Which country is the lead modifier/tuners of MINIS? UK or USA?
 

Does anyone know?? If I were to guess I'd say USA, because we have more Cooper S's than them. Plus looking through the magazines, I see some Euro names putting Alta stuff on their cars.

So is the USA showing the others how its done? Your thoughts. And I hope the fact that this is an American board doesnt make the responses biased. lol.

I'd say that it's about the same to be honest. I know of a few outfits in the UK that are working on projects like SPI's car and getting good results, but they aren't publicised just yet and I am sworn to secrecy :lol:

Then you have BBR which produced the first 275bhp twinscrew MINI. Now there is GT Tuning (with a 275bhp Mini as well) that I use for alot of my tuning needs and are IMO the best outfit here in the UK. There is GGR, AMD etc, the list is pretty endless. Not to mention that little outfit by the name of John Cooper Works as well...:lol:

That said, I do envy you guys in the states with the likes of M7, Webbmotorsports, Helix13, SPI etc right at your fingertips. The luxury with being in the UK though is that distances between good tuners is like 3 hours max, whereas in the states you could be looking at a 10 day drive! :sly: :eek: :razz:

Cheers,

Henry

and btw, my car will be one of the most heavily modified MINIs in the UK in private hands when it is completed in the next few months.

What about Germany? Lots of tuners over there.

What about Japan? We don't really know what they are up to.

In the US we have lots of crazys.

The mules at Webbmotorsports- a track only MCS
and at Helix13 now Twin charged!

Randy's MCS from M7

Tuls MCS and many more.

People in the US are nuts about their MINIs. Just from my visiting (on two trips to the UK) I'd say that the proportion of modded MINIs is higher in the US especially for the MCS than in the UK. There's a lower percentage of MCS in the UK and there is more to mod for the MCS.

But if you look at classic minis then I think the UK is very very very nuts about minis. :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :lol:

The Japanese tuning scene is pretty healthy, but it seems as though they are not into serious engine modding like enthusiasts in the states. I have seen some really tricked out cars in Japan though since coming here 2 months ago.

I think you'll also find that modding in the UK is not only limited by a lack of availability, but frikkin exhorbitant insurance costs! We are talking up to 7 times more than an equivalent US premium (taking into account the exchange rate and based on same driver details). If you add an air filter to your car over here for example, it's reason enough for your insurer to slap $300-600 on your annual premium :eek:. An exhaust, pulley and chip nearly DOUBLED my premium when I declared them. In the States, as long as the insurer knows about the mods, they are happy and in most cases won't charge you for having them on the car :wink:

Different countries, different practices :smile:

Henry

OH YES there is some BIG projects lurking around the MINI tuners of the UK but myself is also not allowed to mention who :grin:

I know the new software ive started producing is powering one of them :thumbsup:....but shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :wink:

Are you the owner of EssentialMini.co.uk by any chance?

If so, I need to pick your brains about ECU custom mapping after my install is done :grin:

Cheers,

Henry

There are a lot of differences between how both countries approach tuning. In the UK, there are a lot of negatives to tuning. Most deal with general costs of tuning, and the other deal with insurance costs. Secondly, warranty is a lot more important to individuals living in the UK compared to the US. With that in mind, you tend to find a lot more tuning in the UK to be related to visual tuning (i.e. wheels, body kits....), or to packages/kits from well established tuning companies that come with some form of a warranty. This is what makes Hartge, JCW, BBr, AmD or others very popular in the UK and much less popular in the US. That is not to say they don't have smaller homegrown tuners, but they are no where near as popular as they are in the US. The cost of parts in the UK tend to be about 50-80% more than they are in the US, especially when you include the higher tax.

In the US, individuals are more concerned with ultimate outcome of the tuning mod, not with the cost or warranty as much. Most tuners in the US are building pieces of parts and not whole integrated kits. In the UK, there is a lot more emphasis on a whole tuning approach. In the US, the emphasis is more on a pick and choose approach. We are more willing to purchase a 17% pulley from one company, an exhaust from another, an intake from even another, and finally a chip made and tuned by a totally different company.

