My mechanic says he knows a bunch of guys running R53s in STX who have 15% reduction pulleys. I thought if you changed the pulley you went straight to SM? What gives?

 

They just haven't been caught or the local chapter doesn't care.

 

Yup technically it is NOT legal to have a pulley in STX, but I know several small local regions allow them. Mainly cause the MINI is hard to win in SM.

 

So, to play by the rules, pulley=SM? My car is stock right now with the following mods:

2003 MCS MT
H&R SPORT SPRINGS
K&N DROP IN AIR FILTER
B&M SSK/WHALEN
DUNLOP DIREZZA DZ101'S ON S-LITES
CARBOTECH BOBCATS/TSW CARBON ROTORS/STOPTECH SS LINES/ATE

That's everything right now. In boxes, in my garage is an Alta v.2 15% pulley, an Fx300 clutch and JB racing flywheel, and a CF hood.

If I were to put all the parts on and enter, would I be SM? If I leave the pulley off, could I go down a class? I drive the car daily, and plan to for another 2 years, so a pulley and the above mods will keep it fun to drive But, I want to be in the right class, and not spend way too much money to mod the car to make it competitive...so I'm reading the class descriptions now!

 

You wil need to check with you local AutoX clubs to see what they will class it as. There is a lot of local "tweaks" that most clubs will do to try and level the competition.

If you want to be competitive you need to try and stay stock. But if you just want to go and have fun, do whatever mods you want.

 

The only way you can run more boost in an R53 in STX is in a JCW S. You would need all parts of the kit but for those that can be changed under STX allowances. I would think that you would need the head and the OEM interference fit smaller pulley and possibly other parts of the kit as well. Hopefully someone with more knowledge in this area will pipe in.