Well i want to do my first mod or atleast order it, only problem is i cant decide what to do. here is a list of ideas so far!

I have a Auto 04 R50 MC:

Megan Racing Exhaust
DDM Air Intake
Alta Light bar (with the 4 lights)
New hood scoop.

Everyones ideas or thoughts would be cool for help Its just i like everything i cant decide what to do first! Power or Looks??

 

In general, the mod-rule for Coopers is: suspension first, then worry about power.

For my MCc, (non-performance, visual mods are already completed) the eventual plan is:

tires
wheels (light, light, light!!!!)
TSW under-brace
RSB
coil-overs (want/need to be able to adjust for the 'vert's heavier rear weight)
cat-back
intake
Jan-tune

Pretty much in that order... although the exhaust and intake would likely happen shortly before the Jan-tune.

Unfortunately, with the CVT, you are probably best off leaving the engine alone. :(

 

yeah i am gona leave the engine alone.

My visual plan is

Alta Light Bar
Hood Scoop
Tints
Viper Stripes
Side Stripes
LED Lights
Stubby antenna
White Rims - Sticky tires

Then i plan on doing
CAI
Exhaust
Suspension
Sway Bars
Coil Overs
and more...

I just dont know wherre to start. Oh and whats a Jan-tune?

 

Then start with tires and wheels. This will make the biggest difference in how the car feels in real world driving.

Jan-tune = RMW (Revolution MotorWorks) ECU dyno programing. Again, probably not a good thing for the CVT...

If chosing between the cat-back and intake, go with the cat-back. Neither are much of a performance boost (together they give some, but mainly at higher rpms... where you shouldn't be venturing often with a CVT anyway), but at least the cat-back will sound different.

It bears remembering: MINI's are all about handling and carrying speed through the corners... straight-line speed is not where they excell (even the S).

Hood scoop? On a MC? Why?

 

lol yeah i know its all about the corners, im usualy playing with the sportmode/manual when driving my car i hate just keeping it in drive! Makes me feel like i have a stick shift car

explain to me how i would feel it more if i changed the rims than an exhast or a air intake im curious. And not choosing im just buying everything slowly eventualy wil have both intake and cat-back.


Oh and you can call the Mc hood to MCS hood conversion my 1dt mod :p forgot about that lol.

 

the stock tires and wheels are very heave. unless you got the 15" hoalies. which weigh about 12lbs each. and if you are on stock run flat tires then those are about 20lbs per tire. and going with a conventional non run flat tire will drop a lot of weight the furthest away from the center point. making your car accelerate much faster. and you will be able to turn much easier at high speed because of the reduced gyroscopic weight of each wheel.

 

what color is your MC? i have an 02 British Racing Green MC with a CVT i'm lowered about an inch and i'm going for the visual i just bought the aero grill and i have a nice little wishlist on outmotoring for future mods to black out everything.

 

Ive got the same color car as you RBG!! im not changing my grill tho just painting it to match my car! And what type of tiers should i be looking for. Also do you have a good sight with lightweight rims that wont coast me a fortune. I like the stock MC rims with like the 7 holes in them that looks cool (white ofcorse)

 

tire rack is usually a good sight. but i'm not sure if they show the weight of the wheels. i just picked up a set of those same exact wheels but in silver. they are awesome! not on my car yet. cause i can't afford a set of tires for them at the moment. but they are a great choice. they aren't very cheap though. you can go to les shwab and have them order those ones. you can check out a couple pics of my mini in my gallery. but not great pics. and i don't have any with the new grill. but i'm going for all black and green. getting rid of all the chrome. what wheels do you have on your's if they are the same as mine you'll be dropping at least 8lbs per wheel going with those 7 hole ones. oh and the grill only cost like $70 with shipping and it matches the little cowls up by the windshield. i was told by my buddy that is doing all my paint that the chrome stuff like that is really hard to paint and get the paint to stick very well.

 

Hmm thanks for the info, i was gona paint my gril because its not a real chromegril.. Its chrome plated i cn see it chiping away. If i just like shve it with sandpaper i can primer it paint it and gloss it

What did a set of those rims ring you up for?

 

lol i got them for a steal of a deal from a fellow PSMINI.org member for $150 for the set of wheels without tires. and i've seen them go on ebay for upwards of $70 per wheel. and i think if you keep your eyes on the market place on here for them you should be able to find them for around $200-$250

 

the primer and paint still doesn't like to stick to that but it is worth a shot if it is chipping already.

 

If you have a BRG car, keep an eye on the classifieds and eBay... the S came stock with a painted grill and they show up from time to time from folks who have switched to chrome (like my g/f did on her '03 MCS) or the aero kit (which we installed on the MCc, but kept the chrome grill).

Lighter wheels = lower unsprung and rotational weight = better suspension performance and [in theory] quicker acceleration.

Hmm... S bonnet on a Cooper... well... to each his own... although one of the reasons we chose the MCc over the MCSc (besides the lower price and the fact we already have an S), is we both like the MC bonnet better. Especially after we added the aero kit.

15" Holies are some of the lightest wheels you can get for the MINI... especially for the price... and some have stuffed some surprisingly wide tires on them as well...

Our MCc is a Sidewalk package car, and came with 16" 7-spokes (w/ runflats - blah)... but we have 16" Panasports w/ non-RF's on the MCS, which we like so we hope to get them for the MCc as well. Not the lightest wheel out there, but not as heavy as some...

Although I stumbled on to these yesterday...

http://www.miatamania.com/Shop/ViewP...eIndexID=73355

Bearing in mind the Panasports sold for the MCS are actually meant for a Miata (38mm offset, which is different than the MINI). A bit heavier than Holies, but also much wider and cheap for aftermarket wheels. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a set of 15" SSR Comps for auto-x running. That would be awesome (about 10 lbs ea).

 

I was just in Helix over the w/e and noticed they have a BRG MCS grill hanging on the wall. If you're interested, give them a call... chances are, they'd let go cheap.

www.helix13.com