So, I picked-up a MINI Mania I/C delete tube like last October or November because they were on sale at the time. I finally got around to installing it yesterday. The install wasn't super easy but wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Install thoughts/notes: This is an install that having the right tools makes all the difference. The mounting screw it a torx so having torx sockets is a serious plus. I forgot to check which size torx it was but it was a typical size, nothing funky. I used an extension on the socket driver which made life much easier. There is a radiator hose that runs right in the way of the screw. It has a locking tooth mount holding it in place. Not too hard to undo. It's a simple step that saved me lots of time and swear words. :ihih: In the end I just decided to pull the entire section of tubing from the turbo outlet down to the the intercooler. However: the hose clamp on the bottom elbow that goes to the intercooler is put at such and angle that you can't get a socket or screwdriver on it. It's 7mm but I didn't have a 7mm box wrench. So I grabbed my handy set of ignition wrenches (These might qualify for the "Your older than dirt if..." thread) and pulled out the 9/32" wrench and got to work. There are many sayings in my family but this one applies directly: "Sometimes you need the wrong tool for the right job." The first picture is of the whole assembly out of the car. Pulling the whole assembly made life much easier. For whatever reason, the elbow from the turbo to the top of the I/C muffler did NOT want to come loose. I used the tip of a fine screwdriver to wedge the hose off GENTLY. After a mixture of patience and Hulk rage pulling the hose came off. All of the other hoses and connections were fine. Tight but not stuck. I swapped out for the new tube and left the hose clamp on the bottom loose so I could turn and adjust as needed to make sure the connections to the turbo and the I/C were square and seated properly. I tightened everything down and went to put the radiator expansion tank back in place (did I mention you need to move that to do this? Kinda like getting to the oil filter) I saw that it had trickled out some coolant from the bottom. I was concerned and put the tank back in place got under the car and wiped off the drops of coolant and decided to let it sit and look for a leak. After an hour no signs of a leak so I started it and drove around my immediate nieghborhood to get the cap up to op temp and look again for a leak. No signs of a leak. I'm still paranoid about it and I am keeping an eye on it even today. If I am free and clear today I'll just assume I managed to tweak the connection on the bottom to get it to pee a bit and that was all. During the "coolant panic" I checked to see of there were any boost leaks or other issues from the install. None. ...Wait, what? I got something right? Holy cow! :lol: After all was said and done I listened for my happy whirring sound from the turbo. Yeah it was a smidge louder but not much. Also, any "claimed" boost gains I'm gonna call BS on (I wasn't expecting any I just wanted more engine sound). Look at the muffler set-up. (Pics 2 & 3) It's set-up like a silencer for a gun. It's not really inhibiting any flow. Worst case scenario it adds an un-noticeable amount of lag to boost as more air has to expand into the muffler before generating full boost pressure through the I/C. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done the mod. That's a bunch more work for little improvement to the driving experience (happy noises) and no real performance gain. It was a good learning experience and my MINI is no longer stock. It's officially modded. Perhaps this was my gateway mod... :devil:
The perforated interior looks like the inside of a resonator... usually added to exhaust systems to change the tone of the output, not so much the volume.
In the case of an exhaust the holes in the tube and baffle material would do a good job at reducing the effect of the pulses (note-making resonance). With a turbine, I'm guessing not so much. Which also leads me to the question for MINI. Why bother with the expense of this part when a straight pipe would do the trick and not really be any louder. Perhaps its a resonating sound that is more audible with the windows-up at highway speeds?
While I don't have a turbo car, and this is not really on topic here, I can tell you that after removing the resonator from a JCW exhaust, it did'nt increase the interior noise at all. In fact, the car is quieter inside now than it was with the OEM MCS exhaust. I really do like the exterior sound with my new exhaust system, and cutting out the resonator and replacing it with a straight piece of pipe was very inexpensive.
:cornut:I replaced both Ingress and Egress Intercooler tubes in summer 08 on Margi(Jan 08 R56 MCS/JCWm) with Alta's Boost Tube Kit and she both sounds and performs better. Mini also put another odd sound device in the cool side/egress I.C. to engine tube that connects to the fire wall and into the cabin. (Yes, there are 2 sound suppressors/makers/changers on the R56 Prince engine) I guess(?) to put sound into the cabin("Hey she aint accelerating! Yeah but she sounds like she's accelerating and the customer won't know the difference":crazy::frown2? The Alta tubes deleted this(and the hot side muffler also) and the ambient engine purr/growl/burble sounds better now with the(double) delete. The Alta Boost Tube(s) kit are still going strong after nearly 4 yrs. The Alta (collapsible:eek6 Turbo intake hose had to be replaced with the Alta rigid aluminum intake pipe after 18mos or so:mad2::mad5::nonodAlta really 'took it in the shorts' for a long time after this and some other problems. I hope that they are doing better now). I'm very happy with my current arrangement. Jason