Installed my Dinan CAI today, one word...SICK. The supercharger whine is awesome and at cruising speeds the car is nice and quite. I love it...

 

Any pics?


joe r

 

Congrats!


joe r

 

I'll get some up shortly

 

install pics added; exterior shots to follow

 

Verry nice.


joe r

 

exterior pic

 

Wow, jblow, that looks nice. I like the stance. Are those 16" wheels? I also notice it looks like you have the Nvidia exhaust. How do you like it, the blue tips are nice. Overall, very nice indeed

 

Thanks a lot! I'm running 16x7 Rota subzeroes, 45mm offset w/ 215/45/16 Hankook Z212s

Installed the Invidia about a year ago and have been very happy with it - great sound, excellent fit and finish. Tone is a lot deeper relative to stock and not overly noticeable while cruising around town....until you hit the gas

Hope to get some autox time on the new suspension here shortly

 

Jblow, looks great! How do you like the ride ?

Im tempted to do the DINAN suspension but i drive my MINI almost every day and im afraid it will be too harsh for daily use. (roads around here are ok in some areas, bumpy and pot-holes in others)
That and $2300 installed from the DINAN dealer is alot to swallow after the S2 i already have on the car and all the rest of the mods i have planned

 

Thanks! Admittedly, I've not logged a lot of time on the new suspension as yet (the car is no longer my daily driver). However, my initial impressions are that the ride remains very streetable and not overly harsh. My MCS has ~ 44k miles - after removing the original struts, I found that they were a bit tired (very very slow to retract) so I am not comparing my perspective to a fresh set-up. The ride is more firm, but not brutal (in fact it certainly appears to ride less harsh than when I had the original s-lites and run flats on the car) and not too bad when running on concrete roads w/ expansion joints if you're not going huge distances (frequent pot holes may be another story). It may be worth noting that I am running 16" wheels so this may have some bearing on ride quality relative to a larger diameter wheel (though I am running a bit more aggressive aspect ratio relative to stock). Turn-in is dramatically sharper and while I've not had the opportunity to drive on the track quite yet, I can say that the limits of adhesion appear to be improved greatly (e.g. speeds which used to push the limits on entrance ramps are now performed without drama). In addition, I also noticed the car does feel much more stable at higher speeds than in the past - I'd read this in reviews of the package, but was suprised at how noticeable this was right away. I believe Dinan has a 10% rebate on the parts through this month (does not apply to install charges). The install isn't too bad if you are so inclined - this was really the first suspension install I'd done.

 

I'm thinking about putting on a Dinan Exhaust and I just wanted to get peoples thoughts on this exhaust vs others out on the market.
Being that its single sided its lighter but is there any real gains from this exhaust vs other; other than weight and maybe some sound.

Thanks
Marshall

 

I say just say no to the Dinan exhaust. $900 for a cat back is a deal breaker for me. If you want, spend $50 for the one-ball and you'll have something very similar (I won't say the same, b/c I'll assume their muffler and piping is a bit better). If you're cool with $900 on an exhaust you may want to check out the Milltek. Also Alta has a cool looking black powder coated one, but I haven't heard it yet.

/zp

 

I find the DINAN suspension at times stiff - and I get tired of the road imperfections - but sometimes I'm glad to have the extra stability like at a recent event with the BMW CLub. The car corners amazingly well and I must agree that it feels more confident at highway speeds. As for the exhaust note, it is a matter of personal taste. Over 3500 rpm there is quite a healthy sound as stated earlier by others. MINI Club members seem to like it - I tend to be aware and at night I can get around nicely under 3500 rpm. Some on this forum have complained about rust which I have not experienced. While we can verbalize our likes and dislikes, personal experience is really what will convince us one way or the other. For example, I was able to attend a DINAN event here and had the opportunity to ride in a DINAN BMW M3. Wow! It really got me thinking about supporting them again if I should acquire one of those cars. Perhaps DINAN might be encouraged to appear at your DINAN approved MINI dealership with a DINAN S2 MINI for you to experience. It might convince you that it is a petty good product and that might help sales.

 

its not even a cat-back. its just the rear muffler section which you have to cut your muffler off and clamp theres on. Give it up for dinan and there over priced junk parts.

P.s If no one knew / half of the price is the actual parts price and the rest is the warranty. i used to pay about 300 for these exhausts when i was a rep for them at a dealership.

 

Thanks for the clarification - Here is a pic:


/zp

 

Your car will probaly drive smoother over rough roads with the Dinan suspension, as it is a progressive wind spring, and your current spring (H&R or H-sports? I forget) is not.

 

Where does it say the Dinan springs are progressive? I like the M7 springs b/c they are progressive, but the drop is too low for me so I'm looking at other progressive options.

Thanks.
/zp

 

I've not seen anything which indicates if the Dinan springs are progressive or linear either.

 

I suppose I could be wrong, but I could have sworn that my Dinan reps told me that all their suspensions have progressive rate springs.

 

I had to laugh, 3 years ago when you were a rep for them, they were the cat's meow. Now, they're over priced junk parts.

The ironic part is you worked for as a Dinan rep and yet while praising their "software", you had your own car tuned by Jan....


Not a flame, I just found it funny.... things change.

Mark

 

lol....I just recently had my car tuned by Jan a few weeks ago. I always knew the stage 5 software i had wasnt enough but ok until i got a real tune with the mods i had cuz they were out of there range of mods for the software compatibles.

Of coarse back then when i was selling it i was pushing it cuz i made money on it but its def not enough if u have larger injectors or a 19% pulley which i have.

 

lol, that's cool. I just found it "haha" funny... no disrespect meant. You going to MOTD? I'd love to take a ride in a 215HP mini.

Mark

 

211 "WHP" ty...lol...and that was with bad injectors. more to come of her with the larger injectors i have on order and the re-tune.

im not into those things. well events anyways. id go there with a few friends on a weekend when there isn't anything going on so we can really take on those roads with no traffic.

 

Now you guys are touching on something about which I've been curious. You can see in my sig what I've got. I'm adding my new Quaife (thanks JSC group buy) and clutch next week and was wondering about the benefits of having the vehicle retuned by Jan. There will be no other drivetrain components added (save perhaps replacing the Dinan exhaust with a cat-back), but at the same time I don't feel like I'm getting the most out of the car with Dinan Stage 5 software. Anyone else have someone else like Jan re-tune their vehicle after Dinan? Any reason?