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I recently picked up a car my younger brother owned 4-5 years ago on a whim when it popped up for sale again from the owner who bought the car from my brother. It's a factory slicktop 2005 Mini Cooper S with a lot of goodies. It used to belong to another member here and has been used as intended since, on the track! My dad bought a 2003 Cooper S with a JCW kit new and I drove it for a little while when I got my license and he moved on to other cars. I've always had an affinity for these things and am glad to finally have one.
I have been doing motorcycle track days for the past few years and wanted to give the car track days a try so I was casually looking when this popped up. Some of the mod list is a ported and refreshed M42, MeisterR fully adjustable coilovers and camber plates, OEM AC delete kit, PS delete, welded half cage, OMP seats and 5-pt harnesses, 17% underdrive, 2% overdrive pulleys, JCW intake, 2 row aluminum radiator, Borla race exhaust, race header, Advan RG1 and Buddyclub P1 wheels on 100TW tires, rear control arms and full bushing refresh, R56 brakes with race pads.
Some pics. I'm excited to get it on track and get a feel for the car! She needs a few things as I want to make it a touch more streetable but overall it's a very solid starting point for my needs.
Cool and super clean! How is it to drive with the PS delete? I still see the PS reservoir there tho. I am still on the fence of deleting the AC in mine, it really didnt work at all before the refresh. Also how do you like those seats?
Cool and super clean! How is it to drive with the PS delete? I still see the PS reservoir there tho. I am still on the fence of deleting the AC in mine, it really didnt work at all before the refresh. Also how do you like those seats?
Thanks! The PS delete makes it a little heavy. The PO blew the pump out so they just converted it however I will likely put it back in.
The seats are great. The driver is a bit more snug than the passenger but fits my frame very well.
And man is that garage heaven or what? Totally nice place you've got there, and a sandblaster too? I'm jealous!
The car is great too of course!
Love the red/black and it looks very clean too.
Is that a Sebring sticker on the boot?
Do you happen to know what the curb weight currently is? Just curious since it's partially stripped.
If you plan on keeping it RSD might as well get rid of those rear seat braces as they come off easy by drilling out 4 or 5 spot welds, they don't really weigh much but they do sorta get in the way of hatch open space --- I took mine off but still have trim so that still takes up space and I'm hoping to modify my trim with a fiberglass inlay or something to try and flatten it out.
I did consider de-powering my PS as well, but changed my mind and think that the R53 hydraulic system is very very good as is --- however, if I did ever depower it would do like many of the Miata guys do and re-configure it to be more like a true manual rack, removing the inner seals and greasing up the rack itself...
...I ran a manual rack on an old 1986 Saab and it felt good at speed, but parking was a pain because it was so heavy, and in some situations it seemed like the torque-steer was worse in an almost violent manner --- FWD gets dissed on alot but I actually like the feel, although do admit to the shortcomings, but clever engineering can help tremendously and like it would have been wonderful if MINI had done something like RenaultSport did with their double-axis struts:
Anyway,
apologies for rambling...
...what are you planning to add for streetability?
I think YES! you're right that it's a great starting point no doubt, won't require too much in my opinion as it already seems quite well sorted, and congrats on getting it too!
Welcome to NAM.
Sweet R53!
And man is that garage heaven or what? Totally nice place you've got there, and a sandblaster too? I'm jealous!
The car is great too of course!
Love the red/black and it looks very clean too.
Is that a Sebring sticker on the boot?
Do you happen to know what the curb weight currently is? Just curious since it's partially stripped.
If you plan on keeping it RSD might as well get rid of those rear seat braces as they come off easy by drilling out 4 or 5 spot welds, they don't really weigh much but they do sorta get in the way of hatch open space --- I took mine off but still have trim so that still takes up space and I'm hoping to modify my trim with a fiberglass inlay or something to try and flatten it out.
I did consider de-powering my PS as well, but changed my mind and think that the R53 hydraulic system is very very good as is --- however, if I did ever depower it would do like many of the Miata guys do and re-configure it to be more like a true manual rack, removing the inner seals and greasing up the rack itself...
...I ran a manual rack on an old 1986 Saab and it felt good at speed, but parking was a pain because it was so heavy, and in some situations it seemed like the torque-steer was worse in an almost violent manner --- FWD gets dissed on alot but I actually like the feel, although do admit to the shortcomings, but clever engineering can help tremendously and like it would have been wonderful if MINI had done something like RenaultSport did with their double-axis struts:
Anyway,
apologies for rambling...
...what are you planning to add for streetability?
I think YES! you're right that it's a great starting point no doubt, won't require too much in my opinion as it already seems quite well sorted, and congrats on getting it too!
Thanks, it's actually my dad's shop where the car is for the next few weeks until I can get up there to bring it back home to NC.
It is a Sebring sticker. The PO put it on there, likely after visiting.
I don't know what the curb weight is but I do plan to weigh it when I get it home. It will stay a RSD and I'll fab some kind of plate to go around the bars to level the space out to make it somewhat functional. I owned a 99 miata for a while so I'm familiar with the depowering of the racks although I never did on my car when I was autoxing it.
For streetability, I want to put PS back in it, put a floor/carpet back in the front, change the exhaust a little to make it quieter as it's extremely loud now due to an exploded resonator that got swapped for a straight pipe. I don't think it would pass tech for an autox and makes the car a huge cop magnet. I also plan to work through some electrical items like new wheel speed sensors to fix some codes and things like that. It will also get some street wheels/tires and the current set will be track only as I don't like dailying 100TW tires.
^^^ Agreed on combo of 4:1 header plus non-resonated exhaust being too loud - at least for me. If yours has an unmodified OEM shifter, i.e., no short shifter kit, you can utilize Milltek or equivalent aftermarket resonated exhaust. If in doubt what you have, pop up the shift boot ring and examine the topside of the shifter assy. For example, mine (for sale in Marketplace) with B&M's SSK is blue vs OEM black. If with SSK, you'll be limited by clearance above on res canister diameter.
^^^ Agreed on combo of 4:1 header plus non-resonated exhaust being too loud - at least for me. If yours has an unmodified OEM shifter, i.e., no short shifter kit, you can utilize Milltek or equivalent aftermarket resonated exhaust. If in doubt what you have, pop up the shift boot ring and examine the topside of the shifter assy. For example, mine (for sale in Marketplace) with B&M's SSK is blue vs OEM black. If with SSK, you'll be limited by clearance above on res canister diameter.
Good to know about the shifter, thanks!
The exhaust is loud enough that I don't even hear the supercharger until >100mph. Definitely needs to be quieter for any kind of street driving.
