Yeah, it is a good design. Frankly, it's my favorite of all the ones I've seen (or dreamt about). Now if the R60 had a hood scoop () I would go with the AEM design, but otherwise I like the idea of putting a filter right up by the grille.

Incidentally, I dremeled out the cells on my grille so they are completely open where the snorkel comes out for maximum airflow. It was my first time using a dremel, too!

 

You could always trade your FMIC and modified crash bar to someone in exchange for some $$$ and their stock bar.

 

Sounds interesting - if you get a chance, send me a pic of that. Might get some ideas flowing.

 

I see what you did there! I'm still up. Let me see what the lighting looks like in the garage . . .

 

Okay, here you go. Had to use some flash, but I think these give you the gist.

 

Well done! Nice and easy way to pull in more cool air!

 

Thank you sir! I got a little loose with the dremel and made a couple gouges on the lower surfaces of one of the cells. Nothing a little sandpaper and matte black paint didn't fix!

I hear a little more turbo noise than before, but it's a barely perceptible. I would have dismissed it as my mind playing tricks on me, but my girlfriend--er, fiance--noticed it too.

 

Does anyone know if this intake is any good http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...56_intake.html

 

That's not for the Countryman - that is for the R56.

 

Received a nice e-mail from Clint tonight regarding the CAI ETA.

Long story short - the entire design had to be re-done due to rising costs in the originally-spec'ed materials. He stressed the importance of keeping the materials and production inside the USA, which is admirable.

From what it sounds like, it may take several months to come up with another design that may be more cost-effective.

All-in-all, sad but understandable!

 

Here's a snippet from the email I sent to Theta:


. . . I have some not-so-great news. As you may have already guessed, nothing has gone as planned on the Countryman S CAI development. We wanted to make something that is SO much better than anything else on the market that we spent three times as much time sketching, building parts in CAD, and prototyping than we did on our last CAI project. In the process, a lot of ideas were scrapped in the interest of doing something that wasn't just a metal box with a filter clamped onto it.

In November, we came to a shape and fitment that we liked and sent parts out for quote. As it turns out, none of the vendors that we'd like to use can make the parts that we'd like at a price that our potential customers can afford. This was a shocker and I've been REALLY mad about it. Plastics (mainly nylon) and some metal prices spiked in Q4 2012 and the market still has not recovered. I don't want DoS to go offshore for part production, so we've been redesigning (yet again) since late December in order to achieve our goals while reducing cost.

All this being said, I don't have an ETA for you and I can't hazard a guess on when we'll have something to market. Apologies for not being able to give you a better answer, but sometimes product development is an unkind process. . .


At this point, if any of you can't wait and decide to go elsewhere, I don't blame you. However, if you can wait, you will be pleased.

-Clint

 

Thanks, Clint! I didn't want to re-post without permission.

 

Thanks for the update, Clint. I hope you don't have to compromise too much on the design and can still achieve what you want. I'll live with my VIP intake for now, but I'm still very interested in what you're working on. I can only assume from all the secrecy that it will be worth it.

 

thanks for the update clint.
i, for one, have to reason to hurry for a cai and will wait for a bit to see what you come up with. i have a drop in dry panel and it does it's job well. this sort of tweaks this years "to do" list and will push my ecu tune to this fall or spring of '14. in the mean time i may look into picking up your occ if i knew it wouldn't interfere with the installation of your future cai design.

keep us posted on your progress, maybe show us a prototype, keep us drooling and we'll semi-patiently wait.

 

Like chrunck, just means I'll live with my VIP a little bit longer while I wait. Definitely still interested in seeing what comes out.

 

Still interested in your design keep up the hard work Clint. Just picked up a drop in filter. It will have to do until your CAI comes out.

 

It wasn't even good on the R55/R56. Damn thing was made out of cheap materials and rusted in under 9 months. The gasket where the bonnet piece connects to the air box fell off even sooner. Kept having to epoxy it back on. Changed it out on my clubman for a DOS. Best mod I did on my old clubman

 

Truly, until the DoS comes out, the only real options are an open-filter (I'd go NM) or a drop-in panel (probably aFe). Anything else is probably not going to be worth the trouble.

 

I'm guessing Dos is not able to use a modified k&n Apollo filter like there other models. It seems that is would not be that hard or expensive to use the existing intake route from the front(maybe bigger) and also use the void space near the firewall to draw in air? DuelL has a open element filter attached directly to the turbo in front of the motor. That idea with a housing would be awesome. The housing would help with heat/elements, and the air would not have to travel far at all

 

More info on FB: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

It has a carbon fiber housing, the largest filter element of any 2nd Gen MINI intake system in the industry, dry filter media for a very happy MAF sensor, and two mounting options -- one "street" option for those who don't want to cut a hole in their bulkhead panel & a second "performance/track" option for those who want maximum access to cold air.

We'll have pricing in late June for those who want to pre-order for the August product release.

Best,

-Clint

P.S. The production units are matte carbon, not the gloss shown in the renderings.

P.P.S "Street" (not "Performance/Track") version of the intake shown in the renderings.

 

I'm certainly interested ... Definitely want to see what it can do.

 

Excellent news. We're excited to see what we can squeeze out of the race/track version.

 

Cant wait!!! Super excited! :thumbsup Is there an estimated cost yet?

 

If I end up going to MITM this year, I'll stop by for sure.

 

Very excited. I've been waiting anxiously to give you my money.