>>So .. do you like it? >>>


ROTFL

 

>>Can you tell I'm excited about this???

Well try to get some sleep. I know you're excited, but you need your rest to handle that extra torque. Let us know how the drive to work went!

 

>>>>So .. do you like it?

You have been successfully assimilated by the dark side of power

 

Mmmmm I want one too! :smile:

_________________

 

While I must admit this is great news I may wait.

The "Second mouse gets the cheese." as it were... I didn't get the lasic eye surgery yet because I'm concerned about the long term effects of the surgery. I have similar hesitation with the pulley change.

An intake can be taken off easily but that Pulley...

It's pretty funny that something you can touch with your finger takes 5-6 hours to change. :smile:

I'll probably do it but after my warranty is gone and there is more data on what the effects are.

Thoughts?

-Jim

 

>>While I must admit this is great news I may wait.
>>
>>The "Second mouse gets the cheese." as it were... I didn't get the lasic eye surgery yet because I'm concerned about the long term effects of the surgery. I have similar hesitation with the pulley change.
>>
>>An intake can be taken off easily but that Pulley...
>>
>>It's pretty funny that something you can touch with your finger takes 5-6 hours to change. :smile:
>>
>>I'll probably do it but after my warranty is gone and there is more data on what the effects are.
>>
>>Thoughts?
>>
>>-Jim
>>

Yeah, you can wait. But the first thing you'll ask yourself when you finally get one (and you WILL get one) is, "Why did I wait so long???"

 

greatgro, just reading your tale of your pulley install made me smile. If I had an S, you would have convinced me into doing this mod. Have lots of fun driving this week, the weather is great.

Now I won't have a chance in hell of keeping up with you at the NY meets :smile:

 

>>Yeah, you can wait. But the first thing you'll ask yourself when you finally get one (and you WILL get one) is, "Why did I wait so long???"


DOH! You're not supposed to say THAT!

You're supposed to say, "Jim, I can see and agree with your desire to wait."

I really don't want to tackle this myself; what kinds of questions are prudent to ask a shop that I'm evaluating to do this?

-J

P.S. May as well budget the money right now... I know I'm going to do this. Embrace the inevitable, right?

 

Addendum...

I think the answer is yes, but I really want something that makes the Mini more "torquey" around town. You know that "BuuuhhhhrrrrrVVVVVVVRRRMMM" that lags and then takes off?

 

Anyone know where you can get the install done in southern california??? If I can find a good install i'm on it.

 

Greatgro, I hate you.

Ok, there is a sport-tuning shop 'round the corner who specializes in BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, etc.

They have an excellent reputation here and they'll be willing to do it for $80 per hour. He's giving me a discount because I'd be their first Mini S and others here in Madison (where are you?) have approached him about mods and he's looking to do one.

What do you guys think?

Question: Which pulley is "the best" that everyone likes right now?

Question: Does said pulley kit come with a new belt?

Thanks!

-Jim

 

>>Ok, there is a sport-tuning shop 'round the corner who specializes in BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, etc.

Ok then. You're set.


>>They have an excellent reputation here and they'll be willing to do it for $80 per hour. He's giving me a discount because I'd be their first Mini S and others here in Madison (where are you?)

I'n in NJ. Had my install done in Philly, PA.


>>What do you guys think?>>>

I gotta tell ya. Like being a surgeon's first patient, I'd hate my MINI to be the shop's first one! An exhaust, fine. A pulley? I'd be a little concerned. Helix in Philly actually got the 2nd Cooper in the U.S. over a year ago. So they've been working on our babies for a while now.

<<<Question: Which pulley is "the best" that everyone likes right now?>>>

I believe they're all 15% reduction. There are two kinds the MINI-Mania 3 piece and the one piece. I can't tell you really which one is better I think someone already answered that on this or another thread. I'm not an expert on that stuff.


>>Question: Does said pulley kit come with a new belt?

No. Not needed. The belt fits a 15% pulley fine.


P.S. Don't know if it's my imagination, but I think my MINI is still getting faster! Maybe a ECU-related thing. But it's REALLY screaming now at higher RPMs!

Sorry, Jim. I know that's NOT what you wanted to hear!

 

Thanks!

Well, I trust them ripping my Mini apart more than I trust myself doing it. Someone has to be first. They've done Supercharger pulleys before just not specifically a Mini. At least he told me. :smile:

-J

 

greatgro got our pulley.

 

How much time for the labor?? And which pulley did you use??

