I was not overly happy with the sound of my stock car...i found it a bit disappointing.

So Chris over at Mina Gallery installed his exhaust system on my XKR. My first impressions are that its a great system. I drove about 50 miles today.

Impressions after the Mina install:
instant horsepower gain across the board. not tons of course, but a nice little improvement.

Sound, a few people have stated about a 30% louder system, I would say less. However the sound is really nice, and it would sound stock to someone who did not know the car.

Its not an aggressive sound, but rather makes the car a little bit more like the sports car it is.

Low revs, high revs: As Chris correctly stated, with 420 hps, the car will have enough torque at low end. He's right. There is a bit of a difference....but as I said overall the power is higher...car seems to shift in a different spot. So I will reset the ecu and see what happens. I would say there is nothing about the low end that's a deal breaker....I'm loving it!

Over all: I'm sure there's a more aggressive sounding system out there, but I will leave that sort of sound for my Mustangs. This is a really nice sophisticated system.

Look: It looks great: even though all anyone is going to see are the tailpipes, (but they are very sexy tailpipes).

And by the way, Chris is a really knowledgeable guy, and what he said about his system is exactly what I got.

 

You are confirming what many of us suspected; that with the supercharger you will not have loss of torque issues. With the regular XK, I definitely lost some low end torque.

Glad that you like your system; the sound is, indeed, much nicer than stock. I like it as well on my XK, I just have to figure out the best way to drive it near the low RPM ranges. Before leaving for a trip, I had been briefly experimenting with the "S" mode that seem to provide crisper auto downshifts when the engine being lugged. More experience will be gained the next two months when I will have to drive the car much.

Would have been nice if you could have a "before vs. after" timed acceleration comparison. Mine, as posted on this forum, showed substantial gains in the high RPM ranges.

Albert

 

I disconnected my battery resetting the ecu. I think its all pretty fine. i don't think the car is missing torque, the shifting seems a tiny bit better after the reset, but to be honest...its not a big deal, or a substantial difference before or after. I am thrilled with the system....now I'm tempted to get their pulley, but honestly the car has a lot of power....and I'm not planning on going to the track.

 

I'm considering two upgrades to my recently acquired 09 XKR Portfolio.
Exhaust:
Whist I don't want anything over the top or something that drones, the standard system I have found a bit quiet. I have disconnected the rear muffler bypass valve vacuum lines so they are allways
open which is better but still a bit underdone. After looking at various systems I'm thinking perhaps the Mina system or the Spires centre only
and retain the standard rear muffler. Does anyone have experience with the Spires exhaust ?
Pulley Upgrade:
Who's is the best and what measurable/real improvements are there. Also are there any downsides of doing the pulley upgarde and anything else needed as part of this modification ?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

 

Welcome to the forum! If you perform a "search" (see above bar) for pulley or ecu upgrade, etc, you will find lots of threads with that information. Always a good place to start your research, and then post additional questions as needed. Good luck!

Bruce

 

I like the idea of the pulley upgrade with an upgraded ECU, but the pulley upgrade has been around for a while with plenty who did nothing to the ECU.

 

update...
I removed the resonators.....replaced them with straight pipes...
this was Chris Mina's suggestion...
now you're talkin'
picked up the volume by a nice 12% it sounds like it should. and for the member who wanted some gurgle...it's gurgling....sounds really nice...not too loud either.

 

That what I've been looking for.. The Gurgle!!! i was curious if an R model would achieve that with the Mina.

Did you add custom pipes or an aftermarket option?

Thanks

P.S. post a vid if you have a chance

 

the cat house in San Rapael, just cut out the resonators and installed straight pipes.....simple as can be. nothing fancy. It's not stainless...but honestly back there it's not really a visual issue.....