Well you all got me starting to think about supin up the mini that wone be here till Aug. I have several questions about doing this. I was thinking of getting the JCW 6-12 months after getting the mini. The wait time is due to $$$. I want faster acceleration then the mini comes with. I test drove one that had been modded. I loved the power but hated the noise it produced.


So here is the question. What should I do to get it accererate faster in the lower band. One thing I do not want to do it to put on a muffler that is loud. But anything else goes. What I would love is a list of what mods you suggest in the order that you would do them(assume I will do them at different times). Also please tell me what it will cost parts and labor. Lastly how will this differ from the JCW in term of power.

 

Accelerate in the lower RPM band?

Simple, 19% pulley. Nothing else required.

 

Make a total budget for spending in the next 12 months. Set limits.
Have an idea of what you really want and ask yourself what are you going to use this MINI for- street driving, show, autocross, track, driving school, etc.
Prioritize what is important to you- performance, appearance, cost, hype?

You mention JCW so I assume you are getting a MCS but JCW kit is also available for MC (offers much less gain).

For low rpm acceleration you should be looking for a lighter weight MINI and lighter wheels and tires, maybe cut all of the heavy factory options, basic audio if you are serious, no xenon lights, no auto AC, No nav, no sunroof, no trip computer, no CD changer, etc. For stock wheels go with the most basic like the 16" x-lytes or go aftermarket and sell the stock wheels or use them as winter season wheels/add snowtires.

Midrange and high end acceleration is covered with JCW kit or just a 19% pulley.

You want it not to be too noisey. OK. Intake- for the most quiet go with a good drop in filter like Unifoam or Green filter, or if you must have an intake for appearance as well then Piloracing or RDR maybe but you'll get some intake noise.

Exhaust and Header- forget it. You're getting the JCW kit and it comes with a quiet exhaust so just keep it and save your money for the kit.

Suspension upgrades you can do if you like. rear swaybar. Springs or coilovers.

If you don't want to do the JCW kit ($5500 installed). Then consider (no warranty!):
19% pulley installed with smaller belt $430 includes parts-go to a pulley party.
Drop in filter- $45- do it yourself. See Webbmotorsports.com
Or Intake- Piloracing.com $150 do it yourself or RDR about $200 do it yourself- see Helix13.com

Exhaust- For most quiet either Borla street about $650-700 plus $70 to install.
http://helix13.com/html/products/exhaust.htm
Or see Rspeed.net for two types of MCS exhausts that are newer and not too loud (no dyno numbers yet)
Or Milltek for about $795+
See Webbmotorsports.com, Outmotoring.com or
http://stratmosphere.com/milltek_mini.htm

Light wheels and tires on a budget see
Rspeed.net and Rota wheels in 16x7 or
Webbmotorsports.com for AK Monza wheels in 15" or 16" or
Tirerack.com for Kosei K-1 racer 16" wheels in silver or white.
Rough cost for wheelset about $800-$950+.

Rear swaybar- about $200 and $60 to install
Springs about $220-250 and $180 to install or less

Later upgrades?
You don't really need any ignition upgrades but some like one setting colder spark plugs $65 for IK-22
ECU- not yet. Wait.
Larger intercooler-wait for RDR to come out with theirs.
Larger throttlebody- nope not worth it
Exhaust header-nope not worth it
Better car stereo? sure if it is in your budget and it does add to weight.
Front tower strut bar-nope
Rear adjustable control arms- only if you need to adjust rear negative camber for smoother ride or autocross, most don't need this.
Rear swaybar links- nope
Front Camber plates- nope, unless you want to do serious autocross and track.

Finally budget for Driving school. You local MINI club or BMW club or SCCA racing club can help you find a good school. Go as many times as you can and try to learn from your instructors. A good instructor in a stock MC is very likely to out drive you in a highly modded MCS on the track anyday.
Driving skill counts.

 

If you don't want to do the JCW kit ($5500 installed). Then consider (no warranty!)?????

What do you mean here? JCW pachage is 100% covered under the warranty. This is THE ONLY upgrade covered by the warranty.

 

cheap intake, less weight:

buy a k&n ru-1520 (or as other mentioned on the "operation HAI" thread, 1550, or 15whatever model), take off you entire airbox assembly (box, tubing, the little airflow scoop that's behind the upper grill) and throw it on the throttlebody. at www.ajusa.com, it is $35 and free shipping. andy measured better flow with this intake install than the alta (i dont remember by how much, with almost identical temperature numbers when at 25mph and above), and it is supposedly quieter than the alta and cheaper by $220.

you can try doing the m7 device mod, but that did nothing for me, personally.

do a short shift kit install. www.piloracing.com has a "new" one out that they are selling for $65, but we suspect it is the exact same ss kit as the one developed by meghan racing, and is sold on ebay for anywhere from $25-$35 as a buy-it-now (with $8 shipped). Personally, i would go b&m as i just tested one on a wicked silvia conversion, and it is as tight as a s2000.

relocate you battery, do a straight exhaust (i know there are fabricators that will do custom piping for $80 in akron, OH. there are bound to be others in different states. you could even steal a stocker and totally mangle it to make it straight.)

