RE: Shed of the Week: Mini Cooper S

[HorneyMX5]

You learn something new every day. I never knew the vRS came with the PD150, was that in the later cars?

Rolling drag race a PD150 and a Cooper S are gonna be pretty close, but the MINI was never meant to be a straight line hero car.

[Screechmr2]

daytonavrs said:

Of course I have an Octavia 2.0 TSI now if you want a car with a bit of fettling that will piss all over a Mini Cooper S, thats the one. 300hp with only a stage 1 SW map

until you get to some country roads when the mini will piss all over the octavia.

[s m]

HorneyMX5 said:

You learn something new every day. I never knew the vRS came with the PD150, was that in the later cars?

Rolling drag race a PD150 and a Cooper S are gonna be pretty close, but the MINI was never meant to be a straight line hero car.

I didn't know that either

I thought they were always the 130 bhp engine first and then went to the later engine petrol with turbo and supercharger of around 178bhp

Were the 150bhp ones a late special edition?

[Dave.]

fking hell.

My car's faster that your car.

My dads bigger than your dad.

Give it a rest, FFS, you're grown men.

[George Smiley]

10 years ago the Fabia vrs was a st car.

Today it's a st car that is ten years older.

My neighbour father in law owned Skoda dealership in bridgewater, he was a sales guy there. He regularly brought the diesel stbox home. Terrible chassis, zero grip, a terrible front end and ride quality.

You couldn't begin to compare it to the mini

[nunpuncher]

Thunderhead said:

Certainly wasnt quoted 500 when my engine went pop, for a fully fitted replacement engine you're looking at 1500 at least in my experience.

It certainly sounds like a nice simple solution to drop in an engine, but the reality is more complicated and expensive, plus you will be without a car for a while.

Edited by Thunderhead on Sunday 17th February 14:46

I do my own spannering so I was quoting purely the price of an engine. You can get a used engine for £450 - £800 depending on mileage. Not a difficult job to swap one out in the mini due to the whole front end coming off. It is time consuming though, pretty much everything on that engine is due to tight space meaning the front comes off meaning garages charge heavy to work on them.

I wouldn't advise anyone who doesn't have the capacity to work on one themselves to buy one. It would be "beyond economic repair" quite quickly.

[R53rider]

2smoke said:

The front bumper doesn't seem to fit so well, perhaps there was front end damage. Not really an issue for shedding around though.

Looks to me like the wrong bumper? Strange.

[R53rider]

For that money, that R53 is a horrid little dog. You can get far better, with the sensible mods, with lower miles, not CatN etc, etc, for that money. And for those who have not witnessed the glory of the R53 supercharger at full chat, have a squint at this. The car in the vid clearly has a reduced pulley plus other of the 'normal' mods everyone does, and they may have removed the pollen filter. As the title, it has an Orranje Stealth Cold Air Intake, which is the successor to the renowned 'Dave-F' air box.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeYg-iG2Y2g

[daytonavrs]

s m said:

I didn't know that either

I thought they were always the 130 bhp engine first and then went to the later engine petrol with turbo and supercharger of around 178bhp

Were the 150bhp ones a late special edition?

Yes, SE edition and late 07 ish models (like mine) they came in BLT form which has been demonstrated on rolling roads to effectively be PD150. Although it was just tune on the std turbo.

Anyway I wouldn't have a BINI if you paid me, they will never be true classic like the original Mini tbh.

[Drive Blind]

how the hell has this turned into a fabia fanboi thread ?

[s m]

daytonavrs said:

s m said:

I didn't know that either

I thought they were always the 130 bhp engine first and then went to the later engine petrol with turbo and supercharger of around 178bhp

Were the 150bhp ones a late special edition?

Yes, SE edition and late 07 ish models (like mine) they came in BLT form which has been demonstrated on rolling roads to effectively be PD150. Although it was just tune on the std turbo.

Anyway I wouldn't have a BINI if you paid me, they will never be true classic like the original Mini tbh.

Interesting info

They were still rated at 130bhp by the factory though?

I grew up driving original Minis which put me off them after wet weekends fixing them so I’d go for an R53 every time. A friend still has his 1293cc original Mini in a garage gathering dust though

[daytonavrs]

s m said:

Interesting info

They were still rated at 130bhp by the factory though?

