they make a front engined clio? or he dropped the motor in the front? if so why didnt they make it midengined?

 

Wow that LS1 site was pretty funny(very vulgar)

 

Hypothetically this could work but I don't think it would be cost effective. Honestly there's not bolt-on super-high HP kit for any 4cylinder car and if the prospect of custom fabricating motor mounts for the mini and building a custom wiring harness doesn't scare you then neither should building the internals and piecing together an insane turbo kit around a GT35R or some other overly large turbo.
The idea of a 1.8T motor swap seems nice but you really aren't making any more power than the MINI motor stock and by the time you've engineered and completed the swap someone else has twin-charged their car and installed the Hydra and is still ahead power and cost wise. The VR6 is an awsome sounding motor (and not really that long to tell you the truth) but it is wider than the MINI's motor and much more massive. My friends boosted MkIII GTi was fun in a straightline but you could really feel the added weight in the nose and the car didn't like to turn because of it. Personally I'd go for the SRT4 motor since the engine blocks were designed from the same parent company but even then you go through the cost of the swap alone to get to 230whp...there are much more cost effective ways to get to that point and from there on out you aren't saving much money between the two engines.
When someone comes out with a swap like was available for the Focus, one that (relatively) easily converted the car to RWD and put a V8 under the hood, then you might be onto something.

 

They make jillions of them. It's a fwd economy car. There is a mid-engine rwd Clio RS V6, but not nearly as many of them.

 

Forgive me if I am wrong, but I though that was a E46 M3 motor which was an inline 6 not a V8. That would either be the M5 engine or the new M3 engine to be a V8. Either way there were several cars being campaigned in the EU with this motor a couple of years back....

 

some good points there mate. i was just trying to throw something diffrent at people and see what they thought.

at the end of the day im just trying to find (and i know its imposable) the most BHP per $ (or £ in my case lol).

i think the V8 idea could be intresting as could the rear engined thing that tuls talks of.

thanks Chris.

 

The E36/E46 M3 motors are I-6's not V8's. You are correct. Now, Hartge does do M5 (V8 and now V10) motor swaps but they are only in the current 3-series and not a Mini. Those pics I posted above...of the Mini....isnt much of a Mini anymore. EVERYTHING has been reworked and moved. Here is another pic of the car from the rear to show you what I mean...

 

And that would be the power steering reservoir in that pic in the BACK of the car!!!

BTW, the driver's were hot!!! Girls I mean......

 

That is one crazy suspension set up. I think that is everyones dream suspension. Also, any picks of these hot drivers? Haha.

 

All,

If any of you ever get into a crash (cross fingers)..etc, front collision, please sell me the shell. I'm looking to do a swap using an acura rsx-s swap into it.
I have been dreaming about it, but don't want to mess up my car doing it.

So, if anyone find anything...or someone selling a salvage title car for a good price, let me know. Thanks!


Richie

 

^ Ebay is always a great place to start with this kind of purchase. Also you can check places like Mazda and Mini Recycling out in Cali. M&MR are also on ebay frequently.

 

That's pretty cool. I've never seen a pushrod/rocker suspension setup on a MINI before. I'd like to take a closer look at that swaybar design.

 

+1 It would be absolutely amazing to just sit in the passenger seat while a pro drives.

 

so the srt4 block bolts up to the mini trans so what would it need for a clutch? and mounts?

 

That is nuts

Aparrently one of that team's MINIs did not fair so well back in 2005


At any rate, for your viewing pleasure, that team's picture section(some pics of the drivers too): http://www.daikin-racingteam.be/en/pics.htm
They seem to have more MINIs than you can shake a stick at.
One is for sale too.http://www.racecarsdirect.com/viewlisting.php?view=5307
Anyone want to chip in and buy it? heh heh

Off topic? oops, everyone was talking about it...

 

...a rotary engine? I was thinking that early on. I heard from someone else a few years ago that they drink a lot of oil. However, I figured their compact size would allow some options as to setting it up in the relatively cramped space under the MINI bonnet. Seems to me that the RX8 engine, for example, wouldn't require a lot of tweaking to gen some serious HP?

