Hello everyone,

please excuse my ignorance for being a newbie but I have a few questions about performance upgrades for my mini...

I have a 05 cabrio (non-s.) I would like recommendations for good books on understanding and working on the drive train. Also I was wondering what my options are for performance upgrade kits. I am still a newbie, but I do understand the importance of a well balanced drive train. Many of my friends have recommended simple ideas like new exhaust, intakes, turbo chargers, and super chargers. I don’t want to fry my engine by simply throwing something on it... I was wondering if there are any "all in one kits" that will give me all the necessary components I need to increase my hp without damaging my engine. I don’t know enough about engines to simply purchase add-ons piece by piece and assure that my system will function smoothly... If anyone can point me in the right direction I promise that I will heeth my instructions respectfully and ***** my mini in a beutiful way...


thanks in advance

joe

 

Welcome to NAM Joe. You may have opened up a can of worms with those questions, as you will find many different opinions about which mods to do first. Definitely looks through older threads on this forum for ideas.

Since you are looking for horsepower, my advice is to go with a cat-back exhaust first, and then an ECU remap. If you pick the right exhaust, these two mods will get you an additional 10-15 HP at the wheels. Intakes are great for sound and throttle response, but won't get you any measurable HP (based on what I've read, anyway).

 

for non-power train mods, lighter rims and tires will help with performance. Less rotational mass, is the less the engine needs to work to accelerate.

Like stated above, there are a billion different opinions of what to do, it comes to personal preference.

Not much can be gained out of the N/A cooper motor without serious bank. I have intake and Milltek exhaust, but never really saw much gain, but like the sound. I will do GIAC chip eventually, but for now, it is just a play car. The biggest thing I focused on was suspension and brakes. Better cornering, better stopping, better overall grip were more important to me than raw power. If I can maintain my speed and control through the corner, I could get out of the corner more quickly. There for I have done upgraded rotors, ceramic high temp pads, rear sway bar, coilover suspension, strut tower brace bar, ultra high performance summer tires, and soon to install lower control arms for better alignment. I feel this has made the car "feel" faster as I can hold my speed through the twisties, on-ramps, and most importantly, through the corners at track days.

Turbo for this car is a huge debate. The transmission, half shafts, and clutch may not be able to handle that level of power. Then the overall compression of the engine is so high to begin with, once you add boost, there are debates to internal damage as well. If you run a turbo, run it at low boost, like 5-7psi max. If you are going to spend that type of money to re-do what you need to gain that power, find a trashed S, grab the engine and trans and ECU, get a FMIC, and drop it into your MCc. It would be the easiest thing to do, and it would be about the same level of cost. Forced induction changes to the N/A motor would be asking for trouble....changing the cams, head, intake, plumbing, blets, exhaust, trans, half shafts....ecu programming to match, etc, the price tag goes WAY up....and you can easily get a MCS motor for that much. IMHO.

Anyway, welcome, and good luck in your quest, search, and overall enjoyment of your whip.

edit...are are some pics of my engine that i just took this morning...not bad for a 2003 model




Jon

 

Ive learned that turbo is expensive to do on this car. I was told by fireballed that it would cost 10k or more to do a turbo on it. There is just so much work involved.

 

thanks for the responces guys. Great advice. I know that I need to do more reserch but it always seems to be less time consuming when i ask what I need to know. you guys rock a lot!!! thanks
Joe

 

You could always try one of these upgrade packages from Mini-Madness (http://www.mini-madness.com/index.as...S&Category=208).

I doubt some of their HP numbers, and when I emailed them asking for dyno info, I never heard back, but these are quite normal upgrades to the MC.