Oh and I'm not flaming you rustyboy, it's just not the case for everyone anymore...

= )

 

There's more to do with a Cooper - more of a challenge - I love a challenge. Trading one car for another is no where near as much fun as working on the one I have - I get a great feeling of satisfaction when I know I did something that made a difference - not so if I just trade one car for another.

And ..... "move up" ..... ? No more insults please.

 

Since we are talking about investments/bang for the buck

My cost effective way for power.

Hopefully I can get my hands on one of these JDMs next.

1991-1994 Nissan Pulsar GTi-R

For about 12K (50,000km) you get an All Wheel Drive, 2.0 Turbo Charged engine that produces 237bhp with a curb weight of 1220 KG. 0-60 in 5.4 secs. BYE BYE V8 Just a freakin monster! Screw an S! Just joking... an S is cool... but I already have a Mini.

 

snid,
It is fun to think about upgrades. If you have the funds to upgrade and have some fun then you just have to weigh that vs the benefit of using the same funds for something else in your life.

As for why spend $$$ on MC upgrades?
1: sleeper- sure, and who will notice it?
2: just to **** off the MCS owners. - I own an MCS and I'm not offended.
3: we've already got the Cooper and have "bonded" with it- very valid for some owners. Your call.
4: the Cooper we have might already be modded beyond the point where it can be traded in- possible but not that likely since most stuff is bolt on. Otherwise just leave it in place.
5: just to **** off the MCS owners. - Same as 2.
6: anybody can be fast in an MCS- Not so, a good driver makes the most difference no matter which MINI he or she drives. I've seen many a novice driver in an MCS.

7: It's fun to mod and you can learn a great deal from doing so but it does cost some money. Chalk it up to experience. M7 Mods are well though out.
When modding an MC you won't be adding that much power (it's difficult and expensive to squeeze out more power) but you can always balance those upgrades with improvements to the suspension, transmission (quaife), exhaust, etc.
8: You have a project car and a budget for improvements. You have a clear goal in mind and you want to use the car for performance driving and specifically use the MC not MCS. For example SCCA autocross in F Street Performance class. A very valid reason indeed.
9: You want a nice performance car but you want to pay the lower insurance rate for an MC not MCS. Very valid in Europe where the MC outsells the MCS by a large margin.

For me I like reason 7. My MCS is the first car I have ever modded and I've learned so much from NAM and all the members/vendors that have helped me. My wife says with all the money spent on upgrades why didn't you buy some better equipted sports car? I just like to be different I guess.

 

I love the m7 options but here's one thing to consider -- it really just requires a little planning. When I asked Peter if they do Cosworth heads for Coopers he said "yes" (of course) but also said for a Cooper they want you to send them your head to rework. Not a huge problem but if you don't want to park your Cooper while you wait you need to pick up a spare somewhere. Yes, it's an added expense, but buy a used one, send it to m7, and then when you get the reworked head back you can sell your extra.

 

This is debatable as well... but in my opinion, why do you need a so much HP when your only delivering it to two wheels?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tVZXu_G6eG4

167HP hachiroku VS 300HP STi

hmmm... maybe it just me making myself feel better for having an under power car???

hehehe...

 

I was just about to say the same thing and then noticed you already covered it ^__^

the mini s already has a bunch of super modded cars exc. there arnt to many moded minis out there, so its kinda excitingg.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head for me. I agree that if you are just getting into an 05 or 06, you wanted more power and you have the funds, maybe you should go for an S.

But for guys like me, who like the Cooper and don't have the funds, getting a Non-S Cooper and driving it stock until it's paid off (or when you can pull together some extra cash down the road) is the way to go for modding.

Of course, I'm not a big HP fan as some folks, so I have a different perspective about performance.

 

Most of us who do heads do so with cores. You buy a worked head, put it on, and then return yours. The only down time is the install.

 

How come anytime a topic in the "non S" thread is posted about increasing the HP in the Mini, MCS owners have to come in and question why we wouldn't just give up our Mini's and buy an S. I purchased a Mini about a month ago and it's like a child to me! I baby that car like you wouldn't believe... if you had a son that wasn't all that athletic and maybe wasn't the all star athlete like you had wanted him to be, would you trade him in on a better model??? NO...so stop coming in and assuming that it makes more sense to sell off our Mini's and use the money to purchase an S... because just maybe it doesn't make sense to us.

 

MTH ecu, my choice of exhaust. I have a few options in regards to some of the parts, though they have recommendations based on what they have used for other custom cars.

Jason

 

rustyboy155 sez "I understand light mods to the regular MC, but to spend 5-7k on a car to increase the performance to BARELY that of the regular MCS, just doesn't make any sense. Keep in mind, your car isn't going to sell for any more with the mods you're adding, in fact, to most people, it will deduct in the value. Buying an S (Which already hold their value a lot better) would be a more sound investment."

SNID sez "We need some sort of NAM-ism for a response to the "for that money, why not sell the Cooper and buy an S?" response. "

And I have to respond with, "It's alive! Alive!, Muahahahahahaaha!" If I wanted a stock hottie, I would have bought the JCW the salesman offered. I went for the Base model and started looking at what I could do to it, because I'm a car geek and a chef. Maybe it comes from playing with my food all day long, but it's a blast to take chicken and have people say, "Wow, that's good, what is it?" So it goes with my Cooper, from flank steak to ribeye in one interesting week. (not that flank steak is bad, mind you) And it's NOT for sale, it's NOT about trade-ins, it's NOT an investment to be tucked away hoping for an increase in value, it's about stroking my car to perfection, personalizing it, making it mine.

Did I mention the "sleeper" part, too? SNID is on track with that one, if you saw the CRX I used to drive, body panels held together with duct tape, you'd never believe it passed you at 130mph on the 210 freeway in Los Angeles. I actually melted my first set of tires, hehe.

But the Cooper is a blank canvas, a newborn child full of promise, ready to be guided and then let loose on the world!

Jason

 

And have fun with it. I never understand the "just buy an S" responses. Anyone can do thier own personal math weighted by cost and preference constraints, and figure out what they want to do.

It's not always about the destination, but about the journey. Enjoy yours, and let us know how it works out....

Matt

 

* Donning Flame suit!

Well we could just use a great line from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby for the "S" drivers.

I wanna go faster, I wanna go faster.

Reeves, I'm with you on this, it's not just "another" Modded "S" car out there. It's a Modded MC and to me that's different.

 

My CRX is a true sleeper as well. unfortunatly I havnt had the time to change the clutch but it will be back out and about tearin up the track sooner or later =]

I love the idea of making low powered cars faster and being the underdog =]
its a journy of excitement

 

Yeah! That's why I like dragging my overweight, underpowered MCc to AutoX events. Nobody sees me coming.

 

"we've already got the Cooper and have "bonded" with it..."

Oh, OK, does your family know?

 

My family is getting use to it

 

Well said.