So I was hanging out with my friends today in a big empty parking lot late at night and we decided to test each other's cars and give each other techniques and tips like guys do. But as I drove my friends 350Z to a 335xi and then a STi, I can't help but notice how much power my MINI lacks. Don't get me wrong, i still enjoy driving the MINI, and taking turns head on, but I really don't feel the rush I get from the other cars. I know I will upgrade my car eventually but is it worth it to upgrade the car? or should I just upgrade to a entirely new car? Is there really a noticeable difference if I upgrade the parts? i.e. pulley, intake, exhaust, ecu? what's your take on this?

 

Having owned Porsche's, AC Cobra's a few Zs,A Galdstand Camaro, none handled as well and was as easy to modify as the MINI. If you are looking for a car that will pull the skin off your face in acceleration and top speed, then its time to start saving the $ for something else. If you want to drive around many a car 4 times its power on a trrack or the twisties then start modding the MINI out.

 

I live in MA. there's virtually no tracks, I can think of in MA... I don't need something that will pull the skin off my face, although that would be cool. Just enough to keep up. I want to know if there is a actual and really noticeable difference between a stock MCS and a Modded MCS. Nobody ever really posted up the 0-60 times for a Modded MCS...

 

no

 

Thats a good question ? While I know that a stock MCS is very slow compared to mine I don't know if I have ever seen any 0-60 times around.
Did you do a search around here?

 

Also realize you have an 04 and the transmission gearing is different. Try test driving an 05 or 06. Haven't done it myself, but have read that it is a huge difference.

 

Psht keep the stock gearing then mod it up it will make sense later.
Yes there is a night and day diffrence between the cars.
I could not live without mine being modded.
and im still looking for more.
But i have plans to fix that.

 

give me a call I am good at transplants. If I can stuff a small block chevy in an MGA I am sure I can figure out something bigger for a mini.

one of many of my wierd project cars

 

Speaking as a former owner of a Stage 2 STi, don't mod the MINI. Unless you plan on dropping 6k plus into it, you'll never get the response you'd get from your friends cars.

My Mini puts a smile on my face when I drive it. Granted, that's different than the evil smile I got when I mashed down the peddle in the STi. If you want the evil smile, get an STi. Or drop 6k into the MINI. Your call.

 

I'd say if you plan on keeping the MINI for a while, go for it. If you plan on selling / trading it one day, pass.

 

Asked and answered well.

The problem with the MINI is indeed that you will have to drop a few grand just to get close to the power of those other cars, whereas money spent on a car like an STi will get you substantial power gains. Additionally, you're getting either RWD (Z) or AWD (preferable) in those other cars, neither of which you will ever get from your MINI. It pains me that the MCS is so underpowered since it handles so magnificently, and I had hoped that at least the Getrag AWD would be adopted by BMW. So the failure has been twofold.

 

Come on up to NHMS (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) - the White Mtn and Boston BMW club has an advanced driving school up here soon. I'm sure that you won't be the only mini there!

I think that the Boston BMWCCA also does some auto-x - not sure if its Boston BMWCCA or if its just a general autox that is put on. Check it out here>> http://www.boston-bmwcca.org/

 

i thought the getrag is adopted in 05+ models? yeah that is a really good answer. i totally agree on the painful underpowered and magnificent handling part.

 

The MINI was never meant to be a straight line speedster. Yes, it can be improved in that area with sufficient mods... but if that's all you're worried about, you bought the wrong car.

I own two cars - my MINI and a V8 Mustang. I never got confused about what each of them is good at. Neither one is a total slouch in any department (especially since I heavily modified the Mustang's suspension!), but they are and will always be totally different animals.

Take your power-mad friends out for a drive on some very twisty roads... and I think you'll gain an entirely new and different level of respect from them for your MINI.

You can still get a huge rush from a MINI. It's just a different kind of rush.

 

Also, you're not too far from Limerock Park race track, in CT.

 

The common retort is something to the effect that one should buy a redneck car like a Mustang if one wants power. However, your examples include the 350Z, which is a sports car, and an STi, an otherwise factory-riced-out sedan which can be made to handle reasonably well easily. Both come with substantially more power stock than the MCS. Neither will handle as well as a MINI, but both can handle well. Having power and having good handling should not be considered mutually exclusive.

 

First of all, factory-riced-out? Are you serious? Drive a stock WRX then compare it to the STI.

Second, you're saying that the MCS can handle better than the AWD STI?

Come on man.

 

http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t186/mcs22004/MINI/?action=view&current=STI_factory-riced-out_400x300.jpg
Yep, at least for the <=2007 models, before they turned it into a bulky Chrysler-inspired Eurowagon. With viewers undoubtedly recoiling in horror, only a "2girls1cup" windshield banner is missing from the aesthetic catastrophe pictured above.
Done that, but it has nothing to do with the fact that the STI was riced out from the factory. (I didn't design the shell, so it's someone else's fault.)

