I am new here to this forum. I've had my '03 Cooper S for about 3 months now and am loving the car! I'm dealing with a rusted and leaking exhaust right now. I live in VA and have an annual inspection coming up next month. Unfortunately it will not pass inspection with the leak.

On the bright side, I have found my excuse to spend the money on an upgraded exhaust system. I've done my research and it sounds like the Milltek is simply the best overall in comparison to other exhaust systems. I'm on the fence between the resonated and non-resonated version. I like the bigger sound, but I don't want the sound to be overbearing. Basically, I don't want my car to sound like a boy's riced-up '98 Civic SI.

Does anyone have sound clips comparing the two? I've looked over youtube, but nobody seems to specify which they have installed.

 

If your worried about noise go with the Milltek resonated version. You should also check out our Strat version. You can always remove the resonator later if you want it louder. We have both on sale right now.

 

Food for thought: a properly designed resonator will add a few extra ponies to the engine.

 

I appreciate both of your inputs! I am pretty open to all exhaust systems. I will check out the strat version.

About the resonator, I thought that they caused restriction and a loss of HP?? That's interesting to know and something for me to look into! Thanks for the info.

 

Here's a cut-and-paste of an explanation I've given before on this forum replying to a question specific to the JCW exhaust:

The resonator does just what it should, resonates. The length of exhaust pipe between the resonator and the exhaust valves dictates the resonate frequency of the exhaust system (kinda like a flute where covering different holes gives a different pitch). When the exhaust gases exit the engine, they produce pressure waves that correspond to each piston pushing the gases out of the respective cylinder. When the frequency of these pulses match the resonate frequency of the exhaust system, the back pressure drops dramatically and the engine produces a small boost in power.
The trick here is to tune the exhaust system to a specific frequency that correlates to a specific RPM where you want this boost. The JCW engineers spent some time thinking about this.
Removing the resonator will drastically lower the resonate frequency thereby giving a slight boost in torque at lower RPMs but ultimately robbing torque at a higher RPM (essentially lowering power output).
This same principle applies to the intake manifold, but this is pretty moot on a supercharged engine.

 

That is fascinating! I learned something new today. Thanks for the info!