Hi guys,

I know I'm going to sound a little nooby, but I'd like to know any ways I can boost the performance of my r50. I know that the r53s are obviously an upgrade, but I wouldn't like to part ways with my car. Been having it for almost 3 years (this coming June) and other than the exhaust, which i got a western flow (never heard of the brand prior) and it seemed to boost the acceleration a little and give it a little more hp. Don't know much about building a racecar lol and i dont plan too, but I'd like to make it faster than it is, if that makes sense. I learned how to do many things to it in terms a replacing so i know how to replace the parts and know my way around the mini. I recenlty replaced the clutch to an aftermarket and it feels way better than the last. But any other suggestions? Please and thank you. Also, my budget can range anywhere from $1k- $3k. I plan to do the suggested upgrades in a 1-1.5 year span.

 

I know you state that you wanted to keep your R50, but if you have $3K to put in to an R50 to try and make it faster, I would just sell it and put that $3K into getting an R53. The difference is really night/day. I had an R50, really not that much you can do to make it go faster, new exhaust, CAI, that one is debatable, mod chip. Short of installing a turbo/supercharger, there's just not much you can do. The R50 is great once you get up to speed, problem is off the line and mid-range. Don't have the AC on, or try pulling out or a driveway, (Gas Station) that sits on a hill on a busy road, I used to dread having to get gas at that station, having to wait forever before the road was clear before pulling out. Yeah, I HAD and R50. Sell it, get that $3-4K, then add the $3K you were going to use to upgrade and get yourself an R53. I paid $5.5K for mine, almost every option 1 owner car. Good luck with whatever you decide...

 

The easiest and most cost effective upgrade is to upgrade the driver. Get involved with the local auto cross scene, attend a HPDE near you, and then every car you get into is significantly faster AND safer. You will never turn an R50 into a power monster so make yourself into a race car driver for less money. Other than investing in yourself, a good suspension and sway bar upgrades go a long way in improving the car and a good set of brakes to whoa yourself down is always advisable.

Not to sound like a jerk, but putting $3k into your car is probably going to amount to wasting 3K.

 

Try to ignore the "buy an R53" talk, it's the first thing any R53 owner will tell you. Full disclosure, I have an R53 as well. I have an R50 and love it. It's not a waist of money if you enjoy it.


I have put on an exhaust and an aFe intake. I love them both. The intake rasp when you get into the 4500 to 7200 rpms is awesome. The best you could ask for in an R50 is about 160 hp but then you are into the $5000 to $7000 range. A fully built motor. At that point you will need to do a Getrag 5 speed or 6 speed swap if you have about 6/2004 or earlier build date and have the Midlands/Rover transmission. Add another $4000 for that and you have a (probably not street legal) race car. But it will be about 200 pounds less than a R53 which isn't insignificant.


Get the lightest wheels you can get. If you can get your hands on as set of Hole-ies - the 15x5.5 stock wheels from Mini with 7 holes, they weigh in at just over 12 pounds each. You are hard pressed to find lighter wheels that only cost about $150 each that are actually strong. They aren't very wide but get sticky tires to compensate a little.


You can flash the ECU for not too much money. I have been thinking of getting an R53 fuel pump and bigger fuel injectors with a ECU flash.


Stiffen the rear ant-roll bar with a R53 Sport+ bar to tune out some of the built in understeer. With the 15x5.5 wheels the car is surprisingly neutral with slight bias to understeer. Lift off oversteer is a lot easier.


There aren't many bolt on mods that you can do with our cars.


I second the autocross and track days. Modify the wingnut behind the steering wheel and you will notice everything goes by faster - mostly because you end up wondering why there is a middle peddle in the footbox.


The R50 is about keeping momentum and handling. The better spent money is on suspension, brakes, wheels and tires.


My signature has all my mods listed to my R50. 2005 R53 mods - 15% pulley, 22mm adjustable rear bar.

 

If you've read my post, it did state that I was also a R50 owner. He said he wanted a faster car with $1K-$3K NOT the $5-$7K plus another $4K you mentioned in your post. He will not get 160hp with the max $3K that he has to spend. Your method of spending $11K on a R50 to get only 160hp makes no sense.
As I stated earlier, I owned a R50, he can make all the suspension mods he wants and it will drive like a R53 but he also want it to go as fast, not going to happen..

 

I will also have to agree that the four best aspects to divert attention to on a Cooper is; tires, driver, suspension, and brakes.

There isn't enough power available for a reasonable price for you to try to squeeze out, and as others have already mentioned the best thing to do with any car is to make it handle what you throw at it.

One of the fastest MINIs I know is an R50, and anyone who knows Colin "Flat Colin" can attest to that.

 

Did not mean to upset you... and yes I did read your post... I read his too, hence the suggestions on driver, suspension, wheels and brakes, which is in the $1K to $3K range. I was pointing out that to make an R50 really supper dupper fast you need to throw lots of money at it.

 

I'm too blessed to be upset about your targeted comment,
"Try to ignore the "buy an R53" talk, it's the first thing any R53 owner will tell you. ". Enjoy your day..

 

unfortunately getting them to make power is expensive, the market is very small for the "justa" because the S exists, most people sell and for 2k more buy a R53

You could put in a r53 lower end and turbo it, I'm not sure how tuning would work

 

The ONLY reason that I included that was since 2004 when I bought my MINI and wanted it to make more power, the first thing everyone has said was "sell it get an S."

 

I'm sure you know why, it's far and away the most cost effective mod for power, changing up will cost 2k but the dollar for HP is the best deal

 

You can just do like I did and get one of each ...I've got a 2006 R50 Salt/Pepper with a CVT transmission my wife drives and a 2006 R53 Salt/Pepper with a 6 speed manual that I drive...I still drive her's when we go somewhere together and enjoy it just like I enjoy the R53...I've never tried to improve on the R50 other than a K&N air filter...it's still a fun car to drive. I smile when I get behind the steering wheel of both cars...of course I smile wider in the R53 .

 

I have a 2005 Pepper White/Black S as well (15% pulley and 19mm rear bar) and I prefer the R50. The car seems to be more balanced and as much as I love the extra power of the R53 and the whine of the supercharger, I love the intake rasp of the R50. Yes, the smart money is spent on an R53. I have a lot of fun and anguish tinkering with the R50 for the meager gains for more money than is rational. I will not pretend to say that it is rational to spend the money that I am prepared to spend on my R50 to get a little more power. I have dropped about $2000 into the R50 in the mods that I have and have not regretted spending any of the money and will not regret spending more on it.


So to the starter of this thread... spend your money on what you want. As long as you enjoy the results, it is money well spent.

 

Thank you all. And thank you for that final suggestion. I didn't mean to start a dispute lol. I've ordered a K&N Air Filter (mainly because my box broke lol) and am looking to upgrade my suspension. I've been thinking of upgrading to a Borla exhaust and I saw a $700 performance chip im going to look into. Sadly, right now i have an overheating issue that resurfaced so I gotta put my mods on hold. To all, I never wanted to make a monster mini or anything ridiculously fast or to match an R53. All I wanted was some suggestions on how I could make it faster. Whether it was an extra 10-15hp. Something doable. Thats why I didnt want to brea the bank too bad lol. Or else I would sell to get something in the 26ks with 220+hp. 😊