I want 19% now!

 

Not even close:smile:

 

Nthusiast, I do think that you are in the ballpark though. If a chip and 15% alone can get 190, and if the MTH is as solid as I hear, you will be close, I would think...

http://www.webbmotorsports.com/forum...topic.php?t=61

 

TonyB,

Does Bay Bridge Motors install pulleys? I know the last pulley party was there..did they do any of the work or was that just Randy?

 

meanboy, I want to say yes, but don't hold me to it... I know they do great body work, from what Randy had told me. Give them a ring to inquire. One of the benefits for hosting a Party is getting follow-up buisiness, so that would be good .

 

I'll give them a buzz...how was the party? I didn't get to go..other obligations.

 

One would think that after attending three, I wouldn't go, but it's always nice to meet more MINI folks and see what cool and strange things they've done to their MCS's. Actually, with my home-made exhaust and aluminum deck (in place of the rear seats), I'm typically the strange bird at these gatherings .

And of course to chat with Randy, and catch-up with him, is invaluable. I also spent all day Monday with him as he installed some coilovers and camber plates on my MCS. I had a list of questions for him about our great little cars, and his future plans, and he addressed all of them. One-on-one quality time with the man was vacation time well-spent!

 

NO! NO! No one said anything about driving SLOWER!!! In fact the opposite is true. You'll be driving faster!!! I'm talking about ACCELERATING at lower RPMs - NOT CRUISING at lower RPMs! For example, with the 19% pulley, I have the same boost (11lbs) at 3k RPMs as the stock S has a redline. So at 3k RPMs, I can almost accelerate as fast as a stock S can at 6500 RPMs. So you CAN rev both the engine AND the supercharger less and still accelerate faster than you could previously (before the 19% pulley). Forget about cruising speeds, I'm not talking about that...YET...

Yes if you cruise at lower RPMs you will be going at a slower rate of speed. Correct. But that's NOT what I'm talking about. I'm saying you can shift EARLIER than you normally would - thus not revving your engine or supercharger as much as before thus POTENTIALLY extending their lives (see chart several posts above). Now when you're cruising at the SAME RPMs with a 15% or a 19%, YES - the 19% supercharger will be revving FASTER at the same RPMs. But what you have to realize is when you are cruising and not pushing the pedal near the floor, the supercharger bypass valve is open and the supercharger IS NOT COMPRESSING AIR. The air bypasses and escapes. The supercharger may be spinning 4% faster yet it's not doing any more work - not even 4% more work as far as its longevity is concerned b/c it's spinning freely. It is NOT being worn.

So when cruising, you'll be revving the engine to the same RPM you always like to cruise at - say 3k RPMs in 6th gear. In this case the 15% supercharger will spin faster than the stock one and the 19% will spin faster than the 15%. But since the bypass valve is OPEN, the supercharger isn't working and isn't wearing to any appreciable degree.

Bottom line: You CAN rev your engine LESS when accelerating and rev your supercharger LESS when accelerating with a smaller pulley yet still accelerate faster and enjoy driving more yet DECREASING the wear and tear on your MINI.

 

You had said orginally:

"So with the 19% pulley, you could keep your RPMs lower..."

"SO...If b/c of the added low torque of the 19%, you find yourself driving in the 3k-5k RPM range instead of the 4k-6k range..."

The word "keep" as is in keep your RPMs lower does equate to slower speed. Keeping is maintaining, a static kind of thing, and is certainly not accelerating... And driving in a lower range RPM range than someone else means that you are driving slower as well. If that's not what you mean, then it should be said differently, so it says what you want, so that it is accurate, and does not make for any confusion...

You are now talking about acceleration. Sure you can accelerate quicker with more boost; most noteworthy at lower RPMs. The 19% can do so because it spins the SC faster. But if you then find yourself driving at lower RPMs, then you find yourself driving slower.

Everyone tells folks to read and not take everything here as the difinitive word. I think we all would agree with that. Right or wrong though, people often base decsions on such input, and if we can have some quality control on what leaves our keyboards, I think that onus is upon us to do so..

If the SC is spinning faster, don't say it is not, literally. A person making a presumed, informed-decision is thinking then that the SC is not spinning faster, and his cost/benefit anlaysis is then flawed with that info.

There was someone many moons ago saying that the performance gain from 15 to 19% is greater than that of going stock to 15. I brought this up a couple months back... I did a search just recently, and couldn't find those assertions now. I know they existed because I was PM'd on them, and even Randy mentioned it to me in a conversation...

 

What gear are you in... Shifting sooner doesn't mean you are driving slower. It all depends on the gear you are in and if you are maintaining a constant speed or not.

 

Any given gear... You are right that shifting sooner does not necesarrily mean that one is driving slower. I don't think anyone said that shifting sooner equates to slower driving. If one is keeping or maintaining a certain RPM, below somone else, in the same gear, they are driving slower...

 

Yeah but no one is talking about that.

Ok I don't want to argue over words such as "keep" and the like. I'm sorry if I chose the wrong word. Please keep in mind though that cruising RPMs don't affect the supercharger to any significant degree (wear-wise). That point must be understood before we go any further.
Now I'll make my point as simple as possible.

