I hear all the guys (and gals!!) on here talk about modding their MINIS. The mod I hear most often is the 19% Pulley upgrade. First of all I'm planning to, in about 2-3 months, getting a JCW Kit put on my MCS. What is a 19% pulley? And second what would this do horsepower/responsiveness wise, and does anybody do this mod and their dealer is dryer & reinbold, how do they feel about it?

 

chili, the 19% reduccion pulley is a smaller pulley for the supercharger. A jcw kit has a smaller supercharger pulley than a stock mcs, it is close to a 15% reduccion compared to stock. Keep in mind that a 19% reduccion pulley will void the warranty on the jcw supercharger and possibly other parts. My impression is that you don't ask your dealer for a reduccion pulley, you have to go to a tuner or a qualified thechnician if you aren't capable of the installation in your own garage. A 19% pulley will increase boost to a higher state of tune compared to a 15% pulley and even more so when compared to a stock mcs. I'm no expert but had my supercharger pulley reduced 15% and now considering a further reduccion to 19%. There is a lot of information on this subject, use the search and discover all you need to know.
Good luck in your quest for more boost.

 

Go to the "19% pulley with larger injectors" post started by greatgro and follow along closley, I'm in the same boat. Catch up by reading every reply.

 

A 19% pulley, exhaust and GIAC ECU + injectors will cost around $1600 installed and blow away a JCW like it was still stock. If you want excellent performance and a great price, go aftermarket. If you want very good performance and your warranty is a top concern and don't mind spending 3-4 times MORE, then go JCW.

But aftermarket isn't for eveyone. This is the first car I have ever owned where I went the aftermarket route instead of the manufacture's route. However, this is the first car where I thought the scales were weighed HEAVILY in aftermarket's favor.

 

Greatgro, c'mon man. Now you're making claims without back-up; ...will blow away a JCW like it was still stock??? It takes roughly 100 additional hp to decrease 0-60 times by one second, or, 50 more horses and 50 lb-ft more torque - and based on that claim, that's above and beyond the JCW output of 210hp for 05. A 19% pulley, exhaust, fuel injectors and all the ECU power in the world won't yield 250hp from a stock S...and that is what it would take to blow a JCW away. Also consider too that the 05 cars have updated gearing; the difference between a pre 05 JCW and an 05 JCW is quite different, or any S for that matter. That gearing change alone reduced 0-60 times for a stock 05 S by 7/10s of a second according to the Feb. issue of Motor Trend. I would agree with some estimates touted in NAM that those above mods yield 20hp and perhaps 20lb-ft torque. Where that power is produced in the power band might yield some advantages vs the JCW, but it certainly wouldn't come close to a knock-out blow. I agree that the two different paths to tuning appeal to different folks. I'll actually employ both, and only because you nudged me.

 

Ok I got a little crazy. But just with a 19% pulley and GIAC/Injectors you're talking close to 30lbs of torque at the wheels.

The JCW 200hp kit provides a 22lb increase in torque (177 vs 155) at the crank. 28lbs of wheel torque from a 19% + GIAC + injectors equals 32lbs at the crank. That's 50% MORE torque than the JCW kit provides. That's significant. Also, I doubt ANY of these other ECUs (including JCW) take off the line like a GIAC does. Although I don't know for sure, I have yet to see a testimonial from another ECU that mentioned GREAT off the line takeoffs.

Let's not make the comparison unfair - you can't compare an 05 JCW vs an older aftermarket...that would just be silly (although the aftermarket would still win ) but enough about that! Let's move on...

 

Okay man!