NOS.

someone removed their backseat plating and lost about 50lbs that way.

sunroof adds a ton of weight.

turn off your ac, and asc (or dsc). DO NOT GET THE 17s.

 

It means you can do the JCW kit with warranty or

You can do other upgrades which I listed after the : (colon)
with no warranty.

Also-
He mentioned he doesn't want NOISY!

 

Sorry minihune, I misunderstood you.

 

Ditto!
$120-140 for 19% pulley will get you 20HP gains. Best bang for the buck!

You can install it yourself if you like working on cars. Add $150 or less for pulley tools.

or get it installed for $380-450 at various shops arund the country.

 

start from a intake to a pulley to exhaust, miltek should have lower noise than most others. after all those the car should be way faster than before.

i'm not a hard core power fan but 19% is kind of scary(let's not talk about 19 or 15 in here since there are thousands threads about it). for someone not really sure what he wants at this point, please do not confuse him and get him into max power!
I would get ECU with 19% and make sure i have better exhaust and intake and plugs come with it. that will help alot better on performance and also on the safe side!

How much fast this guy wants anyway! he is not planning to race it like a Porsche right?

you gotta know what you have on hand and what's your limit. if you want something way faster... get a different car!(stop worry about all those NOISE, MONEY, WARRANTY.etc)

Just MHO!

 

Everything goes back to what you want to do with the MINI.
If street driving/driving school/light track then 19% pulley and no ECU.
If autocrossing then you need to decide which class you want to run in.
If G-stock (forget the power mods and go with lighter wheels, drop in filter, quiet cat-back exhaust)
If STX you can do same as G-stock and do suspension but no pulley mod/ECU mod.
For Street Mod you can do pulley upgrade and the works, any wheels.

For low rpm power some owners that do only 19% pulley and no intake and exhaust say that it is still pretty sluggish at 2000-2500 rpm. If you really want to make use of that power you might need to think about an intake and a cat-back exhaust to go along with the 19% pulley.

So far we don't have strong evidence that the 19% does much better when an ECU upgrade is added so.
Either 15% pulley ($400) and Unichip ($700+) or PowerChip ($720) OR
19% pulley ($430) and no ECU (not much to be gained only more to be spent).

 

Actually you can do one (1) ECU mod in STX. You can either flash or chip it, or use a piggyback controller like an SAFC, you cannot chip AND use and SAFC.

 

First I want to thank you for all the input. Perhapse I sjould explain what I use the car for. I drive 30,000 miles a year as a field rep. I will also be showing the car in a few import car shows. I do not show to compete but moreso to display the radio and its functions. The audio upgrades I already know what I will do. I really just want a little more pickup off the line. I will prob never race seriously. Although I might enjoy some track time. I do plan to go to driving school.

I need a car that is quiet because I do alot of driving and often am on the phone (w/bluetooth headset) while behind the wheel. It would also give me a headache it was too loud. I have a substantial weight with the car since I ordered it fullyloded minus nav. I also plan to dynamat the interior which will add about 70lbs.

I guess what I am asking is should I do:

1. airintake
2. Pully
3. muffler - How much noiser is this compared to stock?
4. what else.

Last question: if I did all this would it perform like the JCW or would it out perform the JCW? What would it cost to do this?

I test drove a Mini that was modded by a place in the carolinas that primerly works on Mercedes. Anyone know who that might be? That car was really fast, really-really fast.

 

No question if you install a 17-19% it would run down a jcw

 

Here we go.
Priorities-
Budget- You keep asking about price so there must be some concern on cost but it's going to be a lot less than the JCW kit installed and there is no warranty but we will keep it simple.

Loudness and noise- Interior noise down. Several ways to do that. Like:
Performance upgrades-pick the quiet but nice looking ones.
Do the Dynamat extreme-do the doors, the floor, the rear seat and rear panels at least.

Quiet tires!- For audio people consider the Falken Azenis ST-115 360 treadwear A A mounted on the stock 17x7" rims in
215/50-17 V rated for $90 each 26.3 pounds (heavy)
http://edgeracing.com/tire/672/
215/45-17 Z rated for $89 each 23.7 pounds and better size!
http://edgeracing.com/tire/673/
or
http://edgeracing.com/tire/669/
For 16" rims 205/55-16 V rated for $68!


