I am having the hardest time deciding what I want to do with my MCS! I'm in Iraq and I am making some good extra change to spend on mods when I get back at the end of April. I want to be able to spread the money out on mods for different parts of the car...like exterior, interior, suspension. Just having a hard time deciding where to start! I would appreciate everyone's input on this, even though the final decision on anything will be left up to me. Thanks again for the help!

 

First, thank you for your service to our country.

Now, the first question has to do with warranty. Are you determined to protect it or willing to possibly sacrifice it?

The general consensus on effective performance mods to the MCS are: non runflat tires, rear sway bar, and reduction pulley.

For the exterior: aero kits, wheels, stripes, tinted windows, roof graphics, rally lights, etc... are well documented throughout this site. It becomes a matter of personal taste.

For the interior: the euro parcel shelf, rubber mats, auxiliary input, gauges, chrome trim bits, etc... again, it's up to what you like.

 

Engine mods start with this combo -

#1 free air flow cleaner
#2 15% pulley
#3 exhaust

then drive the car if you want more - well you can keep going but none of the above will be wasted. This combo will be the cheapest horses you can buy.

In my case - 03 MCS with free airflow, 15 pulley and One-Ball Exhaust. Picked it all up from Myminiparts.com and they arranged install = instant gratification .
I have a great daily driver that now has more command of the road.

For the rest of the stuff get a large coffee, make that several large coffees and simply search the forums here. Whatever you are considering you will find a post.

Good luck

bahamabart

 

KevinR,
Thanks alot for your support! I appreciate the reply and the help... I'm not really concerned with my warranty at all. I completely understand that everything is going to end up being my own decision based on my tastes and desires! I just wanted some opinions from other mini enthusiasts...just to get a variety. I think my first mods are going to be wheels and a body kit. I am thinking about 18" wheels since it is a good middle ground. 17's come on the car and a lot of guys use them for racing. I personally like big wheels, but nothing more than 19's, so I thought 18's would suit me well. Kits on the other hand...I think I will just paint my trim body color and maybe a front lip or something. I want to keep it simple since I dont really want to take away from the Mini's already good looks! As for the other mods it will probably be concentrated on the engine!
Keep the comments and opinions comming please...got a project to work on when I get home!

 

Bahamabart,
Thanks a lot for your help...I'm pretty sure those mods will be comming into the picture before too long! By the way, I am gonna go make a coffee or two right now!

 

When mine gets off the boat I'm going to do a boost gauge first and maybe one of the software solutions for the Palm so I can see the absolute manifold pressure from the cars computer (is it a geek thing?). I'll probably squeeze a dyno in sometime after that before I start doing mods.

From there I think I'll do the intake and pulley together. Then I'll move on to the exhaust and sway bars. By that time it will be winter again so I'll by some good rims with sticky tires and use the S-Heavies for snow tires.

 

Thank you and everyone over there and wish all of you safety in your daily duties.

There are so many creative people here to help you do any type mods you could think about. Where do you want to start. Give us a hint on where you want to start and you will get more input than you can deal with.

 

Here are some things I would do if I ever learned to save up money:

PULLEY (or even... twincharge?!)
Painted arches and valences
Recaros or sparcos.
Assortment of gauges for your pleasure
some tasteful (or tasteless... whichever you like) carbon fiber stuff
Gigantic rocket launcher mounted in the boot (ok, it would be small)
relatively light 18" with some nice tires to lay down on the pavement/asphalt
good car insurance
driving school sessions/track/auto-x/aggressive defensive driving
larger front mounted intercooler
rear sway
go-fast button on steering wheels or anywhere (nitrous, rocket fuel, etc)

and I'd really like to buy a dog, but i dont know if that'll help you.

 

Hello, I would start with power first, {if you have the money twincharge }
Power:
1. CAI
2.Reduction pulley
3. Ecu
4. exhaust

Exterior:
1.rims
2. body kit {i like oricairi and the car zone kits}

Handleing:
1.Sway bar
2.Tires
3. springs