Hi all,
Thinking of getting a mod to increase my MCS 163bhp. I want to spend around £100-£250 and would like the best power increase possible for that price range.

There are a number of options, just need your feedback as to which is the best route to take....


PiperCross Induction Kit (or any brand - which is best?)
SuperCharger pulley reduction (15%) ?
ECU Re-map (bluefin superchip)
New Exhaust System
K&N Typhoon KitPlease can someone point me in the right direction for the largst BHP increase, remember this is my first mod and I may get extra stuff later when I have more money!

Thanks!

#2 :biggrin:

within your budget ,first stage would be the pulley 15% and spark plugs total fitted £250,from there on the skys the limit the greater the power the more the expense,at around 230-240 bhp the costs rise rapidly due to other upgrades required such as larger radiator oil cooler,brakes,etc and due to having expensive items required

Who would fit the supercharger pulley and spark plugs for £250 - which sponsor whould I go with?

within your budget ,first stage would be the pulley 15% and spark plugs total fitted £250,from there on the skys the limit the greater the power the more the expense,at around 230-240 bhp the costs rise rapidly due to other upgrades required such as larger radiator oil cooler,brakes,etc and due to having expensive items required

How much more bhp would you get by adding the pulley and new spark plugs???

Do you have to get a re-map if just fitting the pulley?

Number 2. No need to change anything else if you do this at about 11-17% reduction. The JCW pully is around 14.5% reduction but the popular one is 15% due to being close to JCW size but at a fraction of the cost ;)

1. Does help a little but even the best kits are producing only an extra 5-10hp (Needs a change to the map to get bigger figures from what I hear)
2. Cheap and simple and can add about a 20% increase in BHP I believe (No map changes needed but if you change to one that takes account then you can add even more BHP)
3. Depends on the map but Bluefin is only about 8hp and MTH is around 25hp (There is a tuner version which is 200 total hp, but this really works best with other mods to airbox and exhaust system, in fact I think they only recomend if you have an MTH or similar manifold and cat)
4. Exhaust will only give you 10hp at best ...even that is disputed. For real power you need to get a sports cat and manifold as well as an exhaust...to get a good 'full' system (I run a miltek full system) your looking at nearly £1k GBP.
5. This is the same as 1. The best are the CAI kits like GTT or Alta (These seem to be the market leaders for popularity/price in contrast to power increase)

What i don't understand is if it is such a cheap mod to increase bhp why to Mini not install one as standard?

Are there significant downsides i.e. does it make emissions far greater or totally increase fuel consumption or something?

Where can I get a MTH chip, I have seen some USA websites selling it, but I live in UK and would need it fitted proffessionally.

I think the GTT packages do something to the ECU - other than a Bluefin, not sure what they do but Lohen supply a Bluefin with their packages.

I have looked at the Milltek exhausts, but they seem a bit too pricey at the moment although the do sound fantastic.
What are peoples opinions regarding the best package to get, choices are between the GTT pulley reduction and the Lohen pulley reduction - both seem similar results? Any advice appreciated - thanks!

Alta induction £179 @ the mo from LOHEN

Lohen.co.uk - Track & Fast Road Performance for your New Mini - Online Shop (http://www.lohen.co.uk/shop/proddetail.asp?prod=AltaAirIntakeSystemCooperS)

Richard82 - Something like a pully does increase wear on an angine. Modern cars are build for reliability, well for the first 3 years while the warrantee exists anyhow ;) The mods we do can reduce longevity, can increse emissions and can increase fuel use. BMW want to avoid these things for number of reasons most are due to EU regs on factory cars, producing a mass appeal car (not everyone wants a mega loud sports manifold blaring through the cabin ;) ) and making cost savings on warrantee work. However the other reason BMW don't do them on the standard car is because if they did where would they go with the JCW or GP?! If you look at it like this...JCW or GP has a 14.5%ish pulley reduction, increased intercooler, supercharger, airbox and map then so can any S. My philosophy is that if its OK on the JCW, a similar and well made part will be ok on my S.