 

Nobull

We used our pulley and charge four hours shop time.

 

Wow - did this take off in a hurry!

I can totally see how greatgro is so very excited. It is 16+ horspower and the curve is shifted slightly to the left for torque in the RPM band.

I honestly expected more "feel" exactly because of these types of posts from the early UK guys that did the pulley. I was a little dissappointed. Keep that in mind when reading (and losing sleep) over this mod.

That said, I think the pulley is the best single engine performance mod without regard to the warranty.

Another point that must be made - the guys at Helix (Eric and Chris) totally know their stuff. I highly recommend them as well for this (or any other) install.

As far as the pulley itself - there is the Mania 3 piece, and the P&D made two piece (which is the one BMP, Helix, and I carry - I carry the Mania as well now). The big difference is in the install. The P&D is interference fit, just like the factory Eaton pulley. It requires heating the hub and fitting it very quickly to the shaft. The Mania pulley uses an industrial type taper fit. It is installed by simply sliding the pulley onto the shaft at room temp and tightening the bolts. It is a much easier install (the pulley part - the rest is the same no matter what pulley you use). If I were to do the install at a good shop like Helix or MINI-Motorsport

 

>>Another point that must be made - the guys at Helix (Eric and Chris) totally know their stuff. I highly recommend them as well for this (or any other) install.
>>


Blush - thanks.

 

I heard that there are different size pulleys. What's available, and which is the best pulley for performance?

Peace, Charlie

 

Hi Charlie,

The short answer is that we have three different sizes right now, stock, 10 % and 15 % reduction. The 15% offers the most increase in hp and torque. Give us a call @ the shop if you have any questions. If your around on this friday, a few of us are headed up to E-Town to do a little drag racing, Are you up for it?

 

The difference being is the S pulls late and the Cooper can't keep up - here it's even better b/c the modded S starts pulling early and will leave the stock S behind!!!

Now that's the best decription I've read concerming my feelings about my MCS. I have always felt there was hardly any difference in the MC & MCS at low end and the difference didn't become noticable till much higher rpms....the MCS proving more responsive on expressways and highways at 50 to 70 mph plus, but around town, no significant difference....now I'm hearing that you get the performance boost at the low end which I always expected but never got in comparison to the MC. Sounds really exciting and since I now have 15K plus miles on my MCS, this mod sounds very tempting since I was never excited about adding the exhaust realizing there was little if any low end torque increase and also not liking the drone of it for highway driving....thanks for the review, sounds like more like what the MCS was meant to be without the limitation of poor low end torque the Chyrsler engine offers..

 

Charlie,

Chris can answer your questions, but I'd be happy to talk with you as well. There are some limitations other than the hub size that jlm spoke of - boost, water cavitation, gearbox issues, etc. It has been determined by several different people now that the 15% pulley provides the optimum performance result without sacrificing the reliabilty of the gearbox, without raising the cylinder head temps to a dangerous level by cavitating the water pump, and without generating excessive intake charge temps by using a modified Roots type supercharger to push 16+ psi.

Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions. Both Helix and I have done extensive testing on the pulley change - track testing, dyno testing, and parts monitoring for a start. Only a few tuners have actually done the pulley installation as well - Helix, Speedware Motorsports, MINI-Motorsport (my favorite ), and soon Perfect Power (I'm sure there are a few others too). My advice would be to talk to someone who has done the mod (a customer) as well as myself or Helix on the pulley particulars.

Hope that helps!

Randy
720-841-1002
randy@mini-motorsport.com

 

Just a general question for anyone: what about a chip? I didnt see anything mentioned about that, even though I was certain that chip+pulley should be done together? Please set me straight if not--

 

The chipping hasn't been yielding much additional horsepower in comparison. The pulley is good for 10-15 hp for $200 and the chipping is another about 6-10 hp for $500-$750 more. It' kind of hard to justify the chip tuning at this point. (Randy correct me if I'm wrong on those figures).

 

>>The chipping hasn't been yielding much additional horsepower in comparison. The pulley is good for 10-15 hp for $200 and the chipping is another about 6-10 hp for $500-$750 more. It' kind of hard to justify the chip tuning at this point. (Randy correct me if I'm wrong on those figures).

No, I think you are about right - the pulley has been yielding slightly more than that around the country though. I think the lowest number I've seen is 14, and the highest is 18 - but you wre pretty close (knowing you are an engineer though, I respceted your need for the exact numbers ).