Hampton Roads Club Mini

Hey all, I know I haven't poked around here lately, busy time ya know.  Anyway, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in helping me install a 15% pulley and a lightweight crank pulley in OC.  I got them as a Christmas present for Mandy so it will be after the holidays.  I know Scott used to be the resident pulley guy.  Any help would be appreciated, I pay in beer and pizza!

Shawn

you can make a belt tensioner ... Haynes has a diagram.  PM me if you want a copy.  You can bolt it together but if you know someone with a welder that's the way I'd go.  All you need is about 3 feet of flat bar you can get at Home Despots or Lowes

Two things on this.  First, make sure the lightweight crank pulley does not take away from the harmonics of the engine balance.  If memory serves, the crank pulley and harmonic balancer are one piece.  You don't want to throw your engine out of balance.  Check with one of the Mini performance shops listed on NAM, Tar Heel Minis, etc. before you make this mod.

Once you cross the 15% boost threshold, you will need to consider several things.  First, you may need to upgrade your injectors to 380cc (i.e. JCW injectors). Consider going to colder plugs (NGK BKR7; stock is BKR6).   A good tune may be needed.  You may also want to consider getting your head ported and polished.  Best thing here is to acquire another one and have the work done to it to minimize down time.

More boost is more heat.  I've done alot of research on this topic lately.  The stock intercooler is the second best option.  It's smaller and heats up quicker, but it cools off faster.  There are several posts on NAM about the aftermarket intercoolers.   Here's a link:  NAM - Intercooler Cooling Tests.   The best intercooler is the one installed in the 2006 MCS GP.  The only thing is Mini will not sell a replacement intercooler unless you can prove you own a GP (i.e. VIN).

This realm is more Mugami's place.  Need to PM him to get more info.  He's done far more mods and tuning to his two MCS'.   

Understood.  You did say a 2% crank pulley was optional.  In most cases, 15% pulley, cold air intake, exhaust, new plugs, and a tune are the best bangs for the buck.  All this can put you close to 200 HP at the crank.  And no required upgrade to the stock injectors (which are 330cc, or about 31 lbs./hr).  To compare, 30 lb. injectors are good for up to 400 HP on small-block V8 engines.

The computer can learn the 15% pulley.  However, this will take time, and it won't be the same as a professional who can reflash the computer with the best possible air/fuel/timing combinations for optimizing performance.

I still consider the intercooler an upgrade after the fact.  Based on the link I provided you, in my book, the jury is still out.  I'm not going to bother getting one unless someone makes it as good or better than the '06 GP version.  However, I would not toss out the idea of one of the water squirter kits.

I found another relevant article on NAM that may be of interest regarding the GP intercooler:  NAM - Upgrade to the GP Intercooler.  One of the replies to this post has some data on testing intake air temperature (IAT) at the drag strip vs. regular driving.  The posting also talks of combining the use of an aftermarket scoop, such as the M7 Extreme Scoop.  This would definitely contribute to an overall lower IAT drop and would be a more cost-effective investment than the intercooler (to me).

One nice tidbit is the posting also mentions all superchargers in '05-'06 MCS's have the teflon-coated rotors that only the earlier JCW kits had.  I've heard this previously, but I thought it was '04-'06.  It also mentions the Eaton M45 supercharger is no longer produced.  Will have to research that one.

There is also a quote of 168 HP and 220 lb. ft. TQ for the '05-06' models.  This is not quite true.  The 220 lb. ft. figure is in Nm (i.e. metric).

The M 45 is still in production. Just no longer with the integrated water pump of the 02-06 S. I knew I should have picked one up from someone selling their JCW upgrade parts.
Stock injectors are good to 220 crank HP easy. Many people were running 250+ at the crank long before the 300+ injectors became available. The biggest advantage is it may reduce duty cycle of the injector and therefore make it easier to to maintain flow and improve life cycle of the units. My last dyno years ago pulled 205ish and still ran stupid rich over 5500. The stock IC does a very good job. Improved airflow through it is easy HP. I have a GRS Intercooler. One of the best made from a company run by a great guy. It helps but when a bigger IC get hot it just takes longer to cool down. Lucky for me I got a hand formed experimental scoop for my car. Still beats everything on the market. I also hand formed the air box above my IC. this increased the area above the IC by 40-50% if I recall. Gives it a greater area to stack above the IC before moving down through it. And don't dismiss that little diverter that sets about 40% of the way back on the IC cover, it helps. I have one of the first production GRS units produced and they originally came without a deflector. Graham(of GRS ) was nice enough to send me one of the first deflector units he produced. Free. This is the kind of guy he is. If I would have sent him my unit back he would have added that fin  and the improved inlet collars he has just made for free. Anyway I made many tests moving that deflector fin around. Properly placed it makes a significant difference in the IC performance. In particular uniform temps across the unit.

 I made many posts on MINI2 and NAM about it years back. That along with the Randy Webb/ DDM air box made the biggest difference in charge cooling on my car.
One maintenance item to not forget that will make a noticeable difference for an hours labor is to flush out the IC at least once a year. Oil catch can or not that gets nasty in there.

At 15% the stock IC keeps up quite well. Jump to 17% and your heat build up over 5500 ramps quickly. The MINI compensates by dumping tons of fuel. Pegging most A/F meters at 9:1.

My nickel on the exhausts. Magnaflow or Invidia. Everything else I've ever heard, that wasn't custom, compressed exhaust pulses over 55-5800RPM. Exhaust get that compressed air sound. Those 2 systems maintain discreet pulses right up to redline. The sacrifice though is cabin noise.

Ta  

A gathering sounds good!  We can trade notes and thoughts on what to do.   

Glad to hear Eaton still makes the M45 supercharger.  I had heard that it was no longer in production.  It would be nice if they upgrade it to the TVS technology.  This is the same design that is now incorporated on the ZR-1 Corvette, which is putting out ~620HP!

After all the IC research I have done, I'm considering two things.  One is to just get an Alta air diverter kit to go along with the stock IC.  The other is to get with Bahamabart and see about some kind of mod based on his custom air diverter.  He used the Forge IC, but I bet this design would work well with the stock IC, too.

Terry's a rocket scientist.    


Don't let him tell you it's not true...... I've seen him stick thermometers in his Mini t like measure stuff..... like air temps and whatnot.