Not any more because according to the rags you are correct--it can't and MINI fails again.

Best standardized data I could find on the R53 inside of three minutes:
Skidpad: .87g
Slalom: 68.1mph
Braking 60-0: 123ft

2006 STI
Skidpad: .93g
Slalom: 70.7mph
Braking 60-0: 115.8ft

But I'll leave that argument for someone who cares, since my point was that our choices aren't limited to either
a) a MINI for twisties or
b) a Mustang for drag racing.

Furthermore, to enjoy the great power output of a car like the STI, one is not even required to drag race at all.

 

I sold my STi to get the MINI. The STi power was addicting and nothing can replace that head snapping feel of so much power in that little car. You did buy the wrong car if that is what you are looking for. I loved the STi but it has its faults. It's hard to look cool in a car with a big wing once you're over 25. If you romp on it from stand-still, while it does take off very quickly and loses almost no traction, it feels like the drive train is going to be torn apart and you can smell the clutch burning immediately. The handling is highly overrated. AWD cars don't really like to turn and the Subaru version is probably the worst of the bunch. I went from 18MPG in the STi to 38MPG in my MCS.

One thing I really notice is that my MINI is really fun to drive within the legal limits on the streets every day. The STi didn't feel fun until I was way beyond the speed limit. This leads to tickets and danger to those around you.

I would bet I could race very competitively on an autocross track with an STi and 350Z, and I have beaten 335 times easily. There was an older modded MINI like yours there last month that blew just about everything away from M3's, Lotus Elises, a Maserati... pretty much everything short of heavily modified race-ready cars.

So to answer your question, no you are not going to get that same feeling. But you can modify your car to get significantly more power and really feel it for a heck of a lot less than you'd shell out to sell it and buy any of those cars. And as a few people have said, a few suspension mods and good wheels and tires will take your handling potential well beyond your buddies cars. You have a huge weight advantage in the MINI, and a much more efficient car.

 

I agree, it wasn't pretty. When I first saw it I lost interest in Subaru. Then I kept finding myself staring at it in the showroom and watching it like **** online, secretly and ashamed behind closed doors. I grew to love it. Bought one in July of 06 and never regretted it. Had to trade it in recently because of my commute and I miss it everyday. Every time I hear that boxer engine growl and look up to see an STI roll by, my heart skips a beat. I guess what I'm saying is that old phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". The rally inspired styling of the 06-07, or "riced out" look as you call it, appeals to me.

I had the same feeling of horror when I first saw the new 08 STI design. That feeling has since faded away when I looked at one up close. That's the way it is with Subaru's designs for me anyway. Shock and horror that fades into lust. You may see an "aesthetic catastrophe", but I see the most beautiful car I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

 

sorry for the ot but please clear out your PMs...

 

Quite possibly the funniest thing I've read on NAM....on Subaru styling:"with viewers undoubtedly recoiling in horror,only a "2 girls1cup" windshield banner is missing....."
Coarse jesting at it's best!

 

the AWD in the STi will do just as well or better in the twisties. and the power difference will more than rocket away when the twisties straightens up.

and the 350Z is no slouch in the twisties neither. with drivers being equal, isn't it easier to correct with an RWD than a FWD?

 

tpmini's reply topped it.ˬ
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No kidding, but looking cool and driving an STI are mutually exclusive anyway. Maximum window tint is probably as good of a solution as any, but trunk lid swaps are common among STI and WRX owners. Some 16-year-old with neon underbody lighting kit clutched firmly in hand would have been more than happy to swap trunk lids with you. As a matter of damage control, a more subdued look could not have hurt the old STI. An '06-'07 STI owner was basically starting at complete failure but could try to mitigate the horrific assault on style by camouflaging the worst of the nightmare foisted upon the world by Andreas Goatse or whatever his name was.
I've heard that a lot, but it is probably true of a lot of cars. Cars can be designed to test well when new but not for longevity. Also, this is why standing starts on the street are for children and drag racers, which are usually the same thing. I wouldn't even consider dumping my clutch at a dead stop in the MINI since that would probably result in each major component being flung back into its country of origin. Maybe this weakness is simply not as recognized in the MINI because, at a whopping 7 seconds to 60, there is really no point in trying to pretend that it is fast off of the line anyway. I just make sure the MINI is moving at a good clip before I do anything interesting.
Nowhere near 38MPG in my MCS, ever.

 

Stop comparing what you drive to what others drive, otherwise you'll NEVER EVER be satisfied. It's like keeping up with the Jones's.

I ride a Ducati Superbike. It's a 2002, out dated, slow and heavy by most standards. But I don't care if a faster bike pulls up besides me. I am smitten with my superbike and wouldn't trade it for anything. What am I going to do with 20 more hp anyway? I don't even know what to do with the power I have now.

I'm pretty sure that you don't know what to do with the hp the mini puts out either. In the hands of a skilled driver, the MINI can run circles around all your friends and their cars.