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Mods on Pepper R53 - Which way to go?

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Old 01-29-2008, 09:26 AM
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Mods on Pepper R53 - Which way to go?

Hey guys!

I'm gonna start modding my -04 Pepper white MCS soon and was thinking about some suggestions from you people since most of you have great taste in looks and knowledge in performance.

Picking up 18" OZ record in matt graphite silver like the ones on Silverblue's 06. Next I'm thinking of KW Variant 1 coilovers which is both for performance and the looks. Aerofront and sideskirts will come this spring aswell as an Alta CAI v2 with top.

What else should I spend my money on?


Erik
 

Last edited by Rausner; 01-29-2008 at 09:29 AM.
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Old 01-29-2008, 10:23 AM
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15% pulley for SURE! Great compliment to the Intake and will certainly help turn those 18"'s as well.

Let me know if I can help further. Always happy to help a fellow MINI man!
 
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Old 01-29-2008, 10:30 AM
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Yep looking to tune the engine in the not-so-far-away future but the 15% pulley seems a little lame, 17% sounds nicer, the more HP the better. 220 should be pretty nice. What's the cost and required mods for that. Already have exhaust so count that out Adam

Thx man!
 
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Old 01-29-2008, 10:36 AM
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I recommend the 15% S/C and the 2% crank. = 17% reduction but better throttle response due to the lower rotating assembly weight.

Cost range. Pulleys are on sale right now but I will PM you!
 
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Old 02-04-2008, 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by ALTAADAM007
I recommend the 15% S/C and the 2% crank. = 17% reduction but better throttle response due to the lower rotating assembly weight.

Cost range. Pulleys are on sale right now but I will PM you!
And what do you recommend after that?
 
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Old 02-04-2008, 09:17 PM
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Originally Posted by TT/T
And what do you recommend after that?
Depends on what other mods are done to the car, as well as what the client wants to achieve. If you can give me a better idea of your set up and what goals you have, then I would be HAPPY to help!

Chat soon!

Adam
 
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Old 02-08-2008, 08:24 AM
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Rausner, have you made any hard decisions yet?

I'm not in a hurry to increase the power on my JCW yet, so not looking at the pulleys.

But maybe Adam can chime in on suspension choices. My car came with the JCW parts from the factory. I really like its handling, but my old **** sometimes gets tired of the stiffness when driving around town. Is there a coilover setup which will *improve* comfort while retaining at least as good cornering ability, and still stay under, say, $1300? Some users on the NAM board say the Megan Racing coilovers with softer springs might be the solution.

John
 
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Old 02-08-2008, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by SilverBlue
Rausner, have you made any hard decisions yet?

I'm not in a hurry to increase the power on my JCW yet, so not looking at the pulleys.

But maybe Adam can chime in on suspension choices. My car came with the JCW parts from the factory. I really like its handling, but my old **** sometimes gets tired of the stiffness when driving around town. Is there a coilover setup which will *improve* comfort while retaining at least as good cornering ability, and still stay under, say, $1300? Some users on the NAM board say the Megan Racing coilovers with softer springs might be the solution.

John
Hey thanks for asking.

My concern with recommending coilovers would be that the performance orientated ones are going to be as harsh if not more so. The other concern with something like a "soft" coilover is that they generally end up with an uncontrolled type of ride quality.

I may be able to better answer the question though with a bit more information. What wheel and tire combo do you run currently? Do you have Run-Flats on the car? Are you sure the car has the JCW suspension and not just the JCW engine package(not saying you made a mistake, just confirming ;-)

Let me know!

Adam
 
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Old 02-08-2008, 10:06 AM
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Nice to hear that you're spicing up the pepper Erik
I guess I won't stand a chance catching up to you after the mods lol.
 
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Old 02-08-2008, 11:52 AM
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Would love some more power on my little pepper baby but suspension comes first. Will stick with stock power atm (however a CAI will be installed for the sound).

Will probably go with Eibach springs for slightbly better handling and much better looks with the 18" OZ's, got them at a nice price aswell so really nothing to hesitate about!

Next I think I'll get the aero front (with grill) and sideskirts. Then after that I just need to paint all the chrome black to be satisfied with the exterior.

Anyone mind sending me $10-15k ?


Erik
 

Last edited by Rausner; 02-08-2008 at 11:55 AM.
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Old 02-08-2008, 04:10 PM
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Lol sounds expensive. The aerokit costs like $2k+installation... I'd love to get that for mine!
 
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Old 02-08-2008, 08:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Rausner
Will probably go with Eibach springs for slightbly better handling and much better looks with the 18" OZ's, got them at a nice price aswell so really nothing to hesitate about!

Erik
The 18"'s are going to make your ride pretty rough. Go with some 17"s and put some Goodyear F1 GS-D3 tires. Rides so much smoother, quiet and handles even better . Also, if you are going to add springs put on some progressive rate springs like M7 Tuning which will give you a much better ride than stock. You may want to think about putting the Koni FSD shock too.

Good luck with the mods.
 
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Old 02-09-2008, 04:26 AM
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Originally Posted by SKXF430
The 18"'s are going to make your ride pretty rough. Go with some 17"s and put some Goodyear F1 GS-D3 tires. Rides so much smoother, quiet and handles even better . Also, if you are going to add springs put on some progressive rate springs like M7 Tuning which will give you a much better ride than stock. You may want to think about putting the Koni FSD shock too.

Good luck with the mods.
Yeah but I got these 18" at a great price so I couldn't resist them. As long as the handling doesn't get worse I'll be satisfied for the moment. Don't feel like spending around $1600 which is what we have to pay for a decent set of coils around here
 
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Old 02-09-2008, 04:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Bronto
Lol sounds expensive. The aerokit costs like $2k+installation... I'd love to get that for mine!
Nah not too bad, around $600 painted and installed for the front and about the same for the sideskirts. I'm gonna get it from Paul (GT on coopersweden) this spring probably
 
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Old 02-11-2008, 01:18 PM
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Adam,

I'll contact you offline as I feel guilty for hijacking Hausner's thread... but in case anyone were curious, yes, it's JCW factory suspension, and I am running OZ's with Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2's. So, the tires are reasonably comfortable; far more so than the dreaded runflats which came with the car.

Based on Adam's comments, it might be better for me to go down to 16's in order to further improve my ride.

John

Originally Posted by ALTAADAM007
Hey thanks for asking.

My concern with recommending coilovers would be that the performance orientated ones are going to be as harsh if not more so. The other concern with something like a "soft" coilover is that they generally end up with an uncontrolled type of ride quality.

I may be able to better answer the question though with a bit more information. What wheel and tire combo do you run currently? Do you have Run-Flats on the car? Are you sure the car has the JCW suspension and not just the JCW engine package(not saying you made a mistake, just confirming ;-)

Let me know!

Adam
 


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