Performance upgrade products are starting to hit the markets, and my hands are anxious to get dirty!

The first thing I want to do is install a cold-air intake. There are several on the market already. I want to hold out for the John Cooper Works intake, but it's a hassle if you live in the US. The Pipercross Viper just came out on MINI-Madness.com, and that looks like an excellent system too.

Has anyone out there upgraded their intake in the US? Which one did you choose, and how is it performing? Thanks for the info.

Jason

 

Jason,
Give MINI Mania a call (800-MANIA01). There is someone in our region that is trying out a cold air intake from them. I'll try to get some feedback and report his impressions.

Let them know you heard about them on MINI COOPER Online

Mark

 

Weve tried two different intake/filter setups. The first was a simple add on filter from APC available at your local Pep Boys. We used the stock rubber boot and adapted the filter on. The look is fantastic and the performance so far has been great.

On our other car we tried the Pipercross filter. Significantly more expensive, easy to install and performance wise we noticed no difference between it and the $30 universal filter when it comes to road use. Dyno testing may show a difference, but Im not sure how measurable.

We will be putting together a budget filter system at some point and will also offer the complete intakes from MonsterMini as well as Helix.

 

Based on what I have seen from under the hood of the Mini's here at the dealership, you could easily just pop off the air-box and put a cone filter on the opening where the air-box used to plug in... It looks like the MAF is not intergrated into the airbox so it would be easy to pop a 3" K&N filter over the opening... You could also make your own heat sheild out of sheet metal from Home Depot...

Of course, I don't yet own a Mini, so I can't say anything for sure

 

If you make a heat shield out of metal you need to coat the metal in some kind of insulator. Metal is a conductor and will only keep heated air from getting to the filter. The metal will still conduct radiant heat into the protected air around the filter.

Paint will probably not be thick enough but some kind of high temp epoxy used to seal shop floors might work. The rhino lining they used on truck beds might too. Just need to find out what its heat rating is.

 

I have one ordered from MINI Madness and will probably get it this week and install it on the weekend. i will give you my impressions when I'm done but in a phone call to them they claim +7hp on a dyno. Pretty impressive.

this seems to be consistent with GRM's intitial findings.

on the heat shield issue Mini Madness includes a stainless one which i think will do the trick. the problem is the ambient temperature under the hood will be pretty high in the Summer and this can rob back the gain. I experienced this with my 2.8 Z3 but the amazing harmonic that comes at high revs is worth it.

i also had a Shark Injecter on my Z3 and it was another "cheap" and easy horsepower gain. Hopefully they will do the same for MINIs as the software upgrade can be quickly reversed for any warrenty work

 

the new intake turned up yesterday and i installed it in about 30 minutes (MINI Madness claimed 15 but i had to do a little more)

The unit is very nicely built with very a heavy guage stainless steel 'case' to ensure that heat stays away and that it draws air from the outside. I hadn't realized until I pulled out the factory airbox that the air is actually is drawen in from the driver's side intake infront of the windshield. need to remember to keep the leaves and snow away.

The only problem in the installation was the need to use a small hammer to bend in a flange to make it sit properly. I email them this morning and they said they would try to bend it a little tighter.

it sounds great - you can hear the supercharger whining out throught the air intake but i'm not sure i can truly claim a great deal of difference in performance. Mini Madness claimed +7 hp on a dyno so that's good enought for me!

Overall a well made unit with clear simple instalation.

dark silver S with white roof - non-factory checkered roof and hood stripes.

 

A 7hp boost at the wheel would be awesome.........if only the claim proves to be true. Lets just hope it is and be optimistic that the S is able to achieve hp increases from basic bolt on units.

 

I got my MINI-Madness MCS Cold Air Intake just before leaving for Canada. So I now have 3600 miles on it.

_________________
Dave
MINI COOPER S

 

Speaking of the standard Cooper - It seems as of what I have seen in print so far that the one from Mini Mania only yielded about a 3 or 4 hp gain from their CAI. I suspect that no matter which intake you put on the Mini, you will oly get mild results. We have just installed the Moss one that we carry no my car and the sound is incredible. I have yet to see some data on the performance gains, but will report on this at a later date. And best of all, this intake only runs $129.95 and easy to install.

I will also add that there is no possible way (due to the design and cramped area of this engine layout) to prevent heat soak with a box or cold air box. Even with a filer completely surrounded, heat soak will develop on the intake inlet channel due to engine heat(especially with the throttle body next to the header). Even if a box could prevent some heat - you will not notice that much of a change. What someone needs to do is locate the intake somewhere outside of the engine compartment so get cool and dry air - but again, heat soak is an issue. Just my .02



_________________
R*Speed Miata and Mini
Accessories*Performance*Service
http://www.rspeed.net/mini/
1011 S Marietta Pkwy, Ste 4
Marietta GA 30060
1-888-551-0025
2002 Mini Jet Black with Tartan Red

 

i think something with a snorkel located near the front grille or right under the front bumper. maybe that will work....

