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Not knowing much about modify or tunning car and looking for advices. If anyone can give newbie (like myself) a bit help here. That would be great.
Questions
1. What are the modification priority when modding you car? (Assume I don't have infinite money, I want to do it parts by parts.) Wheels, spring, suspension, air intake, exhaust, upgrade computer management ... etc.
2. Which brand of parts you suggest for each type of modification and why? Is it something that I can do it myself or have to find a technican?
3. Please provide a link to the parts that you list with as many information on helping installing or tunning the parts. That would be a huge help.
1) Do you want to do the work yourself? This saves a lot but requires some understanding of what you're doing..... This means start with knowledge... Get some good books to learn about how cars work, and how modifications to suspension and drivetrain work (or don't).
2) Driving skill trumps parts every day. A good driver with a base cooper can pretty much spank my butt around any track, other than out right acceleration. The best mod for a car is to "tighten the nut behind the wheel". This means hooking up with clubs or groups that do high performance driving events and give coaching. While not cheap, it will pay off every time you're behind the wheel of any car.
3) If you're still going to modify you car after the two above, set a goal. Even if you do it part by part as time and money allows, a good build takes a system approach to exploit the synergies between parts. If you don't have the skills or understanding to figure this all out yourself, work with someone with experience who can. While getting info from the internet can be helpful, it can also be like getting investment advice from a chorus of different financial advisors, usually not that good an idea.
4) Aesthetics (both visual and aural) are very individual, and really, anything goes here. Just keep in mind that this stuff can add up fast. The idea of having a plan and working towards a goal here pays off as well.
All that said, I'd suggest some learning first before spending a bunch of money.
Dustin (AutoXCooper) as well as one of the guys at Texas Speed Works runs base coopers and can be of help.
Some Mini specific stuff. The chassis is very, very capable out of the box. There are only two factory "difficiencies": Not enough front camber and a bias towards understeer. Fixing these is pretty straight forward. For the base Cooper motor, the options for power modification are much less than the supercharged motor. there are really two reasons for this: It's just harder to get power from a normally asperated engine without spending a lot of money; and the demand for performance parts for the base Cooper is just lower. Really, without breaking the bank, you're pretty much limited to intake, cam, exhaust systems and tune.
I'll let others step in with parts reccomendations. There are lots of good vendors for Mini parts, and which one to go to really depends on what you want to do, where you live, and if someone else is doing the labor, what they like.
My signature has my list of mods in the order in which they went on the car. Many of them listed are not performance related as you'll see. Those that are have made a HUGE difference in the way the car handles and drives. I can't say enough about the tune the car got from Jan at RMW. It is key to do the CAI and exhaust first IMO. Good luck!
__________________ MC R50. Alta 4" stub, tinted, glove box organizer, auto-up windows, hard-wire V1, Kuda mount GPS, DDM-CAI, Megan Racing cat-back, aero grill, boot stripes, 19mm rear sway bar, PIAA 540 fog lights, PIAA driving lights, S rear spoiler, XM Blitzsafe, Euro parcel shelf, RMW TUNE!, S front bumper, S rear bumper, Carbotech pads all around, Megan coilovers, Bavarian Autosport adjustable rear control arms, OZ Superleggera
"History is what people remember." RC
MC R50. Alta 4" stub, tinted, glove box organizer, auto-up windows, hard-wire V1, Kuda mount GPS, DDM-CAI, Megan Racing cat-back, aero grill, boot stripes, 19mm rear sway bar, PIAA 540 fog lights, PIAA driving lights, S rear spoiler, XM Blitzsafe, Euro parcel shelf, RMW TUNE!, S front bumper, S rear bumper, Carbotech pads all around, Megan coilovers, Bavarian Autosport adjustable rear control arms, OZ Superleggera
