Originally Posted by mdbsat

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.

Originally Posted by k-huevo

Here’s a local club http://www.lonestarminiclub.com/ , if you would like to join in send me your preferred username and e-mail address. On-line registration has been suspended due to spam attacks.

A local shop to do your pulley http://www.prestige-tuning.com/ and it can also be a DIY http://www.lonestarminiclub.com/foru...read.php?t=549 .

Squirlz provided some great advice for driver education as an important mod.

Originally Posted by searocko

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!

Originally Posted by mdbsat

What do you guys think of this one?
http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NMK5041/InvDetail.cfm

Do I need this tool? Is this a good brand?

Originally Posted by Revolution Mini Works

Larry's car had the fewest mods on the dyno at Seattle and made some of the biggest gains. As he said... spend your money wisely

Originally Posted by hemiheaded18

What kind of gains could be seen on top of his mods with say, your Street exhaust, Jan?

Originally Posted by Revolution Mini Works

honestly .........probably not much if you mean the catback
the header makes a big difference even with the stock exhaust


Now on a car with our head, the catback would be worth 10whp at least

Here is a little case in point....
Craigs car (former SpiderX car) dyno'd 236whp in GA with RMW head

when it came up here to the shop it made about 226whp

we swapped out the other custom header, schrick cam and miltek exhaust
and went RMW cam, shorty header/catback and made 249whp

the car is now able to make more power up top at .5 a/f richer which is safety built in for the track. Some of these header designs will not let you run the car richer to make power. This is their weakness. The car gets hot, dumps fuel , pulls timing and kills power. There is a reason our cars run faster late in the laps

Originally Posted by hemiheaded18

So in other words, on a basic bolt-on car, the header and cam are biggest hold back (and when swapped, show the best gains) while the OE cat back is more than enough. Then when a head is added, the cat back should be swapped for optimum gains. And your cat back for the street is the 4 resonator setup, right?

Originally Posted by lhoboy

SAve yourself a bunch of money and go for a pulley and a good tune first. That'll generate plenty of adrenaline until you can spend for a complete balanced system (intake, cam, head, exhaust).

Originally Posted by mdbsat

Thanks, I am trying to get the pulley done first. What is a good tune?

and what is a reasonable instillation price to put a pulley in?

Have you all heard of the sprint booster? Is it worth it?...
http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/nme1900/invDetail.cfm

Originally Posted by HighLife4136

$200 is about the going rate for a pulley install. Add the pulley and you're at about $310-340.

Originally Posted by hemiheaded18

Sprint Booster is a waste just like the MSD coil pack. My local MINI specialist (Helix) charges $385 for the install and the pulley. Buy your pulley and it may be a little cheaper but should be fairly ball park in the end. And for info on a good tune, PM Revolution MINI Works (Jan).

Originally Posted by Longboard Mini

Don't knock the Sprint Booster until you try it. I did on a buddy's car and thought it was awesome. I have an MSD coil, plug wire and a CAI .

Don't tell Jan .

Longboard

Originally Posted by Revolution Mini Works

don't worry, it won't be on there when you get back

Originally Posted by Longboard Mini

If it still has that miss up top change out the MSD and see if it's that. Oh ya, the W/M is working great so just plug it in if you want.

BL

Originally Posted by mdbsat

What if I went ahead and out an intake into my car before the pulley for money reasons. Will I even notice a difference in the performance of my car?

Originally Posted by gnatster

No