i have a great deal on hand on a universal T-70 turbo and a uni intercooler for my Mini, now the question is, is it going to void my warranty? and is it a good mod to even bother? please give me your opinion.

 

That will likely void your warranty right out the window.

 

What year and what type of MINI?

 

06 mini cooper non-S, auto

what can i look for 1st, any ideas?

 

Dealers can only deny warranty coverage when the aftermarket part affected the part to be repaired/replaced. . . so, if your rear suspension fails for example, the turbo won't invalidate coverage of that -- However, I cannot imagine that any dealer will honor a warranty on any engine component if you add a turbo to the car.
And then there's the grey area, which will depend on each dealer -- can they refuse warranty coverage on your transmission because your mods have greatly increase the torque load on it?

 

I wouldn't recommend it. The automatic transmission (a ZF manufactured CVT) in the '06 and earlier Coopers simply wasn't designed to put up with too much more torque and horsepower than what it already has to deal with. And if you blow the transmission up, it's about a $8,000 repair job for parts and labor. Even if you did the work yourself and bought a rebuilt transmission, you're still looking at a good couple thousand plus in parts alone.

Having said that though, I remember that there was an outfit in California I think that did end up bolting on a turbo onto a Cooper with a CVT, and supposedly ran it without any issues. That was a while ago though, you'd have to do some searching for the info.


-Paul!

 

kool thanks guys