Hey guys, I'm looking to remove the resonator on my 06 JCW (aka one ball mod), however I read quite a few comments of people who have done that to their JCWs and were unsatisfied with the sound because it was still too quiet. So now I'm thinking about removing the muffler and the resonator however I'm afraid of terrible drone at highway speeds. Has anyone straight piped their JCW and were happy in the long term?

Also, has anyone ever removed the muffler but kept the resonator? I feel like that would be the perfect option between the one ball mod and straight pipes.

 

You can buy 4-2-1 headers for some very reasonable prices. You then either modify your existing CAT or find a used one so the donut flange can be welded on. A JCW exhaust with a header is a great sounding exhaust.

I saw a used RMW Shorty on Ebay, think Texas area, that would also have a great sound.

 

Removing the resonator does not significantly increase the volume of the John Cooper Works exhaust. It does change the tone and makes the runoff significantly harsher. Think 'snaps' instead of 'pops', if that makes sense. I had a local shop do it for $100, I would probably just put that money towards a new exhaust if I had to do it again.

I'm just waiting until I find a good deal on a used exhaust but most of the aftermarket exhaust systems for R53s are too quiet for my taste. I'll hunt out an Invidia or a Borla "Race" at some point.

I've also toyed with the idea of having a relative in England buy an R53 Hornet exhaust, and then shipping it to me in the states. They are 200 British Pounds (~250 USD) with free shipping in the UK. Would probably cost me another $100 to ship it here, but that's still cheaper than the exhausts available in the US.

The One Ball Mod is for the standard R53 exhaust, not the JCW exhaust. Just make sure you don't confuse the two whilst you are doing your research.

I feel like there was discussion of running a resonator-only JCW exhaust but I can't seem to find it.

 

I will eventually get headers and a high flow cat in the future, but for now I just want to make my car louder for cheap, but without acquiring unbearable drone or significant loss of torque.

 

I bought a used system from a Serviceman that lived down at Bragg for my R53. Yes it was one of those cheap Asian specials but the guy also had a resonator welded in. I had to bend some of the hangers and grind the tips down so that they lined up but I had more complements on the sound of that thing.

 

There was a dude running an OBX system that posted the other day and I thought it sounded quite nice.

You can get good sound from an inexpensive exhaust, you just have to deal with Chinese fabrication standards.

 

 

I'm sure it will. If you have any reservations about the dealing with the noise from a straight exhaust I wouldn't recommend it. Straight pipes are ear splitting loud on non-turbo cars. I LOVE loud cars and bikes but I wouldn't run a straight pipe on anything that wasn't turbo'd.

 

The damn video does not convey how obnoxious a straight pipe on Mini really is. For curiosity I turned the engine on for like 30S to see what without catback would sound and to annoy my neighbours. I felt guilty running it any longer.

While this country is one of the freest one on earth, you right to freedom does not include intruding on others' right to peace and quiet. For respects of others' peace and quiet I like Germany and Japan. US cities has ordinance and laws but zero enforcement. It is a social attitude, and like smoking, will take a lot of time if ever to change.

 

Thanks man, that's exactly the kind of video I was looking for. I just got back from the muffler shop and they quoted me $75 to do the resonator delete. I think I'll hang on to my money and invest in an Invidia N1 exhaust instead. I saw a video of it on an R53 and it sounds mean af.

 

This is true. Here is one of my old motorcycles about mid-project with straight exhaust, no baffles. You can hear the microphone getting completely overwhelmed by how loud this thing was. It was way too loud. A Mini will pretty much experience the same kind of noise level but there's no resonance drone on a bike.


I am a big fan of the Invidia exhaust.

 

A guy here had a no cat header on his stock JCW exhaust and it pushing close to 100 dbs on a road course test. A jet plane is 105 dbs.

Straight pipe? Sorry cannot hear anymore . . . . . . .

 

DBs and noise ratings are interesting because they aren't linear. 100dbs is really not that loud in my opinion, but it quickly increases exponentially.

https://www.chem.purdue.edu/chemsafe...n/dblevels.htm