mdsbrain.com MINI Blog

Now that that’s off my chest. You lucky guys!

Thats right readers Todd (of WRR) and Ian (aka GBMINI) are getting 2006 JCW GP cars. And to top it off Ian is planning to drive the entire MTTS road trip. Which means I should see him when he comes to Washington, DC. I hope to meet Todd as well. Although I might have to check old pics of the two guys. It will be hard to spot who is who with 45 lucky owners all driving the new JCW GP.

So the wait for the JCW GP deliver begins. I know if it was me it would be killing me. Waiting for my current baby drove me nuts.

But when I saw a 02 BRG MC at the dealer on Saturday I wanted it. Why do I want it?! I really want a beater/racer car to toy with. A car to strip out the interior and have as a weekend driver and toy. To stop the mods on my daily driver MCSa. To finally learn to drive stick!

Car’s spec:

02 BRG MC with 49k miles, sunroof and nothing else is $12,500. KBB says suggested MSRP is like $17k.

So what do my readers think? (tell me i’m crazy! Call WRR and tell them I am lol) Would it be cool to pick up a second car and have it be the beater/racer/weekend driver? Leaving my current car in warranty and close to stock. I know the car is a MC but thats ok. I have plans to either keep it naturally aspirated or send it to a local guy to have it turboed and put out about 250-300whp.

Well here it is. The hose you have been waiting for.

The Alta CAI hose for the 05-06 MCSa.

The install is 90% the same as on a MCS except for the addition of a second nipple on the left side of the hose. The second nipple requires a small amount of hose to make the connection.

Here is a bad pic of mine:

Installation:

Well I have never installed one of these hoses before and found the install to be a real pain. Mostly because the folks at Alta did such a good job at making the hose fit super snuggly. Which is a good thing. But after alot of frustration and fitting and refitting I got it in just as you would a MCS hose except the second nipple. Thanks to Randy Webb of WMS for a great How-to.

First impressions:

I don’t know if my butt-dyno is out of wack or not but..

The CAI sound has more of the lovely sucking noise and supercharger whine that we have all grown to love. I can hear the tap of the throttle better then before. I can’t tell if there is an increase in hp from the hose but in the past people have proven the hose adds a few hp.

Price:

For a hand fabbed peice it is priced right @ $119.99 from Alta

Previously mentioned:

Alta MCSa CAI hose arrived

“DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO SAY HELLO.” says the email from MINIUSA today.

Don’t miss your chance to visit before the plant closes for what is most likely retooling to start churning out 2007 MINIs.

The new Alta MCSa CAI hose has arrived at my doorstep. I am too beat from work today to install it so I figured I’d post pics to show others what it looks like.

Hose comes with:

Air intake replacement hose, approx. 12″ of small diameter hose, 2 large hose clamps, 2 small hose clamps and that black peice (all of which is pictured).

I will attempt install tomorrow.