R53 Cooper S to tinker with ...
Discussion
So in April i had to grow up & buy a flat, so sold my GP1: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... then in August my gf's brother moved to Dubai and needed rid of the MCS that he had loved & tinkered with for 7 years ... silly offer was accepted and i owned a 2nd car again
Spec was fairly long when i purchased it, but exterior/looks were not quite to my taste:
First to go was the silver patina dash/chrome trims/pre-facelift doorcards, to be replaced with the anthracite dash/trim from the mini one, some facelifted door cards & the later 3 spoke JCW steering wheel:
Then my attention was turned to the outside, where i fitted the facelifted front xenons/rear lights to freshen it up a little bit outside, & got the Turinis from my GP out the shed:
Also fitted an OMP upper strut brace to go with the lower one already fitted:
Spec is now fairly extensive with (amongst other things) a Newman Cam, 450 injectors, 15% Pulley, Dave.F airbox, GRS 'Motorsport' intercooler, Milltek cat-back, 1320 "Mynes" Tune. R56S front brake Calipers, Nitrac 294mm 12 groove discs, MintexM1144's, GoodridgeSS hoses, Castrol Response Super Dot 4 fluid. MeisterR Coilovers, V-Maxx F.droplinks, OMP upper/lower brace, rear bench brace, Powerflex wishbone bushes. 17" Turinis with Continentals, Black beltline kit, aero front grills, stubby aerial. Scanguage 2, CG Lock and all the other bits & bobs above.
Compared to my M135i it feels pretty slow low down (even with 230+ bhp lol), but once its wound up it goes like stink, also grips to the road like glue!!! Brilliant little 2nd car for me to tinker about with/do track days in. Ill keep the thread updated with any little changes i make - might be helpful for any other mini owners on the site
Spec was fairly long when i purchased it, but exterior/looks were not quite to my taste:
First to go was the silver patina dash/chrome trims/pre-facelift doorcards, to be replaced with the anthracite dash/trim from the mini one, some facelifted door cards & the later 3 spoke JCW steering wheel:
Then my attention was turned to the outside, where i fitted the facelifted front xenons/rear lights to freshen it up a little bit outside, & got the Turinis from my GP out the shed:
Also fitted an OMP upper strut brace to go with the lower one already fitted:
Spec is now fairly extensive with (amongst other things) a Newman Cam, 450 injectors, 15% Pulley, Dave.F airbox, GRS 'Motorsport' intercooler, Milltek cat-back, 1320 "Mynes" Tune. R56S front brake Calipers, Nitrac 294mm 12 groove discs, MintexM1144's, GoodridgeSS hoses, Castrol Response Super Dot 4 fluid. MeisterR Coilovers, V-Maxx F.droplinks, OMP upper/lower brace, rear bench brace, Powerflex wishbone bushes. 17" Turinis with Continentals, Black beltline kit, aero front grills, stubby aerial. Scanguage 2, CG Lock and all the other bits & bobs above.
Compared to my M135i it feels pretty slow low down (even with 230+ bhp lol), but once its wound up it goes like stink, also grips to the road like glue!!! Brilliant little 2nd car for me to tinker about with/do track days in. Ill keep the thread updated with any little changes i make - might be helpful for any other mini owners on the site
Thinking about getting one of these at the moment after ruling out a long list of quicker and subsequently more expensive metal.
I'm wondering how it compares in terms of overall experience and involvement compared to the M135i. I recently got shot of one because I couldn't stand the steering or handling (non adaptive) at speed on any less than perfect B road.
I'm wondering how it compares in terms of overall experience and involvement compared to the M135i. I recently got shot of one because I couldn't stand the steering or handling (non adaptive) at speed on any less than perfect B road.
Edited by nunpuncher on Thursday 2nd October 07:32
nunpuncher said:
Thinking about getting one of these at the moment after ruling out a long list of quicker and subsequently more expensive metal.
I'm wondering how it compares in terms of overall experience and involvement compared to the M135i. I recently got shot of one because I couldn't stand the steering or handling (non adaptive) at speed on any less than perfect B road.
