and camshaft), you are probably just wasting your money with injectors and a full custom tune.

 

I'm glad you caught on to this guy before you got sucked in also. There are actually simple things that an unscrupulous mechanic could do to actually "cause" the exact conditions he was trying to warn you about.

IQ, is correct about the Header, while the performance effects may be measurable, they would be minimal at best unless you have a BVH.
Injectors, without a tune there would also be no performance gains, and even then, the real benefit to larger Injectors is the ability to match fuel supply to air supply, and just doing a pulley won't change that enough unless you raise your rev. limit or track the car and "live" in the upper rpm's. (Basically 6400 + sustained)
Tune, "very basically" a tune is manually manipulating air, fuel & timing to optimize those parameters to best match with your parts. The factory ECU also does this all on its own, but it can only do so much and after a certain point and/or parts that are way out of factory spec's, this manual manipulation is necessary. (For example injectors, the specs on the 380's are within the tolerances that the ECU can handle the change, but the flow difference in a 440 or 550 is just too great and manual changes must be made.)
And in the right hands, manually changing these parameters to work toward your specific goals (performance -vs- economy) can be far better than what the ECU can/will do on its own.

Hope this helps you a little, but as far as the mods you mentioned, they ALL can be done without a tune, and I would suggest you do them all first, than get your tune, no sense in tuning for certain mods, and then changing things after the fact.

 

If it were me, I'd get my car from this guy and drive away. He doesn't deserve your business.

 

The car was booked for July 18th and he cancelled on me so I'm better off for it. I'm taking it to a REAL shop with a team of MINI specialists who can do it faster, better and cheaper.

I wanted to get a Megan Header to go with the Borla Exhaust but there may be need after reading the advice on this thread. The megan headers are $500aud and I could spend that on DRL blacked out headlights.

It's already going to sound badass with the Borla exhaust and 15% pulley. I just wanted to do the header at one time and drive it a while first before a tune. This mechanic guy says it's a programming tune, someone has to write code for the ECU for the new mods.

I'm glad I have you guys to provide sound advice.l

 

Please look at my car's equipment as listed below. Way tuned my car probably 7 or 8 years ago. Conservatively, I have 25,000+ track miles on the car since then and it's as strong as ever, pulling 16-17 lb. boost at full throttle. I assure you, you don't need 380cc injectors with a 15% pully and a header.

 

Thanks Trackrat!

Another pulley question....I got 2 set's of plugs that I don't know are right or not. I've heard everyone gets the BRISK DR12S, I got a set of NGK Iridiium IX BKR7EIX-11 and BRISK DR14YS's. I can also get DR12YS, do I need the DR12YS cooler plugs for the Alta Pulley?

The local Alta dealer says the DR14YS are what Alta recommends with their Pulleys but everyone on this forum seems to get the DR12S, I think the DR12YS are comparable.

What are the right plugs for the Alta 15% pulley? Thanks team!

 

I'm not saying they're right but, FWIW, I'm using BRISK DOR14LGS-T.