 

Actually, the S DOES draw air from a snorkel located behind the front grille... up and to the left. It's not easy to see, but it's there. It runs from the front grille to the airbox.

 

Hello fellow mini owners,

Pipercross is now available in the US at http://www.diamondracinggroup.com

There has been allot of talk about the Mini induction kit,

This kit was developed some months ago and this kit has been tested on several rolling roads around the country and recieved good mid range gains of around 4-6 bhp.

Because it is a basic induction kit it will suffer from hot air from the engine bay....The same as every other filter manufacture!!

The VIPER kit was produced using a revearse flow filter inside a carbon fiber surround and a 75mm cold feed that attaches to the top of the kit and can be directed to the front grill using the exsisiting resenator box. This only alows cold air in to the filter, we have had a number of good results from this kit from both the states and the u.k. With increases around 8-12 bhp.

Please visit http://www.pipercrossusa.com for more info.

Also did you know PiperCross supplies the filters for John Cooper garages and the works team.

I hope this has been some use to you all, and please call if you want any further information...


Diamond Racing
877-781-7282


_________________
Diamond Mini

 

Thanks for the great photo. Did you notice any difference in overall performance?

 

has anyone installed a real cold air intake, or is there not enough room.

 

what is the possibility of using insulation (this type for example http://www.coolandquiet.com/product_detail.cfm?Prod=4 ) and covering the whole intake tubing and box? Or maybee a thinner material. does the intake get buried way down in the engine compartment or is it able to be accessed easily?

 

I emailed Bonneville Motorwerks (the company that makes shark injectors) a loooong time ago, but I never got a response. I guess I'll try contacting Turner Motorsports (I know Doug is on Roadfly so I'll ask him) since they sell the Shark, I'll assume that its easier for them to get in touch with Bonneville.

 

Someone needs to find out if Shark is going to make an injector for the MINI. If we can get HP increases with just an upgrade thru OBD-II, then great! Assuming that MINI has that kind of port. Does anyone know about this?

 

Maybe we can get Randy to chime in here and see if he can get in touch with Bonneville Motor Werks.........

As for the port, I'm sure there is somewhere to hook up to reset service indicators and run diagnostic tools. I haven't really had time to spend under my bonnet to look closely to see if its the same as the BMW ones, but again I'm sure Randy knows..

 

I would also like to know if anyone has drawn air directly thru the hood via a scoop?

 

>>Maybe we can get Randy to chime in here and see if he can get in touch with Bonneville Motor Werks.........
>>
>>As for the port, I'm sure there is somewhere to hook up to reset service indicators and run diagnostic tools. I haven't really had time to spend under my bonnet to look closely to see if its the same as the BMW ones, but again I'm sure Randy knows..

The OBDII plug is actually in the car - driver side far left under the dash.

I'll call them and find out about the "Shark", but I haven't heard of it yet.

wwwebb,

Alright, I'll tip my hand. I'm working on a cold air intake that uses the hood scoop. It will be a replacement panel for the intercooler cover that takes the airflow into the side of the airbox. Just remember you heard about it here!

Randy

 

I will most definately remember where I heard it randy. Every day that I hear of another thing you're working on, it makes me almost happier that I can't get anything yet! But when it comes to the time that I do get some stuff, I plan on getting it all thru you Randy..I guess the longer I wait the more goodies that will be coming my way!! lol

BTW Randy, I saw that Madness has a Throttle Body, are you doing/done/going to do any testing on this?? It seems like it would be a good upgrade to do to help the car breathe even better...

 

>>I will most definately remember where I heard it randy. Every day that I hear of another thing you're working on, it makes me almost happier that I can't get anything yet! But when it comes to the time that I do get some stuff, I plan on getting it all thru you Randy..I guess the longer I wait the more goodies that will be coming my way!! lol
>>
>>BTW Randy, I saw that Madness has a Throttle Body, are you doing/done/going to do any testing on this?? It seems like it would be a good upgrade to do to help the car breathe even better...

Thanks aperez!

I have a throttle body on the workbench as I write this - look for another How-to on that soon. I just need to get the camera here (Dave's on vacation). Tough to find good help . The dyno work is scheduled for Saturday, but I may be moving that based on the weather here - into ealry next week. The software issues needs to be resolved as well.

Randy