I wanted to share some detail photos of a Ccountryman that we did earlier this year. We had a Michigan customer that had a Countryman All4 on order and was going to rally with the car. She wanted a balance between looks and function. She gave me a budget and just said to do it. “Do what?” I asked. She said "Make it cool." So after a week of thinking about what she said she wanted, I came up with a game plan. The problem was there was nothing made for the car, so it gave us some freedom to actually make some parts, come up with some idea's, and make this car look like nothing else out there. She wanted a bit of the off road look, so after showing her a few photos of trucks on the net, I had a good clear idea of what she was looking for.

First I started by taking the front end off and seeing the best place to mount what we called the Brush Guard. I wanted to make sure that it would be able to support the weight that we wanted to put on it. She wanted driving and fog lights on the front of the bar, so I wanted to make sure that it was solid enough to make sure the lights didn't vibrate the lights while they are on. That could be very distracting not only to her while driving, but for other drivers on the road. Also she lives way on in the country, and I wanted to make sure it would hold up if a deer wanted to mess with it, or protect the front end from anything that she would encounter on the rally course. What you see in the photos can be taken off with screws in the grill so that the front end can be serviced by anyone without having to do anything special to get in there. Just unplug the lights from the grill and remove the bolts. As it stands right now, we welded two thick plates to the back of the bumper to make this unit work, but a production version would be completely bolt on for the street unit, or weld on for the race unit. Visually I would recommend two lights and make it a bit shorter, but could have two different units. Even just a bar for jut lights. What would you like to see on the market?







Next I looked under the car and she wanted a skid plate. So after a few mock ups, I came up the design you see below. This plate is 1/4 inch thick alum, but I would do a 3/16 inch thick alum for the production unit. The last photo you see is after a few months of off road driving and some very off road driving in the mountains at the Dragon. This unit is ready to go to market, so a buy in would be ready to go to start production.








She plans on doing a lot of camping this year for work, so she need a hitch for the Countryman. A quick call to MINI-Fini had a pre-production unit in the mail a few days later. This unit was very easy to install and had everything that was going to required for the load my customer was going to require. I told her to make sure she got trailer brakes on her unit and I went to town installing the hitch. As you can see in the photos, we flush mounted a 7 pin connector into the bumper to control not only all the trailer lights, but a brake controller. We wired in a brake controller under the arm rest in the cabin. There was no modifications to the interior and only a half round trimmed in the bumper to clear the plug. As you can see in the photos, it's very hidden and looks like it should be there. Give MINI-Fini a call and tell them you want a hitch just like the Detroit Tuned Countryman.





Next since she wanted to actually rally race her Countryman, she thought it would be a good idea to have some gauges. We decided water temperature and oil pressure would be the ones that she needed. So a quick call to Craven Speed gave us everything that we needed, gauges, mounts, and all the needed parts to make them work like the Hot Link and the first prototype of a tap-less adapter. While we where there we painted all the Gray interior trim rings to gloss black to match all the gloss black dash. It turned out very nice and should be a factory option.







The next biggest part of the build was to make it all look good on the outside. She liked the JCW car that had all the red accents but wanted a few changes. So after looking at the car for a bit, I told her all the items we planed to paint red as well as the stripes we planed to add based on the photos. We painted a lot of trim red to match the red stripes that we got from Todds Modds. As well as giving the windows a light tint to give the Countryman an over all black look. we also had the roof rack power coated black to make it blend in better.




Next we plan on a wheel and tire package to give better traction in the off-road, as well as intake and exhaust work to make it sound as mean as it looks.

 

Next, dyno tuning the engine so that, when competing on a rally, she can have four people sitting inside (4 doors, 4 people) and the trailer on the back when she's passing those Boxters and Masdaspeeds.

 

Wow! That skid plate is looking great. I live up in AK and while I of course wont do any hardcore off roading with the Countryman, there are plenty of great "soft trails" for me to take the car on, but a plate like this would make me feel so much better. Got any more details on it?

 

I really like the skid plate and the front bar, although four lights seems excessive I think it looks pretty good...

What rally events is she running?

I'm really interested in the skid plates, for Colorado forest road and Utah back country driving.

Did you alter the suspension at all?

 

It's encouraging they found a strong place to anchor the front end of the skid plate. I wish it extended past the opening into the drive shaft shroud, which looks pretty vulnerable to me.