So I am not sure who is the leader. If you are looking at just pure numbers, which is more American, I would say that you would have to say the US, especially with the fact that there are quite a few 300hp and some 400+hp Minis running on the street here. If you are looking at integrated tuning packages, I would say that you would have to say the UK. They have a lot more "one stop shops" that have put together and tested whole packages that include warranty and support. Sure the US has isolated cases of this, but I would think the UK as a whole has a much better lead in this respect.

Hopefully I can gave a balanced perspective, since I live in both the US and Europe, so I feel I have a little more balance between the two continents.

That would be me yes sir :thumbsup:

I agree with dgszweda1 comments...as you say regarding warranty, UK peeps hold there warranty like MAD! there are a few good second hand cars now that are having LOADS fitted performance wise so watch this space.

To add to what Cooper said, not only is warranty really held onto, so is service. Most of us in the States just get our service done or oil change done without much concern of holding onto receipts or such. But in Europe, and especially the UK, a car without service receipts and all documentation is worth less than a car with its full service history documented. Sometimes a car that is slightly older that has a very spotty record of documentation can be worth considerably less than a car with it's full service record. In addition cars with service only done at licensed facilities (most of the time dealers), is also more prized than service done by local garages. It is definitely an interesting mentality and much more different than the one in the US. It is actually this mentality that I am taking with my current MCS. I am only purchasing factory or dealer equipment (hence the array of JCW parts), and only getting service done by the BMW/Mini dealership, so it will be interesting to see what the affect it has on my resale at some point if I decide to sell. For the most part, I don't think it will have a great impact, and definitely not what you would find in Europe.

we have a thing called TLC over here...you pay a fixed amount when you buy the car...then get free servicing for so many years and so many miles. Which is a really good idea but then if ure modifying with air filters etc it voids this :(

The sad thing Cooper is that in Europe you have to pay for TLC, in the States it is free with the purchase of the vehicle. Unfortunately BMW is the last company in the States to offer this, but every auto manufacturer now has some form of a service contract that you can purchase at the time you purchase your vehicle. Most are expensive though and cost more than getting the service done at cheaper garages.

Japanese modified mini
 

First of all, excuse for my poor English.

As far as I know that most of the Japanese shops won't touch engine because people consider Mini is one of fashion accessory stuff.

Most of the Japanese shops do business for car dressing up.



To see is to believe.

I give some URL for Japanese shops. Take a look. (No English)


http://www.g-shinwa.co.jp/shopping/mini/index.html
http://www.prestige-ag.jp/mini/owner.../owners-s.html
http://www.hosokawa.co.jp/bond-mini/demo.html
http://www.hosokawa.co.jp/bond-mini/gallery.html
http://www016.upp.so-net.ne.jp/good-...per_s_top.html

Second URL, Car No. 30. The wheels are schweeeeeeet. Anyone have any idea what wheels those are?

Btw, thanks for the link, hashimasta. lol. (No Japanese)

Ouch. Those wheels are 400 dollars each. /crys

My guess would be the UK. Keep in mind there's also lots of tuning going on over there w/ Ones and OneDs in addition to MCSs....therefore lots of tuners are going at it full blast!:thumbsup:

I think you'll find they're more than that.

Hartge Classics in the UK cost $3.5K without the tyres :eek: :thumbsup:

Nice wheels though, eh?! :grin:

Henry

p.s. I speak japanese if anyone wants some translating doing

You forgot my "chopped liver" special :razz: :lol:

We got RandyWebb over here, don't we? :grin:

Here's a nerdy point of view for you:

which country is the lead? if you judge by money spent, then I think those Europeans out spends US in USA; afterall, they do have a higher EURO vs. $$$ exchange ratio:wink: