You guys see the area where the top of the resonator is close to the tube that connects to the twister and the throttle body?

This is where I have trouble placing the new intake tube through. There is not enough space for the intake tube and it is pushed up and forward, bulging against the front of the engine bay because of the lack of space in this area.

Comments?

steve

 

I did a few runs tonight with the filter in place. The best setup is to bypass the resonator as emobob has done. This setup felt the best at throttle response at 3000 RPM's - something I felt lacking in the stock setup. The cloth tube could use some shortening as well, I switched back to stock for my drive down to Helix tomorrow for the dyno runs. I really need to open up the car on the highway for a while, and hit the curves like I normally do. The ECU would probably need to adjust.

 

Hey everyone!

I installed my twister last night.

Bottom line, this product is a big winner.

The only negative, is that the installation procedure needs to be cleaned up. But Dan is taking care of this very quickly and efficiently.

I bypassed my resonator like emobob did. I also removed the intake scoop for now.

There are two big benefits to the twister.

1. Engine/exhaust sound improvement

2. A power gain

Engine/exhaust sound improvement:

Now, this is totally subjective, but when it comes to exhaust tuning, or messing with the engine noise levels, I'm pretty conservative. Having said that. I drove my car 50 miles today around town and I came to the following conclusion. With the twister on, your cooper will growl like an exotic car. It's absolutely fantastic. The coolest thing about it though, is this; you only get the intoxicating growl when you put the engine under a load with 3/4 to full throttle. So, if you want to have your stock sound, just squeeze the throttle tenderly. If you want to here the twister in action, apply aggressive throttle. It's music! I know there are some excellent gains with an exhaust system, but if you don't want to spend the money on an exhaust install, this twister, for $190 will give you all the sound improvement that you could desire. I have three boys, 12, 10 and 5. Each one of them drove in my car today with the twister. They were all crazy about Cooper's new found "coolness" and "attitude" with his melodeous twister engine note!

Power Gain:

This was a stunner. I had no expectation for any seat of the pants power increase coming into this group buy. Wow! Was I surprised! I am going to guess a minimum 10hp gain, at or slightly above about 10%. There was an immediate difference in guts for my engine throughout the entire rev range. The most obvious difference today in my driving was when I had my 10 year old with me in the front passenger seat, with 3/4 to full throttle 1st gear starts, I was chirping the tires big time, WITH the DSC on!!! I couldn't do this by myself before the twister!! I had my son with me, good for 80 lbs and my Cooper was clawing at the pavement fighting with the stability control!

Bottom line:

It's a winner. If you're in, you made a good choice. If you're just reading this and or on the "fence" about buying one, you won't regret it. It's worth every nickle.

I know that Dan is discussing the idea of connecting the twister intake tube to the resonator. I don't know if this will change the engine note if we do this. This will be an interesting test as we go along here with the maturity of the product.

Steve
2003 MC 5spd

 

Danp,

What is the difference in engine note between resonator hooked up and resonator bypass?

You say that you felt more power gain with the resonator bypassed?

I'm interested to know if the resonator muffles/mutes the twister sounds.

Steve

 

Steve,

Engine note and response are better with the resonator bypass install. Path of least resistance. Keep in my mind I was doing only a few runs up and down my street - 35MPH speed limit (yet I was somehow going 60...) Power gain was more apparent with the bypass, but I'll know for certain tomorrow when the car gets dyno'd. I also have an aftermarket exhaust, so it seems to open up things more. One thing I will say is that while the engine was warm, the filter was rather cool to the touch. Sort of like the One Ring...for all you Tolkien geeks!

 

Okay good Dan.

I'll leave mine off for sure then.

I think that dyno results might end up being disappointing as you cannot recreate the rolling hp effect with the ram air to the intake on the street.

At least we both now know how nice it is in the seat of the pants now that we have spent the money!! Gosh, I just love that growl!! I'm going to drive all around tomorrow! Can't get enough!

steve

 

What do you guys think about removing the intake scoop?

Is it going to hurt anything that I have the intake tube shoved into the air scoop slot? I removed the scoop. Some air can bypass the intake tube cause it is not flush with the intake hole like the scoop was. However, the scoop and scoop tube is a lot smaller than the diameter of the intake tube.

Your thoughts?

Steve
:???:

 

Not sure what to expect with the dyno's - would be nice to see a gain, then again there's something to be said to have a more aggressive sound and better seat of the pants feel. I also think that you'll drive at higher RPM's to get the cool sound going, and that really gives the Cooper more spunk.

 

Dan!

I live in the top third of the rev belt!

steve

 

Hi revs are the way to go...

