Just came back from Helix MINIsports in Philadelphia, PA. I had them install the 15% pulley reduction. This is my second mod - I have the Madness intake and now the pulley. I have the stock exhaust.

First impressions:

If any of you (and there seems to be plenty of you) are considering keeping the stock exhaust b/c of the drone and loudness issues, "listen" to this. The first thing I noticed was the pulley SOMEHOW makes the exhaust sound deeper and LESS tinny. Why and how I'm not sure but it is very noticeable. My MINI now has a deeper growl to it - it sounds really good but it isn't much louder and it doesn't drone!

The supercharger whine is totally music to my ears. Even my wife noticed the increase. At full throttle the whine is MUCH louder but it's 100% pleasant. Oh my God how wonderful!

Overall, the sound of my MINI sounds like a different car and it's a 100% improvement. More whine, deeper exhaust note and no tinny sound or drone!

Just like the dyno charts show, the S now starts to take off in the lower 2k RPMs instead of 3k RPMs. What a huge difference that is in day to day driving. On the NJ turnpike on the way home, I was able to keep it in 6th gear the whole time and still accelerate quickly anywhere between 70-90mph when I needed to! Excellent!

Sleepless mentioned that the only time he has problems with the tires spinning is at 5000 RPMs in first gear. I couldn't really imagine what he was talking about. But low & behold, I made a left at a traffic light starting from a standstill. I started off slowly and when the RPMs in first hit about 4500 or so I stepped on it (with DSC off). The tires squealed SO LOUD I couldn't believe it! It was one SERIOUS squeal! All I can say is WOW!

Gas mileage - Interesting. Although I expected the mileage to get worse, somehow I got much better mileage coming home than I did going there. On the way there I got around 35mph with no air and the sunroof closed for half the trip. The temps on the way there were between 50 and 60 degrees. On the way home, I averaged 37-38mph with the sunroof open and the air conditioning on pretty cold!!! The temps ranged from 70 at the start to 59 upon returning home. So it would seem to ME (which doesn't say much) that I should have averaged better mileage on the way there but somehow saw significantly better mileage on the way home. Hmmm....

Did I say I LOVE this upgrade?

After installing the Madness intake, I liked it. It was noticeably quicker and louder at WOT. Not much but noticeably to the seat of my pants. It was cheap and an easy install. I highly recommend it especially as a first mod.

Well if I noticed the Madness a little, I noticed the pulley 10x more than "a little". Probably due to the increase of 15 or so lbs of torque, the difference TRULY IS NIGHT AND DAY. For those thinking about it, stop thinking. Just do it! Again...WOW!

I had my wife and kid in the car and the boot and 4th seat were loaded with gear. So this "first impression" wasn't my best runs with the new pulley. I can't wait to try it tonight and tomorrow morning when I have no passengers and the temps are lower. But so far it's like driving my MINI for the first time again. The car "feels" different. Even off the line and driving around town at low throttle and lower RPMs it just feels different. It sounds different. And the biggest change is where the MINI really starts pulling. I think around the 2300-2400 RPM range instead of the 3000 RPM range. Let me tell you, what a difference that makes!

So without a dyno, with the intake and the pulley, I should be around 183 HP and 175 lbs of torque - just 2lbs of torque less than the JCW kit yet I've only spent around $700 total instead of $6k. And I have a cool Helix MINIsports sticker instead of the JCW badges. And you should see how cool the blue letters on my sticker look with my dark silver S. WOW!

Ok, enough with the WOWs, just do yourself a favor and get the pulley. You'll LOVE IT! And for those of you that can't handle the aftermarket exhausts but want more power, this will make you happy...very happy!

And lastly, the guys at Helix - Eric and Chris. Top notch guys. Nice, honest, enthusiastic. Like I said, I had the wife and kid with me so we made a day out of it. Dropped the MINI off in the morning then headed to central Philly and did some shopping, some eating and even took a hour-long horse and buggy ride around the city. What a beautiful day for that! My son is doing a report on Benjamin Franklin so we toured Independence Hall, the liberty bell and all the Ben Franklin exhibits. I even got pictures of my son with Benjamin Franlin stuff to put into his report.

