Already done pulley, Intake, light wheels, rear Swaybar, top engine mount, plugs. In your opinion what is the next sensible thing to mod for a daily driver and why? I'm running out of ideas... Maybe I should stop spending money. :D

 

Some people think it's a waste to get a sprint booster, however, I love mine. The pulley paired with the sprint booster is awesome! I recently installed lower motor mount polyurethane bushing inserts and, so far, I'm really liking the feel. Smoother shifts and acceleration, to me, outweigh the slight increased vibration.

 

I'd say shocks, front strut brace, intercooler diverter, oil catch can, possibly bigger injectors, and a tune.

I have all those except the tune on my daily driver and I think it's perfect. I went with Koni FSD shocks and I'm really happy with the ride quality and performance.

the front strut brace (and tower reinforcement) and the oil catch can are preventative. the brace improves handling a bit and prevents tower mushrooming. (I have an M7 one but I think way makes one that's similar) The oil catch can helps keep oil out of the intercooler reducing efficiency. The intercooler diverter helps get more air on the diverter (cools the intake charge more)

A tune helps pull it all together and makes the parts you've installed work together better. If you have a 15% pulley I don't think you need injectors, but if you have a 17% pulley, you might find some gains in adding bigger injectors.

 

An ATI crank pulley because the stock one will fail and possibly do some damage or leave you stranded. A dampened gel filled pulley like the PRW is another good choice if you want to save some money.

 

brakes =)
and possibly a cam/tune

 

I say hit the Auto-x school day and or track day with instructor and you may learn it's plenty good as it is.. OF course once you do that for a bit you'll want to be even faster so the spending never really ends till you make it....

 

N2MINI had a great suggestion: some driving instruction, HPDE, or AutoX will help make you a faster driver and maximize what you already have. As for hardware, after the pulley, intake, and exhaust, I went with the RMW street header and Dominator cam. Along with that I added 450cc injectors and got a tune. You probably don't need bigger injectors until you get to the header & cam stage. You can run JCW 380cc injectors without a tune, though a tune will get the most outta your car and mods.

 

Sprint Booster, definitely. Free shipping on SB now, and there's some great testimonials here:

http://new.minimania.com/part/SPR209...homepagebanner

I also have an R53, and they're great.

Here's a performance upgrade guide to help with next steps:
http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper..._for_your_Mini


Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

I don't want to start a sprint booster debate, but I would recommend you do a little digging on the board before you buy one. I did and still bought one, but I was pretty disappointed with it. It doesn't add a single HP and for track/hpde it actually makes it harder to get on the power smoothly, just my 2 cents.

 

http://new.minimania.com/Sprint_Boos...tomer_Feedback

http://new.minimania.com/Sprint_Boos...eviews_Part_II

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.
Holiday MINI Gifts

 

[QUOTE=Racingguy04

I went with Koni FSD shocks and I'm really happy with the ride quality and performance.

Hey,

I have an '05 R50 Cooper. I love it, so fun to drive! I'm trying to figure out what mids to do. I've lost 70 lbs. of weight (rear seat backs (not seat $$), spare, & wiper for style).

My question- I'm trying to figure out what shocks to get, coil-overs (?) without going crazy spends!?! It's a DD w/100k miles, etc.,

Are you happy with the Konis?

 

I'm very happy with them as an overall compromise. I've had a mini on stock suspension, lowered on h&r springs and bilstein shocks, and this, with stock springs and koni FSD. the handling with it lowered was better, but the ride really suffered. With the FSD's the handling is almost as good as being lowered, but with a more comfortable ride than stock. So since I use my car to cart my kids around, get groceries, and occasionally auto-X and track, I found it to be a good overall solution for what I wanted.

If you really want to tear up the track and you're willing to do a little more work and tolerate a slightly less comfortable ride, coilovers are worth looking into, but for me it wasn't worth the work/money.

 

[QUOTE=05justacooper;4249378][QUOTE=Racingguy04

I went with Koni FSD shocks and I'm really happy with the ride quality and performance.

Hey,

I have an '05 R50 Cooper. I love it, so fun to drive! I'm trying to figure out what mids to do. I've lost 70 lbs. of weight (rear seat backs (not seat $$), spare, & wiper for style).

My question- I'm trying to figure out what shocks to get, coil-overs (?) without going crazy spends!?! It's a DD w/100k miles, etc.,

Are you happy with the Konis?[/QUOTE]



HI Justa!

Can you post some pix of your R50? Was the weight loss for better handling and response on the street, or the track?

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

all the above plus an msd coil and wires. but be very careful tighten it down.

isamin

 

@05justacooper - I have a 2004 R50 as well - I had no luck on a prior post and am offering you the info on what I have done to my R50.


What I have done already:
Megan Racing Cat-Back exhaust - I love it! Louder and it makes the car burble on lift off around 3000 RPM.

Megan Racing coil-over F/R - really like them - you do need to make sure that everything is a tight before you put the wheels back on. I have not installed the adjust cables for the rear dampers.



Power Slot front rotors - they work great for what they are

Hawk HPS pads F/R - really like these.

aFe intake - which comes with a "heat shield" - Really love this one. The Cooper now makes all the right racecar sounds - you really hear the intake rasp when you go above 4000 rpm.

MSD ignition coil - it's red... that is all I can say about that...

Cooper S Sport+ rear bar - doesn't seem to need more at this time - very (close to) neutral, might be able to scavenge the Alta adjustable bar off my wife's Cooper S.

