I hope the UPS man makes a visit to you soon.

 

Got my quicksilver today - sure looks nice!

I may be alone here in that I didn't worry at all about the delivery of this exhaust, because my car is still "scheduled for production"... this is supposed to be the week it is built though. Anyway, the stainless steel looks really nice, and I'll be putting it on the car before the stock exhaust has more than, oh, twenty miles on it...

 

I had my QS installed this morning (one hour labor and no problems- I passed on the tip about having someone hold the center tail pipe while the clamps were being tightened up to ensure that it all hangs well and dead center.

Overall- I am thrilled with it. It is loud. Maybe because it is new? Will give it a 1000 miles and decide. Maybe I will be a little deaf by then. I don't think that the stock exhaust is loud. It is quiet. I think the Borla is louder than stock while the QS is louder than Borla but not as loud as the Magnaflow.
To keep the loudness down and to cut down on any possibility of droning it is best to be gentle with the throttle. You can ease off the throttle just slightly to cut the loudness significantly. Idling is fine.
The fit and finish is great. The tail pipe oval tip is awesome- a real head turner. Like an oval bazooka but not at all like the ones you find on Hondas. Pictures do not capture the beauty of the QS tip.
I did feel that the combination of the Madness intake and QS worked very well with noticable added power of about 10+ HP once the exhaust was added to the intake that was already on the car.

Here are some threads to review on the QS
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...amp;topic=5456
and
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...amp;topic=8588
And some pictures from previous posts:

 

Anyone have the dual tip quicksilver yet??? Is it available yet???

 

>>Anyone have the dual tip quicksilver yet??? Is it available yet???

It is available. I've seen them on the shelves at Madness.

R

 

I like the dual tip! SWEET! Now I just need to hear the Quicksilver and Magnaflow in person to decide which one is for me.

 

Definitely you should see each and listen to each in person. If you ever get a chance try driving one and get it up to about 3500 to 4500 rpm in 3rd for each. That is where the fun begins.
A brief comparison
Magnaflow
http://magnaflow.com/02product/cat-backs/minicooper.htm
Cost- $600 discounted, $901 retail-Ouch!
Options-None
Power gain- Adds about 10-13 HP at the wheel and 15.5 ft-lbs. torque (from http://www.mcshp.org/data.html)
Loudness- This is the most loud exhaust
Droning- known for problems with droning at about 60-70 mph
Fit and finish- very nice
weight- 37.8 pounds
Warranty- Lifetime!

 

i kind of like the oval pipe, since all of the aftermarket pipes except it have dual tips.... just a thought... kind of unique!

but, should the exhaust be vibrating while idiling?

 

Is this Group Buy over?

 

>>Is this Group Buy over?

Buy was closed long ago. In May I requested that the subject line of the post be modified to reflect this (e.g. "Quicksilver Group Buy [CLOSED]&quot so those readers who are interested, but too late, wouldn't waste their time sifting through all the messages.

 

Yes this group buy is over but I just wanted to say that if it ever happens again later that the quicksilver is a very nice exhaust. I have one and it is better than I thought it would be. Not sure if it mellowed out at all since I installed it- so far I have driven about 700 miles on it. It certainly is louder than stock and louder than the borla. I have the madness intake and with the quicksilver the midrange power is extremely noticeable. I also really like that single oval tip. The louder exhaust note does not bother me at all and I don't notice any droning. Also my wife has not made any negative comments-amazing. She asked what is in that big box (3'by4'). I said er, um, a muffler. Ok, enough said.

Also if you are after a ton of upgrades then the quicksilver might not be the very best choice due to not having as free flow through a design. Maybe too much heat will build from higher backpressure. So not as much HP gain.

If you are doing limited upgrades like only the intake, wires, header, suspension,brakes and wheels then the quicksilver is fine.
Adding the pulley, ECU, throttlebody, etc would be a big upgrade.

 

>>Also if you are after a ton of upgrades then the quicksilver might not be the very best choice due to not having as free flow through a design. Maybe too much heat will build from higher backpressure. So not as much HP gain.
>>
>>If you are doing limited upgrades like only the intake, wires, header, suspension,brakes and wheels then the quicksilver is fine.
>>Adding the pulley, ECU, throttlebody, etc would be a big upgrade.


I wish there was more info on this. Everyone keeps quoting one guy - from MINImadness I believe. HIS OPINION was that the Borla Race exhaust might be best and the quicksilver or magnaflow might not be good with a lot of powerful mods. As Andy would say, where are the dyno sheets? I haven't heard ANYONE else feel this way other than quoting the one guys who feels that the Borla is best. Maybe he has something to gain by people buying the Borla over the quicksilver? When we want proof to back everything else up that is posted here, why are a lot of people taking the guy's opinion on exhausts as fact. Randy doesn't agree with him. I haven't heard Helix chime in and back this train of thought.

Anyway, I'm not attacking anyone by any means, I'm just curious as to why it seems several dozen people are writing the same thing about the exhausts - that the magnaflow and quicksilver are great but don't get them if you have the pulley it may be too restrictive - when in fact, we really don't know one way or the other.

 

True, there are no known hard dyno numbers to back up these claims by Hartmut of Renntech.
If RandyBMC doesn't think that this seems correct then that is a hopeful sign that we have some options.
I don't know if there is any particular incentive to cast doubt on certain exhausts working well with heavily modded MCS cars. I'm keeping my Quicksilver until the warranty expires or the car blows up

Check out Davbret's comments from
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...amp;topic=9885
Judge for yourself.

