R53 - what would £2k in mods get me?

[PixelpeepS3]

Having a real issue automotive wise recently (first world problems and all that..)

We had some money freed up and the plan was for me to buy a 981 boxster S just for the weekends. However we are also in the middle of doing up our bungalow (which we bought a year ago but it's in desperate need of modernisation)

I decided to forgo the weekend car in order to finish the house

We are also ditching the S3 to save money, we bought an i3 but the missus has ended up taking that over so i needed a replacement car. I bit the bullet and bought a 2016 civic diesel (don't ask.) which i am picking up tomorrow

upshot is; i have £5k of my original car fund left - i was wondering if it was just worth spending that on something cheaper which i could have just as much fun in.

i've always had a soft spot for an R53, just for the whine - been looking and have noticed i could get a half decent one for £3k which would leave 2k for mods. I'm not interested in wheels, body kits or any of that show stuff, i just want to make it quicker.

how would you spend the £2k and what could i get for that, output wise? 200-220bhp?

[Cardinal Hips]

Smaller pulley / cam / injectors and a remap fitted for £1530:

https://www.1320.co.uk/1320-r53-mini-cooper-s-engi...

I had one of their R53 demo cars for a day many moons ago and it was pretty ridiculous, I didn't want to hand it back! It had the works and some seriously good suspension on it. Great fun.

[dc2rr07]

No idea on the upgrades but how about putting the 5k towards a bike

[TartanPaint]

For £2k you'll get a clutch, water pump and power steering pump.

I'd keep the fund for a while until you're sure you won't need it...

[300bhp/ton]

PixelpeepS3 said:

Having a real issue automotive wise recently (first world problems and all that..)

We had some money freed up and the plan was for me to buy a 981 boxster S just for the weekends. However we are also in the middle of doing up our bungalow (which we bought a year ago but it's in desperate need of modernisation)

I decided to forgo the weekend car in order to finish the house

We are also ditching the S3 to save money, we bought an i3 but the missus has ended up taking that over so i needed a replacement car. I bit the bullet and bought a 2016 civic diesel (don't ask.) which i am picking up tomorrow

upshot is; i have £5k of my original car fund left - i was wondering if it was just worth spending that on something cheaper which i could have just as much fun in.

i've always had a soft spot for an R53, just for the whine - been looking and have noticed i could get a half decent one for £3k which would leave 2k for mods. I'm not interested in wheels, body kits or any of that show stuff, i just want to make it quicker.

how would you spend the £2k and what could i get for that, output wise? 200-220bhp?

I'm a big fan of the R53. Mods are one of those things that are pretty endless and cost varies on exactly what bits you get and if you do the work yourself or not.

Certainly mods will make them quicker, but they aren't slow to begin with. So does it really need to be faster?

Also you can spend loads on mods and then only match a quicker car you could have bought for less money. At the end of the day a 1.6 litre 4 pot and a Roots blower is only going to achieve so much.

[CO2000]

Try and get a facelift one as the gearing is much improved & more power to begin with. Reduced pulley/intercooler/modified airbox/exhaust would be a good start & maybe uprated pads if pressing on for more than the odd blast oh good tyres also if it hasn't already got (I like Rainsport 3's but in 215/40/17 XL rated)

[Aphex]

What about one thats already had 2k spent on it bought for 4k

[CrippsCorner]

Cardinal Hips said:

Smaller pulley / cam / injectors and a remap fitted for £1530:

https://www.1320.co.uk/1320-r53-mini-cooper-s-engi...

I had one of their R53 demo cars for a day many moons ago and it was pretty ridiculous, I didn't want to hand it back! It had the works and some seriously good suspension on it. Great fun.

Seems a bit weird to do this without upgrading the IC.

For £2k I'd start with changing the pulley, upgrade the IC, exhaust system and CAI. Then I'd upgrade the brakes and suspension... going to help you more in the long run.

[PixelpeepS3]

Cardinal Hips said:

Smaller pulley / cam / injectors and a remap fitted for £1530:

https://www.1320.co.uk/1320-r53-mini-cooper-s-engi...

I had one of their R53 demo cars for a day many moons ago and it was pretty ridiculous, I didn't want to hand it back! It had the works and some seriously good suspension on it. Great fun.

I tell you - its a sign.....

Our new place is in cambridge - that company are in St Neots.

Jebus is telling me to get a mini.

[PixelpeepS3]

Aphex said:

What about one thats already had 2k spent on it bought for 4k

that works for me, whatcha got?

[and31]

I took my R53 to 1320 as soon as I could after buying it last year
I had a 15% pulley fitted,milltek non res cat back(sounds fking lovely!),and a set of ST xta coilovers fitted-highly recommend these-
I had already fitted an Oranje stealth intake.
This all cost just under 2 grand I think.
worth every penny-car is transformed
I think it was just under 200bhp.im not worried about chasing numbers,the car feels very strong indeed!
I’ve since fitted a GRS motorsport intercooler,and some better brakes and sticky tyres are next.

[and31]

I also had a new rad fan fitted at 1320 in with that price(low speed fan wasn’t working).i knew there was something else I had done while it was there!

[R53rider]

PixelpeepS3 said:

I've always had a soft spot for an R53, just for the whine - been looking and have noticed i could get a half decent one for £3k which would leave 2k for mods. I'm not interested in wheels, body kits or any of that show stuff, i just want to make it quicker.

How would you spend the £2k and what could i get for that, output wise? 200-220bhp?

If you are still interested, get on the R53 Owners Club, R53OC, on Facebook.
4,000 members, all with R53s (or aspiring R53 owners), mostly in the UK. So it is totally focused. It is very active, extremely tightly admin-ed.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
There are often members selling cars that have been well looked after and are usually already modified. And can be had way less than your budget.
If you start with an unmodified car, and want to mod it, there will be endless advice as to what to do, how to do it, best options and products, where to buy. Plus there is a steady flow of good used parts as members sell their modding parts.

200-210 bhp is not too difficult to get to. Some run 230 but that usually needs a bit of head work and a cam. 250 seems about tops. To go further a few people turbocharge them - which IMO seems utterly pointless and stupid cost.
But with 210-ish, sorted chassis, suspension, tyres and brakes these are really hard to shake off in 'super' cars with huge amount more power on the twistys, B roads, smaller A roads. As long as there are plenty of corners. 210 in a sorted R53 is ALL use-able. The handling, turn-in and responsiveness is terrific. After all the kerb weight is only around 1.15 tonnes.