This is my first review I ever done. Be gentle.
I've had my CNT exhaust for about 4 months now and its all broken in.

My Mini is a 07 MCSa.
Exhaust: CNT Exhaust for R56 MINI S
Price: ~$250 + free shipping
Weight: ~39 lbs.
Site: somewhere on eBay.


Install:
Everything went on OK. The clamps they give you are useless. Just throw them away, don't even try. Band clamps are okay but expensive(~$25 a piece) still gave me some exhaust leak. I recommend just go with the cheap and cheerful $2 U shape exhaust clamps, they work great and no leaks.

Issues:
Tips are HUGE compared to stock (It's like flipping the exhaust tips backwards on the stock exhaust.)
Blue tips, Yuck. Doesn't match my Mini at all. (I plastic dipped mine black, looks so much better.)
Exhaust hits against the brace. (Dont use Band clamps, band clamps seem to be the issue. Swapped to the U shape ones and it fixed the hitting issue. I'm going to weld them together eventually)

Post-Install:
After a couple of days the matte black tips start to grow on me. I do like the bigger tips. They fill up the space quite nicely. Now I can't imagine tips smaller than that.


Comparing my exhaust setups I've done .

Catless downpipe with stock exhaust:
Power Gain: Some I guess since it eliminated the primary catalytic converter. Feels the same to me.
Sound Gain: WOT is ridiculously loud.Quite, zero drone just like stock. At WOT it can scare the bejeezus out of anyone near it.


Stock downpipe with CNT Exhaust: (Current Setup, because it my family car)
Power Gain: Some since it eliminated second catalytic converter.
Sound Gain: Nice and deep. Little drone.
Quite, deeper tone, drones around 3000-3500 RPMs, but very bearable. The drone disappears at 4000RPMs and higher. With the radio playing a little I can barely hear the drone.

Catless downpipe with CNT Exhaust: (Favorite setup)
Power Gain: Good amount(Alta AP needed) Full 2.5" catless exhaust.
Sound Gain: A lot more Burble, louder
I can say that running catless is a lot of fun. It gave my Mini a lot more power. Running stage 3 using the AP, from a dead stop I can spin the wheels in 1st gear and then chirp 2nd and sometimes 3rd (it's a auto BTW). The only issue is that it drones like no tomorrow in the 3000-4000 range(highway speeds). In 6th gear when I'm on a decently flat or slight inclined downward highway. The drone is bearable. The second I start going uphill a little bit, the drone gets very bad. How bad is the drone, all the change in my front two cup holders rattle a lot. But once you hit 4000rpm or higher, it stops droning completely and sounds great the after that. The drone doesn't get very bad, until I start to go above 65mph. Trying to pass someone in 6th gear is going to make me go deaf. Other than that it sound great. The burble coming from the exhaust is awesome. It pops at idle a good amount and does it when the Mini is upshifting when I'm on it and does it when I'm downshifting and letting off the gas too.

Little quirks about the exhaust.
"It's stainless"
The exhaust tips are hide in the car when it's cold and extend out of the car about 1/2 inch when warmed up.
This maybe just a automatic thing, but letting off gas while in higher RPMs seems to cause some droning.


There done. I think I ranted enough.

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Nice Review. I heard the "pop & burble" software feature was removed by Mini for the 2007-10 years. Were you getting this feature back from just the Alta AP, the full catless DP + exhaust setup, or from the combination of both the Alta AP and DP+Exhaust?

 

I think it running catless and a little bit more richer might have gave more burble.
It's not as loud and doesn't happen quite as often as the 2011+ but the sound is there.
I'll see if I can put a video up later and people can debate if it burbles or not.

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Here's the video. you can debate if it has burble or not.
All I know is that my Mini never made those noises before.
In the video I revved it to about 2500-3000RPMs. Engine wasn't full warmed up. It usually make more popping sounds when it was fully warmed up.
http://youtu.be/33mgw61jKBk

 

How heavy is the CNT exhaust compared to stock? For the price it has me thinking...

 

Is there a noticeable difference in sound with the CNT+stock downpipe compared to a 100% stock system? From the few sound clips I have heard, it doesn't seem really any different than stock. The video you linked to, that is just the CNT with stock DP?

Also, did you use the u clamps on all of the connections? How many?

Thanks!!!

 

 

Compared to stock. It is much deeper than stock.

My video I linked is a Catless setup.

I ended using all u clamps. How many: 2

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thanks for the reply!

Were you able to actually find it for sale on ebay for $250...all that I see is $299 with free shipping.

What do you think it would sound like with the resonator cut out and straight pipe put in?

 

I brought it about a half year ago from a user that brought it and but never put it in their Mini.

I'm not sure what it would sound like without the resonator. Maybe louder I have no idea.

I just weighted the exhausts: (had some time since my turbo feed line leaked and need to remove the downpipe and everything)

My stock exhaust is: ~28 lbs
The CNT exhaust is: ~39 lbs

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Here a couple of videos. difference between running catless vs stock dp. Sorry, the videos aren't great.

Stock DP with CNT Exhaust
http://youtu.be/lmolNjB8JZE

Catless DP and CNT Exhaust
http://youtu.be/736RFCCe5g8

 

The CNT exhaust seems to be quite heavy, more heavy that stock.

 

I think it's because it's bigger than stock. I don't know how much difference it compares to other 2.5" exhausts.

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Where did you find the catless CNT downpipe? Or am I misunderstanding which downpipe you have? All I could find on ebay and the CNT site is the catted version. It being catless does it emit an odor? How bad is the odor?

 

All I have is a Riss racing Catless downpipe. To me all 2.5" Catless downpipe for the Mini are the same(power-wise)
As for the odor, I didn't really pay attention. I guess it smells like someone farted when it cold, but when its warmed up I can barely tell.
I ended up wrapping my downpipe and exhaust, so I guess maybe some of the smell or extra fuel got burnt up.

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Ahhh gotcha. I was under the impression you had a CNT Catless DP. Thanks for answering all my questions.

 

CNT Racing is going to release a catted downpipe for the R56 mini. Here is a picture I found on CNT Racing website.

 

Do you have any installed pictures.

 

Nice, I might just get that. Wonder if its a 200 or 100 cel cat. If it will throw a code or not. If it doesnt I will be purchasing asap.

 

Found this information on CNT Racing website and it going to around 300 dollars.

* Come with a 200 cell metallic high flow cat
* Quality Welded throughout the whole system!
* Straight flow, Mandrel Bent, 2.5” piping
* Reduced back-pressure for increased top-end performance
* Enhanced aggressive high-RPM sound
* high flow metal substrate Cat
* 100% Direct Bolt-On & utilizes stock ball joints and clamps

 

andyk30 I know you have a CNT exhaust as well and I was wondering if you have any drone in the 3000-4000RPM range on yours.

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No drone but I only have a Alta performance intake and a CNT exhaust.

 

So are you running the stock downpipe? I'm running Catless and it drones like crazy in the 3-4k range. All my change in my cup holder rattle and some on my interior trim too. On stock downpipe it's not bad but its there compared to stock.

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Yep I have a stock downpipe. I went catless on my E92 BMW m3 once I couldn't even drive it for one day. It was so loud you don't even want to drive it.

 

Going catless on any naturally aspirated engine is crazy loud. On a turbo is a different story. A turbo is a pretty good muffler on its own. I've ran catless with stock exhaust and sound just like stock, no drone and quite. Except WOT, it's stupid loud.
I'm thinking the drone from the CNT exhaust is coming from the resonator or something. Maybe the tone is just too deep at that rpm range.

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