Tonight I installed a 2% lightweight crank pulley on my 05 MCS and took it for a drive afterwards. Along with a 16% SC pulley the car pulls hard and can tell a difference from the crank pulley but somewhere around redline my speedo cluster needles dropped like power was cut but came back as soon as I shifted. Could this be from over spinning the alternator maybe?

 

No,
There's something else going on there, not sure what, but I'd try it a few more times to see if it was a fluke or not.

 

A 2% increase in rpm will not affect the alternator. However without the harmonic damper there may be more subtle effects on the pulley system including traction and smoothness.

 

Bad idea.......non-dampened crank pullies are a known issue with some engines. Why take the chance.

 

I had to exercise restraint of not pointing that out. But for someone who want split second peak HP and Torque what can I say? I want reliability and sustained power output so I went with just a 15%.

BTW, it should be non-damped. Sorry I cannot help it.

 

Maybe I’ll run this one for awhile then buy a dampened one. I read a lot of post whether to do it or not it was about 50/50 opinions. I called Alta and spoke with an Engineer there and he told me they have a car with 238k with one that was put on around 50 k and has had no problems. Idk we’ll see. You now have me paranoid.

 

With most things, you'll get two groups with differing opinions. The overly cautious crowd and the "deal with it when it happens, if it happens" crowd.
Those camps often argue about hub centric vs non hub centric wheel spacers, oil weights/brands, shuffle steering vs fixed steering.... neither are right or wrong. Just different experiences, both backed by evidence.

I tend to fall into the latter and say, don't worry about it until something happens. If something fails, then it's just money to fix it. The driving experience you're currently enjoying will be worth it.
About the speedo needle issue, it's likely unrelated.

 

Ok thanks the needle thing has never happened before so I thought it was related to that. This car is my daily driver but I also have another ‘05 MCS in Hyper Blue that is in pristine condition. So I just wanted to have some fun with my daily car.

 

I will not take the shop's testimony to the bank, especially an engineer with a capital E (I think it is proper for German grammar to capitalize - that is "ein Ingenieur"). I like Alta and they are local, but not everything they designed for the R53.

If I haven't mistaken, NASCAR uses ATI harmonic dampers and these folks can afford to throw their racing V8s away after each race. I trust the engineers the careers that design power plants.

May be Mr. Lumpy (aka the Unbreakable Lump) can chime in.

 

Yes please chime in Mr. Lumpy

 

Here is the reason to use a dampened pulley: They stop/slow harmonics in the crankshaft and save the bearings. Is it a must? No, but still are darned good idea! These cranks are not cheap! You have to ask yourself these questions: Why do manufacturers put vibration dampening pulleys on their engines? Because they don't need them? or because they want the engine to last past the warranty? For not reason at all?
A crank pulsing on every revolution (as each cylinder fires, induces vibrations) I worked with engineers my whole working career and found few were good at what they do. I also noted that good engineers usually have to go in and fix poor engineering! Don't get me started on this! (Tool and die maker retired)

 

Sorry but They're in the business to sell parts. I can't say who is "engineering" their parts now, but Cravenspeed was the ones who designed and made all their original MINI parts up till the time Craven cut off ties to them as they didn't have anyone there that could make the designs and manufacture it. That is when the "V2" of everything came out.
I actually work on these cars daily for a living and can tell you the non dampened pulleys are a bad idea. I've seen damaged oil pumps, and bearings. But if you want to ignore that the fact is they still effect the tuning and not in good way. So even though the car may rev faster or make more boost it doesn't actually make the power.

But hey I've preached this for years some listen and some don't. I have an ATI Damper on my R53, I will continue to only recommend them, and no matter what pulley anyone else puts on their MINI my MINI is going to keep running fine.

 

Thanks for your opinion I wished I’d asked before I bought. I’m gonna see if they make a 2% overdrive now.

 

Ouch they are very pricey, I’m going to call WMW tomorrow and see if they have any coupons available to help with the cost.