Its ALOT more fun i guess, & the 135i wouldnt know which way it went down a B road, but as a daily, i couldnt be bothered with the rattles, hard ride or lack of comfort compared to the BMW. Im surprised at your reasons for selling the 135i though, yes, its a little floaty, but certainly dont have any issues with the steering (ok its a bit light/lacking feel) or handling at road speeds. Its not an M car though, so i wouldnt expect it to be any better than say my old 330is.I'm wondering how it compares in terms of overall experience and involvement compared to the M135i. I recently got shot of one because I couldn't stand the steering or handling (non adaptive) at speed on any less than perfect B road.
Sir_Dave said:
Its ALOT more fun i guess, & the 135i wouldnt know which way it went down a B road, but as a daily, i couldnt be bothered with the rattles, hard ride or lack of comfort compared to the BMW. Im surprised at your reasons for selling the 135i though, yes, its a little floaty, but certainly dont have any issues with the steering (ok its a bit light/lacking feel) or handling at road speeds. Its not an M car though, so i wouldnt expect it to be any better than say my old 330is.
Those weren't my reasons for selling. I got rid of it because I didn't need a car day to day anymore and I really resented paying so much for a car to sit on the drive most of the time. They are good but not really my idea of a fun car. I did 20k miles in mine before splitting and i guess it's like marrying that perfect women then discovering several years later that those tiny little flaws are grounds for divorce.Tiger Tim said:
I just can't believe you still have that Pioneer Dolphin head unit. It must have been in about 20 cars now..
Ha ha, you wont believe me, but its actually a different unit, although very similar!!The Dolphin one will naturally be going in shorty however ...
So. Update time.
Went to Goodwood for Hot Hatch Sunday, had a nice drive down there, but definitely missed the diff from the GP ...
Then went to 1320 on Monday 13th for some work to be done.
Strut tops were enlarged to allow easier camber adjustment. Angle grinder FTW!!
From:
To:
Then Whiteline rear ARB fitted:
Unfortunately, on the way home, the brakes failed - not 1320's fault i might add!!
The culprit underneath the fuel tank:
Which meant a trip to Minispeed in West Byfleet for a new brake pipe & hose.
They also fitted a new handbrake cable & the rear Hardace camber arms that i bought a couple of month back:
Before "alignment" - dunno how people drive with it like this lol:
Note the toe on the passenger rear wheel. They didnt sort this in the "alignment" as they couldnt get their equipment on apparently (not sure how they did the camber then ffs), so im going to sort it out myself over the weekend, the rear camber looks more positive than -1.5 as well, so need to check that with my camber gauge ...
Sir_Dave said:
Tiger Tim said:
I just can't believe you still have that Pioneer Dolphin head unit. It must have been in about 20 cars now..
Ha ha, you wont believe me, but its actually a different unit, although very similar!!The Dolphin one will naturally be going in shorty however ...
So. Update time.
Went to Goodwood for Hot Hatch Sunday, had a nice drive down there, but definitely missed the diff from the GP ...
Then went to 1320 on Monday 13th for some work to be done.
Strut tops were enlarged to allow easier camber adjustment. Angle grinder FTW!!
Driving round the nham in your 106 with NERD playing before hitting up KFC for a greasy bucket. Mate that was about a decade ago now. That little head unit has seen a lot in its life.
From:
To:
Then Whiteline rear ARB fitted:
Unfortunately, on the way home, the brakes failed - not 1320's fault i might add!!
The culprit underneath the fuel tank:
Which meant a trip to Minispeed in West Byfleet for a new brake pipe & hose.
They also fitted a new handbrake cable & the rear Hardace camber arms that i bought a couple of month back:
Before "alignment" - dunno how people drive with it like this lol:
Note the toe on the passenger rear wheel. They didnt sort this in the "alignment" as they couldnt get their equipment on apparently (not sure how they did the camber then ffs), so im going to sort it out myself over the weekend, the rear camber looks more positive than -1.5 as well, so need to check that with my camber gauge ...