 

Dan, you mentioned the throttle response was best at 3000 rpm's. I have found that with the Rogue installed and either stock or my pipercross intake, my cooper is really "peaky" with the power band between 4-5500 rpm's. Does the power band with the twister pick up at 3,00 rpm"s? If so, thats awesome.

I can't wait to get mine. The stock airbox is getting boring.

Andy

 

asodestrom - I think I meant there is BETTER throttle response at 3000 RPM's, would still say 4500+ is best response. For example, I was driving at maybe 40 mph, around 3000 RPM's in 3rd gear, gave it gas and felt more rersponse than usual. I really need to drive the car with the Twister on it for a while.

UNfortunately, after my dyno tests today, I have to take the car in for service tomorrow morning due to the "overheating" issue. This has NOTHING to do with the intake, I didn't even have installed when it happened. Not sure what the dealer would say if they saw it though.

 

I installed the twister on my cvt model last weekend. It did seem as though the unit had to be placed just right in order for the bonnet to close. Perhaps this is unique to cvt models. I also just placed the tube in the intake front slot as it was too big for the actual vent part. Any other cvt experiences?

 

I wonder if Pilo can find a way to design a new intake scoop that will fit the Twister tube better.

steve
:???:

 

Hey All. Give another day or so to come up with the new instructions. I will get them to you by the end of the group buy. I've been very busy working with new products and stuff that I need to sort through all my pictures to make the instructions. (New products for the Cooper as well as the Cooper S)

Regarding the scoop. I will look the ability to get a new one. or modify this one to make the other tube fit. I will keep you all posted.

Thanks
Dan
Pilo Racing

 

Dyno Results



See Comments below

 

Sorry for the down and dirty quality of the Dyno chart, wanted to get it up there ASAP. Temperature at dyno time was 86 degrees. To our shock, my car dyno'd HIGHER today than in the late fall when it was cold in there. In any case, the Twister intake added .4 HP and .5 in the Torque department. I had to remove the filter when I got home because I have a service appointment tomorrow AM - the Twister was cold. After a 3 hour drive on highways and secondary roads. After the dyno runs, I checked it, it was hot. I suspect that real driving changes things. My observations after 3 hours of driving:

More power in the band above 3000 RPM's
More throttle response on the highway at 70-75 in 5th gear, even uphill
Engine noise was better than stock, pleasant at WOT, not obnoxious

If I didn't have a service appointment tomorrow - it would have stayed on. I agree, the fitment issues need to be addressed - we had it attached directly to the front air scoop - with some heavy duty insulation for fitment. This bypassed the resonator completely.

 

And a pic:

 

hey dandp, thanks so much for posting those dyno results.

Gains are a little less than expected, but nothing shocking. at least it wasnt negative. and I agree that in real world driving the results might actually be higher.

Thanks again for being the guinea pig.

 

I wasn't sure what I'd see gains wise - everything I hear says that the Cooper is a tough little beast to get more power out of. I will say I expected to get a speeding ticket testing it out on the way home though

 

dandp:

Thanks for posting your dyno results and the picture showing the installed intake.
About the fitment issues, I guess I'll find about them tomorrow when I UPS is espected to deliver my intake.

Thanks again,

Juan

 

Now that we have ween the Dyno. There are a couple reasons for the low charts. The Main reason is that the Cooper being Natrualy Aspirated, only needs to breath so much. Dan does have an after market exhaust which opened it up already, and the intake and exhaust and intake combo will only bring the car so high. With his base line dyno having the exhaust installed, it did not show the overall gain only from the intake. The second issue is that the car was stationary. This intake will benefit much more from the ram effect than the origional Intake will. This is from the twister top, and straight through Design.

The Good News is that the Intake stays cool to the touch even after a long drive. That was a concern of some people that heat soak would cause a problem. but this intake seems to do faily well with the issue.

Now that we have the Dyno numbers, and I Will get the instructions by tonight, It would be helpful for people to start making there decision as to yes or No. Drop me an e-mail at mini@thepilo.com, and I will set you up with the check out details.

Thanks
Dan
Pilo Racing

 

HARMINI Said:
>> I should be able to do the testing along with dandp on his 5 speed the following week. Stay tuned for a full review.
>>

Harmini,
What were your dyno results with your CVT?
How is the fitment?

 

Went to a local speed shop today - we looked at a catalog with silicone reduction flanges from 3" down to 2". This may be a solution to better fitment and performance using the front air scoop for the Ram Air effect. I would really like to remove the resonator box. The flanges are 8 bucks each. Will wait to see what MiniPilo comes up with instruction wise...

 

That is very much what I have been thinking about. I think that with spall piece of metal tubing and it will be all set. I will look into getting that for this. and see how it works. Thanks for the research dandp

Thanks
Dan
Pilo Racing