Hey everyone, i'm looking into a project car for the next few months and a r53 mini cooper s could be one of the contenders.

I have spend probably an 1.5 hours doing research, visiting over 30 threads and reading through all their pages but I cannot find much information about hardcore upgrades for the mini cooper, its kind of starting to scare me as many other forums (nasioc, mazda3forums, evolutionm, ls1tech) have information like this all over the place and some have at-least 10 hours of information to read through.

Anyhow what would be required to get a r53 to 300whp, 400whp etc. I have read one person say the factory internals are good to at-least 500, which I think is pushing it, but another person says ~200 is about the limit. Also id like to know when head work is recommended, and valve/ valve springs need chaning

Then id like to know when the transmission starts giving out and when gears need to be replaced etc. What gear options I have etc.

Finally tuning companies and piggybacks/standalones etc..

So can anyone point me in the right direction or drop some knowledge?

 

I am surprised you didn’t find 20 or more hours of threads to read. I say search or Google Revolution Mini Works and plan to spend some time. After that go to Helix. I am sure others have some other search suggestions.

Good luck,

Rich

 

There is so much information available regarding your project it's staggering. Lots of opinions/facts that you can decipher. Basically you will learn about heads, header, exhaust, cam, injectors, pulleys, tuning and that's just to start. I believe the two individuals to read about are Mynes and RMW.

 

OEM Crank has been good to about 500+ before but keep in mind it's only been done a couple of times. Everything else internal about 300, simply because of the boost levels you need to achieve that kind of power.

So far a "true" 250whp has been a good number for the Mildly Insane to shoot for, anything much more than that takes a good deal of money & dedication and will require a change in induction. (for those of us who are Completely Insane)

As far as drivetrain, torque is more of your enemy here than hp, upwards of 300ft/lbs and traction actually isn't your friend when it comes to breaking things.

And for the most part you'r correct about the number of "monster hp" builds in our community, it's not that it's impossible or hasn't been done, it's for the most part more expensive & more difficult than in those other communities, so it just doesn't get done as often.

 

What is the purpose for this MINI? Time Attack or 1/4 Mile drag?

Here is an old video from 2008:

 

Hour and a half, huh?

 

Wont take an hour and a half to know that to get there you will have to spend money.
I swear people always ask for that amount of power but never seem to realize 250 hp and a well sorted suspension will do just fine.

 

Absolutely, even a "true" 230whp in one of our cars is a head turner, with the great power to weight ratio, a little goes a long way for us.

 

if u want to build that MINI hit up RMW and talk to JAN his mini is ****ing fast and holds the record i believe! he has roughly 430-480whp wat i was told

 

Just an example how do you get 220whp in a mini and a 250 whp? Would that cost 3-5k difference?

 

Basiclly you may get close to 220whp with an acumulation of all the basic bolt ons, pulley, cam, header, intake and injectors, along with a custom tune.

250whp at least a BVH will be needed, which of course will be an extra $2500 or so just for parts.

Basiclly anything more than 240-250whp the costs get exponential as far as hp gains, it's just the way it is when you get to that point, it's that way with most cars, once you get to a certain limit the cost jump to go beyond it, 240-250 is our number.

 

Thanks. Would the jcw 380 injector be ok with upto 220whp?