About to join the mini fold, a few questions please..

[bigsi]

Hello all, have been running a porsche for the last few years and now looking to change to a mini. Kids, economy and unemployment! Plus they are great fun to drive!! (but I guess you all know that)

A bit of advise please if I may...
- I have a budget of 10k, want a cooper s, will I get a well specified 2006/7 car or am I better off with a 2004/5 car? ideally I will spend 8k on the car and the balance on a few choice changes. I like the idea of buying an unmodified car and doing the changes myself (sorry have them done as I am usless with a spanner!).
- I like a vigorous drive but it will be a daily runner and dont want to ruin fuel consumption, can someone share with me the benefits of 16 or 17" wheels, chipping, and any other mods?.
- Are there any noticeable benefits of lighter (weight) wheels?
- Minispeed is local, are they good to deal with?

thanks in anticipation of some quality advice!

cheers
simon

[cannedheat]

bigsi said:

Hello all, have been running a porsche for the last few years and now looking to change to a mini. Kids, economy and unemployment! Plus they are great fun to drive!! (but I guess you all know that)

A bit of advise please if I may...
- I have a budget of 10k, want a cooper s, will I get a well specified 2006/7 car or am I better off with a 2004/5 car? ideally I will spend 8k on the car and the balance on a few choice changes. I like the idea of buying an unmodified car and doing the changes myself (sorry have them done as I am usless with a spanner!).
- I like a vigorous drive but it will be a daily runner and dont want to ruin fuel consumption, can someone share with me the benefits of 16 or 17" wheels, chipping, and any other mods?.
- Are there any noticeable benefits of lighter (weight) wheels?
- Minispeed is local, are they good to deal with?

thanks in anticipation of some quality advice!

cheers
simon

For £10k, you can get a very tidy, low mileage 05/06 first gen Cooper S with lots of good options.

The first gen Cooper S was facelifted for MY2005 onwards. The changes included more power (170 vs 163), teflon coated charger internals, projector xenons (with Chilli pack) and some changes to the bumpers.

My 05 Cooper S which I've had for 2 weeks is currently averaging 29mpg - that's a mix of dualed A road, town and B road. If you press on it'll drink!!! A steady 110 on the clock on mine indicates 19mpg!!

My Mini has 17" wheels but I've not driven one with anything smaller so cant comment. Mine has the 'sports +' suspension which was a non-cost option with the Chilli pack - combined with the run flats and big wheels, the ride is very very firm. It's very pattery over bumps and any small lumps/cats eyes/rumble strips crack through the car. It's liveable but certainly not a relaxed ride!

In terms of mods, from what I gather £500 will get you a new supercharger pulley/filter/plugs and a custom Bluefin map from someone like Lohen (www.lohen.co.uk) but fitting is extra. This'll give you 210bhp or so.

If you want to spend £2k on mods then the brakes would be a good start point as they're not 'that' good. Some better pads/fluid and braided hoses would help and would only cost £200 or so.

As for the engine, the most popular mod is a smaller S/C pulley to up the boost. Combined with a new intercooler, air filter and manifold with sports cat, you'll be making good power (220+) and the car will be breathing much better at the top end where it can feel a bit strangled.


I hope that's of some help to you. Bear in mind however that I've only had mine for two weeks so I'm certainly not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Mini's...

[Hartge210]

Agree with cannedheat.

Have a browse on www.mini2.com, a good friendly forum with loads of info for existing & potential owners. Some good tuners post on the forum as well;)

Good luck with your search

Cheers
John

[Shropshiremike]

bigsi said:

Hello all, have been running a porsche for the last few years and now looking to change to a mini. Kids, economy and unemployment! Plus they are great fun to drive!! (but I guess you all know that)

A bit of advise please if I may...
can someone share with me the benefits of 16 or 17" wheels, chipping, and any other mods?.
-cheers
simon

The ride is noticeably better on 16s over 17s ....so much so we ordered ours on 16s as the roads are quite poor round here. Alternatively if you want the bigger wheels try some conventional tyres rather than runflats, supposed to help the ride AND handling. You'll need a can of tyre foam if you ditch the stiff-walled runflats though

[cannedheat]

Shropshiremike said:

bigsi said:

Hello all, have been running a porsche for the last few years and now looking to change to a mini. Kids, economy and unemployment! Plus they are great fun to drive!! (but I guess you all know that)

A bit of advise please if I may...
can someone share with me the benefits of 16 or 17" wheels, chipping, and any other mods?.
-cheers
simon

The ride is noticeably better on 16s over 17s ....so much so we ordered ours on 16s as the roads are quite poor round here. Alternatively if you want the bigger wheels try some conventional tyres rather than runflats, supposed to help the ride AND handling. You'll need a can of tyre foam if you ditch the stiff-walled runflats though

I think I'll end up ditching the run-flats on mine when they're fubar. It had new boots on it just before I bought it so they won't need replacing for a while.

[beeej]

For £6k you can have my 2003 Cooper S with GTT220 conversion and Milltek exhaust! It hasn't failed me once in five years and you can plug your ipod in and go

[DanGT]

Lighter wheels are ment to help handling. Racing this is worth it but in the real world you will see very littal diffrance. The mini is better on 16" wheels than 17" or bigger, they do look better on 17" but it depends on what you want out of the car. Any BMW/Cooper mods/extras add more value than the others but they do charge a lot for them. There are a lot of option read the revews and make you own mind up. I havent had any problems with mini speed but only get bits for my old mini not the new one. Have Fun!

[bigsi]

Thanks all, will let you know what happens...drifting towards a jcw at the moment!

[Tim Mosley]

If you are spending 10k, That would easily get you a nice 05/55 JCW with lowish miles.

I'd rather a slightly older JCW that a newer (2006) Cooper-S.

The difference is unreal and the JCW feels much more alive.

IV had MINI's for 2 years, Any questions or need any help let me know, More than happy.

[nottyash]

Tim Mosley said:

If you are spending 10k, That would easily get you a nice 05/55 JCW with lowish miles.

I'd rather a slightly older JCW that a newer (2006) Cooper-S.

The difference is unreal and the JCW feels much more alive.

IV had MINI's for 2 years, Any questions or need any help let me know, More than happy.

Agreed,
And try to get one with a LSD, they dont all have them.