[carrmrc96]

Thinking of getting a reduced supercharger pulley for my 2004 pre-facelft, either looking at getting the 15% Alta or the 16% M7. Whats the difference in gains will you get between a 15% and 16% pulley? Would I need to upgrade my intercooler with the 16% or will my car be fine.

[MINIAC]

I doubt you'd feel the difference between a 15% and 16% reduction.

For street use the stock intercooler is fine.

[carrmrc96]

Thats ok, didnt want to fork out some more money for an intercooler. But whats the difference in gains between the two?

[Jaw_F430]

I would go with the 15% Alta version 2 due to the better method of clamping onto the SC shaft. Also once you have the Alta V2 you could always swap to 17% if you wanted a change as the hub suits both 15% and 17%


I run 15% Alta V2

[KitKat]

I concour.....alta seems to get a lot of praise and its the most frequently used when modding.

[carrmrc96]

I dont really seem to think it matters who makes the pulley, I mean its only a pulley, cant be that much difference. the M7 (16%) looks like its good quality.

[Snowie]

Quote: Originally Posted by carrmrc96 (original)

I dont really seem to think it matters who makes the pulley, I mean its only a pulley, cant be that much difference. the M7 (16%) looks like its good quality.

Ohh how wrong you are - the fixing of a pulley is of paramount importance.

Pulley slip / misalignment = damaged SC = ££££ss

[DaFlake]

As Snowie said.... I actually have fitted both and the one that I had problems installing with the M7.

[carrmrc96]

maybe I should get the alta then. the M7 about £30 cheaper. I wanted to get the smallest pulley without needing a larger intercooler.

[DaFlake]

The 1% is not going to make that much of a difference to be honest. That Alta pulleys go on smoothly and I have never had a problem. With that, you can a 17% on the stock IC if you are not always on the throttle.

[carrmrc96]

so a 17% is fine then without any other mods? I tend to drive steady and only put my foot down now and again.

[DaFlake]

I know several people that are running that pulley with only colder plugs (I don't even think that is really needed but it will vary on the car). The stock IC is pretty good actually.

[J u s t]

What exactly is required to be purchased? Is it a KIT as a whole as such, or do you need certain bits to be bought separately?

[DaFlake]

Depends... If you are installing yourself, you will need the pulley and a tool to remove the old one. Also, it is helpful if you have a detensioner tool (to remove the belt) but it can be accomplished if you have a little ingenuity.

[J u s t]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaFlake (original)

Depends... If you are installing yourself, you will need the pulley and a tool to remove the old one. Also, it is helpful if you have a detensioner tool (to remove the belt) but it can be accomplished if you have a little ingenuity.

Ahh.. Thanks. The Alta V2 looks like it's $188 in total (Australian dollars) including postage to me. Nice.

Only problem now is the "ingenuity" bit once it gets here.

[Minipnut]

Just if you wanna drive the car to brisbane i can get it put on no probs its what... only a 3000k drive through desert Sheesh

[J u s t]

Quote: Originally Posted by Minipnut (original)

Just if you wanna drive the car to brisbane i can get it put on no probs its what... only a 3000k drive through desert Sheesh

Hahaha. Thanks so much for the kind offer mate .. But I'd have to give it a miss on this occasion. Will speak to other ClubMINI people on this end to see if someone has had a go at this themselves.

[Jaw_F430]

Quote: Originally Posted by Snowie (original)

Ohh how wrong you are - the fixing of a pulley is of paramount importance.

Pulley slip / misalignment = damaged SC = ££££ss

As Snowie has said here it is very important. I fitted a 15% MED engineering pulley as my first mod in 2005 which is the same fitment type as the M7. It failed about 2 months ago now, but luckily the belt tension kept the pulley on the SC and I managed to get home using no boost. I was expecting the SC shaft to be worn were the pulley had been spinning but when I stripped it there was minimal wear on the shaft, it was the pulley that was knackered.

The problem is that the MED pulley only clamps on a small part of the shaft, therefore the rest of the pulley does not have any contact with the SC shaft so exaggerated it is a balancing act!! Bad design IMO. The Alta V2 is made with a hub that you put on the shaft first and clamps the whole area of the SC shaft giving maximum clamping force and then the pulley outer goes onto the hub.

[DaFlake]

The design of the M7 is nice, but out of all the pulleys that I fitted, it was the one that had issues. the sleeve was very tight fitting and was slipping on the car. I had fitted about 15 pulleys before it and had no issues. This one was just a pain thus giving me a bad taste for them.

As Jaw pointed out, the Alta is a good design and the only pain with them is getting the bolt closeset to the SC base torqued as the lip gets in the way. Still, well worth the money in my opinion. That being said, I have the MINI Madness on mine and love it.

[MINIMANIAUK]

This time of year with 15% pulley the inlet temp to the intercooler is around 150 C @ around5000 RPM -with every 1% increase the temp goes up , if the charger has any wear the temp goes up ,if the intercooler is less efficient with oil inside ,or your intake filter not clean,etc etc - and all for what ? a couple of ft lb torque below 5000?