So I have an 2002 Mini Cooper S (R53) and its stock but fear not I would like to make it faster

I'm very new to the "car modding scene" so I'm not sure what good parts for it are.

Not sure if this is worth pointing out, but my goal is 300HP. Not all at once! This would be like a over like 3 years slowly build up to that. I intend to keep the car for a very long time and just fix it when things go wrong. I think the warranty has expired like a decade ago so haha

Thanks for your time and look forward to your comments!
And hopefully this is where I should post this thread

 

300WHP or 300HP? Two different things, one far less reachable than the other. To put it in perspective, you will need to bore or stroke the cylinders out to get above ~260WHP in these cars. That's serious work. More than that and you'll need to look at a new supercharger, like a Rotrex or Sprintex. My car makes 210WHP with basic mods, any further than this and I'll need to get into the cylinder head doing a bigger cam, bigger valves, ported runners etc. And that's just the mods needed to make the power, you will need many more supporting mods to keep things running reliably. 300WHP is over double the factory number.

 

Welcome to the go-cart Mini World. This car can put the fun back into driving.
+1 on sevin's post, but nice thing is you can work the mods somewhat gradually in stages with only some duplication of effort if you finally choose to head for high whp. The redoing/duplication is mostly the tune when you really start changing out the head/supercharger.
If starting from scratch this is what I would do initially/already did and luv it(I'm thinking about more but its pretty fun already). IMHO, I'd call this a STAGE 1 MCS(and its not too shabby):

1.Suspension - new struts, shocks, bushings, inspect(replace as required) CV axles or just the boots, bigger sway on the rear, the Alta 19mm adjustable with slotted urethane bushings works great for me. NOTE: Drop it (suspension) at your own risk, looks cool, and the lower you go the more camber it induces, great for twisties, tougher on tires and could be fatal to oilpan/engine. But it looks cool. To lower you can just go with stock B4 Strut/shocks and a decent set of lowering springs pretty cheaply. You can def spend more but this works well. Personally, I luv the look but still cant talk myself into it Cause then I would want to buy ALL the stuff it will take to correct the camber (front and rear), and that's nearly as much or more as the struts/shocks/springs combined. Finally, when your done, get an alignment.

2. Brakes: R56 cooper S front caliper/rotor swap w/SS lines. For approx. $355 I bought:
a. Reman/new 2009 R56 S calipers w/brackets - Part# 19-B3320A @ AZ $60 ea)
b. Slotted/drilled 2009 R56 S rotors and pads - Part# YH200735 @ Advance $45 ea
c. Stoptech SS brake lines (F&R) $100.
d. Front pads: $45 at either AZ or Advance

3. Engine Maintenance: New belt tensioner, New belt, New engine mounts, New Oring on the oil temp sensor, New coolant hoses, NEW harmonic balancer and front main seal.

4. Engine HP stuff: 17% S/C reduction pulley, 380cc injectors, CAI (I have the DDM). 1 step COLDER Spark Plugs, New Plug wires and New Coil(Don't need the fancy uber expensive one). Catback exhaust, for the money the WMW Strat is the way to go. BTW - get a boost gauge, if you do it before the engine mods you should notice about a 3 psi increase afterwards. Its fun to look at and it will give you a general clue about boost health(leaks or s/c going south). And last, start thinking about a new clutch.

You can stop here and the car should run great. "Maybe" you added 20-25 HP with a little less torque at this point. You don't have to get a tune, the engine will run a little rich but not noticeably so. It should idle well and accelerate(you will hear/luv the whine) nicely. If it doesn't you have a problem somewhere. But if you get a tune you maybe get another 10-20 hp.

I might do this if I can find a reasonably priced local tuner. To be frank - I'm guesstimating all the HP based on my BUTTDYNO. Others may have diff opinions and have actually done before and after, real dyno testing. I just don't see a reason to spend the $ for a real DYNO when this is my DD, and all around mini-club event vehicle. But if I get a tune I would probably want it fleshed out on a dyno at the same time. I'm guessing that's about $500, which is hard to fork out in advance, without some knowledge of how well it will drive and what I get for the money.

I luv my 2005 R53 MCS, I think its def the sweet spot in the whole New Mini line-up, cost/performance/simplicity/reliability wise. I wont track it, but could see lowering it if I planned to spend more time in the twisties, but then I would want staggered 8/9 inch wheels tires too..... never ends. Guess my will power is improving as I age.

Good luck,
Bruce

 

^^ This. There's a certain cost-benefit dance that you play when modifying a car.

I haven't added power to mine yet, so I don't know the exact percentages, but I imagine the first 70% of hp gains are probably about as expensive as the last 30%. There have been many who have come before us to the R53 tuning world, and they have gone down all the rabbit holes...so we don't have to. Go sort the R53 Hatch Talk section by views and enjoy some delicious build inspiration.

The prevailing opinion in every thread about making ___HP is to play up the strengths of the delightfully sorted chassis. Sure, add some power (above list is very good), but in the end, everyone still has lots of repairs, maintenance, and quirks to deal with.

Make it handle first and foremost.

 

.___.

 

Welcome!

What those guys said is all great info. i only have a couple of suggestions/comments to chime in with:

- do the maintenance to make sure you have a solid car to start with. What Bruce said in #3 above is good, i would add: change the front lower control arm bushings to poly bushings, the stock ones all fail. on the front main seal or any other gasket: change it if it leaks, leave it alone if it is not. Change all fluids to high quality synthetics as soon as you can.
- start with the most-bang-for-the-buck performance stuff first: 17% pulley, CAI, tune, correct plugs. you can get near 200HP, it will really liven up the car. See how it feels, and if you want to go on to injectors, headers, cam, and how much more you want to spend. get to about 200hp, dial in the suspension, and you will have one of the funnest street cars you will ever drive.
-if you still want BIG power, by all means, go for it, but like Sevin pointed out, it will take major surgery and big $$. Over 200hp is pretty quick in these cars, i would imagine over 250hp the car would be much more difficult to hang on to. (hard keep the front tires in contact with the asphalt)

is the R53 a manual or auto? Hooning the car will end up with better results with a stick car.

