OK everyone, help me decide what to do to my car. I just sold my old beater and now have $1000 "play money" to mod my MINI. My '05 MCS is still 100% bone stock, except for the Aero Grille I just put on.

Things I've thought about doing:
Tint windows (about 95% sure I'll do this soon)
15% reduction pulley
Cold Air Intake
Wheels/Tires (really like the Kazera KZ-A's but that will use most/all of the money)
iPod adapter (have aux input right now)
Custom roof graphic

What other mods do you recommend? What do you think gives the most bang for the buck? What would you do? As you can see I'm torn between performance and aesthetic mods. A mix would be nice.

 

• Tint
• Pulley
• Rear Sway Bar

 

Best bang for the buck is driving school.

But if I had to go with some other choice, I would spend $150 on a Whalen Shift Machine shift **** and $850 on driving school.

Sway bar is the best bang for handling performance, but it will work best after that driving school. . . .

 

I say do those in that order, and get the bold one done at the same time; and best of all you'll still have some $$ left over for HPDE, suspension mods and when you have the extra cash for the tire/wheels you prefer.

 

The roof graphic is gonna run ya about 700 bucks. Thats most of the 1k, so I say do the pulley too.

 

HPDE??

Really? You'd spend that much on a new ****? It seems like such a "useless" mod. They look nice, yes, but... who cares what it looks like? I mean, when we're comparing it to other mods that can be had for about the same price. Just curious what I might be missing here.

 

Mine cost 15 dollars and has lasted 3 years in constant sun

 

High Performance Driver Education - aka Drivers School

 

I'm sure the whalen is a great mod. But if you are running on a regimented budget...there is no reason to sacrifice a useful mod for something that looks nice and might make shifting feel a little smoother. I would spend the 150 elsewhere

 

Well, the one thing I do ALL the time regardless of whether I am in a parking lot, driving in heavy city traffic, or ripping it up on the Dragon/Track is shift gears. The Whalen **** makes shifting easier and more precise and I enjoy it every single time I shift. Much of the pleasure I get from driving comes from the various sensory experiences, and the improved feel of shifting is definitely right up there. I can't say that my sway bar makes any real difference in every day driving until I take a hard turn, something that I don't do every day.The fact that it looks good too is a bonus.

Lots of people, including myself, have commented that it is insane to pay that much for a stupid shift **** that does nothing but look good. I believed the same thing until I drove a MINI with one and then immediately ordered mine.

 

3 best mods in my book you see the different immediately in your wallet and your car.

 

You make a good point. One is constantly shifting gears. The shift **** actually improves shifting? How so? I thought all ***** were created equal, except that maybe the sizes might vary a little.

Leaning towards tint and pulley. That would leave some money for something else. I think our local club is trying to organize a track day/driver education thingamajigger for later in the summer. I definitely want to do that. Hopefully I can pay for that from other funds .

 

I agree here but my priorities are in a different order:

1. Pulley (biggest bang for the buck)
2. Rear Sway Bar
3. Tint/Hold balance for non RF Tires.

 

Totally agree with yucca ,, go for the driving school mod then upgrade from there..

mikie

 

if it were my car,, I would do the pulley to give it some xtra power and I would do a Milltek/(whatever exhaust) to give it some power and the sound of a sports car......

sway bar and intake are next



way down my list is tinting and off the chart down my list is graphic.....even though some are very cool..just not for me...yet

 

Driving school #1

If you can't drive your current car to its maximum potential, whats the point of making it faster? You won't be able to use.

XM radio
Bluetooth

 

I don't want to hyjack this tread but a couple of replies take about driving school, anyone know of a good one in Southern California? Thanks!

 

Doesn't the sway bar change the handling of the MINI? So learning to drive without it and then adding it Why not add it and then the school

Earl

 

15% pulley, rear sway bar, ECU

 

pulley $400 shop installed
HAI $40 self installed
one-ball exhaust $75-175 shop
sway bar $200 self.

 

Dude,
get the pulley for sure. We put one on my car at 900 mi last week. It is like a new and better car. It revs and accelerates MUCH faster. Another must do: large diameter sway bar. Makes a big difference, too.

 

Pully
Intake (HAI)
Swaybar
Springs
Tint

In that order. Oh yea, and driving school!
-Cody

 

I see a lot of votes for pulleys and sway bars... hmmmmm. I also see a couple HAIs mentioned - I'm familiar with the CAI, what's the difference?

<Homer> Mmmmmmmm... puuulley.... </Homer>

I'm definitely going to do a driving school at some point this year. Just have to decide when/where and how much I want to spend on it. There seems to be a wide range of prices.

 

And a wide range of instruction, many have you drive your own car, a few provide vehicles, some spend a full day with a single instructor, some shuffle the instructors around and give you solo time to practice between instruction. A big thing is getting track time. I'd reccomend NASA HPDE Group 1 events. I have also heard great things about BMWCCA events. Another reason for cost differances is which track the event is at.

An HAI is a CAI without the sheild and is ethier direct to the throttle body or the intake hose. Cheaper b/c just the cost of the filter, with almost the same HP and mpg gains, my Alta CAI paid for it self in 3 1/2 months.

 

$150 shift **** sounds a bit extreme. My MC shifts pretty good with the big factory shift ****.

Could someone explain how an expensive shift **** makes a MINI shift better?