Turner Motorsports pulley and ECU upgrade

[MiniSprt]

Is anyone planning on purchasing this kit when it comes out...?

Turner Motorsports

[jlivingood]

Who does their chip tuning? Is it Jim Conforti?

Jason

[suprchrgdmini]

WHAT I THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS PULLY AND THE ONE HELIX AND JLM ARE SELLING.AND WHY IS THE TURNER UPGRADE SO EXPENSIVE.

[jlm]

looks like the Turner pulley is one piece press-on and all aluminum; the one Helix is testing has a steel press-on hub with interchangeable aluminum pulleys (different ratios can be installed with the blower still in the car). My feeling is that a steel hub-to-steel shaft press-on is a more reliable jointing than aluminum pulley-to-steel shaft.

since you can get a very expensive chip upgrade for $750 (Mini Madness, for example), Turner's price for parts alone at $1,600 seems to put their pulley in the $850 range which seems very pricey.

[suprchrgdmini]

you would have to be out of your mind to spend that kind of $$ on those 2 items. Also they say the car will beet a m3. new style or old style and where is some proof of the power gain.

[jlivingood]

Quote:

Originally posted by jlm
My feeling is that a steel hub-to-steel shaft press-on is a more reliable jointing than aluminum pulley-to-steel shaft.

For my own education, what would be the reasons? One I could imagine would be that they'd react differently to temperature changes and, therefore, it would not be great to mate them together where so much force is acting on them.

Also, depending upon the heat in that area, I am not sure how well aluminum would react to the continued heating/cooling cycles. But I am not a metallurgic engineer or a machinist, etc. So what's the real deal?

Jason

[jlm]

i used a .001-.002 interference fit on the .780 shaft; you have to heat the hub to 300 degrees to press it on and when it shrinks it holds.

If the hub were aluminum, I would have used more like .003-.004 interference since aluminum has about triple the expansion co-efficient as steel.

the concern i had is that the hot pulley is fit to a cold blower shaft; when in the car,both things will heat up and unequal expansion co-efficients will reduce the intended interference. I was probably being a grandma, but the thing does turn at 14,000 and draw 15-20hp.
also the two piece design works better with a steel hub if only for the thread strength.

[vdubdoug]

suprchrgdmini,
It says that the Mini cooper s with this set up is faster than an E30 m3 (1988 to 1991).

[Bilbo Baggins]

Call me a skeptic, but!

There are some things that do not add up between the written text and the graphs shown for the Borla exhaust. This makes me question all their number claims for the rest of their products.

Their 'base line' graph shows max torque to be at 4,500rpm but the factory figures state max torque is at 4,000rpm. TMS's graph shows max Hp at approx. 6,750rpm yet the factory spec is 6,000rpm. Compared to other companies dyno graphs the slope of the curves and the plateau to the torque curve are completely different. The TMS graph shows a much more dramatic torque drop off above 4,500rpm than any other graph I have seen published.

Something does not gybe.

The scale designations on their graphs show "flywheel" ratings. This would indicate that they are correcting for mechanical losses of the drive train because the dyno they use bolts to the front axles not the engine flywheel. Why are their numbers so very low? They show 133Hp and 121.5 Lbft. Everyone knows, or at least should know, that the stock "flywheel" numbers are 163Hp and 155Lbft.

Reading a little further in the TMS site they present the "Green Performance air filter" claiming an "average 5%" improvement over "standard" paper filters. This has to be the Hp bargin of the decade. Lets see; 163x.05=8.15Hp. 8.15 Hp for $53 vs.6-7Hp for the $670 Borla exhaust system. Geeee, which one should I buy? Can anyone help me here?

IMHO, something just does NOT add up here. I need to see some independent testing before I spend my money. TMS's numbers just do not tally.

I have nothing against TMS. I fact when I saw them at Lime Rock I liked the looks of their stuff and the colors of the cars. I'm just a skeptic.

[MINIAC]

Quote:

Originally posted by jlm

... since you can get a very expensive chip upgrade for $750 (Mini Madness, for example), Turner's price for parts alone at $1,600 seems to put their pulley in the $850 range which seems very pricey.

MiniMania is offering a pulley kit for $129.95:

Quote:

Designed for maximum blower speed at redline, this upgrade achieves stock 'maximum' horsepower at 2200 FEWER RPMS and builds up to redline. A simple 15% reduction in the supercharger pulley diameter increases the boost by more than 4 pounds resulting in a Dyno measured 20 additional horsepower AT THE WHEELS. Factory ECU adapts to the increased boost with no modifications. The Kit includes a new high quality Pulley and Belt. Professional installation is recommended.

[jlm]

based on personal experience, I can tell you this:

it takes a good 4-6 hours in the shop to R and R the blower and one of the issues is to safely release the belt tensioner tension;
If you have a special puller and installer, you can replace the pulley on the bench in about 15 minutes. You have to use discretion to not put any end loads on the blower shaft and bearings; that stock pulley requires a huge amount of juice to remove and the stock pulley will not be re-useable (not in a 14,000 rpm application!)

If you ever want to go back to stock, you have to repeat the above and somewhere find a stock replacement pulley.

The stock belt does not need replacement; the length works fine.

Hence the replacement hub/bolt on pulley solution.