Hi guys –

I stopped by R-Speed yesterday afternoon to check out their new exhaust for the “S”. Joe and his guys were working away, but were happy to take the time to walk me around and show me everything. They were very accommodating, as usual.

As Joe reported, he’s got 2 systems right now. One with slash cut tips which is lighter and a little prettier. The one with the straight tips is built like a tank.

Peter and Joe showed me both systems in the store. They’re really something. Nice welds, nice looking unit overall. Beautiful, actually.

OK, so what about in the car? Joe has this system installed on his “S”. Peter and I went driving around a little bit (Joe, don’t worry, he didn’t dog your car too bad ) and it sounds really mellow from inside – louder and lower than stock, but not overpowering at all. There’s no drone whatsoever. It’s a little quiet for my taste, and Joe said the ones they’re getting in the future will be even quieter. But if you like the stealthy power thing (Borla, etc) this would be a great way to go.

Standing outside the car, when you stomp on it you definitely know it’s there. But like I said, a little louder would be my preference there too. As far as power, there’s a noticeable between that and my stock S, but I guess the dyno will say exactly how much.

Overall I’d say if you want a powerful, quiet exhaust this one should definitely be on the list. I’m not an expert, but anything that’s this well-built and backed up by good guys at a good shop deserves consideration.

But then again, what do I know? I drive an ’04 and I can’t HAVE a new exhaust yet.

 

on the contrary!

Milltek has updated their design for the 04s and these units are currently available through the usual sources.

BUT they cost a little more.

Marty

 

Squirrel,
which sytem was on the car you drove in? slant or straight tips? and by "built like a tank" you mean what exactly? and can you compare to other sytems you've seen/heard in person? (UUC, Milltek)

 

I have seen both systems, even in pre-production the finish is ludicrous for an exhaust, Mirror finish, very nice.

I have had my-preproduction piece for 5 months and it is great. Perfect sound level, no drone, I have taken it down to do some suspension work, inspected it and it looked like new (dirty yes, but I drive the hell out of my S) all the welds were fine. I tracked the car and burned an entire tank of fuel in 1 day a Road Atlanta and the system held up perfectly. This is a great system. I highly reccomend the production version. The hangers are designed such that you can bend them slightly to compensate for the car to car variation that Mini's exhibit. If you want it dead center, you can make it dead center, no matter what Mini did when making your car. Yup I am happy, and I did pay for my pre-production piece, so this is a pretty unbiased review.

Ubercooper "all mini's come with a shift light, its called the rev limiter"

 

Hi Discodan -

Joe's car had the straight tips on it. I meant that it looked and felt like it was a very well-built, solid system. Tough, I guess. I'm a new Mini owner (just turned 2000 miles yesterday) so I haven't seen a ton of different systems yet. I went to a Mini club auto-x event a couple months ago and got to see a Magnaflow, Borla, and some others. But this was literally the weekend I bought my car so I wasn't paying that close attention. I haven't seen a UUC or Miltek in person yet.

Marty, I forgot about the Milltek! Is it very quiet? I like the idea of having some growl behind me when I drive, and while the Milltek's HP gains look good, I don't necessarily want to go "too" stealth.

 

Squirrel-

If you are interested, I have a Milltek that I'm going to be selling. It has the brackets that allow it to be fitted to an '04. The tone is a touch louder than stock and just not to my liking. I'm going back to my stock system for now.

Drop me a PM if interested, priced to sell.

 

Hey GT6 -

Check your messages. Thanks. :smile:

 

GT6,
I am also interested in the Milltek, can you say bidding war?
Dan