So I popped the new Pilo Intake I got into my car this afternoon, and, with the help of my wife, tested it a bit, just revving the engine to different levels and listening/watching. I couldn't help but notice something that seemed really odd to me. Instead of a normal exhaust sound that I would describe (when revving, and then letting it drop back to idle) as going VRRRRRRRROOOOOOOoooooooommmmmmmm...in other words getting loud and then trailing off as it falls back to idle, it now goes VRRRROOOOOOOOMMMMMM-BUPBADUPADUPDUPDupdupdup...in other words, it revs up nice and smooth like before, but now it sort of gurgles and burps (including quite a bit of water) out of the tailpipe when revs fall off.

I will note that it is in the mid 80's here in Chicago and it's pretty damn humid too, so maybe that combo is making the exhaust sputter a bit. And frankly, it's remotely possible that this has happened before and I just didn't notice it, but I kind of doubt it.

I await you guys' ideas regarding this, but it's mildly freaking me out, probably unnecessarily. I'll drive it to work in a couple of minutes and write back about that later on tonight, as far as overall performance improvements go.

Thanks!

 

Hey Chitown_COOP. I have no knowlegde of why it would do that.
But I noticed you are in Chicago. Me Too (BG to be exact).
Do you have your windows tinted and if so can you recommend someone in the area.

 

Don't know for sure why but mine did this yesterday and it is bone stock under the bonnet. I don't think the Pilo had anything to do with it.

 

Sorry. Don't know anything about tinting.

Also, it's possible that it does it all the time, and I never noticed it, because it's almost impossible to hear inside the cabin. But standing behind the car while the engine is revved it's pretty wild...really sounds more like some of the aftermarket exhausts that I've seen in videos...I dunno.

 

I forget the technical term for this, but it's normal. In fact, lots of folks (me included) actually find the burble of exhaust back pressure highly desirable. I had this sound when my car was new and for the first 7 months or so, but then lost it :smile:

 

The Burble you speak of, happlens in most mini's when the engine is falling from high rev back down under no load. It is just the way that the exhaust is tuned. I love that sound esp when autocrossing, between gears, reminds me sort of the backfire from the Rally cars. Hope that you enjoy the Intake also

Thanks
Dan
Pilo Racing

 

The burble rules!
You can maximize the affect if you get up to speed (50-60) and let off the gas all the way, and just barely lean back on ,let off, and so on, and it will burble away! Coasting down a hill also works pretty good ,with the car in gear of course.

 

My MINI has quite a bit of "burble" when you rev it up (specifically: to around 2.8k-3.5k RPM's) and let off the throttle, it will always make very beautiful sounds. :smile: I am absolutely loving the potent supercharged 4 cylinder experience.

 

Intakes for some reason, actually do enhance the exhaust sound. You should hear the pulley - that really deepens the stock exhaust.

 

Thanks for the responses and the terminology. Burble...what a great term.

Yeah. That's perfect. It wasn't that it necessarily bothered me; like I said, it actually sounds more aftermarket-style than I was used to...and perhaps the addition of the intake could have thrown things off just enough for it to come out. I dunno.

As far as the intake goes, it's very nice. A high-quality piece of work for a decent price. I hear everyone talking about the whine being increased, and there is a bit of that. But what I hear is, at around 2K RPM, there is this awesome sucking sound of the engine pulling in air that is barely noticeable with the OEM airbox. It just sounds freaking aggressive! :evil: SSSSSSSS......whiiiiiiiiiiiiiine..........burble!

Me gusta!

 

Do it under a bridge, or in a parking garage. Sounds pretty wild. I have the Cooper, but when I changed the intake - holy mackerel. Burble, gurgle, whatever. Almost sounded ready to backfire! I never thought I'd have a car that sounded like that!

 

..gotta love that PILO intake....it's a steal, buy two!! You'll nver know when someone is going to have a birthday or something. Nothing says you care more than a nice PILO intake!!

Seriously, it's a great product at a great price, if there's people out there on the fence about which intake to do...get it!! Although the Alta intake is pretty impressive too!

http://outmotoring.com/pilo_racing_intake.html

BTW, Danp, that's a great shot of the UUC ****!!