Hey all! I will get straight to the point
I know that there Is lots of threads out there, but I wanted to make my own

My plan is to get a 16% supercharger pulley, a cold air intake, an exhaust, maybe an intercooler, and colder plugs
1. I was wondering if I should service any other pulleys while I am doing the supercharger pulley. (also Do I buy a crank pulley? Or no need?)
2. Do I need a bigger intercooler if I were to run a 16% pulley?
3. Is colder plugs necessary to switch if I just switched my plugs?

Does anyone have any recommendations for brands that sell a 16% pulley?
And does anyone else have opinions on what other mods I can do to make my lovely mini a lil quicker?

Thank you for reading, I am open to any suggestions!

 

1) Belt tensioner & the pulley next to the tensioner. Also the crank pulley needs replacement around 100k
2) Depends on how you use your car, normal daily driving: no, note essential. Trackdays:yes, highly recommended
3) Not sure, but I would recommend using the BKR7EQUP that the JCW with 11% pulley has, as standard plugs

Other mods:
-JCW airbox
-Lightweight wheels
-Remap
-Bigger crank pulley

But before you put on more power, make sure you have a good "stage 0" aka a healthy car with good service history (regular oil changes, filters etc etc). Also please upgrade your brakes to the 294mm setup (at least). More power also needs better braking. If you passed the 100k mark, also service the supercharger (new oil).

 

Um...note..."bigger crank pulley"?

It would be much wiser to note that an ATI Damper would be the best bet. You can get two sizes, stock dia., and one slightly larger.
It also will not fall apart like the OEM damper will/does. It also does a better job of damping the crank harmonics.

And yea, stick to the basics..!
1. As noted, the JCW air box. Stay away from the "foam" filters.
2. Light, 16" wheels. Even some stock Mini wheels are much lighter than other Mini wheels. Look around in the "wheel/brake" section, there is a chart of wheel weights and names. The car will accelerate faster, stop better and maneuver corners better with lighter wheels.
3. Milltech makes a good exhaust system that won't break the bank. If you change the exhaust, a remapping may well be required.
4. A larger intercooler is a huge can of worms. Unless you will be racing, stick to the Mini intercooler. If you want larger/better, the Mini GT cooler will be the next best to buy.

Be wise, don't just jump into all of the "cool" goodies, unless you have lotsa money. Body supports are another thing that will lighten your wallet without doing much, despite the experts comments. The Mini has a VERY stiff body. Beside, additional weight...WILL ONLY slow you down. Add things to the car...ONLY...what is needed.

Mike

 

Thank you for the helpful advice! I will take all that into consideration.

 

Exactly what I was referring to I ordered the ATI 2% last weekend, so will have some experience soon.

The lightest I found are the R87. Not the prettiest, but the difference with 17" is really night & day as OCR describes.

Mini R87 16 inch / 15.3 kg

Mini R130 17 inch / 18kg

There are cheaper alternatives which are comparable in quality, like Direnza or Gravity Performance. I went with the latter and it has proven to be a good choice for me. See my video review

 

Other than the horrible flattened piece of tube in the Gravity/Direnza (look the same) exhaust, it looks good. Much like the JCW system...even with the flattened tube..!
Any...exhaust that has a squashed piece of tubing, isnt a good choice. WHY...would anyone do this ? Supposedly because of the convertible Mini.
I removed my JCW because of this and no exhaust system shop would put a straight piece of tubing in place of the squashed piece.

When you squeeze/flatten a piece or round tube, you reduce the volume, or better the square inches. This reduces flow..!
That's why I went with the Miltech.

Mike

 

Even though flow might be lower, for probably 90% of the people (myself included) this wont be a bottleneck whatsoever. If you are searching for big power, then I agree that you are better off with an exhaust without the crushed section

 

Wheel info here:
https://minicooper.fandom.com/wiki/OEM_Wheels_and_Tires
not 100% complete but good info.

you may want a larger rear sway bar as well - the front isn't really needed unless you are going to be doing a lot of track days or autocross. A larger rear bar balances out the car nicely.

Brakes are essential when modding a car for more power. With great power, better brakes are needed. DOT 4 fluid and better pads a the very least. The stock brakes are sufficient but if you start to get closer to 200whp you will need better brakes.

I have a foam filter in my air box and have had it there for about 13 years now with no issues. It's no better or worse than the paper one that came with the car. It's only true benefit is that I haven't been tossing a paper filter into landfills once year. I know that there have been some people here that said that they fall apart and get sucked into the intercooler then into the motor but, this has not happened to mine in more than a decade. Not sure what they did to get theirs to fall apart. If you don't want a foam one, K&N makes a nice "fabric" one that is washable.

One step colder plugs aren't 100% needed but recommended. The ATI is also a "should do" while you are in there kind of thing.

There is much debate on changing out the intercooler. If you can get your hands on a factory GP intercooler, go that route. BMW/MINI had more money in R&D than the aftermarket companies. If, and that is a very big if, you can get a GP intercooler, that one does do a better job than the stock R53 unit.

 

• SC pulley--I don't know that there's any bad choice. Any of the major suppliers should be good.
• All of my research indicated that colder plugs and a new belt were necessary and provided best benefit when changing SC pulley.
• Crank pulley: If you're on a budget, and yours appears to be in good shape, you could defer this. But if you've got the funds, this is good PM. I haven't changed mine yet (90k miles), and it's in good shape based on visual inspection. My research has yielded a general dislike for the lightweight crank pulleys that don't offer any vibration dampening effect. I plan to go with the ATI; will probably go with the 2% overdrive version.
• Most of the research on intercoolers that had actual data with it is older, but what I found was that the general consensus was that the GP intercooler provided a legit upgrade in performance, but probably not worth the cost if you're only doing minor bolt-on mods. For street use, not necessary, at least unless you're in a very hot part of the country. Might be more necessary if you're planning on doing a lot of track events.
• Exhaust--this is soooo subjective. There's some data out there on performance, but I would suggest that the single most important thing is to find a sound you like. And this you can only really do by hearing the actual cars. I've listened to dozens of videos of exhausts, and it really didn't help me. There is a definite step in level of quality, which in my experience translates to fit/finish, longevity, and installation ease, but I tend to stay away from the super-inexpensive options because I've seen what happens with product failures in that price point.

My mods list is in my signature below. I came to this after a LOT of reading, and much of what I've done has been modeled after what @pnwR53S has done, listed in his build thread here. From an engine performance perspective, The pretty standard, most-bang-for-the-buck mods are pulley (with accompanying plugs and belt), improved air intake, and exhaust. If you want more, the most definitive, one-place answer I've found is here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4500764

There's only so much power that's easily (and cheaply) accessible from this platform--but there's a lot more performance available through suspension mods, brake upgrades, etc. Do your research. Don't let one particular person's opinions sway you too much. Some people disagree with increasing chassis stiffness. While I agree that there are some products out there that don't make much of a difference, I'm a fan of wisely increasing stiffness (even in these cars that are already relatively stiff to begin with), but that's based on my preferences.

No matter what route you go, you'll find someone who's going to tell you you're doing it wrong. With enough research, you'll find the mods you are happy with. Have fun!

 

New belt tensioner, idler pulley and new belt. You could go with the jcw plugs or the NGK iridiums that are the same heat range. Forgot the part number. Detroit tuned sells them I know.

If you don’t know if the supercharger has been serviced, might be a good idea to do if you are about to start spinning it faster. Usually a pretty expensive job if you are paying someone to do it though. Like $500-900 just to service the charger with new oil.