Being a proud new owner of a MINI GP (1216), and an ex-owner of the Lotus Elise, I am wondering on how to reduce the weight of the MINI GP to get closer to that slim Elise. Less weight = better handling = better performance. Any suggestions?

The only one I can think of is (but has nothing related to the car):
1. Driver must loose weight. A 140lb driver with the same skills as a 180lb driver will win on almost every situation.

There are restrictions though. First, it cannot break the bank account. Second, it must be 100% reversible (e.g. loosing 40 lbs from the gut can easily be gained back, and it had no effect on the car anyways). Third, you must know details. Example, I know that there are lighter wheels then the one that the GP has, but what are they; how much do they weigh; do they require different tires; what are the weights of the tires; what's the price? Four, the car must be able to carry 2 people at any time (meaning no removal of a seat completely).

 

The first thought I had was to remove the air conditioning unit and associated parts. Also you could take off the aluminum guard behind the front bumper. Everything has a trade-off when you do that sort of mod. Remember, the GP is already lighter. Get a carbon fibre bonnet.

If you really want to. Check out http://gpmini.net for some ideas, etc... you can ask Tire Rack details about wheel and tire choices - they have alot of answers, as well as the FAQ areas here and on mini2.

 

Spend some time searching in the Tires and Wheels section, there is a wealth of info regarding this topic.

 

As an ex-Elise owner, you must know full well your never going to approach the weight of an Elise (1900?) nor the performance. The Elise was built from initial design following Colin Chapmans philosophy of light weight. Those A008s have a lot to do with the cars handling abilities. The GP is more like MCS JCW "lite", any maybe people have criticized they did little to lose weight. It was not built with the lightest possible weight as the primary design philosophy.

As to wheels, go to tirerack.com, look up the car, pick some lightweight wheel in 16 or 17", like Comp SSRs, but be sure they can clear the JCW brakes (you may need spacers on the lightest of wheels). Loosing unsprung weight is always more valuable than sprung weight.

To go lighter, look at your Catback. I'm pretty sure its the standard JCW exhaust. You can dump that, get a Borla or others which will drop weight and give more performance or any of the single sided catbacks like Alta will definitely lose weight.

You might be able to get a CF bonnet, I'm sure somebody sells them on the UK probably.

But in the end, I think your looking at piddling amounts of weight except for the wheels. Just look at the Elise's interior and its spartan intentions compared to the MINI.

Best of luck

 

I removed the drink/cup holder. Didn't cut much weight but sure cleaned up the interior! We've seen at least one fellow GP owner remove the useless silver bar in the back. Thinking about removing the insulation under bonnet. I'm very interested in lighter wheels and tires for my GP.

 

Seats, do some reasearch there is easy 20 lbs just from switching to a fixed back racing seats. (2 seats runs 1k to 3k)

Bonnet, boot CF- Do some searching C is starting to become more anvailable again. (mucho $$$)

Gut the body panels, RSD kit, Carpet, headliner, Dash, A/C system (and heating cooling fan, stereo (head unit, speakers, wiring harness) (free but noisy)

40 lbs from the driver (saves money cause apperently its cheap to eat healthy, put it toward the seats)

Airbags, seatbelt systems go-replace with harness built into seat (onsled had it done on some sparcos) ($5 for resistors, the rest is free)

Window motors, Wipers go (use rainx liberally) (rainx ever few months $10; remval is free, blanking plates at home depot is cheap)

Steering wheel (Few hundred $, not much weight bit something is beeter than nothing)

Lightweight battery (~$70-$100)

no excess cargo (free)

Search on NAM for more details about each of the mods, MINI2 has a few outdated how-tos for panel removal, the rear is remove screw and pull steadily as to save pins as much as possible.

Remeber the goal is what the driver can do without.

All can be reversed but it would take careful dissassembly and storage, in addtion lots of time. But it can be done.

 

Did it leave a mark on the downtube? I was thinking of doing this.

The easiest things to reduce weight would be new wheels. Then more sound-deadening could come out since the GP still has some, and carbon-fiber parts could help. ViS makes carbon-fiber bonnets and hatches, but I'm not sure what weight savings it does. I think I also saw some carbon-fiber (or aluminium) doors but I don't remember where or who made them. Personally I wouldn't replace any body parts because I don't know how it affects the safety during a crash.

bonnet-http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...QQcmdZViewItem
hatch-http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...QQcmdZViewItem

It really all depends on if this is your daily driver/how comfortable you want it to be. If you don't need the comforts then so much more is possible like what "motor on" said.

 

hehe the more It hink about it, its a MINI turns Exige thing. The more I think about it the more tempting it becomes.

And keep minimal fuel in the tank, tons of weight saved from the rear, what is the laymans conversion 6lbs pre gallon, on a 13.2g tank thats a lot of weight.

