So let me start off by saying that I have been driving and working on late 80's and early 90's Shelby inspired turbo dodges for many many year. Infact I own five of them right now and love them to pieces. About two years ago I decided I needed a more comfortable and reliable daily driver. I test drove almost every in my price range (seriously). Some how I talked myself into a small suv which I thought would be useful for towing and hauling around things. After two years of driving said suv, I am completly sick or it and long for a smaller more agile car to drive everyday.

Luckily for me two years ago I did test drive a Mini Cooper-S and have loved them ever since. Although I thought it would be too small to be a practical daily driver at the time, I have now decided to go ahead and buy my first Mini. That being said, I am curious if someone can direct me to a faq section, or maybe a webpage that talks a bit about these. I have been searching through the forum but somehow I can never find out what I am looking for.

Are these cars reliable? How does the motor/trans handle increased boost? Are these motors in stock form stout enough for any serious power? Forged rods, pistons, crank or any thing like that? Once I can find the right Mini, I really dont plan to do too much since it will just be a daily driver, but somehow I always seem to want to fool around with all my cars a little,so I figured it couldn't hurt to know my limits.

Anyways, I am anxiously looking for my first Mini and cant wait to find the right one. Thanks in advance to any help you can offer.

 

Oh, here are a few of my cars. Probably not everyones cup-o-tea, but I cant get enough of them.


Both 1986 Dodge Omni GLH. Driving my first Mini immediatly reminded me of a newer far more refind version of this car.

 

My 1992 Dodge Daytona IROC R/T. One of 431 built. Has a 50 trim hybrid, fmic, quaife, etc, etc, etc...

 

Welcome to NAM. There are a lot of threads for you to scroll through to find out all about the MINI. So much stuff, in fact, information overload is a daily risk here. Happy hunting for a MINI. Nice cars by the way.

CROC 411

 

I think the MINI your looking for depends quite a bit on the money you're looking to spend.
If money is no object then I would look for a MINI Cooper S JCW with low mileage.

Good luck

 

Thanks guys. I am looking to spend around 20, so I think it is just a matter of waiting for one to pop up around town. I would really like a blue one, but all I seem to see for sale are red. Nothing against red, but I have owned way to many red cars.

 

The first generation MINI Cooper S's, (model designation R53), was produced from 2002 to 2006. They feature the Tritec engine, which is supercharged. Perhaps more important to you, they have iron blocks, which means they're strong, and ready for increased boost.

I'd recommend 2005 or 2006 models, because they have slightly different gearing in the manual 6-speed, yielding slightly better acceleration, and also, the cars from those years are known for better overall reliability than the earlier years' models.

The JCW (John Cooper Works) cars are great, but if you want to save money, and tinker with aftermarket mods yourself, then do just that; go aftermarket. Common mods are the obvious intake and cat-back exhaust, but the best mod for the money is a smaller diameter supercharger pulley. The most popular size reduction pulley is 15%, but they go as small as 19% smaller than stock, (but the 19% pullies can be riskier for your blower if you run up to your engine's redline often; as the blower spins faster than its' recommended "redline").

Great gains have been made in the new "head" department. The Revolution Motor Works "Jesus Head", is legendary for power gains, especially when combined with their ECU tune...

There are so many other options for more power; too many for me to list here. These are the very basic, most common things you'll read about most often here.

 

Thanks for the info. Iron block is obviously good. How about the internals? Any thing forged in there? I have to admit that while I certainly understand all the principles about forced induction motors, I have only worked on turbo charged motors. I have never had the chance to fool with anything with a super charger. I actually went and test drove a black 05 S today and it brought an instant smile to my face, so I am really getting the itch.