We will be looking to upgrade our 2012 Fiat 500 as it is closing in on 150,000 miles, and believe it or not it has been the most dependable car I have ever owned. We test drove the base Mini Cooper and loved it but I'm just not a fan of turbo charged engines and could really notice the turbo lag. We will be testing the Cooper S soon. Thoughts?

 

Cooper S will be noticeably quicker for sure. When you test, make sure you are not in Eco mode. Try it it Mid mode and then Sport mode. Sport will likely put a grin on your face. I normally test cars looking for throttle response. "Blipping" the throttle while running about 20-25 MPH in the MINI in "Sport" really impressed when comparing it to other car's I tested.

Additionally, if you want to really enhance the MCS performance, consider the JCW tune. I had it installed on my 2015 and ordered it on my 2019 (being built). I would not own another Mini S without it.

Good luck with your search.

 

On the flipside I really don't like the stock throttle response on my S coming from an FB RX-7 and an '07 Speed3. I feel that it's slow and mushy but a SprintBooster fixed that right up.

 

I've heard and seen where Sprint Boosters /Pedal Commanders make a noticeable difference in throttle response. I test drove an Audi TTS when looking for a replacement for my C7. The throttle in that car felt completely disconnected from the car when "blipping" the pedal compared to the Mini (and the biggest reason I went with an M240i as the replacement).

The 07Speed3 is a pretty potent machine right out of the box plenty more HP and TQ (263/280) so not surprised in you comparison. I always like to see the TQ number higher than the HP number in the specification. That usually indicates a more engaging and connected ride IMO.

Since I'm not going to add a Dinan to my new Mini, I may look into a Sprint Booster just for fun. Looks like a super easy install and I've seen videos where there is actually a gain in measurable performance, by a few .tenths on 0-60 runs.. Only negative I've ever heard were some found the throttle to be too "touchy", however there are settings that can scale back how quickly the throttle body swings open.

 

I have a feeling running the Mini in Sport mode will be the same response as a sprint booster. I never once felt the need for a booster, sport mode is more than capable

 

55 HP jump from Base to "S" Model and about 30 more over that to the JCW Model.. with about the same amount of increase in torque from each model as well..

 

I have had a fair amount of seat time in a b38 Mini and I did not notice any turbo lag at all. It does feel like you are towing something though due to not having enough power IMO. The b38 has a pretty small turbo and peak torque is at 1200rpm. Unless your lugging the engine in a higher gear I doubt the average driver would even know it has a turbo.

 

Power also starts to drop off over 4000 rpm on the b38.

 

Peak torque drops off at 4000 but peak power is a flat line from 4000 to 6000

 

I find in my 19 S to be almost no lag, even compared to the N26 in my 3er which has a little but nothing compared to the turbo engines of yesteryear

 

Our 2018 F55 MCS has the 6 speed automatic transmission, and in the default mid-mode, the transmission logic tries to quickly move through the gears, probably for gas mileage purposes, so it's harder to get the revs up. heartbeat going, and noticing any turbo lag. Sport mode is better, and the different shift points lend to sportier driving, however, even with that, I can't say I've noticed any turbo lag.

 

The B36 (SULEV version of the B38 and standard in the U.S. for a few years now) torque peaks at a slightly lower RPM than the B46, so I'd argue that the B36 actually has a bit less turbo lag than the B46. The Cooper also weighs about 160 lbs. less (over the front end, I might add) than the Cooper S, model-for-model, so the HP/TQ difference isn't quite as big as it seems on paper. The gearing in the manual transmission Cooper is quite tall, however, compared to the Cooper S manual gearbox. It's clearly designed to take advantage of the torque, which peaks early and plateaus for quite a bit of the usable RPM range. It actually reminds me of the 6-speed manual in my 2009 Jetta TDI in that the engine is super flexible and the tall gearing means you can easily ride the torque wave over large swaths of road speed without shifting. I extensively drove the Cooper and Cooper S before ordering my 2019, and I'm quite happy with my B36/6-speed manual combo. I also like the uniqueness of the 3-cylinder engine and it's more unique exhaust note. No doubt about it, though, the Cooper S is faster in either manual or automatic guise. One other thing to consider is that there's a substantially more robust aftermarket for the Cooper S. Many mods will carryover between the cars, but aftermarket engine tuning and exhaust options are limited for the Cooper, whereas there seem to be a plethora of options for the Cooper S. Note, there definitely are options for the Cooper, just not nearly as many as the Cooper S.

 

I'm looking at a new base Cooper for which you cannot get Driving Modes any longer, standard or optional--will Sprint Booster work on a base car to approximate (or be better than) Sport Mode? Alternatively, can Sport Mode be coded in after the fact?

 

We just bought our S this week. Our salesman didn’t even know that the base is a 3 cylinder and the S is a 4 cylinder with about 50 more hp. You’re not feeling turbo lag, you’re missing a cylinder! The base is just to get you in the door so they can sell you the S.

 

Someone posted that they successfully added the driving mode switch to their MINI and was able to code it to work. I think it was mentioned that you can code it to start in sport mode but without the switch, you will be stuck in that mode until you can code it again.