Power- If you have upgraded audio, factory upgrades including sunroof, and are hauling products then you need mega power so don't wimp out.
19% pulley ($430 installed at a pulley party, maybe a little more at a local shop, it's about an hours labor and $130 for the part and $25 for the belt).
Intake-not too loud but looks good-Piloracing.com green cone filter for $150 or RDR intake from Helix13.com for $199.
Cat-back exhaust- quiet No droning, sounds good, gives power. Borla Street about $700 + installation. Or Rspeed.net exhausts for a little less 2 styles both look good, or Milltek for $795 (a little louder but doesn't drone, adds a little more power and torque-good match for 19% pulley)


Lightness- save weight in the wheels. If you ordered the sports package you are getting the super heavy S-lyte 17" wheels which weigh about 48 pounds for each rim/tire. If you switch to lighter 16" rims then you can bring the rim weight down to about 13-15 pounds and the tire to about 21 which saves you about 14 pounds per wheel and that will help alot.

Tirerack.com has Kosei K-1 Racing 16x7.5" 15 pounds, +43mm offset $159 each rim white or silver finish , uses 205/50-16 tires

http://www.tirerack.com/servlet/Call...pecial=Pricing

Webbmotorsports.com has AK Monza wheels in similar design
AK Tire Monza 16" Wheels (can fit 215/45-16 tires)
Strong and light 16x6.5" 44mm offset, weighs 13.9 lbs,in silver and white.
Price: $155 silver, $165 white
AK Tire Monza 15" Wheels
15x6.5" is 12.25 lbs, 40mm offset,in silver, bronze and black.
Price: $105 silver, $110 bronze or black

15" bronze AK Monza
http://www.webbmotorsports.com/suspension.php

Rear swaybar- 19mm or 22mm adjustable with 3 holes. Various brands-madness, Alta, H-sport, RDR. $180 to $240 plus $60 to install.

Hold off on the springs for now. Consider Eibach Pro kit, Alta, H-sports (a little firm).

Do an intake ($150-200), 19% pulley ($430), cat-back exhaust ($800), lighter wheels ($1000) and it would be faster than a JCW kit.
Total budget $2500+. Do the wheels last. Add the rear swaybar later.

 

:smile: First thank you for such a well laid out reply.

It sounds like I could do the mods and sill have $$$ left over incase a water pump goes bad. I take it alot of folks do the mods. Anyone keep stats on how many have issues there are caused by the mods (like the water ounp)? Is it likely to cause something to break?

:smile: Thank you again.

 

We all are just as concerned about safety and reliability of all things done to our MINIs. Most of us use our cars as daily drivers and weekend rally/autocross cars.

The money you save you can put towards driving school and fuel.
Your water pump will be OK. We are watching for problems and will report any. Still not convinced, talk to Eric Savage at Helix13.com as he has done lots of 19% pulley installs and is keeping track of trouble. No trouble reported in all the 19%s! I keep track of trouble for the 19% pullied MCSs in my area and they are doing just fine and we are doing everything except for long track. Gotta build one first!

Anything else likely to break from these mods? Nope. I didn't include anything that would be trouble.

If you do get the 19% pulley. Just drive it regular and you'll be fine. If you stomp on the throttle you'd better hold on to your seat because once you hit about 4500 rpms it's gonna be moving fast. The set up I described is very driveable on the street, no tricks. Lowering the MINI will make the ride quality a little rougher and noisier so I left that out for now and you can always add it later. I like music so I tried to preserve a quiet interior for you. Check out the Falken ST-115 tires I found a good price on them.
Reviews of the tire-
http://www.epinions.com/Falken_Azeni...splay_~reviews

 

Just curious, what is the pully that is used on the MCS? Why dosn't mini just put on a 19% and give it a shot in the old HP?

 

The stock pulley is the size it is to give the MINI with supercharger a very reliable and good performing package that when driven by the average comsumer will be "good enough". The MCS is rated at 163 HP.

Enthusiasts want more and are willing to push the design envelope a bit more than MINI would feel comfortable with. MINI does the warranty so they have to assume the risk. When you upgrade to a 19% reduced pulley you are assuming the warranty risk yourself.

Why doesn't JCW kit have a 19% pulley if it is that safe? Well they did the testing on various sizes and they still had to get the nod from MINI to warranty the upgrade. If the 19% was used in the kit then would MINI still honor the warranty for 2 years? Probably that was past the limit for MINI.

Would you buy a MCS from MINI with 19% pulley and 30 day warranty?
Didn't think so.


So if you are afraid and don't want to take any risks then leave your MCS stock. If you want a safe upgrade with a warranty then consider the JCW kit.
If you want to get all that you can get for your MCS from a relatively cheap mod and are willing to assume the risk and no warranty for your supercharger then consider the pulley upgrade-whatever the size.