I HIGHLY recommend Eric & Chris at Helix MINIsports to anyone within a days drive of Philadelphia. And if you're two days drive away, you're not too far. It's worth it. These guys REALLY know what they're doing and they LOVE MINIs. So you know they'll take care of your baby! Honestly, I could not recommend these guys more highly. It was a pleasure paying for their service knowing that my MINI was in good hands. Great hands. Check them out at

Helix MINIsports

Thanks for listening guys!

P.S. I'll update you guys with my second impressions tomorrow...

 

Greatgro,
What a terrific tale of MINI meets NEW PULLEY.
Now tell us how you really feel....LOL...(joking)
It's great to see a satisfied customer and more important a satisfied .....MODDED MINI OWNER!!!!!
2 questions....

1. What was the total cost pulley +all install costs = total??????

2. How did you justify the ...voided warrantee??????

peace,
d

 

You've got me all excited to get this now!
Do you plan on dyno'ing the car (even better if you have a before and after!)
Who did your install, and I'm guessing, at about $500 for labor, it was a 6ish hour job?
Randy, is this right?

 

are they the closest people to do this mod im in detroit and want to find someone so please any info would be great

 

greatgro,

You are seriously making me consider abandoning the warranty!!!

Congrats,

Chuck

 

I can't wait to do this mod, and I don't even have my MINI yet! Greatgro isn't helping things either. I'm doing it myself though - Randy's "how-to"s have inspired me!

 

Wow, how can you stand waiting that long??? :???:

 

600 dollars for install is way tooooooooo much, i was considering the pulley but only from JCW that wont void the warranty, but if the install is 600 dollars, that is twice the price of the pulley alone...

any cheaper installs (i dont think i can do self)?

 

It looked to me that greatgro spent 700 which includes 200 for the parts. If you think $500 is too much for the labor, knock yourself out and do it yourself. I did. i had to make a puller, a device to release the belt tension, put the car up on stands, jack up the motor and take on all the risk and surprises and it does only take about a half day.

Helix should be getting more.

 

WARNING!!!! I got Eibach springs installed on my car but didn't want to pay $360 for labor (Everyone was quoting me $90 an hour, 4 hours), so I went to a cheap shop in Anaheim and they said they'd do it for $25 an hour, 4 hours. First off, the install wound up taking 7 hours (they agreed to 4 so the cost stayed at $100) but they destroyed an axel end. There's a bolt on the end of the axel that holds the brake-wheel assembly onto the car and they stripped it outright. Fortunately they destroyed a bushing too, which made noise, or I would have just driven on it until the assembly fell off. MORAL OF THE STORY - you get what you pay for! I got a $1000 bill to replace the end of the axel, which the store (Robotek if you want to know) fortunately paid for me. If you aren't confident doing it yourself, take it to a respectable shop or maybe even have your dealer do it.

Just my 2p.

Oh, and it's not 7 months anymore! I'll fix the sig

 

Nice write-up greatgro!

 

>>It looked to me that greatgro spent 700 which includes 200 for the parts. If you think $500 is too much for the labor, knock yourself out and do it yourself. I did. i had to make a puller, a device to release the belt tension, put the car up on stands, jack up the motor and take on all the risk and surprises and it does only take about a half day.
>>
>>Helix should be getting more.


Thanks John! Truth is that I think greatgro was including the intake in his $ total. The pulley install runs just under $500 including the part! We have meet alot of MINI folks @ the shop but greatgro might be the most enthusiastic and well equipped MINI owner yet. He has ALL of the toys, you should see his R/C MINI- very very cool!

 

Congratulations!
Can you guys believe that you can purchase and install the pulley for $100 less than the greatest exhaust out there - MagnaFlow @ $600?

I don't think anyone can beat the $$/hp(torque) ratio on this one.



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'03 MCS - LY/W "Fried Egg"

 

>>>>It looked to me that greatgro spent 700 which includes 200 for the parts. If you think $500 is too much for the labor, knock yourself out and do it yourself. I did.
>>
>>Thanks John! Truth is that I think greatgro was including the intake in his $ total. The pulley install runs just under $500 including the part! >>>>

Chris is right. I was INCLUDING the price of the Madness Intake, the shipping for the intake AND the tools I had to buy to install the intake. So around $700 is my TOTAL cost - and that's REALLY including EVERYTHING! :smile:

Ryephile - it was a 4ish hour job. They do the install the shorter, "easier" way now.

I think that's it for now. If anyone has any more questions, let 'em rip! This is fun!