CMYKguru said:
Thats looks great
Only thing is the black sill, arch and bumper black bits are starting to look grey , could be the photos
Autoglym Bumper and Trim restorer gel is great at about £6.
Turns it back to black and the water beads off it
It isn't permanent though. After a few washes/ driving in the rain for some time they dull again. It is good though and makes my trim look like new.Only thing is the black sill, arch and bumper black bits are starting to look grey , could be the photos
Autoglym Bumper and Trim restorer gel is great at about £6.
Turns it back to black and the water beads off it
Loui said:
You should get yourself on track mini Dave
Ah, might do that!! So, this weekend we dicovered why the rear toe was off so much ... essentially Minispeed hadnt fitted the wheel properly, so the spigot wasnt seated correctly, but they'd gunned it on anyways, albeit only finger tight. So when the wheel turned, it wobbled from side to side, changing the camber/toe with each revolution. Really not happy, could have fallen off & killed me FFS!!
The metal ring that holds the spigot on, & how it was seated:
Damage to my wheel:
The wobble:
With this in mind, we then got the camber gauges out to check the front/rear camber that id asked them to set everything to: -2.5 front/-1.5 rear. Result (it looked off by eye in all seriousness):
[I]Front drivers -2.3
Front passenger -1.2
Rear driver - 1.1
Rear passenger +1.0[/I]
So we re-did it to -2.0 front/-1.5 rear. Need to change the top mount screw holes in order to get more on the front, but as with other things on this car from now on, Ill be doing it myself where possible, not relying on others to do it in my lazyness. If you want a job doing properly etc.
Also changed the K&N air filter. Bit grubby lol:
Oh and fitted some Carbotech XP8 front pads.
Having finally driven it properly now, i can confirm that the Whiteline rear ARB adds a certain level of "steer from the rear", the smaller s/c belt that 1320 fitted (it was approx 1" too long previously) has definitely increased the level of boost at high revs and the XP8 squeak ALOT, seem pretty powerful though. Trackday on Sunday will hopefully be good.
So Donington on the 9th was brilliant, for the 40 mins the car worked
Unfortunately, most of the day was spent like this:
Because of this: http://www.cliosport.net/threads/melted-spark-plug...
Which needs i need to spend more money.
Moneypit.
Unfortunately, most of the day was spent like this:
Because of this: http://www.cliosport.net/threads/melted-spark-plug...
Which needs i need to spend more money.
Moneypit.
The strut tower modification looks a little scary. These cars often suffer from "mushroomed" turrets, chopping part off will have weakened them. I suppose the more solid top mounts may compensate to a degree.
Looks like an interesting project, sure you'lll get the bottom of the plug issue.
Looks like an interesting project, sure you'lll get the bottom of the plug issue.
helix402 said:
The strut tower modification looks a little scary. These cars often suffer from "mushroomed" turrets, chopping part off will have weakened them. I suppose the more solid top mounts may compensate to a degree.
I was thinking the same. Whenever someone starts cutting body metal, I wonder how little appreciation they must have for the huge amount of analysis, modelling and testing that goes into designing such critical hardpoints. Certainly I'd never even consider buying a car that had that sort of thing done to it.Shame as the rest of it looks nicely kitted out and it sounds like a good fun tool, though perhaps a little too highly strung!
As far as im aware, the mushrooming only affects cars running the standard top mounts/suspension, whereas this has had solid top mounts/coilovers for the past 5 years. I will probably be put some additional reinforcement plates on the top as well though just to be on the safe side. The cutting needed doing though unfortunately, no doubt having full camber adjustment on the front top mounts if you cant adjust it without taking the front coilovers off the car - would make for a rather arduous alignment process.
Getting some advice re: the spark pug problem at the moment, & also considering the benefits of a front mount intercooler instead of a top mount to try & reduce temps further when on track.
Getting some advice re: the spark pug problem at the moment, & also considering the benefits of a front mount intercooler instead of a top mount to try & reduce temps further when on track.
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