Hi gang,

I've had my MCS a grand total of 3 days and I'm already thinking about mods!

I really, really wanted to keep my car stock, or close to it for several reasons. The re-sellability, the cost involved in modding (I had a couple MR2 turbos earlier in life and spent a small fortune) and warranty concerns to name a few.

That being said, I'm considering a few non-invasive mods: resonator eliminator, JCW airbox.

My question is regarding pulleys. I'd be looking to buy a 15%. Is there really a big difference between the stock 05-06 MCS pulley and an aftermarket one?

I'd only be interested if it was a night and day difference.

Your opinions please!

 

no theres a serious difference,
when you buy a reduction pulley even a 15% ur lookin at fifteen to twenty horse gain
but it wont affect the mpg if you can control your foot or anything like that, the cars still driver friendly after that

 

For the Tritec supercharged motor, start there and then save all the $ for a head. The smaller mods add up pretty quickly... But there are tons of threads about good mod paths/combinations. Do some reading and you'll learn tons.

Matt

 

that is very true,
the few basics like exhaust, intake, pulley, and maybe a ecu flash will hold you over while you save for a head/tune/header or a combination of all three like im doing

 

In my opinion, for the OEM M45 supercharger configuration, until you do something about the head, stick with a reduction pulley and a tune. Once throttle response and torque delivery are improved upon via a quality tune (DimSport enabled is the current leader in this area), the driving experience will be enhanced more than anything a noisy bolt-on can provide. A pulley will give you extra oomph for passing and acceleration, something that can be used every day, but you won't be "wowed" by the pulley alone. If after you change those things you feel the desire for more, go headwork, fuel delivery, exhaust system, intake path, and re-tune.

This could also be approached from an entirely VE increase standpoint (at much higher cost) reducing the pulley’s role as a percentage of the improvement; there are some very high output MINIs running larger than stock pulleys on M45s.

 

Agreed with all above: the 15% supercharger pulley is THE ticket for power per dollar with no real repercussions. The power gain is typically 20HP, no joke. Make sure to install a shorter belt for proper belt tension; I found the Napa 060535 is perfect for a 15% pulley [leaving the proper "one hole" of tension after initial stretching]. I also recommend one heat-range colder spark plug, like the NGK BKR7EIX, which is a much better plug than the stock junkers.

Cheers,
Ryan