Hello and thanks for all the great info i have been able to find and sift through on this site. Places like this really make a new owner learn quite a bit .

Well i purchased a 2004 mcs last october and have been having a blast with it so far. I love the go cart feel when i drive it , but i feel like i would like to get more pep out of the engine . I do have some other maintenance i will be doing and that will be dictating what my engine mods budget will be .

My plans for the engine mods are as follows..........

on car already....
-gp intercooler and ddm diverter ( already on the car)
-magnaflow exhaust ( from the cat back)( previous owner installed)

want to add.....
- ddm intake
-17 % supercharger reduced pulley
-shorter belt for pulley
- new tensioner and idler pulley
-prw or ati crank dampener pulley ( stock size)
-bosch 550 cc injectors
-catcam 461 or 469
-bytetronics remote tune perhaps from 1320 ( not sure as i am up in canada)

My car is stricktly street driven and will never see track. I do like to do spirited driving and do most of my driving on the motorway. I dont usually go redline but it isnt uncommon for me to push to 5-6k rpm . After all the browsing trough the forum i seem to understand that the car will definetely benefit from a tune and injectors after the pulley upgrade. Since i have to do some work on the valve cover gasket and such, i was thinking of dropping a catcam 461 or 469 while i have the top open and i would hope that the car would benefit from the bigger cam. I am looking for more low to mid range for street /motorway driving Now i have no plans and my budget wont allow for a big valve head ). So my questions are as follows.......

- (including the upgrades and tune above ) are the camshaft gains worth it if i dont do an exhaust manifold or big head valve upgrade?

- If the camshaft gains are still worth it (and keeping the cylinder head stock ) Is it worth invest in a good exhaust manifold or am i not losing much and can put the money towards other maintenance?

- also would you guys recommend still doing a 17% supercharger pulley when doing the cam,tune and injectors or will the car be happier with a 15 % since i am running a cam ( keeping the stock head and stock exhaust manifold). I am not chasing every pony out of this , just want some more oomph out of it , but still keeping the car operating happy.

thanks a million for your time, patience and expertise!

 

The pulley gives you the most bang for the buck so do it before the camshaft. You may find that you're happy with the power after installing it.

 

Is anyone ever really 'happy with the power' though

 

+1 on trying the pulley before adding a cam. I would go with 17% if 93 octane gas is available, especially if going with an ATI since the “stock” ATI is actually .8% larger than stock. A 15% or 16% with an ATI might be better depending on gas availability. The pullies and a tune might be enough.

I had the same question regarding a cam with a stock head and was told a cam would still make a noticeable difference. I’m going with the 461 since I’m not as too worried about the top end power of the 469.

A 4-2-1 manifold would be a good match with the 461 and there’s a budget clone of the SuperSprint available for around $225 USD. For better quality at a higher price you could go with the Scorpion 4-2-1. It also has a third bung for an AFR sensor, and probably doesn’t have fitment issues that the cheaper clones usually have.

 

Agree with @Super Coop, do the pulley along with the ancillary parts mentioned above (tensioner and damper as maintenance items)
And see what you think, many have driven long hard miles on just that. if you like you can try and source some 380cc injectors, (which won't require a tune) but honestly, if you're not pushing 6500+ RPM for extended periods, they probably won't even be needed.
And since you're not tracking the car the 17% is just fine.

Then decide if you want more, as you suspect, (from what I've seen) the Cam really won't give you much without a header of some kind, at least. (Esp if your not running up in the RPM much) Plus a Cam & bigger injectors (over 380cc) is what will "require" a tune, so might as well wait to see what you think, then do everything else at once if you still feel like you want more, or then just go with tune and possibly injector. At least then you'll have an idea of the changes and differences in the way the car performs.

 

I recently replaced my supercharger (about 800 miles ago) with a rebuilt unit from Detroit Tuned and had them ship it with a 17% pulley installed. Except for the pulley, my car is all stock and daily driven.

That pulley has really transformed the car. With the stock pulley, my engine seemed to run out of breath at about 6000 rpm. With the 17% pulley, it pulls hard all the way to redline - 65 mph in second gear! The intake and exhaust sound is a lot louder too - remember stock intake with Mini air filter and stock exhaust.

Because of cam lob wear I discovered while replacing the valve cover gasket, I am thinking about a performance cam too. If you are looking for more power, definitely do the pulley first!

 

My car has the pulley and no LSD.

it sucks trying to accelerate since it just tugs and spins the inside tire out of corners. So, yeah, I'm more than happy with the power

 

Thank you all for your input and help. I am definitely going pulley , but was not aware the ati crank pulley was .8% larger. After reading the posts I was under the impression that you would still need a tune when swapping to supercharger pulley , plugs, intercooler and intake so that the car would run best. I will def take your advice and see what the pulley feels like and go from there.
cam upgrade is also still on my list so it can help the extra air by the supercharger pulley escape better, but not sure that i will get the best out of it without the proper flow of the larger exhaust manifold. Perhaps I will consider the 461 cam instead as mentioned .

I would really like to do the tune 1 time with all my upgrades on the car as my budget isn't too large.

 

Thank you on the details. I did not know that the ati was.8% larger than stock. That may play a role in selecting the pulley. yes 93 is available in my area but 91 is more common. So would 15% supercharger pulley with ati have the same pull feel as the 17% on stock crank pulley?

i have been eyeing the 461 also as i will be more spirited driving on street as opposed to track , but for some reason it seemed like the way to go as i didnt want to do the 461 and be disapointed and have to change to a 469 after. Were you happy with the pull on midrange on your 461 when paired with the 17% on stock head?