+1


I wonder if anything was done at the rear end of the car, where the leading edge of the bumper stuff hangs down so invitingly?

 

I am looking for Brush Guard and the lights.

 

Awesome Job DT !

But FYI, MINI makes: side, rear and front brush gaurds/shield kits for the Countryman.

 

But they are just plastic stick on's...they don't really work...and did you see the price they are asking for them! She has put them to the test and have been holding up very well.

The Skid plate is designed and i just need to make a run. I don't have a firm price yet, but it looking like it can be under 300, and it would come with all needed hardware and detail instructions.

The Light Bar as it stand right now could be made for around 800 and look like what ever you want. 2 lights, 4 lights, shorter. power coated red. what ever. Lights are extra (around 180). a production unit would be less and we just have to come up with what looks the best and do all the numbers.

Anyone that would like to talk more about this (and place an order!) just need to call the shop. 586-792-6464.

 

So, like, do you have any links for these kits?

 

As far as I know, they only make them for non-S models.

 

I don't have the PDF on this computer, but if i remember correctly it was 800 per part. bumper...side skirt left, side skirt right... ect. ect. and that doesn't include any needed paint or install. if you want i can get them for you, or prices and photos. email me at info@detroit tuned.com and i can get you what you need.

Chad
Detroit Tuned.

 

Is there enough room that the lights could be recessed more into the brush guard? Speaking from experience, after you've used the brush guard you might have problems with the lights as presently arranged.

Just askin'

 

No they fit all Countryman models I thought. Seems they would be specifically made for the All4 ( off road.....) They are brushed aluminum look from what I can tell not primer will ck.

.....Checked and from what I can tell, the front and rear parts may be a grayish plastic, so it sounds like the Kit may be less functional and more for looks ? What's that all about Good Luck to MINI selling those. Who would dump 3K of non-functional "off road" rails and plates on a Cooper ? ? ? ? By the time you have the kit installed, your are in S / All4 price territory ?

F/R = # 51 19 2 180 854 - Cooper - (Rear valance / exhaust ports seems to be the issue.....)
L door sill - # 51 77 9 800 667
R door sill - # 51 77 9 800 669
Sides for all models incl "S" - # 51 19 2 184 006.

The side rails and door sills are available for the S models however.

 

Now I could get interested in that. A previous poster asked if you needed to mod anything to make it fit but I think I missed the answer...anything need to change to fit? If everything is good, I could be very interested in ordering one and having it shipped while I"m down south picking up the Mini to save on shipping to AK. How far (rough estimate, I know) do you think you'd be from being able to sell some?

 

But they are a complete joke, overpriced, with absolutely 0 function. Aside from Mini calling them that, I wouldn't consider it a real brush guard.

 

more for looks.

 

http://minicooperinfo.com/myfiles/pd...cessories1.pdf

 

op can u make them come up more in the front and the rear ? ( skid plate )

 

Very interested in the skid plates, whats the details for the buy in?

 

Does the skid plates require extra drilling or did you find natural mount points for them? Also, I would guess they need to be removed every oil change? Looks like just 5 bolts to remove.

Also, how much do they weigh?

 

I like the build so far. You guys should run some 16 inch wheels, a 1 inch lift, and some rally tires.

 

Also, is there any way to put a full skid plate system that would cover the entire bottom of the car? Thin aluminum should be all you would need.

On the other hand, I am worried that being fully covered could cause over heating issues. The hot air going through the engine bay wouldnt have anywhere to go and I would be worried about fully covering the exhaust. I have a jeep with a full skid plate system and it builds up a lot of heat under there.

 

there are no mods needed to make the skid plate fit. it goes into existing holes. there are two side brackets and the oem skid plate just need to be removed.

the unit does not have to be removed for an oil service since we put a larger hole right under the drain plug.

i just have to talk to my fab shop to get final price on the alum sheets and what it would cost to make a run of 10 or more. but the more the better and could make a lower cost.

we looked at making it go back farther but what really needed protecting was the transfer case, the exhaust and trans. it would be the first thing that would hit when the front end would hit hard on a bump, dip, or rock in a trail. if you where trying to go over things like tree logs or a sharp hill where you can ground out the car then it might bee needed, but that is really offroading. if someone needs something like that we could make a add on part or extend the current design.

 

Any updates?

 

Any news on the skid plate pricing yet??
i am very interested