Hey everyone... Im an owner of a beautiful 04, BRG Cooper but I need your help. I'm looking for another Cooper, however this one I want to track (just sold the Ferrari, so I'm itching to get back on the track). I love the feeling of the Cooper (it's go-kart feel) and need some advice on what mods to make before tracking. Should I order with the John Cooper works package or do performance mods afterwards. The upgraded brakes and LSD look like a good value, but I'm too new to know if they are "gimmicky".

What should I absolutely do away with and what features do I absolutely need. Is buying a stock Cooper S with no mods the way to go??? Sport package??? John Cooper works??? I really need your help.

Thanks in advance!

 

1) The LSD is a good value.
2) The Sport package comes with some heavy 17" rims which are bad for tracking.
3) The decision of the JCW package is yours. If you care about your warranty and you have cash to put out, do it. If you don't care about your warranty, hp / $, you'll be better off in the aftermarket.
4) I've always heard the brakes on the JCW are poor,but that's just hearsay. If you order the JCW package from factory though, I think you get the brakes also.

Since you just sold a Ferrari, I say twincharge, Bilstein PSS9s, Stoptech brakes, etc. with all that money you have. If you blow an engine, who cares, buy another one. Plus twincharging is safe, safe, safe so you probably won't need to buy another engine. After your done with all this, the MINI's value will drop dramatically to sub $20k. Give me a call when you want to sell it.

 

If you want something you can tinker with and create into the exact car you want while watching and experiencing its evolution, buy a bone stock MCS, take it to the track a few times, then determine what needs improvement. (Oh yea, get the LSD and the 16in. stock rims).

If you want a solid track performer out of the box, then get the JCW with the LSD. This is not to say the stock MCS is not a great track performer out of the box, it is to say that the JCW is better.

People's experience on this site has been that they can achieve equal to greater performance than the JCW at half to a little more than half the price. Some people say the JCW is "crap", but we all know that is just childish rubbish.

If you're a serious track guy/girl, it seems to me that you'd be modding on top of the JCW anyway, so why not just start from scratch and do it the way you want. PLUS the bone stock MCS may just surprise you

Heads up - this thread will probably me moved to "performance mods - drivetrain".

mb

 

Don't buy a brand new Mini for tracking.
To do it right for a track car you need to buy the cheapest S you can find. No reason to get a brand new one at all as there are some great low mileage 05 and 06 cars out there. Try and find one without sunroof or nav as those are the hardest things to deal with when stripping out the car if you ever go that far.
Nothing JCW offers is really a good choice for the track so there is no reason to spend that money.

Are you going to race this car or just do DEs? Are you making it a single purpose track car or will it be driven on the street? You should answer these questions the best you can before you put any aftermarket parts in the car. Most race classes for the Mini don't allow a whole lot of modding.

 

WHERE'S the engine??????