I own a 2004 Mini Cooper S. I bought in 2006. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving my mini everyday. The car is approaching the 60,000 mile mark and its time to change the serpentine belt. I figure its a good time to change the pulley and make a few mild upgrades. Any suggestions? I was told the 15% pulley, and CAI are the best bang for buck. Is it worth buying an exhaust system? I was told to replace the resonator with a test pipe. What do you all recommend? and do you know of any good Mini Performance shops in South Florida?

 

I'm in the same process.

I bought an Alta Cold Air Intake and a Way 15% pulley. Shopping for a new belt right now.

I'm tempted by the OBX catback exhaust. people have said it sounds tinny...but if the construction is mandrel bent tubing and straight through muffler maybe a packing the muffler differently will help.

after all is said and done, ecu flash. I've always had good experience with GIAC (B5 A4, B5 S4, Audi TT) so I think I will give them a go again!

 

Good advise...
15% pulley and the CAI of your choice...
IMO then add a bigger rear sway-bar, and you will be amazed with the change.
The exaust, if done is mostly about sound...and a bang for the buck it is pretty far down the list...about $500-1000 for most to gain about 10 hp. It will help, but you do have one goog cheap exaust option!!
One-ball exaust mod!! Do a search...about $50-75 to remove the resinotor on the passanger side, and for a few bucks, you get much of the gain of the full cat back. If you decide you want more power later...there are tons of mods..headers, injectors, tunes, cams and heads, but do the above 4 and you will be amazed!!

 

^what zippy said, and i agree with the one-ball exhaust mod if you dont wanna spend $500+

15% pulley-http://www.waymotorworks.com/02-06-cooper-s-r53/performance/pulleys/
Cold air intake(in my opinion is the DDMWorks, also ppl like Alta)http://www.waymotorworks.com/02-06-c...mance/intakes/

 

Thank you all for responding. You all have solidified my decision to upgrade. Now I need a good performance shop to perform the upgrades. Does anyone know a good performance shop in South Florida that specializes in Mini?

 

The shop I take my MINI to here in Tampa Bay isn't a performance shop per se, but he'll do any upgrade I want.

Check here, or here for independent shops in your area, and good luck!

 

Installing the CAI is pretty simple, it will come with directions and even if you havnt ever done any mechanical work ever, you could probably do it. Also i am sure if you do buy the CAI from Waymotorworks, if you got stuck with a problem, you could call Way and he will help you out. Just letting you know

 

When your ready to order your parts let me know, I also know of a shop in the Ft Myers area that could help out.

WAY

 

WayMotorWorks,
I notice you have a 17% pulley. What is meant by 15% and 17%? its a percent of what? Is it increase in pulley size over stock or psi increase? It appears most people opt for the 15%. Why? why not go for the 17%? Is the crank pulley recommended?

 

If you are looking for a CAI, I just put one up for sale. Check it out:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co.../product/14272

 

The 15 vs 17% pulley refers to the % smaller than stock...a smaller pulley makes the SC spin faster, letting more boost be made at lower engine rpm's...JCW's had about a 11% reduction from the factory...
The negative is you make a bit more heat...so if you go with too big of a reduction, you can actually makes less hp since the car will retadrd the timing and run rich if the exaust temps from the SC (intake charge.) gets too hot...
Also with a pulley, the octane of the fuel you run becomes even more important...93 IMO is really needed for a 17 to work right...under many conditions timing may be retarted with a 15% with 91 octane...
17% is well suited for a daily driver IMO if you can get 93, and don't spend a ton of time near the redline rpm wise... The 15 is better for a car that will be tracked, or if in an area that has lower octane/and or higher ambient temps.

 

PS I have a 17% for my car, and going from stock, it transformed the car...best mod you can make for the $$ IMO by far. WMW has a nice kit, with the pulley, cooler sparkplugs, and tensioner stop (to prevent $$ dammage if the belt to the SC breaks or is thrown).