Just joined, and have been looking into the Cooper S. There is a Mini dealer down the street with new and old Mini's, and really want to know what they can do, as far as mods and power.

 

Hmm, hopefully others will chime in on this as my MINI has been my first foray into any type of performance auto modding. As a basic template I will say with the MINI you have a lightweight car with GREAT handling characteristics. MINI's are not going to be your straight-line beasts, even though there are a few people/tuners out there who are modding 300+ HP MINI's. You do need to know that the 1st Gen Cooper S's were supercharged where as any Cooper S model starting in '07(2nd Gen) is powered by a twin scroll turbocharger. I ordered my '05 MCS new and the stock HP was 168. I think the newer 2nd Gen Cooper S are starting off in the 170's to low 180's? Stock 0-60 times range in the mid to late 6s. Help me out guys! lol

 

Been looking into the direct injected r56, as I am told that they get better MPG. Was thinking basic mods plus HFS-4.

 

What do you want out of the Mini? Power or style?

 

Most cars I have been looking at I have been aiming for 300 ft lbs as a mod goal, but I don't know how reliable that will be in this case. Drop the numbers a bit because of the size of the car, but I am looking for
ABS, Power Windows and locks. HIDs, USB audio, manual, LSD would be nice, decent in traffic, a way to tune: OBD2, Canbus, handheld tuner, with enough tunable parameters to tune for more MPG, etc. AT LEAST 30 MPG on the highway.