well, yeah, i have all that stuff, and ironically my car runs pretty good right now, just entertaining the idea at this moment, but calling Eric is a good idea, thanx

 

Eric was great in answering my questions and the best thing about it was he was nut making me buy anything I did not need. He was actually telling me a lot of things that I should be wasting my money on! When I asked him about the pulleys, he said that if you are not to track the car and drive it on the street and want to enjoy it, a 19% would be fine as the way the car is stock! He said you do not need bigger injectors or spark plugs. If you were to run a tuned computer, then he said you would want to go the route of getting bigger injectors. He also told me of new injectors that he will be getting in that are sweet! He also said that the upgraded spark plugs are not needed and to save my money. He said, if the car would to fail, you would want your plugs to fail first and not the motor! Call Eric up and speak with him! he will answer all your questions. I was only there to check out the shop and ask some questions and I ended up getting a pulley, let alone a 17%! Let me tell you I just got back from driving tonight and man this thing hauls a$$! I had to turn the traction control off as the car kept spinning the tires! My friends who have driven my car before loved how much power it gained! It is well worth the money! I can not believe that I waited this long to get something like this. It has put a nice huge smile on my face! Again call Eric up! He is a great guy and treats his customers the way they should be treated!

Garrett

 

Garret, why the 17 and not 19?
I'm glad it was a worthwhile trip.

 

I will go on record anytime any day in support of the 19%. I went the whole hog, with GIAC and injectors, but drove the car with just the 19% for a while. Its fantastic, and even more of a monster with the subsequent upgrades. I also went with Eric at Helix for all my upgrades, and I'll go on record in support of him anytime any day too!

 

I went the 17% because I did not feel that I wanted to go that high right now. I can always have Eric add the 19% when I am ready. I went with the 17% because it was in between the two and when Eric explained to me about all three I felt that 17% was good enough for now. besides it will give me something to look forward to later! I must say that the 17% is really nice! I keep spinning the tires and the DSC keeps kicking in. This is with not even redlining the car! I guess I need to turn the DSC off when I want to enjoy it a little!

Garrett

 

Congrats on the new pulley - sounds fun!

Can you be very specific as to where you are spinning tires? Through the gears (which ones), when shifting, etc? With my stock runflats & pulley, i can easily get the car to spin the tires through a good bit of first and squeal hard into second. (DSC on)

Just trying to get an idea of where the new power is at.

thanks!

 

If I can recall going into third the tires would start to spin. I would have to turn the DSC off in order for a cleaner drive. I also noticed better pick up in 6th gear as well! If I am on the highway and hit the pedal more, the car will just pick up and go! I can not believe how much louder it is as well! I can hear the air being sucked into the supercharger and not just the supercharger itself. I can not wait to get my obdII software in so I can data log the car and see how things are running.

Garrett

 

Garrett,
Great to see you took the plunge. It's all downhill from here. Next you'll be doing big brakes, suspension, head, exhaust, Twincharge ...
Your bank account will never be the same.

 

Part of my start-up checklist includes: Turn off DSC (except in rain or snow)

Otherwise it's always shutting down my power.

Looking forward to my visit with Eric on the 31st!!

 

I've been running an Alta 19% since the first week of January, roughly 2,000 miles of city/highway driving. I've pushed my car very hard at times and I don't sense any knock or anything. I live in Miami with hot weather, so far i've pretty much driven the car in the high 60s to mid 70s (with the occasional spike to the 90s)... However, for the past couple of days its been around low to mid 80s and i've pushed the car VERY hard trying to see how the car reacts to the higher temps. The car has reacted very well and I feel that unless you track the car and run over 4,500 CONSTANTLY (a full track day basically), you can run the 19% pulley...

EDIT: Injectors and chip are in my to-do list, but they are not at the top... Forgot to mention that a fellow mini enthusiast has run his car in 100+ degree weather and NOTHING happened... Basically in daily driving, even when spirited, you are at high RPMs for such a short period of time that the heat isn't too great of an issue... Please correct me if i'm wrong, and by correct I mean show or name one car that has had ANY failure of a 19% pulley during DAILY (no track, auto-x, etc.) driving...

 

I think you're right. Talk of 19%er problems has been mostly theoretical. I don't think I've seen any first-hand posts claiming an engine failure directly as a result of a 19% pulley.

Regarding detonation, we're relatively fortunate on the East Coast as premium is typically a full 2 points higher (93) than that specified for a stock MCS and that available in CA. Our left coast buddies have a much bigger challenge with the boost.

 

Yup We are VERY fortunate to have 93 octane gas in the local pumps... Oh and I haven't had any belt failures as of yet...

 

I already have an exhaust on the mini, as for now I need not to spend any more money. I need to toss all the money I make and put it into savings. I am being forced to move out in about a year and a few months. So that is priority now. I had some extra money and that is what I used to pay for the pulley! As Eric at helix stated, injectors are not really needed unless you plan on having the computer tuned! So for now, I will enjoy the car as it is now and also enjoy this awesome weather we are having here right now!


Garrett