 

if the quicksilver and magnaflow exhaust systems would have to much backpressure with other mods then why would mini-madniss make a stage 2 package with the exhaust, pully, intake, and ecu upgrade. They claim that all of their products and packages are tested in over 100mph tests so it seems that it would be alright to have these mods but i duno, just a thought.

 

Right now, even with the Quicksilver, I still plan to do the other upgrades like pulley and ECU, throttlebody and header.
It doesn't mean that it cannot work, just that the combination may not be as optimal as it could be with a different exhaust.
I'm not certain how much difference it might make but it might be smaller than I need to worry about. If it is a 4HP difference then
That is too bad and I can live with it rather than replace my exhaust for one with more optimal backpressure. SInce no one has really
documented the differences in a concrete way I think we just have to be aware that this possibility exists and not assume that even solid exhausts
are guaranteed to always give the "best" results.

 

Now on this free-flow exhaust thing. I thought the Magnaflo was the least restrictive out there. Have you read something I haven't? Please advise, I plan on using the Mini Mania NRP exhaust which is 2 1/2" dual inline mufflers in combination with Pulley, ALTA Intake, ECU Upgrade too.
Am I making a mistake? Too Restrictive or Too much Backpressure, anyone care to help me out here? Thanks, Itzamazn

 

Eric @ Helix has told me that he's seen the NRP make the SAME gains as the magnaflow on a car with a bunch of mods. Which seems to make sense b/c the magnaflow MAY NOT be doing as well with the pulley and the NRP is a more straight-thru design yet still has the 2 1/2" pipes (yet no drone). Itzamazn - I think you might have a good setup planned there.

 

This is not proven-just theoretical-it needs some head to head dyno numbers to back it up

If NRP is a free flowing "straight through" design then yes it might do well with a highly upgraded MCS.
The reason why Magnaflow wasn't doing as well (in theory) was because of the Y-piece being not straight through enough compared to the Borla Sport exhaust.

The quicksilver wasn't doing as well (in theory) because it created too much backpressure with the high HP modded MCS and heat was building up.

I don't know for sure- Ask Harmut at Renntech!

 

>>Eric @ Helix has told me that he's seen the NRP make the SAME gains as the magnaflow on a car with a bunch of mods. Which seems to make sense b/c the magnaflow MAY NOT be doing as well with the pulley and the NRP is a more straight-thru design yet still has the 2 1/2" pipes (yet no drone). Itzamazn - I think you might have a good setup planned there.

greatgro, That was music to my ears! I hope we're both right. As soon as the rest of my parts get here we will find out for sure and I let you know how it performs.

O.K. Randy and Steve if you read this, please get me my parts as soon as you can,
we got work to do! Itzamazn

 

Itza-
If you do find out how good the NRP works for you please do post the findings and let us know how it all works out.
Thanks

 

>>Itza-
>>If you do find out how good the NRP works for you please do post the findings and let us know how it all works out.
minihune,
It will be my pleasure. I am anxiously awaiting it's delivery, along with some other goodies. Itzamazn

 

I don't know where that rumor came from, but I definitely don't agree.

The Magnaflow is what I have on my car with over 200 hp at the wheels. The Magnaflow is still the least restrictive of the systems out there. I like the NRP for its sound and weight, but the power hasn't quite measured up to the Magnaflow. The Quicksilver is also a very nice system for it's weight and finish, and the power has been very close on some systems, and a little farther off on other systems. Something I've found to be important when testing exhaust systems on the dyno is to make sure you aren't throwing on a brand new system - the results vary widely between systems that have been "broken in" and new systems (that goes for almost all of them).

There are a couple still to be tested - and the UUC that has been vaporware up to this point will be arriving next week (though I'll be in California so it will take a week or so before I get to do any testing with it). There are 200 production units rolling off the assembly line!

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Randy

 

Randy, whats your thoughts on Supersprint, and should someone get the exhaust before the pulley/ecu?

 

>>I don't know where that rumor came from, but I definitely don't agree.

Davbret mentioned it was from Harmut at Renntech in a previous post.
And if you don't agree then that is great. There is hope for the rest of us.

>>The Magnaflow is what I have on my car with over 200 hp at the wheels. The Magnaflow is still the least restrictive of the systems out there. I like the NRP for its sound and weight, but the power hasn't quite measured up to the Magnaflow. The Quicksilver is also a very nice system for it's weight and finish, and the power has been very close on some systems, and a little farther off on other systems. Something I've found to be important when testing exhaust systems on the dyno is to make sure you aren't throwing on a brand new system - the results vary widely between systems that have been "broken in" and new systems (that goes for almost all of them).

I have the quicksilver. How many miles before an exhaust is "broken in"? 1000 miles OK?
For the QS what combination of mods works best or least well?

Dyno a brand new exhaust add on? Right-I'm sure the results are affected, not to mention each dyno is a bit different and each MINI is a bit different.

>>There are a couple still to be tested - and the UUC that has been vaporware up to this point will be arriving next week (though I'll be in California so it will take a week or so before I get to do any testing with it). There are 200 production units rolling off the assembly line!

Help the UUC demon is biting me! OK more waiting, I'm used to that. Thanks for this update. I know you are very busy.

>>Let me know if you have any other questions.
>>
>>Randy

 

OK, I too have the quicksilver and in just 3 days will also have my pulley, and re-adjusted ECU, then throttle body, and London header. Also have the Rogue intake, and moded rear wall of airbox so will be interesting to see if there is too much heat build up at the muffler, time will tell ........... will report back in soon.