Wondering if there is any gain from having a reduction crank pulley like the Alta that Way offers. I've read that lighter cranks reduce the effort the engine has to output making it work easier. Is this true? Any harm any doing this? Any gains?

Thanks.

 

A crank reduction pulley basically functions like added a smaller pulley on you supercharger.....so a 15% pulley and a 2% reduction pulley has almost the same performance as a 17% pulley. One thing to note is that unless you change the pulleys on the alternator and A/C compressor, they are being run faster than normal...(possibility causing a slight increase in parasitic drag from the attached items, and maybe shorting their service life)....but the crank pulley does off the benefit of longer and maybe more reliable belt life....17% and 19% reduction pulleys sometimes require belt changes more often than 15% to maintain reliability.
Many debates have been conduction on the pluses and minuses of going with a lighted crank reduction pulley....Lighter is better IMO, but it is considered to be standard in the industry that if you remove a harmonic balancer...to reinstall one.....it is designed to absorb vibrations that could be transmitted to the crankshaft, that undampened could shorten the life of the bearings. That bearing said many have used them, with little firsthand evidence of damage.....That being said, in my aviation background, I can state unequivocally, that harmonic vibrations can damage or destroy a motor in seconds, and if the engineer says our motor needs a damper, not using one says you are taking a chance. I like to say...why would MINI/BMW spend $300 or $400 per motor to install a damper if we did not need one....they did the math....it must make economic sense on some level.
I think WayMotorWorks is now selling a Reduction pulley for the MINI with dampening.....now you can have your cake, and eat it too!!

 

wat zippy says is true 100

alot of cars have different types of harmonic balancers but on the mini getting a lghtweight crank pulley means getting rid fo the the balancer which probably is not good for the crankchaft. But as he said now you can have your cake and eat it too.

They do give a good boost in acceleration. Ive had one on many cars and especailly if you run it without the a/c belt you notice a huge difference. but even just the lightened pulley does wonders. Ive had a lightweight crank pulley plus lightwegith pullies for the accesories and wow you could tell the car was pulling a bit harder then before.

 

So is there any downside to the product Way is now selling (ATI Super Damper crank pulley w. 2% overdrive)?

I've been thinking about a 17% SC pulley, and I'm not sure I'd really need to go the equivalent of 19% (17% + 2%); but 15% + 2% should be "safer" than a 17%, right?

 

I'd talk to Way and LMG.....If you need a new Damper, or think yours might fail soon, then doing the aftermarket damper, regular or smaller is lighter, cheaper, and most likely better. If you don't need a new damper, than it is at the expense of extra $$.
Like I stated before....the advantage of the reduction pulley 2% and a 15% is longer belt-life, and possible less slippage on the supercharger due to a larger surface area for the belt to grip. IMO, the 17% is better for you. If you already had a 15%, and wanted more, you could then add the 2% reduction pulley, getting a bit of extra oomph, and replacing a damper that could be getting ready to fail. Belts are cheap...ans so easy to install...the one new belt per year that LMG recommends is cheap INS..and likely appropriate....the belts are like 25$, and the LMG will likely toss one one on for ya at minimal $ if you are getting something else done(he can do it when the car is on the lift very easily), or you can DIY it in about 20-60 Minutes...I have a Tensioner tool that I could loan you since you are local.
Like I stated before....you might save some $ on belts, but it may have other costs.....you are running the alternator and the AC pump slightly faster....alta does sell a pulley that is re-sized for the alternator to slow it down.....2% is not much so you might be able to ignore this, but this, with some possible extra wear, parasitic drag from running the A/C faster does muddy the waters a bit!!
The fact that WAYMOTORWORKS's new pulley is lighter than the OEM, should offer some benefit, since reducing rotational mass is most beneficial thing to reduce when reducing weight....so it makes it even harder to decide!! Sorry that I can't give you a cleaer answer, and perhaps just made it harder, but good luck Tim....and hurry up and do a Pulley!! It will be like sitting down in your MINI for the first time again!!
I also think that 19% are bit too aggressive for our needs...all things considered. I'm sure someone will disagree, but I think if you do a 17% reduction, or total reduction, and want more.....a sprint booster, JCW injectors or custom tune would be a better route IMO.

