Does anybody have any mods that they couldn't live without?? Performance or other mods? I'm just looking for mods to put on my bone stock '05 and am in a blurr as to what to do first.

Thanks in Advance!!
Mikey AKA ChiliCooperS

 

All I've got to say is this: http://www.whalenshiftmachine.com/home.htm

 

Thanks Rick, I might custom design one I think this would be neat as heck!!

Anybody have other ideas???

 

lowering springs and rear swaybar.

 

Smaller supercharger pulley and computer upgrade is the best bang for the buck. I think it brings the Cooper S's power up to what it should be from the factory in the first place. It give the car the extra power it deserves.

 

I would wait at least a few months before doing anything to your baby. I know when I got mine I was going crazy trying to figure out what to do to her. Thank god I am not made of money cause I would have done a lot in that first month that I might regret now.
You really don't lose anything by leaving her stock for a time.
Just my two cents

 

this sounds really stupid but... what does a rear swaybar do?? If I got a JCW Kit and put a smaller pulley on it would that screw up the computer settings??

Thanks Again Guys!

 

Agree! Drive it a bit first, and participate in NAM for a while. It will improve your perspective and the experiences other have gained here will benefit you and help you get the most out of your new MINI.................mgg

 

Chili... welcome and congrats!

First off... enjoy your ride!

Second... go with what makes you feel good. I had the engine lifted out within 1 week of picking her up for the pulley work (of course break-in was mandatory in my 05).

I think for performance you have 2 things that are the most cost effective. Intake and Pulley. The intake is a very easy do it yourself. Call Randy at Webb and order the intake and then follow his instructions and you will have it in in 45 minutes! You may pay $5 more tobuy from him but the service and advice is priceless!

Next do the pulley... that one you should get done by a pro...(unless you are one).

After that? Go for XM sat. radio! I can't live without it! That one is a 15 minute install thanks to blitzsafe and XM direct for about $230.

Keep us posted on what you do to your chilired!

Chris

 

best bang for buck: 15% pulley and a rear sway bar. Installed you should still be under $750

 

Rear swaybar is a suspension part that comes with your MC or MCS stock.
The bar is slightly thicker and stiffer in the MCS although the MC can be ordered with Sport Suspension plus to upgrade the bar to that of an MCS.

The bar itself helps to reduce understeer which is a common steering characteristic of front wheel drive cars like the MINI. Adding a stiffer rear swaybar helps to make handling feel more neutral- neither a tendency for oversteer (common in rear drive cars) or understeer. You point your car where you want it to go and you get there without the front or back end doing something else.

Rear sway bars that are stock come with only one hole at the end of the bar while aftermarket swaybars have two or mostly three holes. The hole farthest at the end of the bar is for the softest setting and allows the bar to be flexible compared to the hole closest to the bend in the swaybar which is the stiffest setting. On the street the soft or middle setting usually works well while on the track the stiffest setting is commonly used but it will depend on the driver whether this works best.

The front end also has a swaybar that can be changed but it is sufficiently thick and stiff that most owners just leave it alone. Increasing the stiffness in the front swaybar will increase understeer which is not what most of us want to accomplish.

A JCW kit includes an upgraded supercharger with a smaller pulley on it so an additional reduction pulley is not needed in most cases. The kit includes ECU software for the upgrades of the kit. If you got the kit and changed the pulley from the JCW pulley to a 19% pulley the JCW kit software would not be optimized for the 19% pulley. You would be voiding your supercharger warranty from the JCW kit in the process.