Hey all,

Just picked up my first Mini yesterday, and I couldn't be happier. It's astro black and completely stock. Was owned by a teacher who bought it new and babied it. It's in great shape. Not flawless, but really good. Can't wait to get insurance on her and get to motoring! Thinking about trying the one-ball mod come spring. I'm pretty handy with a welder. I took the long way back to Bellingham (WA) and went down Chuckanut drive, (some of you may be familiar)


just getting a feel for the car. I can already tell this a car that will have me seeking out any twisty road I can find. Absolutely the most fun I've had that wasn't on two wheels. Amazing car. Super happy new owner. I'm excited to hang on the forum and pick up some wisdom from y'all.

 

Welcome! WA roads are made for MINIs. 😁

Stevens Pass is boring on an R53. Too tame. Yakima canyon road is, still one of my favorites.

Holler if you're ever down in Tacoma.

Oh, and you're gonna want to do something about that "all stock" issue you have. 😜

 

Nice Mini. Like the black/silver. The one-ball mod won't do much for performance but it will eliminate weight and subtly change your exhaust tone to the better. Sounds like no mods have been done so your first should be a 15% supercharger pulley (for the street) or a 17% if you're intending to track the car "occasionally." Then touch base with "adriancl" on this forum. Adrian is a remote tuner who is very reasonably priced and does excellent work. Quite a few forum members have used him (including me) and you won't believe the positive difference (+18-20hp) a new pulley and tune makes. For the money this will be your best mod. Have fun!

 

Welcome to the world of Mini. Nice ride. Yes I agree that the Super charger pulley upgrade should be the first. It provides the most bang for the buck for performance. For the overall ride I would say Koni's FSD dampers, it made a noticeable impact on the my 2004 MSC ride. There in one upgrade that doesn't do squat on the "Actual" performance gains but believe me it will "appear" that you gained 10HP and that is a device called the Sprint Booster. Since our cars are "drive by wire" throttles this device will remap you throttle response so it will "feel" that you gained 10 HP when step on the throttle. You will be sinking your good hard earned cash on your car but it is all "FUN" money.

 

Agreed, if an R53 is heading towards 'high' miles (I did mine at 88k) the Koni FSD's or the Special Actives are a great upgrade - but if you bought this one with 30k on it, I wouldn't bother, at least not yet.

EDIT: I note he's heading towards 125k . . so if its on its original suspension, get some Koni's on there!

 

Awesome, enjoy your MCS!

Also, dont start modding, the tuning fever will not go away

 

Old thread, but I thought I'd give you all an update-thank you to everyone for the input! I just finished putting in new axles from the Driveshaft Shop and a new oil filter housing (that was fun). Had the oil return valve plunger thingie break and pop out on me. Got the Way Motor Works sway bar with greasable bushings, I have a new aluminum coolant tank to install, new low speed fan resistor, Way's dead pedal, DDM Works intake with UNI filter, JCW spark plugs, found that it had a 15% Alta pulley on it, new floor mats, rear seat delete with custom carpet (dogs), working on getting my center rear (bumper) light to work as a reverse light with and LED bulb for those dark nights, Milltek non-resonated cat back. In the mail: fresh transmission oil, Koni FSD's with new bump stops and front boots, IE fixed camber plates, Way's tower plate/strut brace combo. Next on the list: fresh Pilot Sports, 380cc injectors, BBK of some kind, probably a remote tune. Somebody grazed her in a parking lot, so I'm getting a little light body work done too. Its been a busy year, but I've learned a lot about the car and I am looking forward to many years of happy motoring!

 

Wow! You've been busy! Excellent mods.

Pictures of your rear seat delete? Always interested in how others have done it.

I did the Wildwood BBK on the fronts. Way talked me out of doing the rears--if you want to do it as an appearance mod, go for it, but you don't need it.

Budget suggestion (if that is a concern): I love Michelins, but found that Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s are a great tire at a much lower price (and I have despised firestone tires for most of my 56 years). I haven't tracked my car, but I haven't found, the limits of the Firestone on the street after having them on my car for about 2 years now.

Pics are always welcomed on these threads.

 

Thanks, man. I'll put some pictures of the rear cargo area up soon. Yeah, I kind of figured Willwoods would be overkill/wasted money out back. Just not enough weight back there to use them. Thanks for the tip on the tires, but I don't think I can overcome my anti-Firestone bias enough to save the money. Probably silly, but I'm sticking with what has stuck for me. I read through your mod list, and it looks like we have similar taste in parts. What did you think of the X brace? I am curious, but I reckon it would have to make a pretty good difference in feel to warrant adding that weight, even down low. Also, which of the three holes did you end up using on the sway bar? I got the same one, on the middle hole, and it feels pretty neutral on my favorite on ramp skid pad. Tires make a big difference too, so I am waiting until I get new ones to do alignment and adjust the sway bar.

 

I completely understand about the anti-Firestone bias--have had it for close to 50 years (6 year olds shouldn't have a tire-brand bias, but I did). I ended up running them because at the time my budget wouldn't support Michelins. I was looking at Conti's as a lower-price comparable, and when on Tire Rack the FIrestones kept popping up in the reviews. My local store has a bunch of tuner-types working there who autocrossed on the Firehawks, and they gave me an unbelievable deal with a full money-back guarantee on a day when I had to buy tires and didn't have time to order what I really wanted.

Detailed thoughts on the X-brace here: Suspension Strut tower brace and x brace-one guy's opinion - North American Motoring Interesting thread... read comments at your own risk. I added the cabrio braces much later...not sure what impact they would have without the other chassis-stiffening mods; their incremental value as the last mod was not really noticeable from the driver's seat. That said, my chassis is stiff as can be, which is my preference. I set my cars up to let the suspension do the damping, and everything else to be a solid mounting point for the suspension. It doesn't ride like an Oldsmobile.

I run my sway bar on the middle setting. With good (IMHO) tires on some of MY favorite ramp skid pad, I feel pretty balanced, with what might be just a tinge of oversteer at the ragged edge. I drive at 10/10 so infrequently that I haven't felt the need to adjust it to see if I'd prefer a different setting (less stiff would be my guess); for 9/10 or less it's pretty much perfect for me.

 

Wow, it was a busy year. Congratulations. Would love to see photos of the rear seat delete. I've thought about doing it (well in the future) and am interested in different approaches people take.

 

Beautiful countryside for motoring. We made a major road trip that took us up 1 to the sound then down to Walla Walla by the roads least traveled then on East towards home. One stop we made was Tacoma to visit Griot's Garage and have lunch at Dirty Oscars. If you're in the market for top line detailing goods, Griot's is the place. Been using their stuff for near 15 years with no worries.

 

It's nice to live a 10 minute drive from Griots.

 

Looking at your first photo in the wet parking lot reminded me of the day I bought my mini. It's a good memory.
Your starting point and upgrades are very similar to path I've taken, with the help of this forum.
* Side note: I went to college at WWU and used to ride my motorcycle on Chuckanut drive....I'm stoked to still be alive.
Good stuff.

 

I also went to college at WWU, rode motorcycles all over but many times on Chuckanut, and I am also very grateful to still be here! The mini is every bit as fun as a bike in the twisties (minus the blinding acceleration on the straights) but a lot safer.