I bought my wife this 05 Mini a few months back and now its time to get some things done to it. Its not the S so my question is what all can I do to it to make it faster.

THX

 

There's a section of this forum devoted to mods for the Cooper:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...per-non-s-138/

Most popular are intakes and catback exhausts.

 

Yeah I looked through that thread earlier but didnt see much that were simple things. I understand intakes and exh are good but only as good as what the TB is ported out to or how big the valves are with more lift or duration and I wasnt trying to get into all that.

I was thinking more simple. What true custom tuners are there for these cars? No chips, real tuners I mean.

 

One friend of ours put the following on his R50; K&N CAI, Super Sprint Cat Back, Milltek Header, MSD Ignition Coils and Wires, GIAC Flash, M7 Strut Reinforcement Plates...

 

I would do the following simple things first...Craven Speed Strut Defender Plates (Mushrooming) and a Drop In Air Filter.

 

Go to the website: WayMotorWorks.com. He's out of Atlanta, GA.

 

As an R50 owner that's done many of the things you are asking about I'll give you my 2 cents.

The 1st thing I'd do is get the Alta drop in filter or the DDM CAI system. Both do about the same thing. Set of BRISK plugs will help too.

A catback is nice, but not always needed.

An ECU Tune is nice, I have one, but it's not always the best investment before hardware is done.

The TSW motor mount is a great investment for an R50

Here's a local shop for you too
http://www.harrisonmotorsports.com/hmsLocation.php
Alpharetta, Georgia North of Atlanta

 

You should call WayMotorWork is Atlanta (as previously stated).....he is THE MINI Guru of Atlanta/Indianapolis. He will set you on the right path!! He will hook you up, get you a good deal, give you his honest opinion on what to buy or not buy!!

 

Our shop is in Atlanta. Give us a call or come by. We have a R50 Just a Cooper that has everything you can imagine done that you could check out and get some good ideas on what you like.

WAY
317.201.8670 or
770.234.9965

 

Turn a R50 into a fast car on a straight line? Hard and expensive.

Begin with light wheels (15inch or 16), a good setup for its suspensions (from bilstein + eibach to coilover, camber plates, good values of toe, etc..) and upgrade brakes (a good start 'd be oil, braided hoses and good pads like ferodo ds).
At this point You sould have a fast mini in corners.....

Fast on a straight line?? ...hard and expensive ..... I know this very well

 

My mod list is in my sig. car is a total blast to drive with this set up. "faster" will cost me a lot more $$$$$

 

Power+R50+Aggressive driving= Broken transmission.

I tell you this from experience.
Mini has graciously bestowed flimsy, weak little transmissions in our R50's that really can't handle much extra power unless you drive like a Prius owner.

Otherwise start with coilovers and other suspension. You'd be surprised how much faster it feels with good coils.

 

Way Motor Works is also local, and Way is a Factory Trained MINI Tech. Not saying Harrison is poor but it's a BMW shop first, while WMW is a MINI shop, and he supports this community.

 

+1

I dealt a bit with a local BMW shop that also did MINI's....if you can get to a MINI specialist, you will be much happier!! Having access to the manuals is not the same as having done it....and beaing the GUINEA PIG sucks!!

AutoXCooper.com has a good reputation,a real good guy from what I have heard, but it sounds like you need expertise......to find what is worth the bang for the buck, and to guide you on what is worth spending your $$$ on, and maybe have somebody do the install....I live in NH, and I had had the opportunity to drop into WayMotorWorks in Atlanta....IMO that is saying something!! I bet Way has broken and fixed nearly every part on a MINI just racing them.....then add his shop experience, fixing and upgrading customer cars....tough combo to beat!!

 

Thanks Zippy, there's nothing magical about working on MINI's and with the very limited motor mods for an R50 most people can do it at home.

 

MINI Expertise: Knowledge a MINI Tuner has that knows and understands how EVERYTHING on a MINI works. Including all of the electrical system and how the signals to and produced by the modules work. How the coding system in the MINI works. Understanding of what performance mods work, how they work, and which ones don't work and why they do or don't do what they claim. And on top of all that they would be able to remove and replace or modify all the parts on a MINI, and even do it in a timely maner.

I consider myself to be an expert. I was trained by MINI, and even listed as one of their top 20 techs in the US when I worked for them. I also have graduated #1 in ALL of the Technician training schools I've attended including Performance and Hot rod classes. Giving me the background on Performance. That I use to build the Race MINI's that have competed and won on national levels. Also I've probaly worked on more MINI's than most people have even seen.

Claim you can do everything. Well you have an internet site out of your house, you don't work on MINI's, I worked on 6 yesterday and 3 today. So for physiclly working on MINI's I'm putting that over here. ECU tuning there's only a handful in the US doing that including myself. This is my full time job puts a roof over my head and food on the table.

 

Perhaps instead of this being a peeing match, we can help the OP with his question?



I have very few performance mods, with plans for a couple more. I currently have M7 strut tower plates to help prevent mushrooming, a K&N drop-in filter and a TSW motor mount. When nicer weather rolls back around I am probably going to upgrade bushings all around and maybe do an exhaust. The most involved is probably the bushings. Everything else is quite easy, and the exhaust I'd have someone else install for me pretty inexpensively.

Since you are in GA, I recommend Way if you are looking for a custom tune. He's well known in the MINI community and conveniently located for you!

