There is all this talk about changing the supercharger pulley to get 12- 20 HP. Ive seen the sights (mini mania, mini madness). But does that actually work? Can you actually get that much power with just that upgrade?

 

Yep. 12-20 on an otherwise stock motor, the more you mod the more it adds. It stretches the torque curve so you get more torque at low rpms too. Well worth the $150-$200. Make sure you pick one that aligns itself (Webb motorsports or M7.)

 

I am looking at getting a Mini and from what I have been looking at it is best to get a "kit" or piece one together. Get the pulley. colder plugs, intake and shark injector or similar.

This way with the ECU reflash you get the most out of the pulley upgrade, the intake helps reduce the heat, and the colder plugs reduce the chance of top end detination. If I get a Mini this is the way I plan to do it, then later add a nice exhaust.

If anything I would at least add the colder plugs when doing the pulley swap to keep it on the safe side.

 

With a 15% pulley there's no need for plugs or anything. They'll help I guess but aren't necessary until you get to about 19%. At this point you'll want larger injectors too.

I don't think any aftermarket intakes are going to reduce heat over the stock intake, it's already using the coldest air available.

 

Maybe true, I just know that I have ran several cars with f/i engine and I like to be on the safe side when it comes to the engine. I have heard that all pulleys above the 15% over rev the s/c and without some after market cooling dosen't make that much more power.

 

Totaly true. The cooling comes from aftermarket intercoolers though, not the intake. The M7 direct flow intercooler is a handy unit for this purpose.

Using more than 15% doesn't just overdrive the supercharger on the MINI either, it also overdrives the water pump since the water pump is run off the backside of the supercharger.

 

I was told by the local Mini dealer that the 15% pulley can be safely added without voiding the warranty (I am assuming they have to do the work). I was also told by the mechanic that the 19% eats belts. Anyone have this problem? Anyone else concerned about the warranty and had mods done that keep the warranty?

 

An aftermarket pulley will void your warranty if anything goes wrong that could be related to it.

With any pulley smaller than 15% you'll need a smaller belt to go with it. It won't eat belts if it's installed correctly.

 

Soory to bring this post back from the dead but whats everyones theory on mixing sc pulleys and crank pulleys? i thought i read about someone saying its safe to add a higher sc pulley if you get a crank pulley to off set it??? How does this work????

 

if you changed both the sc and the crank pulley the only issue is getting the right sized belt, which I'm sure you can find if you shop around enough. with a smaller crank pulley the engine doesn't have to work as hard to rotate the pulley so it frees up a little power, nothing crazy i would assume.