I grew up driving original Minis which put me off them after wet weekends fixing them so I’d go for an R53 every time. A friend still has his 1293cc original Mini in a garage gathering dust though

Yes, true. There is no secret that its been known to be definitely higher map tune ~150, and the suggested 2 seconds between a 1.6S and this is fictional. Just google Fabia blt 150 and read all the various threads.
but is quite conveniant in insurance terms etc. Its definitely the better model to have, well its the newest one you could possibly have now in the last/SE form.

Its definitely quicker than the quickest PD150 VW's as I have come up across many, many of them on the road, and I've had more edge on them than that Cooper S driver had on me. So the original figures from VW are very economical with truth.

Prior to the release of the BLT - Autoexpress chipped their review ASZ 1.9TDI to 160 ( a bit like the BLT introduced model did basically) and it went FROM 8.1s not 9.2 ( already below quoted over a second). to 7.0. So the guy talking about 2 second different isn't based on any kind of real fact, its based on badly performed horsest internet "research" based on badly pubished figures to start with.
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/skoda/fabia/18987/sk...

This ones specially for you as you doubted the 300hp possible from a 1.9Tdi too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YowK3w8XWB0

If its in decent nick your maters original Mini will be fetching a decent price He looking to sell

I'd have happily almost gone for a late Rover Mini with airbag for the wife and nicer interior, but decided cold feet as they still 20 year old cars needing more TLC and classic love and chickened and got her a Citigo instead ( i.e. rebadged VW UP!).
The prices are getting really strong on the old classic Mini now.....

Edited by daytonavrs on Monday 18th February 19:48

[tom101]

These are great little cars but there are much better ones to be had for the same money. For starters this should really be up for £700 - not double that. Get on to autotrader or facebook marketplace/R53 owners club to buy one which is not a write off. So easy to modify and you can get to 200bhp very easily.

[egor110]

I've recently got the mrs a cooper s for £1000.

I've since spent another £1000 getting it nice , now some of the stuff i didn't have to replace ie the fart cannon exhaust but other things like leaky rocker cover and all fluids/filters getting replaced needed doing .

I still can't work out if it's any quicker than a clio 1#2 , the clio seemed faster but i think the mini increases power a lot more linear .

On paper the mini has more torque but it doesn't seem that noticeable .

If you live somewhere with decent b roads i'd have either of them , if you plan on doing motorway work i'd take the mini .

[HM-2]

daytonavrs said:

So the guy talking about 2 second different isn't based on any kind of real fact, its based on badly performed horsest internet "research" based on badly pubished figures

They're VW's figures- 9.2 to 60 versus 7.5 to 60 according to official Mini figures.

[Paulm4]

I bought my wife a Cooper a few years ago and loved it so much I bought myself a Cooper S!
She then enjoyed the S so much she started using my car and sold the Cooper.

Mine was slightly lowered and stiffened on stock 17" rims without RFT's. The ride was pretty firm but I found it bearable.
Economy: my wife got 42+mpg from the Cooper on her commute (100miles of fast A road) The Cooper S clocked in about 35mpg on the same trip.
Parts/service costs were cheap enough. It needed a radiator and coolant tank but other than that was bulletproof for 20k miles.
I fitted stock winter wheels/tyres in winter and it was absolutely unstoppable even in the deepest Highlands snowy winter.
Loved it 😁

[Alex Z]

HorneyMX5 said:

You learn something new every day. I never knew the vRS came with the PD150, was that in the later cars?

No, it was only ever the PD130

[tighnamara]

Other half has a 2003 Cooper S she has had from new, just over 50k miles
Great little car that can be thrown about the roads, lights are poor though and require replacing.
Will see if she can get to 20 years........

[egor110]

tighnamara said:

Other half has a 2003 Cooper S she has had from new, just over 50k miles
Great little car that can be thrown about the roads, lights are poor though and require replacing.
Will see if she can get to 20 years........

if you think those lights are st you should check out the ford pumas !

[s m]

daytonavrs said:

This ones specially for you as you doubted the 300hp possible from a 1.9Tdi too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YowK3w8XWB0

If its in decent nick your maters original Mini will be fetching a decent price He looking to sell?

I think you might be getting me confused with HorneyMX5 on the doubts over 300bhp

I don’t think he will sell his old Mini to be honest - sentimental reasons most likely