I think you might benefit by going to a local MINI club event and look at other people's MINIs to see what they have done.

I think you mean you have a Cooper S (not Sport) and not the base Cooper.
Look at your hood (bonnet), does it have a midline air scoop? If so, then that is there for the intercooler. The Cooper S comes with a supercharger (forced induction) which moves more air from the intake but heat is usually generated in the process so the intercooler cools the air a bit since cooler air provides for more power.

Even if you have a stock car you can always benefit from a good driving school, usually sponsored by your local car club such as BMW Car club of America or similar, ask the dealership for info or your local car clubs.

Your stock wheels are really heavy at 25.1 lbs each and another 24 lbs per runflat tire. An easy improvement is to get lighter rims and better non runflat tires. Check out tirerack.com (talk to alex) or Edgeracing.com (talk to leo) for more information.

You don't have to stick with 17" wheels since they tend to be heavier and tires will be 40 or 50 series sidewalls which are stiffer and less comfortable for street driving.

Another option is to get 16x7" wheels and 205/50-17 tires that provide better handling than the runflats and likely more comfort.

Air intake- common and you can do it yourself. Usually sounds louder from the driver's seat. Helps a little for power.

Exhaust- see if you can do a one ball exhaust- remove one side of the stock exhaust and keep the other for a little weight loss and low cost or find a used Cooper S exhaust system for sale in Marketplace or locally. New exhausts are costly. Overall it's OK for a little power and usually it's louder than stock.

Supercharger- a reduced diameter pulley is what everyone is talking about. Your choice on the size. 15% is safest but yields less power gain than 17 or 19%. If you want reliability then stick with 15%.

Suspension upgrades don't make you faster in a straightline but will help handling on corners a great deal and is the strength of the MINI. Shock upgrades like the Koni FSD or lowering springs (many to choose from) will help alot. But the lower you go on suspension drop the less comfortable the street ride quality will be.

Anyway talk to your local MINI club members for the basics.

 

wow, thanks minihune.

Yes I have the Cooper S. It has the supercharger and the bonnet.

I am going to get the pully first it looks like. Now to just figure out which one! lol. You give me too much credit by saying I can do the intake by myself. I just told my GF that and she really did laugh out loud. I didnt even thnk about a mini club in san antonio. I will certainly go look now. I am just so excited. I just cant wait to see how I can make this car even zippier!

last time ill say this...but you guys are great!!!!

 

"Supercharger- a reduced diameter pulley is what everyone is talking about. Your choice on the size. 15% is safest but yields less power gain than 17 or 19%. If you want reliability then stick with 15%."

I am a little confused. Safest? I have never been one to be on the safe side :P So what is the risk of getting the 17"?

 

Overspinning the supercharger can shorten it's lifespan. Of course, that could lead to the Rotrex....uh, that's another thread for another day.

 

A 17% Pulley generates more stress on the supercharger as the supercharger tries to cram in more air. A 17% will grant you more horsepower but it spins the supercharger beyond its capacity.

 

Ah ok. I get it now. So even getting a 15% is going to reduce my engines life? sounds bad :(

 

There's not a huge danger running a 17% pulley, but i'd stick with the 15%, as it keeps the supercharger running in it's desired range. You make almost all of the power that the others do, with virtually no risk at all.

Intake sounds good (and it is ultra easy to install, your gf could install it!) but doesn't make considerable power.

Definately wouldn't bother with any aftermarket coil pack's or wires....

OBX headers (if you want a cheap and fairly good option), and a oneball (one muffler) exhaust, as mentioned above, is a good combo.

Then get lightweight 16" rims and sticky tires and a 19mm rear swaybar

 

Theoretically...yes...but I have yet to hear of supercharger failure on a Mini due to a 15% pulley...

The 15% barely goes over the supercharger redline I believe.

 

There are plenty of people who have put a lot of miles on a 15% blower. It really only becomes a stress at high RPM which, unless it's a dedicated track car which it isn't, the car won't see often. You'll be fine.

 

I get it.

I tried finding that Gatorback 060537 online and all I get is links back to this site! :P

I am still going to get the pulley

I cant wait!

PS. So when I order the pully the only other thing I need is the belt right?

 

Welcome -

I wouldn't worry about shortening the lifespan of your supercharger w/ a 15% pulley. Its about the same size as comes on the JCW's from the factory. And I've been running a 15% on mine for about 150,000 miles (yes original supercharger) now with no problems. When it does finally go I might upgrade to a 17 on 19 .

Good luck - the mod bug already got you

Nik

 

Oh - forgot I run the stock JCW belt, change about every 30k or so

Nik

 

some of the most powerful Mini's we have ever tested had stock JCW intakes

spend your money elsewhere...