16x7 wheels with fairly sticky tires (240 tread wear)


What I am thinking of doing:
Cam shaft
ECU tune
Injectors - not sure they are needed...
Throttle body, though it may not work with the aFe intake
exhaust header
fuel pump - not sure it's needed though...
Oil cooler - just to keep things cooler


Would love to do but probably won't:
balance and blueprint the motor


Craig

 

@Funky53 - I would agree, do some upgrades on the wing-nut behind the steering wheel. That is where I have been spending my mod money lately - track days. It's probably more fun then wrenching on the car. If money is a concern - try the SCCA Track Nights - they are the cheapest way to get your car out on the track and fun, too.


Our 2005 R53 has the adjustable Alta rear bar, and a 15% pulley. Seems about all it needs at this point.
Craig

 

What are our thoughts on the Bilstein PSS-10 coil? what's an ideal lowering height to achieve handling gains yet still civil within the confines of daily city driving? Much appreciated.

 

I have my Megan's set for Auto-X and track all the time... its too stiff for most people for daily driving. It's also about 1 inch lower all around. I have no issues with scraping anything except my driveway. I am not sure if you really want to go more than an inch lower if you are going to daily drive it. I have thought about lowering my more but it just isn't practical, plus if I want, I can lower for the track and Auto-X then raise it back up. It's a bonus to be able to do but a bit of a pain in the butt to actually do.

 

[QUOTE=Mini Mania;4249794]
Seat delete, seatback are heavy, but the seat is light and is good sound dampening. Plus, it's free! #wannaBgp

 

I thought of another (cause I'm currently seperated from my car by 2,500 miles and a couple of bodies of water) sticky summer performance tires. I have the bf goodrich g-force sport comp 2's and they're a pretty good all round summer tire, pretty good in rain, lots of grip, and i still get a little over 20,000 miles a set (which is about what I got out of all season tires rated for 30,000 miles) but there are alot of good sticky tires out there.

 

[QUOTE=Thought of a good one;4249805]@05justacooper - I have a 2004 R50 as well -

What I have done already:
Megan Racing Cat-Back exhaust - I love it! Louder and it makes the car burble on lift off around 3000 RPM.

Cooper S Sport+ rear bar - doesn't seem to need more at this time - very (close to) neutral, might be able to scavenge the Alta adjustable bar off my wife's Cooper S.

16x7 wheels with fairly sticky tires (240 tread wear)


What I am thinking of doing:
Cam shaft
ECU tune
exhaust header

Would love to do but probably won't:
balance and blueprint the motor


Hey Craig,

I'd like to do a few of listed above. I've got my car running right, it's lighter, and I'm jonesin' to dial in the suspension.

Then exhaust, maybe lighter wheels.

How do you like the Cooper S bar?
Lighter wheels? My goal is to drop 100 lbs.

peace,
Justa

 

the cooper s bar isn't worth the effort, get a bigger one. its easy to drop 100lb, I dropped easily 44lb on wheels and tires alone going from the slites with runflats to ultraleggeras and normal tires. then prolly another 30lb with the exhaust. I haven't come to deleting my rear seats yet... but it will happen


I went with the hollow 25.5, and its much lighter than the stock 17mm solid on the S

 

@saltysalt - it would be the same effort for a Cooper S or any other rear anti-roll bar, about 2 hours if its your first time. You are spot on with the hollow bar being lighter, but we are talking, what, 2 pounds maybe? Ever ounce counts though! :-)


@05 - All of the track days I have done with my Cooper, the balance is very good with a slight tendency to understeer at the limit. Talk to a local MINI Club, someone has a rear Cooper S bar sitting in their garage collecting dust; that is what my Cooper bar is doing right now. The Alta bar on our Cooper S is 22mm, I think, and solid with three adjustment points. It's set to the middle setting. Back to my Just a Cooper. Dropping weight is going to net you the most bang for your buck, however, if you really want to get around the corners fast, you will need to have 200 tread wear or less. A very wide tire with very low vehicle weight, you will hit diminishing returns on the weight savings when it comes to grip. I wouldn't go more than 7 inch wide rims and match the tires to rims as best as possible. I liked the price point of the Megan Racing coil-overs. They are made in the same factory as the BC's. The Megan Racing exhaust is cheep and it works. Not really sure if there is any actual HP gains, but it makes all the right noises with the intake and exhaust opened up a bit.


The mic is under the hood.

 

I do apologize for the tread hijack.
@funkyr53 -
Things you could do:
- Big Brake kit - gotta be able to stop - to paraphrase Jeremy Clarkson - Speed has never killed anyone, it's the sudden stop that gets you.
- One ball it
- Coil over suspension - set them soft or you will be like me (no one wants that) and look like a bobble head driving around in tiny car
- front and rear strut tower braces
- those little front braces in the engine bay by the radiator that the convertibles get
-----I really should get those...
The list of sensible things is really long...

 

As for Big Brakes, here's an application guide that covers Wilwood, V-Maxx, Stoptech, and Brembo:

http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper...lication_Guide

Coilovers for Koni, Bilstein, KW, KYB, V-Maxx, and H&R:

http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper...lication_Guide

Strut Brace and Camber Plates:

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Resu...%20brace/Parts

Adjustable Sway Bar Links:

http://new.minimania.com/part/G2NMS2...e-Gen2-R55-r59

Let us know if you have any questions!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.