 

You all do realize this is a NON-S forum?

 

true....but is was such a perfect "S" question!! Very applicable too!!
As for it use on Just-a-cooper....I don't have a clue!!
But some of the info would count for both.....maybe!!

 

The crank pulley on the R50 is a waste of money, and a worthless risk, because the stock pulley is 1.3kg and most aftermarket pulleys are 0.8kg, and don't have the elastic harmonic balancer. Totally a waste of money. Better get a lightweight flywheel, it is not risking anything because both aftermarket and stock are single mass, and the difference is noticeable.

 

Thanks Nick. The answer I was looking for
I'll definitely get a lighter flywheel but probably will wait till I need to do clutch work. What brand would you recommend?
I bet it feels much more rev happy with lighter flywheel.

 

I don't recommend any of the aluminum crank pullies that get rid of the damper. Without the damper I fear the additional wear on the bearing will cause the engine not to live as long as it should.

 

Zippy.......not only an R50 question, but the crank pulleys are OVERsized.



The OEM sized ones offered are lighter than the stock unit and offer better damping performance and life.

 

Get a Fidanza, it is not expensive and very good quality. The car will stall easier at launch, but you'll get used to it soon

 

Yup, I saw that back when MiniMe02 pointed that out....but I still had a guy from out local club who get some good info, so all was not lost!! Can you tell I was really board stuck in a hotel at the time!!
Heck, I try to do what I can to help out, and thanks for clarifying that is is a Larger pulley!! And I second the better dampening performance and longer life too!!

 

Thanks again everyone. Info helped. Won't be changing out my pulley but the flywheel sounds nice. I figured it would be fidanza. I'll look into that. Probably one of the better mods aside from an intake for the R50.

 

I was always pro non dampened pulley, especially after hearing that the designers of the engine said it didn't need a damper. After 54K miles with a lightened pulley, I'm starting to believe my rear main seal is leaking oil, as my clutch has a little slip and squeal on take off when first driving it, then it goes away after a while. If this is the case, I've been speculating as to why the seal would go out so early. It's always possible that it was just the seal's time to go. I'm now on the fence about lightened pulleys.

 

I've found that MINIs have been known for oil leaks around the seals. I think the crank case seal is the main culprit. However, could be faulty memory but I do beleive I remember reading this.
May or may not be the pully however there has been research done showing that the harmonics resulting from not having a damper can seriously affect your engine.

 

I'd say the most oil leaks I see at the shop are oil pan gaskets, very few crank seals.

As for Flywheels, I don't use the Fidanza's, I just had a customer with one that it wasn't machined correctly and it wouldn't even bolt on.

 

So the R50 has the same crank pulley as the R53??
I thought that the R50 crank pulley was smaller, that is why I wanted to find one for my R53 and still keep the oem look and harmonic balancer.
Anybody know the difference between stock R50 and R53 pulleys.

 

ooops. Yeah, the oil pan gasket is the one I remember being the biggie. The crank seal was the other one.
I got them backwards...

Which flywheel do you recommend Way?
By the way, on your site, are the strut plates from M7 sold as a pair or individually for the $129 listed price?

 

r50 1.36 kg I don't think it has a damper like the r53 one
r53 3.234 kg - early cars with rubber insert to dampen it
later r53 cars built after 1/2005 have a 2.5 kg crank pulley.

 

The R50 and R53 crank pullies are totally different, but they are BOTH dampers. The R50 when you first look at it looks like it's just a pulley, but there is a small layer of rubber in it that dampens it. Which I've seen two of them come apart oddly enough.

 

for flywheels/clutch kits I've been happy with the 0S Giken, they are expensive but had better luck than alot of other brands.

Yes the M7 strut plates come as a pair for $129

 

The R50 crankshaft nose is about .5mm larger in diameter than an R53 -which sounds backward - and why'd they do that anyway???
So, an R50 damper only fits an R50 crank and an R53 damper only fits an R53 crank.
Bummer, huh?

 

Jan at RMW was saying in another post he had seen MAY un-dampened pulleys fail....he said he has photo's of them....mostly on the track.

 

Yup that's right. The crank may be fater cause it's cast on the cooper and the S is forged, that's the only guess I have for why.