SO I am a car guy (duh), and my entire car life has been in either AWD turbo cars (a bunch of DSM/EVOs) or RWD sports cars. My wife bought a 2004 Pepperwhite Mini Cooper S back in 2008 and we both instantly fell in love with the brand. Since then, She's moved on to a Countryman S ALL4 and the R53 has been sitting in the driveway for quite some time.

Recently, I freed up some space (sold my Project FD Rx7) with the intent of sinking some money into an older E46 M3 and tracking that occasionally. Then it hit me, I already have a super fun car that works great, I know it's history and has a lot of potential, why not just dump some money into it

So I've been toying around with this idea for a couple of days and wanted to know what you (the community) think. Are there good examples of R53 getting tracked on the weekend? Is there a recommended build path for these cars. What is considered good obtainable HP from these powerplants? Is it to crazy to expect ~240whp from these motors?

Thanks for your opinion!

 

I have been wondering along these lines when you start to modify the engine internals such as cams, etc. Does it create a reliability risk to the motor?

 

There are lots of people that track their R53's. They do very well in AutoX. I have not had the chance to do so, but I'm sure many others will chime in who have.

240whp is definitely attainable. You will need to do some engine work to get that figure, though. Probably a BVH from Jan, cam, pulley, intake, exhaust, header, injectors, and tune. You can check out some dyno charts here. Many people are 240+ in that thread, check out their mod lists.

Good luck!

I have heard good things about Jan's (RMW) cylinder head goodies. In fact, I've heard fuel economy (when not at WOT all the time), suffers very minimally, if at all.

 

240whp is fairly easy to get to with about $5k invested, and actually quite reliable. Just make sure the car is reliable and up to date on maintenance prior or the issues will just surface after the mods. 'If you check out mini madness it has stage options and estimated hp figures to give you an idea of cost and what you need to get there. Then you can source the parts from your preferred vendor.

 

Don't forget the suspension, which is where most people start.. then add power.. Jan is working on some kits that can get you well over 300 HP and some to over 400 HP if that is what you want..

 

We track my mini. My advice (for what it's worth) is for now, forget HP. Get the suspension in check first. Sway bar, shock/struts/springs vs. cool over, bushing upgrades. Get light weight wheels with good rubber. Get brake pads and fluid appropriate for the track. What makes the mini a great car is that it is a momentum car. Take advantage of that and you will be surprised at what the stock 180hp will do.

When you go to the track the first time, you will quickly see (within the first two laps) that the car is far more capable than you are. Invest in yourself with good schools, good instructors, and eventually, upgrade the car when your skill surpasses it. Trust me on this, everyone who's opinion counts, is much more impressed with a "slow" car driven fast than a "fast" car driven slow.

 

Lol...there are daily driven 250 hp mini's....
So 240 is no issue...
Think dave-o on the other board did it mostly RMW parts....a BVH, shorty header with an OEM cat welded on, a pulley, and I think he runs meth with a custom tune and bigger injectors of course ....been that way for a few YEARS as his daily....
So yes...do it with GOOD PARTS and no issue...
But have heard of folks barely doing more than stock HP with lots of eBay junk bolted on...with ...er...limited reliability.

 

Thanks for the great feedback and resources. You've all inspired me and I started getting her roadworthy today! Brakes are seized and need some serious attention, so my first stop will be the classifieds for rear calipers.

 

Alright guys time for a check in. The brake issue has been addressed, now I am moving onto some other things that need to be dealt with. The exhaust is falling apart so I'm going to replace that with the Invidia Q300 Exhaust.

I had a couple of questions about the R53 platform that I'm hoping you could help me with. First, what kind of ECU tuning solutions are there for this car. Do you guys flash your cars with custom tunes, is there flashing software for these ECUs or do you just rely on canned mail-order flashes from vendors?

Next, when doing a Pulley upgrade, do I need to reflash for a 17% pulley? what supported mods are needed?

Thanks!