[spillers]

I've just been reading the "Monster Mini Shootout" article in the November 2003 edition of "Evo" magazine (probably the 50th time this year!)

The majority of the MCS tested had similar conversions ie: smaller pulley and ecu remap except the Digitec, so why do you think the figures were so different? As it says the BBR "monstered everything" and the performance figures back this up so was this down to the software they use to remap the ecu, better engineering of the pulley or the combination of both??

If all the tuners are producing a similar standard of pulley is it the software then that makes that all important difference of acheiving 197bhp, 177lb ft torque (JCW) or 218bhp, 206lb ft torque (BBR)??

Spillers

 

[dgszweda]

I think a lot comes down to software and some of the extra items that may or may not be on the cars. I don't think EVO dynoed the cars, they only took the manufacturer's claimed power. Even so, the BBR did do better. A pulley is a pulley. Also most software if it is done competently will produce roughly the same power. Most of the good software for the Mini is all coming in roughly with the same "real world" figures. From the EVO article it is not so clear as too what the cars had on them. BBR's Stage 1 package is vague, since you can get a camshaft, exhaust and a few other goodies with it. It looks like the exhaust came with it, so it ísn't clear whether it had the camshaft or not.

Some of the other cars I think suffer from things such as super heavy 18" rims which will totally knock down some of the performance.

 

[CooperSAZ]

Just shotting from the hip here! Wouldn't a pulley that was built better, lighter perform better? I thought I read somewhere that the better materials used in a pulley may allow it to be lighter, if you will, hence, spin a little quicker/faster. I mean we are not talking about a huge difference here, but maybe a minor detail?

Just throwing this out here...

 

[dgszweda]

Just shotting from the hip here! Wouldn't a pulley that was built better, lighter perform better? I thought I read somewhere that the better materials used in a pulley may allow it to be lighter, if you will, hence, spin a little quicker/faster. I mean we are not talking about a huge difference here, but maybe a minor detail?

Just throwing this out here...

Possibly, but we are talking barely any difference and may not even be measureable.

 

[TonyB]

While lighter is almost always better, when talking about something that is belt-driven (as opposed to a free-spinning mass like a wheel/tire), the significance is less, if I understood correctly. With regard to the heat issues assoicated with the 19% reduction, there might be a pulley coming to market fairly soon where a difference in pulley design could be noteworthy as it is supposed to run cooler, and while not a performance gain per se, the hope is that it will make for an increase in reliablity (decrease the amount of belt failures, due to excessive heat). We shall see...