 

Don't be shy to do a swap, just be ready to spend some $$$$$ and I hope you have lots of fab skills.

Enjoy, more M3 powered mini's.

BeechDean SuperMini






"Team Qvick has created the ultimate Mini to take on the Belcar seres, Belgium's Endurance Championship. Under the rules, teams are allowed to replace the engines with any other engine from the same manufacturer, provided it resides in the same engine bay. Having experience with E36 M3 racing, Qvick could resist using the M3 powerplant within the small car. Much of the car has been heavily modified to adapt the much larger engine and rear-wheel drive configuration. "

"The Belcar series, Belgium's national endurance championship, enjoys worldwide attention thanks to its large grids of recognisable yet powerful cars. Liberal technical regulations allow cars to run that are banned from many other series.
One team that is stretching even the Belcar rules to the limit is Team Qvick who have an interesting little project on the go.
Team Qvick is a small West Flemish team, which raced a BMW E36 M3 in the Belcar touring class. After two successful years, they've decided that a New Mini will replace the BMW. But not just any Mini. According to article 39 of the technical regulations, an engine of the same make may replace the standard engine. So the Qvick engineers opened the bonnet of the Mini, and found what they were looking for - a small BMW emblem. Stretching article 39 allowed them to replace the original engine with any BMW engine they pleased. Article 39 also dictates that the new engine must be placed in the original engine compartment so the V12 was out of the question!
Under the watchful eyes of the technical inspectors, the engineers set about doing something that many insiders deemed impossible. The engine choice was obvious to Qvick, as they already had two years experience with it: a 340bhp 3.0 litre BMW M3 straight-six!
It was placed between the two axles, and as low as possible, for ideal weight distribution. The chassis had to be changed from FWD, to RWD and the bodywork heavily modified. The rear wheel arches for instance grew by 6" each.
It was huge task for a small team, but the hard work has payed off. The Cooper SM3 will be ready for the first Belcar race, 20-21st April. It won't be shown to the public until then. An official presentation will follow on 28 April."





Not a Mini, but you can find the right donor at a Insurance auction and transplant what systems you want from the donor car. I'm doing it with my FFR Cobra:

 

Wow, What I would do to be the driver of these cars...

 

nice find! shame they dont post a price! :(

this would deffinately be the ultimate MINI!

Chris.

 

is there any minis with srt4 engines?

 

I want to know that too!!!

 

Short answer: No.

- Matt

 

It's not even right to show a pic of your FFR Cobra since that engine bay was designed for a Ford V8! Nice though

I think the 1.8T would be a good choice if you are serious, but I used be into VW's (1.8T 04 Passat, 04 .:R32, bugs, A2 GTI) so I'm biased. The 1.8 into a MKI Rabbit is a common swap, and Mk1's aren't big either but the mini is a good bit smaller in the engine compartment. Check out the MKI section on vwvortex.com for all the info you could want on this swap. The 1.8 will bolt onto any O2 series VW tranny as well.

FWIW my buddies SRT4 makes 250 at the wheels with a stage 1 tune and all the other bolt ons. I really don't like how it drives (cheap car with a big motor), and why on earth would you want to put a dodge power plant in your car? For the cost of the swap you'd be better to buy a motor from Jan and call it a day.

 

I agree with what you said above, but everyone is forgetting just because people do not like the SRT-4s...Our engines were manufactured in the same plant on the same lines and just have a few minor differences...one being 1.6 v.s. 2.4! I would never own a SRT-4 BTW

 

I don't dislike the SRT4 per se, but I wouldn't put it in a cooper. My reasoning is that for the amount of money you'd pend swapping in a SRT4, you would do better to buy a built motor from RMW. Unless you put a lot of coin building up the SRT4, you're not getting much power. My buddy has 5K in the parts that took him up to the 250 mark. For 6K you could get a RMW long block and not have to change anything to bolt it in.