P.S. I can't tell you how cool it is feeling the car start to take off in the lower 2k RPMs. What a difference. It makes it feel like they put in a much larger engine. Maybe a small supercharged six cylinder instead of a small four! Hmmm...I haven't opened the bonnet yet...who knows????

 

>>P.S. I can't tell you how cool it is feeling the car start to take off in the lower 2k RPMs. What a difference. It makes it feel like they put in a much larger engine. Maybe a small supercharged six cylinder instead of a small four! Hmmm...I haven't opened the bonnet yet...who knows????

 

Is the power increase really noticeable? Does it pull a lot stronger?

 

>>Can you guys believe that you can purchase and install the pulley for $100 less than the greatest exhaust out there - MagnaFlow @ $600?

 

>>Is the power increase really noticeable? Does it pull a lot stronger?>>>>

Uh...hey Cooperspeed. Did you by any chance skip over my review??? YES, it's really noticeable and YES it DOES pull a lot stronger!
Does it pull like a 2003 M3? No. Absolutely not. Is it significanly faster than a stock S. Well, IMO, yes it is. I would say the difference is PROBABLY similar to the difference between the Cooper and the Cooper S. The pulley mod might make that much of a difference over a stock S (or the pulley and intake). 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!!!

THink about this then: it was a no-brainer for those of us who chose the S over the Cooper, right? And that cost us $3k. So how 'bout adding the pulley to the S????

One more thing - to those of you with an intake installed - you know that extra whine you get when you floor your MINI? Well with the pulley not only is it louder and more intense, but you hear it EVERY TIME YOU STEP ON THE PEDAL. There is always somewhat of a whine, even driving casually around town.

Did I say I love this mod???

And to whoever didn't really read my review and asked who installed this mod for me??? Helix MINIsport @ http://www.helix13.com

 

Like I said earlier and a previous post about the JCW kit, I'm now probably within 2lbs of torque of the JCW package. Which means in street driveability, you might not notice a difference between my modded S and a JCW. And if you wanted to spend a little more, get a rear sway bar and springs and you could kill a JCW - again for a fraction of the cost. The other benefit is that my MINI is stealth. There are no badges and stock exhaust. The only differences (intake and pulley) are under the bonnet. Well that's not exactly true now...I DID put a helix MINIsport sticker on my side window!

 

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

 

A lot of talk about 2k performance, but where you really start to grin is 3500 and up and at 5000 your getting slammed into the seat. The blower doesn't even work for you unless you're at WOT and pulling hard; at which point, 2k goes by very, very fast.

My suggestion is move your seat forward a notch or two so you can be sure to get the pedal to the floor when you get g'd back into the seat!

 

>>A lot of talk about 2k performance, but where you really start to grin is 3500 and up and at 5000 your getting slammed into the seat. The blower doesn't even work for you unless you're at WOT and pulling hard; at which point, 2k goes by very, very fast.
>>


Very well said. I wanted to emphasize the extra pull at lower RPMs for several reasons. For one, it seems to be the biggest complaint about the S - low RPM torque. Two, it's this difference that makes it feel like you have a difference engine under the bonnet b/c generally larger engines are lower revving and have more lower-end torque. This change in where the car starts pulling makes it feel MORE like I'm driving a Mustang GT than a Cooper S. Three, more torqu at lower RPMs translate into more fun on an everyday, every trip, every minute basis versus flooring it at higher RPMs. However, you're truly right about flooring it at higher RPMs - like I mentioned at the top - I was stunned when I "peeled out" by flooring it when I was already pushing 5k RPM!

 

Great write up Greatgro. Once my Mini arrives I'll put some miles on it before I start adding aftermarket performance parts like you did. First will be a new intake and after seeing your comments the second part will be a new pulley. I've thought about an exhaust but I don't care to much for louder than stock exhaust. A deeper tone like you said is great, I just don't care much for the raspy exhaust noises. One thing that is nice to hear is that the pulley increases the supercharger whine. I don't know what it is but I like the whine from the engine.

Hey, I can always use an excuse to visit the great city of Philadelphia.

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home.mchsi.com/~mini/index.html

 

SB- love your BRG/black S. I have a DS/white but I think your combo is my second favorite. Although I would consider adding the chrome mirrors. Haven't seen them in person, but with the configurator, they look great with BRG/black!

 

So .. do you like it?