I finally had my Alta 2% pulley installed! I had it done by Robert at LNS Motorsports in Knoxville; he owns an awesome MC and is a humongous MINI enthusiast (he has a MC mouse on his computer, MINI stools in the garage, MINI work shirt, and his mom and brother also drive MINIs). The shop has a Mustang dyno and they are also a certified GIAC distributor.

So my impression of the Alta 2% pulley addition; not too much of a change besides the engine begins to come alive now around 3500 rpms, instead of 4000 with the 15%. I'm sure most of you all have already read those older threads where people with the 2% claim the throttle feels lighter because less rotating mass, blah blah blah; well I don't notice it in my car . Top end feels the same as before. Anyway, I'm glad I now have it on my car and it's not a bad deal overall compared to some other upgrades available.

Here is my dilemma: There are so many new incredible products like the DFIC, Koni FSDs, Meagan Racing coilovers w/ adj. camber plates, M62 talk, and much much more...is paying $450 for GIAC reflash and a dyno tune really going to show a substantial benefit? Would some 400cc injectors be a good idea?

I love how the car drives now; no flat spots, strong acceleration from 3500-redline, kicka$$ handling, what else could you wish for?

Here is part of the GIAC brochure that I took home today; there is a new software switching device that GIAC offers for more $$$ that lets you easily switch between modes based upon your intended style of driving.

Anyone heard of this new adjustable GIAC programmer? Should I continue on the never ending aftermarket modification quest, or start saving $$$ and finally call the MINI complete for a while?

 

then don't worry about the ECU. Don't fix what isn't broken. Spend the money on driver skills improvement. As all the track rats say, "The best improvement to your car is to tighten the nut behind the wheel." When your skills are getting better than your car, then you can spend more time modding it. But if you're at a happy spot, spend the $ on track time and the like. Really, if you haven't done any performance training, you will be shocked at how much, and how easy, it is to learn how to be better early on. It's easy to get better, but very hard to get real good. If you have done lots of this stuff, my post will remind you of what you already know and you'll sign up for more coaching.

I don't mean this to be mean. I've been modding cars for a while, and doing some track work for 3-4 years. If you keep modding, you will find that the wonderfull smoothness you are enjoing now gets very expensive to maintain as the car gets farther and farther from stock, and it takes a lot of work. Also, if you go with custom tuned SW, you'll need to go back for more tuning as you keep changing your car.

Also, while I've seen listings for the flashloader, I've never seen it actually available for the Mini, as in here's the part number, come buy it. If it's out, that would be cool.

Matt

 

What do you use your MINI for?
How much time do you spend on the track or at autocross?

If you do mostly street driving the next best thing for you is-----

Driving school- a bunch of times.:nod :

When the driving school organizers start to call you to be an instructor then that is always a good sign that some good driving skills are showing.

You already have lots of mods. More mods yield very small benefits unless you track your MINI.

Just looking at your list- Quaife differential and 05' lowered gearing comes to mind. If you want something alot bigger then ported and polished cylinder heads.

For GIAC, talk to Eric at Helix13.com. I don't think the GIAC flashholder is available for the MINI version of software. The problem I could see for the GIAC is that it might not be totally optimized for a 15% pulley with 2% crank pulley. Last time I checked GIAC had versions for 15%, 17% and 19% pulley. Larger injectors are best for track use. They also tend to burn more gas at wide open throttle. You might loose about 2 mpg for your trouble.

Another idea for you is really lightweight 16" rims and sticky street tires.
Talk to Alex@tirerack.com. 16" rims can be a good compromise of reasonable cost, low weight, good selection of styles and colors with good tires in 215/40-16 or 215/45-16 for performance or 205/50-16 for street use.