is there a significant difference between the 2 motors and if used as a daily driver would a 1275 really be much better than a 998? i know an 850 is not good for much more than short trips around town but could a 998 handle freeways and daily driving well enough? also what do you think about a 1275 compared to a 1380? i would love to hear what you think before i make a decision on a good car. thanks!

 

No classic Mini is a "freeway cruiser". About 65mph is a comfortable pace with less strain on the motor. At that you'd be cruising at 4,000RPM with a 3.44 (std) FD ratio. If you have a need to cruise freeways and want to go faster get a car with a 3.1 or 2.9 FD ratio to lower the RPM.

For most use a 1098 or 1275 is more practical for US roads. Although a well-tuned Stage 2 998 can keep pace.

 

I would highly reccomend a 1275 over a 998. Having owned a 1275cc Cooper S and a 998cc car I can say the Cooper S had close to twice the power of the 998!

My SPi powered car will do 75mph all day long. It probably has to do with the tall gearing, 'cause my MK1 Cooper S has more power...but it runs out of steam pretty quick on the top end.

Unless you're going for the whole "purist" bit, I'd really suggest the 1275. A 1380 is a 1275 overbored +.060", so be careful there - you're leaving yourself nowhere to go*!

* ok technically you can go bigger, to something like 1460...but 1380 is about the end of the practical road for the A series block as I'm told.

 

Gearing is impotant if you plan to use the car as a daily driver in highway situations, it's true... I've never driven a smaller displacement Mini, so I can't speak to how much better a Cooper or a Cooper S will get up off the line, but my car does OK and I can tell you that I bought it for far less than half the cost of a Cooper S. My '92 Mini Sprite is a 1275cc fitted with the taller final drive (I believe it was standard in later-model cars like mine IIRC), and I cruise on the highways at around 70MPH with no issues. At 75 it starts to sound a bit like it's straining, but I've cruised for an hour or more at that speed with no issues. At 80 I find my foot is often against the carpet, but I can get up there to pass as needed - definitly daily driver capable unless you live someplace nuts. Really, ride comfort for extended trips (more than 2 hours) is really the only limiting factor.

My 1275 is single-carb, not SPI or DPI and is otherwise bone stock as far as I can tell. An electric radiator fan seems to be the only add-on I can find - even the bulky, old-fashioned air filter cover is stock!

 

My "new" car is pretty comfortable at 120kph / 74.5mph. It could probably do more (I think they were rated at around 90mph tops) but...having gone close to that fast in my Cooper S I can tell you 75 is fast enough for me!

 

Of course the late 90's Mini is a good way to go for freeway use (again, the FD ratio) and they are readily available in the US. Remember in spite of its ability, a lot of time at 75-80 mph will shorten your Mini's engine life.

 

120kph indicated was just under 4krpm - it'll be fine

 

so it sounds like everyone is in favor of a 1275 for a daily driver... anyone think a 998 would get the job done or is it just too slow? does anyone know what you can bore a 998 to?

 

A 998 is already bored out from a 948. So not much more room to go. You are better off locating an old 1275 block and building it up. Besides, the extra headbolt makes it a sturdier engine.

 

does anyone know the 0-60 times on any of the different engines? 998, 1275, 1380?

 

I'd recommend investing in a copy of the Mini Performance Manual - these and many other questions are covered in great detail in there. It also goes into rebuilding the motor for max performance, straight-cut gearing, changing the carb setup and everyhting else you can imagine.

 

The 998 is pitifully slow, unless you build it well and gear it realistically or modify it well. If you want freeway abilities you have to consider the gearbox, unless you go all out (Jack Knight) for a 5spd box, you are limited to just the 4 forward gears and a reverse, allied with a not-very torquey engine the acceleration you sacrifice for freeway gearing is substantial the easiest way to change the gearing is to put bigger wheels on it

I had a 'built' 998 (actually somewhat more than that as it was bored +040) in an old Mini, it was good for about 90mph and accelerated pretty well, but it was noisy and you really had to 'drive' it, once you got 'off the cam' it was slower than a stock one !

