The other night I went through the process of buying my first Mini Cooper Clubman and so far, I'm pretty excited about owning a Mini. There are a few things I'm interested in getting for my Mini:
- catback exhaust system
- silver trim wrapped black
- performance chip
- K&N filter
- upgrading to a 16" with with summer performance tires.

I'm open to suggestions to trusted shops (Orange County CA) and performance parts options.

 

Very nice good luck

 

Welcome to the club-man!

 

What you did there... I sees it.

But welcome! Liking the color combo!

 

Buy the extended warranty ..100,000 miles...

 

 

I did. Oddly enough, I'm having to go back to the dealership today so they can look at a low speed transmission stuttering issue and excessive noise in the aux port channel.

 

Anyone know of a good performance chip for the non "S" mini's?

 

Congratulations on the purchase! I'm unsure if you'll find any "performance" chips, especially for a non-s. You could get a local tuner to alter shift points, air/fuel ratio, etc. but I'm not sure how much more you can technically squeeze out of the non-s. I've seen ONE manufacturer that does the non-s exhaust but most local exhaust shops can fabricate one for you. Alternatively, you can get someone's stock S exhaust and do a dual tip swap ;p Albeit, you have to modify the rear bumper to accept dual tips.(I'm not sure what issues such as loss of backpressure this might cause but I don't think it'll be a huge issue with the non-s anyways)

 

Rear sway bar!

 

yelling things!!!

 

My stealer told me that most upgrades are not all that effective on non 'S' cars. better money spent on suspension and brakes, if you must. Brake later - corner harder - come out faster. Looks and feels faster than it is.

 

He is correct. Spend the money on the handling 1st, like rear sway bar, front sway bar pushing, or coilovers or shocks and springs. Then brakes just my opinion.

 

Welcome, Clubman is so useful, I love mine.

If you need help with mods let us know. I would suggest a DDMworks Intake first, and a Sway Bar.

 

Start with suspension and tires. Seriously. Your car is designed for agility over raw speed. You'll get most noticeable results there, especially if it doesn't have the sport suspension option from the factory.

Enjoy your new Mini!

 

Great looking MINI. Congrats. Consider getting R112s in silver, they look so good on Clubbies. I know they are 17"s but they still ride really comfortably. Great suggestions above on handling upgrades. If you want simple mods get the K&N filter replacement for the stock air box, torque arm bushing, short shifter, and H&R springs.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions about the Clubman. I agree with you guys about focusing on handling over raw speed. If anything, I'd rather go around corners faster than straight line speed. The WMW suspension package seems to be a great way to go but it doesn't say how much it lowers the car.

Also, I'm debating staying with the 15" rims but going with a summer performance tire. Is it worth upgrading to a 16" or 17" tire? I looked into 16's so I could run a Falken RT-615k tire.