Welp, we here at TSW have just completed a complete trans-formation on the Cooper test mule. Get it? Trans-formation?

Sorry for the bad pun, but we spent the weekend swapping a late model Getrag 6-speed into the Cooper (7/04 on with the lower gear ratios). Bye bye went the crappy Midlands gearbox! The process was fairly straightforward, but we did hit a few snags here and there that were easily solved. We ended up with more parts in hand than we needed, BUT better safe than sorry! It's probably pretty safe to say that we're one of the extreme few R50 owners in the US with a Getrag 6-speed - and, I'm sure there will be some confused looks at events when people see a 6-speed shift pattern on the shifter!

We retained the original location for the battery box, and the aFe intake still nestled right into it's home, too. In essence, it's a bolt-up install assuming you have the right parts, some patience, and the tim.

The process began about 2:00 PM on Friday (teardown and tranny removal) and we finished the install about Midnight on Saturday - maiden voyage was about 12:30 AM on Sunday morning, which was followed by a victory beer and stog! We were so jazzed that we stayed up until 3 AM chatting and drinking Shiner.

Car drives really, really well. Gearing seems to be a fine match for the Cooper, too, which is good. 1st is quite spunky and 2nd's got some long, long legs. It feels a bit flatter from 2500-3500 RPM than I remember, but otherwise, it's goodness. Who'd have thought ~72 mph in 2nd gear at the bumped redline?

A couple of other things - the Quaife is simply awesome. Cornering is immeasurably better when you're putting all the power down. The Exedy Hyper Single clutch is quite firm, but has great breakover and releases right where I want it to... Doesn't chatter or make any noise, either. The engine doesn't rev quite as freely as it did with the Cooper flywheel/clutch/pressure plate, but that setup was also considerably lighter than the Exedy. Still, I'd take the Exedy ANYDAY over the Spec Stage III. All new shift cables make the shifter VERY tight with ZERO slop!

I didn't do any weight comparisons, but I'll definitely be re-cornerweighting the car. With the fuel level the same, I can compare against my original baseline total weight... My guess? ~30-40 pounds of extra heft.

Look for a detailed article soon, parts list and lots of pics, including pics of the grenaded Midlands' internals (1st gear and the mesh gear were WASTED, as expected)... This job is quite repeatable for all the other Cooper owners out there that want to upgrade their tranny to something reliable - especially those Cooper owners who track and autocross.