Remove the rear wing and get a glue kit from MINI for reinstillation. Resonator ectomy? Course thats not as reversable. Search unspring weight, I think oyu can find some info about trimmin things there.

 

Removing the drink/cup holder on my GP left no residue because the good people at Bertone did not use the double stick wedge. They left it in place, but kept the plastic film on the surface that would normally adhere to the downpipe/downtube. So it was just two bolts, drink/cup holder off, the two bolts back in. Hopefully Bertone did it that way on all the GP's.

 

And thanks for the reminder on lightweight battery and keeping only the gas you need in the tank. Both have been good things to do with former cars, seems like a "no brainer" for the GP, too.

 

See:
http://www.gpmini.net/mtblog/archive...ed_panel.shtml
I removed about 15 lbs

 

Completely understood. There is no way that the MINI will ever be anywhere close to the Elise, but what I was trying to emphasize is I would like to try and get it down as much as possible (by using the Elise philosophy). The Elise/Exige can do some damage on the tracks and from zero and all they have is 190 HP in the rear. In other words, I'm not trying to get a MINI turned Exige...just trying to close the gap.

 

What is the weight on the GP wheels + tires (separate and combined)?

Anyone have the weights comparing the exhaust system from JCW vs. a Borla or Alta? Any power gain comparisons?

Has anyone removed the armrests from the MINI?

 

SSR WHEELS
I have SSR comp 16 in wheels and they fit over the brakes.
PROBLEM Lugs wont fit wheels. Don't buy wheels unless your sure they will take 14m lugs instead of 12m.

 

Have you not made the trip to the machine shop yet?

 

I think the GP wheels w/o tires are a little over 18 lbs.

 

Check tirerack. 17" comp ssrs are 13 pounds or so?

You will have to call Alta and other to get the numbers

 

Screw the machine shop. Any old drill will work. First I should drink a case of beer and have a smoke ( a fatty back in the 60's ). Naa! Maybe I'll just sell all 6 with tires. Should be good for 6 or 8 track days. Well maybe 10 or more for most people.

Thanks for the cheap shot Ric! motorn

 

Skip the drill I'll take the beer and the fatty.
Yes, you should sell them. They won't fit your new red toys will they?
You are welcome.

 

Thanks Again

 

You find a school yet?

 

if you get new wheels, any chance I could buy your GP wheels

 

Go to Helix13.com and order the Deka battery with their custom 1 pound battery box that works flawlessly with the stock mounts. This is a very very easy way to lost close to 20lbs. Take out the jacking kit. Order the Momo RS-GT2 seats off ebay from Crowders Customizing with a Mini Specific slider for $4XX.XX for a total under $1000 shipped. This will lose you another 30lbs or so I'd guess +/-5lbs and the seats are more comfortable than the Mini seats IMO. Also, they are micro-adjustable so you can lean forward/back as needed. I weighed mine without brackets and they were roughly 21lbs each, so, the brackets I think put them at 32-33lbs if I remember correctly. If you want the fixed back RS-GT, those are roughly 16lbs and would lose you another 10lbs.

Wheels, I'd go with a set of SSR Comps in 16x7 at probably 11.5lbs and some Hankook Z212's or Falken Azenis RT-615's, these would roughly weight in at 34-35lbs total per corner, I'd guess that would lose you s total of 35 pounds or more. An Alta exhaust or Quicksilver exhaust would lose you some good weight since its a one sided exhaust, I'd probably go for the Miltek though, that would lose you another 10lbs I'd guess, if you go with a one sided, it would lose you 20lbs. Keep the fuel 3/8 tank or less if its not a pain to do so, that loses you 50lbs over full. Lightweight flywheel will lose you roughly 15-20lbs I'd guess. Thats a heckuva performance mod too. The Wilwood 11.75" BBK would lose you another 11+ pounds I'd guess, probably 12-13lbs since it has aluminum hats and it would also perform better than the JCW brake kit too IMO and pad changes in just a couple minutes for track days.

All the above mods would net you roughly 150-160lbs. My 06 JCW MCS with some of the above mods minus the flywheel weighed in at 2456lbs, with the flywheel, I'd be looking at 2440, Also, I was on 17's, with the Willwood BBK with my 15x7.5 SSR Comps/Hoosiers, you'd be looking at 2415 lbs. If I pull the A/C, I'd guess another 30lbs for a 2385lb weight, pull the stereo system and I'd bet it be 2365. I cannot think of anything else right now. :-)

 

I still say taking out the a/c unit and assorted junk off the nose of the car is worth twice the weight reduction in the rear.
Then, the unsprung weight of the wheels and tires can be easily reduced and have a very nice result.

 

As I'm getting more confirmation, if the A/C is ditched, one should be prepared for fogging issues as the defogger will either not work, or not work properly. One can experiment by pulling the A/C fuse in the engine bay, at least that's where it is on the earlier make MINI's...

If anyone here has already done so, please share your experiences...