 

Thanks for all the replys and input! I think the smaller Pulley is good. I assume 20HP-25HP more as some claim with like Alta and others. How does the Cold Air Intake well take in cold air? Isn't the engine at like 190° degrees? Anyway I was also thinking about an exhaust (one that is loud but not like illegal loud) and what is the biggest tire size I can fit on my Mini? I have 205mm I think is like 235mm viable or is that too big?

 

Oh and yes it's a manual! Hehehehe I call it somewhat theft proof since most cars are automatic today xD

 

Of course you should do any and all maint that it needs just due to age. But after that let the mods begin.
Obvious is to start with a pulley as that is by far the best bang for the buck.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-pulley-package.html

We also have a great street package you can start with and build up as time and funds allow, but this is bang for the buck with reliability and not sounding too loud.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/r53-st...e-package.html

Now for wanting 300hp. That is cool, but research will show that it will be extremely expensive and very loud. So I would suggest starting withe basics and see what you think Or finding someone with a simple 230-250hp car and take a ride as you'll be surprised at how fast that is.

 

Thanks WMW! That street package looks great! I'll definitely keep it in consideration. Can't wait to get out of college and have the money to get all this extra boost hehe pun intended!

 

Hey, owning an R53 on a college budget introduce a whole new level of "frugal-but-clever" DIY that I think is an experience in & of itself. A wise man once told me:


There's no reason not to start digging around in the R53 section and finding little things to tinker with. You'd be surprised how many little details you can change. Just remember, research excessively first, work slowly and carefully second.

The following are some things off the top of my head that you could do that cost less than $50:

• Fluid Flushes
• Transmission Oil
• Spark Plugs/Clean Coil Pack
• De-Chrome Exterior (Plasti-dip)
• Restore Fender Trim
• Interior De-Rattle
• Interior Wrap/Respray
• Rear Seat Delete
• Saggy Headliner Replacement
• Boost Gauge
• One-ball Exhaust
• VGS Mod Bypass Valve
• DIY CAI
• Restore Headlights (wet sand 400>600>2000>clear coat)

 

Instead of plasti-dip, I was thinking of a paint job.

TRIGGER WARNING!
I was thinking of a light pink or a matte pink all over.

Haha I feel like I'll break something if I take my car apart. I guess that's how you learn, but it requires getting my hands dirty xD. As for the rear seats? Yeah I probably should get them removed plus I want to add a high quality steering wheel, but on most I don't see a horn or barely an airbag so? Hahaha
I have much to learn :P

 

To safely run an aftermarket steering wheel, you're gonna need some harnesses to prevent possible death in case of accident.

Plastidip is nice because it's cheap, easy to apply, overspray is no big deal, and it is removable. A lot of people black out the chrome bits with plastidip...it holds up for years of washing and sun no problem.

No problem with pink!! A word of warning from experience...when I impulsively painted all the trim rings in my previous R53 yellow, as soon as I installed them, I realized it looked hilarious...paint isn't easily removed if you don't like it, and sometimes ideas look better on paper than they do in real life. Look around at the R53's on here with painted interiors, I've noticed that less is more when it comes to interiors...a little detail to stand out, but not enough to affect the flow of the OEM design.

In general, "measure twice, cut once" is a good rule to live by with cars. Or more generally, "plan a lot, act once." It sucks to spend hours with paint thinner undoing your previous work.

But yeah, the best way to learn is to research, plan meticulously, buy the factory service manual, and then to just do it.

 

Sweet a big 5 point harness sounds great!! To add probably want lightweight seats xD and tbh id probably pay for a paint job :P

 

Oh yeah, you'll *pay* for a pink paint job. You'll paaaaaaaay dearly...

 

Hmmmm can someone link me some all black wheels that will fit.... There is a lot of information. Or what about upping the tire size to 225mm or 235mm? Thanks so much!

 

Here are some high quality lightweight wheels that are the correct size/bolt pattern/offset:

http://www.nm-eng.com/nm880501s-nm-e...eel.html#popUp[products]/2/

Stock wheels on the MINIs are pretty heavy, and you can improve performance of the car by going to lightweights. i went with a different style, but could not get them in black so i have silver wheels. There are lots of options if you are okay with heavy cheaper wheels that may not last. most people stick with 205s or 215s on 1st gen MINIs on 17 " wheels. you are not gaining much performance going wider, and you are just putting on heavier tires at that point. Wheels with an offset of < 40mm push the tire out of the fender skirts and then will sling spoo on the outside of your doors (Your PRETTY PINK doors) every time you go through a puddle.

 

Most of the CAIs will have a box around them that help block out the engine heat. The cooler air is sucked in through the intake tube connected to the filter box inlet from the front of the car. You can also get cool air from the grill just below the windshield with some CAIs if they open up the wall behind it.
As far as wheels go I have a 2004 JCW with 7X18 and 8X18 wheels and 215/35R18 and 215/40R18 tires (yes they are staggered) with spacers. Got a good deal on the wheels and liked the looks, you will probably like the smaller wheels because it makes the car quicker.
Like the others said, do a pulley first as far as mods go. I wish I would not have waited to do mine. Definitely best bang for the buck.
I'm getting a tune from Bytetronik at AMVIV on May 18. They are changing out my 380 injectors to 550s. I'll post how the tune feels once it's done. I might end up selling the 380 injectors in the marketplace.