As for manifold would you happen to know the name of that " budget clone of the supersprint manifold " you suggested. would like to look into it. One reason i did not want to touch manifold is also due to the increase in noise level. My magnaflow catback already has quite a rumble( a little much for my liking on the highway) and did not want to increase that much more. Also if i went into the manifold i guess i would have to put in a more free flowing cat also to keep the system flow quite open .

thanks again for all your input

 

i will def try this route first .

That is my worry with the cam and injectors , i really did not want to spend twice for injectors if i decided to go with the cam at a later date . i guess i have my answer that the cam does require a exhaust manifold of some sort to be more free flowing . With a milder cam would the standard manifold and cat be as restrictive as a more aggressive cam? Just wondering how much of a difference the exhaust manifold would make on a stock system like this . Are we talking an average of 3 or 10 horsepower loss due to restrive flow ?

i guess one of the reasons for the cam was that i was hoping to extract some of that extra hot air being generated by the 17 % pulley also, but i am starting to wonder how much difference that would make if i am not swapping out the exhaust manifold, head and cat.

Also i saw that the

 

may i ask also would you guys feel confortable with a prw crank pulley instead of the ati? besides pricewise i did see online that the ati seems to require some maintenance down the road which is a bummer to me ?

is the prw more in line with the stock size ? also my worry is the liquid fill which i read can take a while to become fluid at cold temps. Where i live it does get quite cold in the winter. I dont drive the mini much, but at times i do in the winter.

thanks again

 

No, SC + crank pulley combos don’t translate exactly to SC pulley only sizes so even a 15%+2% will be different than running a 17% alone. It’s supposed to be less, but I’m not sure how much difference it actually is, maybe like running 16-16.5%??

For the most part I wouldn’t consider the extra .8% in regards to power you can feel, but I would be concerned that any possible extra boost might push a motor on the edge of pinging over to a dangerous running condition.

The original clone was the OBX and I think is still available, but somewhere around the $300+ range. Same with the Becker. The latest is the XForce and is looks to be around $75-100 cheaper. All of the clones look the same, and it’s possible they actually are, so the XForce is probably the way to go. All of these can use the stock cat if it’s still good. There’s a lot of info on running an OBX header here and on other forums. Also, I think there might be a video or two on YouTube on how the OBX/Magnaflow combo sounds.

I haven’t ordered the 461 yet, but that’s what I plan to go with right now as I’m not too interested in top end or top speed. I see you’ve posted the same question over on MT. That’s where I got a lot of my info regarding a cam with a stock head and other performance related answers. CarsAndBikes seems very knowledgeable with this and he’ll probably post a detailed reply over there for you.

 

Thanks again RB-MINI for the great info and help!

Yes I did post there also, both boards are very informative, was just trying to get more opinions and suggestions.

Take care

 

Everything works as a package, you can cam it but won’t get full potential without a BVH. Also the 550 injectors will have to be reduced big time in a tune so 380s would be better until you get the head and cam however you can run 380s without a tune but same thing you won’t get full potential without it.

I run a 16% pulley with a 2% ATI and 380cc injectors, full exhaust by Miltek including header and obviously a CAI. I had a Airtek intercooler on but removed it to me definitely not worth the money and the stock cooler works just as good. My car runs very strong and happy with it the way it is now. I was planning on the BVH and cam but to me 8hp for $2500 is not money wise.

 

Who did your tune and do you run 91 or 93 octane?

 

Adrian and only 93, every now and then in the winter months 92 but that’s rare

 

yes the cam is a big difference, really opens up the car so it pulls hard until redline making it much more N/A like if you know what I mean.

Stick with 550's, spending money on 380's is a waste

 

I have the OBX - quality seems pretty good. Got rid of my cat when I did the install. To my ear, I could not really hear any difference in sound after the install, but I have a pretty loud Borla 'race' exhaust system and the cowl mod intake, so car was already loud before the install.

 

definetely would love to be able to do bvh and header also, but trying to budget for some suspension, handling mods . As you have stated i also don't think that for how I drive the car the bvh cost would be justified. I do understand that for certain applications it will definitely make the car work better, but for myself not really.
I am definitely aiming for a cam after I test the supercharger pulley and see how I like the feel. I am sure the cam with the header will definitely work best as a combo, but I wonder if those with just cam and no header do u find the car to be a minimal difference when added to the supercharger pulley or will it help with moving the extra air being pushed by the charger?

 

Thank you, from what I have been reading seems that the 550s are more recommended when doing the pulley and cam. Definetely don't want to be buying injectors 2 times as I do plan on getting a tune once the parts are on.
do u run a bvh also with your cam?

 

If you’re up for a cam swap by all means do it but definitely get a header to go with it. Remember an engine is a air pump the more air in and out the more power you will make.

 

I do have 93 also in my area and was advised by this board to use it. My question is does the car have to be tuned for 93 or can I just use it and the ecu will adjust temporarily before the tune?

 

Well both without a tune it’s great since you reduce the chance of detonation but with a tune whomever will do it will advance timing and fuel that’s where you definitely need 93. Even if I run 92 with the cold temperatures it will detonate ever now and then and in warmer temps I wouldn’t even chance it.

 

Seems like quite a few people find the obx to be fair in quality and price. Maybe will consider eliminating something else in order to make the funds to pair a manifold properly if i go the cam route.
the only reason I did not really want to also is due to the extra noise . Bought it with a magnaflow and it is quite loud for my taste, didn't really want to be louder .