When I had my S in stock form, I shifted at very high RPMs all of the time. High stress on engine, high stress on supercharger.

When I had my S with a 15% pulley, I shifted at very high RPMs almost all of the time. Pretty high stress on engine, very high stress on supercharger.

Now with my S and its 19% pulley, I shift at very high RPMs rarely. Moderate stress on the engine, moderate-high stress on supercharger.

Bottom line: I drive my S "faster" than ever (and by faster I mean accelerate faster) yet I am wearing my engine and supercharger less than if I didn't have a pulley or had a 15% one. The I is important b/c that is what I do. Someone else might not do the same. They may still take their 19% to redline a lot. I don't. The 19% crossed a threshold for me where the torque increase was great enough that it balanced out the lack of low-end torque that the S suffers from. The 15% didn't do that for me. To get the most out of the 15%, I still found myself shifting near redline. Upgrading to the 19% was the smartest (and simplest) thing I could do to save my engine and supercharger yet have more fun - all at the same time.

 

Do you have any pics of the home-made exhaust? Also, any proven performance gains? And, how much did it cost to make it?

 

I don't want to argue as well, but words are all that we have here, so the right descriptives are paramount. Words like "keep" as in keeping RPMs low, and phrases like "find yourself" as in finding yourself driving in a lower RPM range indicate that one is content at a lower RPM range, and with that, given a certain gear, driving at a slower speed...

When cruising, there is no boost needed. We agree! And while one with a 19% can shift at lower engine RPMs, to get the same or better results (acceleration), what is making-up for the power loss of having fewer RPMs? The SC, right? You paint the picture above that it's a win/win for the engine and SC, but I firmly believe it is not so.

If a 19 wants to mimic the accelertation pattern of a 15, I don't doubt that he can do so with fewer engine RPMs, but that power then must come from elsewhere - in this case the taxing of the SC more. Expressions such as power on tap, or with the flick of the pedal are reminiscent of those with a 19. It makes sense as the SC is engaged quicker (building boost) with less downward pressure on gas pedal needed. She's working sooner and harder with the more rapid spinning. Packing more air, that makes it more hot. If a SC has so many revolutions in it's life, by virture of turning sooner, and more rapidly, how is this better for it?

Again, I defer to others more knowledgeable. Heck, I need some serious convincing to have me understand how a 19 is a win/win for both the engine and SC longevity.

And if the SC is indeed picking-up the slack by working harder, I'm not saying that this is bad, or one is better per se. I'm just saying that I think your above portrayal is also incorrect - that the 19 makes life "easier" on the engine, and SC.

 

Hey Ethereal, there are some pics floating around here. It's a straight shot out the back (battery box gone). No, no proven gains as I've never had a dyno. It is predicated on the philosophy that flow is the way to go .

I eliminated virtually all of the flow-robbing bends, and went from 2.25 to 2.5". I still have the cat, and becausue I used the SuperSprint center pipe, I also have a "smoothing" resonator, as well as a Borla Turbo muffler. It's capped with a Ractive flat oval (I think 6") tip that fills the valence quite nicely.

If I want back-pressure, I can dial it in later by several means that are quite easy...

I think everything cost like 550 bucks, if I recall correctly...

 

Well no one else thought I was talking about cruising and driving speeds...

 

well..... actually I did but didn't want to get involved in your little discussion...

 

"Well no one else thought I was talking about cruising and driving speeds..."

"well..... actually I did but didn't want to get involved in your little discussion"
==============
From what I've heard, I think a few didn't want to get involved in this one .

Seriously, and ideally, people shouldn't have to think about what you are tyring to say...

Picking one of the few that have been discussd here, if one says point-blank that the SC is not spinnig faster, there is little there to be misunderstood with that statement. We've been able to check that one off, as well as some others...

This last one (that a 19 makes for less stress on the engine and SC) is a claim still not addressed. If this is true, I want to know. Common sense tells me otherwise... I call bullsh**, again.

If I'm wrong, I'm cool with that. Being wrong affords the chance to learn .

I'm a firm believer that a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. When it comes to automotive acumen, I certainly quality in that regard, as do others apparently. For that reason, I make a conscientious effort to post definitively only after I'm quite certain my information is spot-on. And if I can't conclude that it's rock solid, I preface it accordingly with such terms as "I think" or "I feel" or "I believe."

This info is for public consumption, and I feel that we should care enough to make sure it's good. I have seen these, and other claims or assertions go by without contention before. It has been made clear to me that people are basing decisions on such mis-information.

If one really believes in a mod, that's great! Recommending is fine also of course. The enthusiasm is welcome. But supplying incorrect information to support or validate its use should not be considered appropriate, and it certainly should not be beyond reproach. If not questioned, the information tacitly becomes accepted by some...

With some looming evolutions, I may indeed get a 19% someday. I will only do so after I've thoroughly weighed the pros & cons. As mentioned earlier, a 19% will make for less stress on the engine and SC than my current 15%. I think that's a damn good reason to have me lean toward a 19%! But, is that information correct? I would love for greatgro to be right on this one...