Hello folks! I am a lifelong RC flyer, and last summer decided to try something new. I had been facing a harsh new reality with FAA frustrations, and I drove my friends supercharged NSX and lambo last summer and decided I had to try to find a beater with a heater.


So... knowing I wasn't going to get anywhere close to a supercar, I decided to set out for anything I could find at my budget of basically zero and see what I could find with the only requirement being it had to be a manual. I decided to sell off a portion of my extensive model airplane kit and engine collection to fund it. One problem I face is I don't fit well in many cars at 6'5", but I fell in love with the first little (no rust) bucket I found that needed lots of TLC, a 1990 Mariner Blue Miata. And it turned out the funky little classic car dealer (who at 6'9" could not even fit into the Miata) loved airplanes too, and after chatting about hobby stuff, I asked, "hey, would you like to trade a really nice Giant Scale AT-6 Texan for that Miata?" and somehow, with some extra money to close the deal, I actually did that! It was a shaky, wobbly mess, but no rust! Over the course of the next 8 months I bought 2 more miatas to flip for the parts I wanted, came out ahead on both of those, and fixed up my little Violet (as my kids named it) really well! I did a complete "baselining" as outlined on Miata.net, and freshened up everything from the timing belt, waterpump, alternator, suspension, exhaust, new wheels, stereo, wired for defrost on the hardtop, etc etc etc.. Yes, I put some of my stimulus money into it with new wheels and tires... it was running perfectly and I adored it... But....

1. Not safe for my kids to ride around with me, can't control other drivers
2. I could only take 1 kid at a time, well du, but we would like to go on little family adventures
3. I really didn't fit, even after every mod I could come up with to make it better (foamectimy to the seat, bend brake handle, door handle delete, dead pedal delete, hammer to the parcel shelf, smaller steering wheel).

So... I put up an offer on FB to see if I could find something fun to trade it for. I actually got the offer for this in minutes, but spent several days wading through kids low balling me and other trade offers and came back around to the idea of the MCS. I drove my Miata 3 hours for the trade and it did beautifully, I am very proud of everything I accomplished with that car! I went through the MCS, and am happy to report every single common issue I can find has been freshly updated. It is a very clean, very fast little boosted machine! It has a nice list of mods, and is running exceptionally well. It has cold air intake, a 17% pulley, a catback and a WMW quicktune. The coolant tank looked like it was aging, so I already replaced it, and I'm tearing into the brakes with new pads and rotors just to freshen them up, and going through it meticulously and cleaning and fixing up as I go. I did some research and landed on the Schwaben Multi-System Elite Scanner from ESC after reading a bunch on this forum, it should be here next week and I am excited about learning everything it has to offer. I think I found a winner being the last year of the R53, it is a checkmate edition (front was repainted after the checkerboard pattern faded), I am having a lot of fun and I fit very well!

Nice to meet you folks! It does seem the Mini community is a bit more grounded than the Miata community. There are lots of great people on Miata.net if you need info for a Miata, but there is a much larger, more vocal majority of kids buying them to stance them out and drift them, they can be a brutal bunch, and the Miata is suffering a bit from the "drift tax." When you post a clean Miata for sale these days on FB at a high price you have to expect to get a slew of nasty messages from kids once they share your post to their "hey buddy your Miata is F$(#)$( overpriced" FB group. As much as I love the Miata, I don't see any of that kind of behavior around these parts and it is a welcome change!


Miata for a Mini Cooper S

 

Who ra! I can post! I'm fixing an RC heli now and plan to take my Mini to the flying field today, I could not do THAT with my Miata! (I do miss the little thing though, but happy with my choice so far...)

 

Congrats & welcome to NAM!

Love the space blue Checkmates and yours looks in fine fettle.

Happy Motoring!

 

here is all the info I have on my car,
Checkmate edition with chrono gauges, 6 spd, harmon kardon, etc. (I was told this included an LSD, but finding checkmate info this is doubtful)
17% pulley, new colder plugs, New Ireland Engineering catback, DDM cold air intake, WMW quick tune, new front struts/ mounts, new sway bar end links, powerflex lower control arm bushings, new tie rods and ball joints, PRW fluid filled harmonic balancer, new timing chain tensioner, new cam shaft sensor and seal, new idler pulley, belt tensioner, belt, spark plug wires, new hydraulic upper engine mount, bilstein sport struts, front camber plates...

 

use www.mdecoder.com and enter your vin to see options installed. I have seen quite a few checkmate S coopers that had LSD but it wasnt standard

 

Well thats good news, thanks for that info, I'll have to dig a little deeper.

I went out with some of my friends from the Miata community to show them the Mini. I haven't had any chance to compare mine to a stock one, but FWIW one of these friends had ridden in a stock R53 and said mine is definately pulling a lot harder. A coworker of mine's husband has a dyno at his shop.... I need to make a visit over there

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Welcome to the forum and the MINI experience. My first preference was a Miata. Never quite fit in one. Always close enough to keep me thinking about it.

Three years in a MINI convertible and I I have never complained about space, even the day my daughter was learning to drive the manual and I was in back.

 

Hello folks! I am nervous, about to put my house on the market, wanted to ramble my long term plans for my MCS. (my real estate agent drives a mini, so... I should be in good hands ) I am very happy with my car, so far it has been excellent, and the scan tool I got has been fun learning, so far no issues....
someday after my move, something to look forward to...

1. Boost gauge
2. water to air intercooler (set up for later mods)
3. spare tire, can I replace my battery with a small LiFe battery and squeeze a spare in the old location?
4. real tires instead of plastic run flats, alignment
5. clean up engine bay with new valve cover bolts, can I block off hood scoop with a water to air intercooler to prevent valve cover bolts and other rust?
6. cup holder (stock large one?)
7. modify A/C system for charge cooler (actively chill the water to air intercooler water tank)
8. header and high flow cat
9. research and prepare for someday rebuilding the engine

 

I just sold my 2006 NC Miata and bought a 2017 Cooper S because I think it will work better for me in the winter since it's my daily driver