Hello All! Around thanksgiving, I got the itch for a second car. I was racking up the miles on my chipped Passat 1.8t and I wanted to save it a little bit. I came close to buying a Mazda3 or Miata but had my eye on a Cooper. I was getting a little discouraged since I live in the SF Bay Area where new Coopers are scarce and used Coopers go for more than new ones.

Well patience and Craigslist came to the rescue as I found a used Cooper just a few miles from my house. It had 35k miles for $15k. More important, it was close to flawless. Red wasn't my first choice then but it is now. I didn't buy a Cooper S since I had visions of this being my commuter car.


On the first drive, it was obvious that this was a special car. Steering was precise with great feedback. The 2006 Miata had great steering as well but was actually a bit too sensitive. The Cooper had the most balanced steering I ever tried. Handling too was amazing. I've spent $2k getting my Passat to handle well but the Cooper beats it, bone-stock with cheap skinny tires. The car seems most at home in corners. It sits on them, plants the power and goes around well. I didn't expect much from the Cooper engine but from the git-go, I've been very, very impressed. The numbers are not much but the car has a lot of go-go. And now with a couple upgrades, it's got some grunt.

And then come the mods. I've had the car less than a month and I've done 20 little things to it. Thank you to NAM and to the cold California winter nights. I just think there's nothing better than getting a good deal on a car and customizing it to one's preferences.

My best upgrades so far:

K&N Cold Air Intake. Power seems to come on a little earlier now with less hesitation. But the real magic is the sound. Oh my, I never realized the engine snarl can be brought out by the intake. $135 at Ebay and it's worth every penny. Another great upgrade was $40 for Sylvania Silverstar headlamps. The original lamps were yellow and scattered. They Silverstars are much brighter with a better beam pattern. Next is the Wheelskins steering wheel cover for $30. The factory steering wheel looked plasticky and was slippery thus not a good match for the car's heavy steering. I took a big chance with this wheel cover since there's a big unsupported flap due to the steering wheel's design. It worked out perfect though as I Shoe Goo'd the flap in place. Red is cool. Yeah


Next MVP mods are the 5-star 16-inch wheels with Kumho SPT tires and painted calipers. Used mini wheels are cheap. Tires are not. I had to exercise a lot of will power to stop myself from getting those pretty S-lite wheels. Heavy wheels and tires are bad for performance, so I've learned. My new wheels are heavier than my 15s but they are way prettier and handle better. They're comfortable and quiet too. While I had the painting bug, I painted my lower grill black and the screw caps on my front plate red. My new Isotta shifter is way cool. It's no Whalen but it was only $20 new at Ebay!


And now that my confidence was building, I went on to harder stuff. I installed a factory Ipod adapter. Nice integration! In my old car, I got so sick futzing with the Ipod while I drive. I always forget to turn it off too when I leave the car. My most daring work so far was installing factory racks. I drilled 8 holes on my roof and lived to tell about it. This rack is pretty and it is solid. It will serve me well during the biking season. Finally, the Borla exhaust is on. I was going to DIY it but then I heard my biking friend owns a muffler shop. I ain't no fool. I had a beer as he installed. Look ma, no spare tire. Saved 32 lbs!!


And so there it is. My love affair with the Mini has begun. Thanks to NAM as your posts here have been invaluable. This post is my little thank you for all your feedback. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. M7 springs and Mintex pads are next in line. I'll post a couple videos I took today.


regards,
francois

 

Sunny day in Norcal! Here's a few shots and videos. Sounds are from a Cooper with K&N CAI and Borla exhaust. Driver is my bud Derek.


http://mtbr.com/author/photos/cooper/mvi_5742.avi

http://mtbr.com/author/photos/cooper/mvi_5747.avi

 

Nice job! Sounds like fun - better slow down though or you'll run out of things to mod by summer

 

francios, glad you're having fun w/ your Cooper. Given the respectable fuel economy and (overall) rock-solid build, it's amazing anybody would want to commute in something less. Transforming a daily commute into a something you actually look forward to is quite a feat....and MINIs do it w/ ease. And if that weren't enough, I'm still amazed at the way MINIs handle people and cargo in almost any configuration my lifestyle can muster.

 

You're right. I can't keep this up. And neither can my wallet!!

In the summer though I have these 4 babies in the background that keep me very busy.


francois

 

You're so right. For the price I got this for, I couldn't have gotten much else. The only car that offered good value was the Scion Xb at $15k. Thank god, my wife roadblocked that purchase cause she thought I looked like a gangster in it!

The versatility of this car continues to surprise me. And the best bonus is the collective knowledge and content out there about Mini upgrades on sites like this.

francois

 

Maybe it's just my slow dial-up modem, but it never goes past, "connecting". I have a CR/W 03 MC just like yours and wanted to hear the Borla exhaust. Any suggestions besides getting a faster web connection?

 

Worked fine for me....sounded very cool! As admittedly sweet as the SC whine sounds, Cooper's have a unique grunt all their own....and I like it.

 

Your MINI looks great. I second the great car for comuting. I went from a F350 4dr 4wd duelly to my MINI because I started working farther from home.I got it for gas milage and it looked cool. I got more than I bargained for. I fell in love.

 

Try and right click the mouse and select 'save link as'. That might work if you're browser is having a problem streaming the video.

We did two runs, the first was a video run and the next was a photo run. This video run was taken at second gear, about 4500 rpm. I wish we captured the photo run. It was at first gear, 6200 rpm. The sound scared me!

francois

 

Yep, I commute a long way too, 30 miles each way on highway 280. But there is a long way home... 40 miles on the twisty mountain roads of Skyline blvd aka H 35). Let's just say, I'll be taking the long way home a few times this year.

One cool thing about having two cars is I can keep this Mini clean!! No rain for now.

francois