Sure enough, even after showing up 45 minutes late to the Gym she couldn't tell anything had changed. Granted, I drove in such a manner that the exhaust would be extra quiet but still, it's noticeably louder then stock and I was nervous about getting the "Gong" early on in it's life.

Anyway, it's a pretty amazing piece of stainless steel. Even my coworkers commented on how well crafted it is. You can't beat the price....Period!!! To get something like this fabricated would probably cost more and not be of the same quality. You do compromise some noise for the added performance but never once did I feel like I could build a better aftermarket exhaust for the Cooper.

I'll repost once I get some seat time with the new exhaust. Right now I feel like I made the right decision.......

Stuart

 

Did the RSpeed improve low-to-mid range acceleration.... >4000 RPM? I figure the top end will improve.... because any performance exhaust should improve high RPM power and torque.

I've been thinking about getting the RSpeed myself.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

retroom

 

I was wondering about the same thing... any "seat of the pants" improvement? thanks.

 

The Dyno graph on the their website would explain power gains better then my description. It's really hard to tell what power was gained without having some hard data to back it up. If you are buying this exhaust because you want to make your car faster then you might be dissapointed. I'm sure there are some gains but it's not like bolting on a turbo or anything like that. This is a very nice piece and it looks and feels more expensive the piece you are taking off. It also makes a great sound that is more representative of the MINI sports car nature.

Stuart

 

pics?

 

Yeah, I'm thinking about getting the Rspeed sometime down the road. So far, I've read that this is the quitest(or least loud) out of all of them. And I'm sure it's at a cost of lesser HP gains. It only makes sense that the loadest will probably give you the most HP. Well, I don't want loud. I just want to hear the motor at work and still be a civilized ride. It's way too quiet right now, stock. :smile:

 

slangager,

To me dyno results are just numbers. What I want to know is your seat-of-the-pants feeling, either perceived or real. Does it feel any faster with the RSpeed, particularly at low RPM? You must have some opinion about the performance gained or lost?

Thanks,

retroom

 

Okay, you asked for it.....Here it is.

Upon start up you know something has changed. Instantly you hear a growl followed by a quiet burble at idle. The system sounds very smooth all the way through the rev range and has a nice sputter upon throttle lift. I think the biggest shock is in the 2-3K RPM range. Unfortunately where our cars are weak on HP and torque they are also loud. Where the stock system is able to muffle this weakness a true catback will expose it to the public....Don't get me wrong, it's not unbearable but it is something I have noticed and you need to be aware of. The tradeoff on the other hand is a freeer reving great sounding car. The car pulls strong all the way through redline and with the new sound you are making you just want to keeping twisting the tach till the needle breaks off. Unfortunately, you'll have to shift sooner or later but the longer you wait the happier you'll be. I seriously doubt this system gives up much HP to the other catbacks and it probably beats them in torque. It uses 2" piping vs. the other guys 2 1/4" and is perfectly crafted to minimize restrictions.

The other nice thing about this system is that it's a true two piece design. You can pull off the rear muffler with a couple bolts and run just the front resonator if you are so compelled. Granted, it might not make a whole lot more HP but it sounds really cool and takes off about 15 pounds. Just a thought.

Stuart

I'll try posting pics later.

 

This is a decent sound file of the exhaust.....Don't worry about the Quick redline as the car was previously warmed up. BTW- I live in San Francisco and the noise you hear in the background is Market Street.....Enjoy

Stuart
Rspeed Catback

 

I'd get your hands on the grassroots motorsports from December (?) where they compared exhausts for the Coope (not S.)

Peak HP gains for the exhausts were nothing to write home about, but some of them made what I think were decent mid-range torque gains. GRM chose one of those systems for their autocross project car.

My point is--the impressive systems were the ones improving the mid-range. The systems improving peak HP at redline wouldn't be noticable on the street.

FWIW, the RSpeed guys are top notch. They stand by their products (owned a Miata before the MINI) and test products before public release. They were doing an eval on a supersprint exhaust when I saw them at the italian job premier. Loud!

HTH,

Jeff

 

slangager,

Just the type of review I wanted to hear. I live in Silicon Valley just down the road from SF. I'd like to hear the exhaust. Do you ever go on any of the local runs?

retroom

 

It is great to see such positive feedback on our exhaust! We know we have a winner in our hands and we know that our future Cooper S will even match the benchmark that our Cooper exhaust is making.

It is hard for me to tell you all "Gee, buy ours because ours is the best" - but coming from a consumer stand point, I have been through so many exhausts in my life with my old VW Scirocco to my 79 Honda CVCC - and even to my other daily driver, my Miata - the reason we made one is because no one else had made one to date that we fell in love with and we knew we could make this exhaust. It needed to have the right sound so it would not offend youyr wife, your local Police office or you neighbor...and it needed torque gains so your pants were happy.

While other companies were the first on the scene with their exhausts back in 2001/2002, we took our time, talked quite a bit on the phone with our R&D crew and went through 4 prototypes before we gave the OK on the final production model.

We also knew that a true 2 piece exaust that was 100% bolt on did not need to cost over $500 and we backed it up with the quality that you will see on most upper-end after market performance modifications.

And we stand behind our baby - if anything happens due to normal wear and tear, we'll replace the part.

If anyone needs additional pictures of the system off the car or sound files, please let me know.



-Peter/RSpeed Mini

 

anybody got a copy of that grassroots exhaust shootout?
i think it would be great for all of us that haven't seen it to check it out!

 

Peter,

Any rough idea of when the S system will be out?

See ya,
JS

 

The only problem with the Grassroots motorsports Shootout is that it only includes peak HP and torque. It does not show an individual dyno graph for each exhaust leaving a little guesswork in figuring out where the power was gained. Anyway, here are the results. Hope that helps.

Helix 111.1 HP and 104.1 lb ft tq
Mini Mania 110.4 HP and 105 lb ft tq
Rogue 107.9 HP and 102.5 lb ft tq
Supersprint 108.7 HP and 101.2 lb ft tq

*Starting HP was 107.8 hp and 102.8 lb ft tq

Stuart

BTW- I'm pretty active in the Bay Area with SCCA so the best place to hear the exhaust is at a local Autocross. Check out this website for the schedule.
San Francisco SCCA

 

>>The only problem with the Grassroots motorsports Shootout is that it only includes peak HP and torque. It does not show an individual dyno graph for each exhaust leaving a little guesswork in figuring out where the power was gained. Anyway, here are the results. Hope that helps.
>>
>>Helix 111.1 HP and 104.1 lb ft tq
>>Mini Mania 110.4 HP and 105 lb ft tq
>>Rogue 107.9 HP and 102.5 lb ft tq
>>Supersprint 108.7 HP and 101.2 lb ft tq
>>
>>*Starting HP was 107.8 hp and 102.8 lb ft tq
>>
>>Stuart
ahhhhh.
thanks.
i thought they tested the borla and the r-speed too....
that's the others i'm curious about!
it's still a tossup for me between the helix, r-speed, and borla for me.....