Later incarnations of the same Mini saw a 1275 (GT) motor, that got bored out to 1340cc (perfect size) then gained a turbo from an MG Metro. In that guise, again top speed was ~ 100mph (gearing limited) but the acceleration on the 10x7's was insane due to the very, very short gearing.

If you avoid heavy freeway use, the 998 with a few period mods (fast road cam, dual 1.1/4" SU's an LCB, head work and 1.5 rockers) will be more than adequate, in fact it will be addictive rev-laden fun.

If you really must have decent freeway performance a 1275 (or 1299/1340) with similar mods will certainly allow it to play with the big boys, if you can find a late model gearbox/diff with the tall FD and then run 12's or (shudder) 13's then you could easily have a 120mph Mini that is comfortable at freeway speeds.

 

We're not talking about a Pontiac GTO here... or a Shelby GHLS. The stock Minis - you're lucky to see an 11 second 0-60 time. That being said, there are guys that have run sub 13 second 1/4 mile times using the A series engine. Just like anything though, you make that much power and you're bound to break stuff.

In stock trim you might want to stick to harassing Toyota Tercels driven by old ladies.

 

Several local owners are quite pleased w/ their 998s for their daily drivers.

 

"Tuning BL's A-Series Engine"... by David Vizard. My copy is close to 20 years old, but most everything in there is still valid. A newer edition came out, don't know when. APT (Advance Performance Technology, Vizard's old company in Riverside) can probably supply the book. Warning - get ready for A-series engine info overload if you decide to read it. Lots of discussion of pros and cons of each engine variant.

Larry

 

I'm not saying it's not possible to be happy with a 998 - I had one for a few years. We have to drive over mountains to get to the other side of the island though - I got sick of going everywhere at 5,000rpm, 45mph, floored in 3rd. The 1275 makes a BIG difference out here. If you're somewhere mostly flat, or you don't mind going fairly slowly up hills the 998 or 848cc engines will do just fine.

 

i think a 998 would be fine for me then because i hardly ever use the freeway and almost all of my driving is on city streets but if i come across a good 1275 for the same price i will definately get on it...

 

Measured in fortnights, not seconds.

 

Take a 998, flow the intake and head, slap on the 1.25" sidedrafts, shave the head and block to 14:1 comp, throw in a cam and some decent innards, gut the car, acid dip the body and weld up the differential, you'll blow the doors off a modern JCW MINI (to 110 mph)... for about 400 miles. Then you get to tear down the engine and start all over again.

 

http://www.niksula.hut.fi/~mdobruck/...380-daily.html

 

Just my opinion>> if you, as you say, will not be relying on interstates to get places all the time, then a 998 would be fine. I have one with a stage 1 kit and it will go in excess of 80 when I need it to. But I wouldn't want to do that to it all day. You can get a lot more pep out a stock 998 just be doing bolt-on things like a stage 1. Like one of the posters above said, get books. Vizard's is particularly good, but its a genuine textbook. Read that one and you'll learn some stuff, and maybe even save a few $$ by NOT doing something that, as it turns out, is not all that effective. Dual carbs comes to mind.

 

Dual 1.25" carbs, the 123 electric Distributor, a decent cam, some head work, and a 998 could be a decent little motor. I know folks in the UK have been tuning them for years - cheap as chips over there. Here in the US though you might as well spend the dough on a 1275 to start with. You're talking almost twice the horsepower right off the bat. My figures might be slightly off, but if I recall my 998 was rated at 35 or 40hp and my 1275 S was rated at 73hp or so.

I got a chuckle out of the 14:1CR suggestion. Thankfully it was followed by "..and then tear down the engine in 400 miles" Jeez you'd have to run 100 octane in that setup I think!

 

What is stage 1?

 

Usually a different carb needle, "cone" style air filter and an aftermarket exhaust.

 

What's the carb needle do?