Futureal33 - EssentialMINI.co.uk are an MTH supplier, or used to be and are UK based and centrally located somewhere in the Midlands. They can do the work or supply you with the kit to do it at home with your laptop/computer.

GTT often leave your stock map on the car. GTTs car runs about 260-270 and still has a stock ECU/Map. If your cars map is not right they will reflash a new stock map or, and I think this is true, fit an MTH one to improve things for you (They only charge you for it if its nessesary and your map was not going to be up to the job). Lohen do 2 bluefins. One is a standard bluefin (adds 8hp to an S) the other is a special one designed for use with thier packages (It take into account the 15% reduction pulley and some of the other stuff like manifolds and airboxes that they do) and so supplies a bigger power improvement over just the parts or a normal bluefin remap.

GTT are excellent, especially if you have not had to have your car remapped. They use thier own pulley (which has been praised no-end on MINI2 and other sites). I believe which I think is a 17% reduction. Lohen fit a 15% Alta pulley (The Alta is a tried and tested and very popular choice, I even know a MINI tech who has used it as an alternative to a JCW one on his own car).

Lohen kit - £675 inc VAT and fitted = 210BHP

Package includes:

- Superchips Bluefin with custom Lohen map
- Alta 15% Reduced supercharger pulley (JCW is 14.5% ish)
- Reduced supercharger belt
- Pipercross Air filter
- Denso Iridium spark plugs

GTT kit - £675 fitted but need to add VAT = 210BHP

Package includes:

- Ecu reset (Not new aftermarket map)
- Optimised bypass valve
- Iridium sparkplugs
- GTT supercharger pulley (17% I think)
- Shorter 'stickier' drive belt
- GTT twin bearing idler pulley
- Performance panel filter

Your call..but its a difficult one. At the end of the day cost and distance to travel for fitting might make your mind up ...Lohens is simple enough to fit at home from what I hear, not sure on the GTT one.

......'no remap' is an option on GTT215 ,GTT220 GTT230 . It IS included in the price though (mth) , so if we find after completing the work and completing various 'on the road' tests that no gains will be had with a remap then we can reduce the price of the conversion accordingly :cool: rather than charge automatically for something that is either not required or will make no gains. The 'choice' of having the remap later (should anyone require it or want it anyway) is always there for every customer at any point in the future.There is a heck of a lot of nonsense regarding re-mapping .Theres no point in just bunging a 'one size fits all' map in and sending the customer on his way. Also dont confuse the gains you get from a 'remap only' on an MCS with those from a remap on a pullied car. We can stock Bluefin too (the reps been down) and we can have a 'special exclusive GTT' one too if we want.-We choose not to.We can get more gains by recalibrating the Bypass Valve (by all accounts safer too) - Included in every level of GTT conversion. If competitors 'can' get the same power with 15% pulley than we get with 17% SC pulley then the only other way is lots of ( IMO dangerous) additional ignition advance at high rpm and running higher maximum rpm. A 17% pulley also gives more (useable) mid range grunt & torque than using a 15% pulley.
PS we can supply GTT kits /parts diy if required . TBH no SC pulley is 'simple to fit at home'. fitting the new ones easy ,-its the getting the stock one off thats not so easy .
Best Regards Roland GT Tuning:smile: .

i found changing to light weight wheels and tires is very effective.

Where can I get a MTH chip, I have seen some USA websites selling it, but I live in UK and would need it fitted proffessionally.



MTH is not a chip, it is a piece of software that is uploaded (reflash of the ECU). You simply plug a OBD cable to your car and PC along with the Cartunes software that you get with purchase and you can download and upload the files. Very easy to do. This was one of my first mods and I am extreamly happy with the performance from just a software mod. I'll be adding a CAI in the next week or so and then moving on to the 15% pulley later this year or early next.

JCW has increased intercooler

Wrong. It is OEM.

;)

Cheers,
CSW.