 

If I was in the Atlanta area even though I have met and found David Harrison to be quite helpful and a heck of a nice guy I'd still go to Way for MINI work. Guess that too makes a me a "fan boy" in the eyes of some of you. That said if I was in the Philly area I'd go see the guys at Helix, in Detroit none other than Chad at Detroit Tuned, So Cal, Danny at MINI Corsa, Fresno area would have me knocking on the Custom MINI Shop Door and in the Pacific NW I'd ring up George at MINI Madness.

 

Wow lots of name dropping, I need to write all this stuff down for future reference. But what if you're in NorCal, where none of these guys are? You can only rely on online vendors who provide the best prices and willing to negotiate a lil to give a package discount or two?

Im building 2 minis right now, my S and wife's non S. I have purchased quite a bit from Moss, although their techs aren't as specialized or knowledgeable. I've also purchased various parts from Way and Aaron. The only vendor local to me is Vinyl Styles.

Ive been modding cars for almost 20 yrs and I've got friends who own shops that specialize in everything but Minis. I would love to have a local guru where I can go hang out at everyday and pick his brain and get work done by someone who knows what their doing. I dont know any of the people mentioned in this thread personally, but I can say from modding over 10 different makes of cars, that its key to do with someone who specializes in that make. Most bolt on stuff, any mechanic or performance shop can do, that being said, a guy who does Minis all day can most likely slap on a set of sway bars faster than the guy who works on Evos or Zs all day. Both can do the job, but the Z guy will most likely take an hour or more longer, charge you that extra hour of labor, and not know his way around the car and might loosen a bolt or two that he didnt need to.

I've got Way's 17% SC pulley and belt waiting here, ordered a set of Brisk plugs and researching on who can do the install. Ive been quoted anywhere from $150 to $800 for the install from 5 different shops that I personally know, yet all 5 have never done it before hahaha.

 

Back on topic... for power on a non-S, the easiest hardware mods are intake and exhaust, but the effects are relatively mild. In my experience, the most effective change by far was a custom tune. It greatly increased low end torque and throttle response. Everyday driveability is much improved.

Besides power, make it go faster by improving handling with suspension, wheels, and tires.

 

Intake and exhaust do almost nothing. The worse is, on a stock engine, if you reduce too much the backpressure with an exhaust, you lose performance. If you install an intake which will suck hot air, you lose performance. I can't back up my claim about the exhaust, but i can back up my claim about the intake. I installed a Pipercross Viper carbon intake, and without the air feed pipe, the intake hurts performance. I measured 6 times 80-155 kmh in 3rd gear with a 5Hz GPS based performance meter, with the stock moded intake the average time was about 14.6 seconds, the best was 14.2, and i could repeatedly get around 14.5. With the Viper on, same day, same fuel, half an hour difference, the average for the Viper was 15.1 secs, the best 14.4, but that was one time only, struggled to get below 14.8. Ofcourse it would be different if there was an air feed pipe installed, but the most hot selling intakes for the R50 (afe and ddm) are not enclosed type inductions with air feed.

The things that will improve straight line performance, are a camshaft, header and ECU tune. Also, the lightweight flywheel.

 

I think an intake & an exhaust would work well together, more balanced. In the old days, when one put an exhaust on, often the car would not run as well & we'd have to re-jet the carb. Now with computers handling air & fuel they can compensate for a more open exhaust & intake. You may see a small gain. Having a tune is probably the most bang for the buck.

If I had a Cooper I'd put my money in handling mods, there you will see the most bang for your buck.

Disclaimer....

I own a Cooper S not a Cooper & am not an expert by any means. I'm just a lazy **** MINI enthusiast & old fart that loves MINI's. YMMV....

 

Before my current MCS, I had a 2003 MC and it was fast. I didn't have, and still don't have a ton of cash to put into modding my MINI, so the best performance gains came from lightening the car (removing the spare tire, and back seats which are both easily put back on drives where they might be needed). Changing to lighter wheels 11-13 pounds. Using 16 or better 15" wheels. A Whalen shift **** was an easy enhancement to shifting and offered a bit of customization. An aftermarket intake changed the sound of the engine. Improving my driving skill! Turn the AC off, and keep your shift points in the 4,000 - 6,000 RPM range. Downshift a lot and keep the revs up! An aftermarket exhaust was a bit lighter and affected the sound as well. If you like a deep throaty exhaust sound at idle and under hard acceleration, an intake and exhaust will give you that.

Richard

 

I bought the DDM intake from Way and I don't regret it one bit. It gives the cooper a wicked, throaty sound under acceleration/high revs and the throttle response is much better versus stock. I'm not saying it's going to shave seconds off your 0-60 but it does feel like it can pull harder since it is a less restrictive design compared to stock. Thanks Way.
Also, another good mod to have is the TSW engine damper kit. By reducing engine motions, you can put more of that lost kinetic energy to the wheels. That's what I've been told anyway, this isn't me making up stuff... At the very least, it will save your motor mounts

It's hard to get power from an R50 without going forced induction which would cost about $4k +/-. Money is best spent on suspension and breaks. But the best mod of all, change the nut behind the wheel.

 

I put a good amount of money into my R50, before I finally gave up. A good intake and an Exhaust can give you a nice tone. Good Suspension and Wheels is the best bang for your buck. Honestly, if you bought the R50 for straight line performance your going to be sad. I explored the idea of an aftermarket turbo to death. Is it possible? Yes. It wasn't worth it to me, because after looking and doing the math it was going to cost well over 10k.