 

I knew someone in here had an obnoxious amount of miles but couldn't remember who!

 

Hmmm...a sticky at the top of the forum might be a good idea for a topic like this

 

I must have the bug.
SERIOUSLY!!!! My GF keeps telling me to some to bed, instead i am making a spreadsheet of all the things I need/want for my car. The first thing Im getting is the pulley. I read to use a stcok JCW....um what is that? I was going to get a Gatorback 060537 . Is this ok?

 

Mods are great; no doubt about it. I have all the usual bolt-on stuff...15% pulley, Alta CAI, HSport springs, Koni Yellows, Alta rear control arms, Volt exhaust, brake pads, wheels, tires, et al.

The best way to "get faster" is to train yourself. I did my first High Performance Driving Experience last weekend at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course. I realized I was not driving my car anywhere near it's potential. I got a ride with an instructor in an '05 S who had nothing but a pulley, springs, camber plates and race tires and he was about 30% faster than me simply from driver training and developing enormous nads and finding the limit.

I realized last weekend that I can bolt on stuff til I'm blue in the face but I will not be faster until I become a better driver. And it's fun as hell and you can really bond with your car.

Just my 2 cents worth. I had an epiphany...my car is faster than I am!

 

Anything mentioned "JCW" stands for John Cooper Works which was a factory modified Cooper S. Different cylinder head, intake, pulley, tune, exhaust and so on. Power was bumped from 163 to a little over 200. For an intake, the JCW is a good, sound choice. I'd skip the JCW pulley as it's 11% as opposed to 15+. Then again, Jan managed to make stupid power from the 11% recently.....

 

+1
Kind of a basic beginner's guide to mods and where they'll put you, power-wise.

 

A lot of us prefer the Napa 060535 belt, but I think that Gator will work as well

And to add to this, take RMW's advice and go with the pulley, 15-17% depending on your driving style and climate, a new head/cam/header combo and then a tune...maybe injectors at that point too

 

I have learned SO MUCH in just one night!

While I may be a ways off form the driving school thing I am just excited aout the add ons.

Pulley first for sure. Then what do you guys think I should do next?

 

My $.02 says catback of choice, possibly a header, too. Here's a big *** thread that has most (if not all) of the available catbacks, reviews, pics, videos, and soundclips.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=23789

 

Having been burned in the past modding other cars by doing the usual mods that everyone does, I've decided to take a different approach to modding my MCS. Rather than go with the flow and get the intake, exhaust, MSD, etc., this is what I did...

I see you're starting off with a pulley and that is an excellent choice as that is the best bang for your buck. I started out with a 15% and all I could say back then was . Then I started to peruse the boards and did some research... lots of it. I found that intakes and exhausts give you only a few HP. For the amount of money spent, it wasn't worth it. It reminded me of my VW 1.8T modding days... For the same amount of money, I got a cam and header instead. Now there are several vendors out there but I decided to go with RMW. I'm glad I did because once I got the car tuned, everything works together and I got awesome results. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...&postcount=218

I've added colder plugs and bigger injectors since I take my car to the track. The only other mod that I have is a modified stock air box (non-JCW). I cut out the bottom rear of the box along with the plastic cowl behind it in order to pull more air in. All it cost me was some foam tape to insulate it from the hot engine bay heat. Still running the stock paper filter.

The headers along with the stock cat-back has a nice tone to it. Cruising on the freeway at 60+ it's as quiet as stock. Once you floor it, there's a nice growl to it.

I'm done with my power mods right now. The next step would be a high flow head and at that point, it may be worth looking into a cat-back.

You don't have to do the usual mods to make power. Just do research and spend your money wisely. Feels great to pass people on the track with my beer can exhaust!

 

From going the upgrade route that most have, I've got to say that the catback exhaust is mostly an auditory upgrade. When you match the head -> to a header -> to a catback, it all makes sense, right?!

Don't get me wrong, I really love my exhaust and CAI for the sounds, but the performance to $$$ ratio isn' what a head and a tune are.

Good luck

 

I have so much to learn. If this pulley and intake are so easy to install how come I found a place in san antonio to do for 300$!! Is that a rip off? I mean 300 dollars labor for a 130 part? ugh. Thats was 300 to install JUST the pulley. I think I have a mechanic friend who is going to help me. Thank god.

to the guy who said that the catback was mainly an auditory upgrade what would you do next after the pulley?

I swear i feel like I owe all of you something for all this input!!

oh and do i get JUST the pulley as seen here:
http://www.cravenspeed.com/index.php?productID=39

OR do i have to get the set? "R53 Speed Pulley Set"
http://www.cravenspeed.com/index.php?productID=86

Im kinda confused now.