On the Countryman S, does the scoop on the bumper do anything or is it fake like on my 2nd gen Mini?

 

It's another opening to the radiator.

 

Are you talking about the ones next to the fog lamps? One on each side...

 

No, those are cooling ducts for the front brakes. On the S there's a scoop sitting on top of the bumper instead of on the hood. First Gen Mini S's had a real scoop where the intake could get fresh air and a little ram air from outside. The 2nd Gen just has a fake scoop on the hood that isn't connected to the intake and is basically just for decoration and melting...

 

That was one of the first things I checked out on the Countryman when I saw it at MITM/MTTS last year. It is just a styling cue to make it look like some type of a scoop and it is no better than the current R56 scoop.

 

Thanks, could have gotten a good amount of cold ram air with that scoop if was real... Oh well...

 

What? Maybe that was the case with the pre-production model but the current model is open and you have a clear view of the radiator. There aren't any fake inlets on the CM front grill. And behind the very bottom grill, which is also open, you can see the intercooler.

 

Sure, but the overall grille area is no larger on a Countryman S than it is on a Countryman. They just take a bit out of the upper grille to have space for the lower "scoop" at the top of the bumper. MINI says that they did not have to put a traditional hood scoop on the S model because the overall size of the grille opening is more than enough to get air in to the engine compartment.

 

Of course the grill is open and of course the intercooler is visible, but all that is just for normal cooling. What I'm talking about is the scoop which in just about any other turbo automobile is real and by real I mean it's attached to the engine intake to get fresh air and ram air straight into the engine intake through the air filter. Just like the one on my MCS, the Countryman scoop is fake. If it would have been real it could have increased the turbo's performance.

 

There hasn't been a true CAI since the R53's. For some reason the R60 has the intake tube on the driver's side of the front grill for the turbo. The scoop look above the bumper was to differentiate the S from the non and give it an aggressive look and is nothing more than an opening to the radiator and not a dedicated air intake for the turbo.
A true CAI takes for the air from the cowl area and not the front end of a car where the air is "dirty." Air intakes located in the grill/front of hood area isn't the best location for performance.