Mine has 1500 miles already. I Would love to purchase the Cooper S too but I want to learn what is the possible upgrade options on this recent one. If anyone knows please e-mail or reply. Thanks.

nommaz@superonline.com

 

nommaz,
A couple of places to try for engine-related upgrades are:

MiniMania They have introduced a number of new COOPER upgrades (suspension, mild-engine mods, etc.). I believe they are also planning a turbo upgrade as well. Check out there site for more information.
They are located in California.


John Cooper WORKS They are the one and the same Cooper and have been working on Minis forever. With their new products they offer suspension, engine, and many other mods. They are located in the UK.

Hope this helps to get you started. Please post any information you find regarding these upgrades and your impressions of the any of the above as we'll all be doing it soon.

Best regards,

Mark

 

Also, you could get a simple Chip upgrade, http://www.superchips.co.uk do them, and do have US distributors (if you're in the USA).

They will not match the drive experience of the Cooper S though, the 6 speed box and noise of the supercharger whine/twin exhaust gurgle do a lot more than add some power.

Fun. :smile:

 

You can get parts from http://www.mini-madness.com the have a whole mess of parts. Not all can be goten at this time but soon.

 

Can someone give me some beneficial info on the difference between the cooper and the cooper s. I talked to a dealer and he suggested that the cooper would be the better way to go, because it would be (so to speak) more versatile. He claimed that one could not do much with the cooper s because it would be difficult to go around the supercharger. I can't quote his exact words but he said the cooper is or would be quicker off of the line with add-ons because it would not have to go through the supercharger. From what I understand, if one adds performance parts to the cooper in order to get more horsepower; equal to the cooper s or even more, then it would perform just as well as or even better than the cooper s.

I suppose I do understand that the cooper s has a special sound and look to it. I'm not too concerned about the sound of a supercharger, the look of hood scoop and a centered exhaust pipe, and I initially desire to spend less money to get the cooper (assuming that I could purchase hp equal to or more than the cooper s in the future) would I be better of getting the cooper?

AND FOR YOU FOLKS THAT HAVE YOUR COOPER/COOPER S. How about some words on how those babies perform, drive, or whatever you want to call it. Don't leave us unfortunate and waiting individuals hanging.

 

Ok I'll give it a go.
The S has what appears to be a roots type blower. Any way it still has a supercharger. It sounds like the dealer is getting a Supercharger and a Turbo mixed up. Off the line with a Supercharger you have instintanious boost. This happens because the SC is driven by the engine. A turbo is driven by exhaust gases leaving the engine. Thus the turbo will not gain boost until pressure is built up in the header. There are ways to cut back on turbo lag with smaller turbos and such.
One down fall to a SC vs. Turbo is that with a Turbo you have more room to play. You can get more power out of a car with a Turbo because you can go much higher with boost pressure. But a SC is much easier maintain. Turbos are notorious for problems.

To answer your question:
A build up with bolt ons for the cooper will not bring you up to the S. If you add I/H/E you should see some improvement but not close to the S. The only way you would be able to equal a SC S with a NA cooper is to do a build. Thus changing out most internals of the engine to a higher performance spec part.
It would be very unlikely that you could do a complete build and bolt ons for less than the 3k difference in price of the two cars.
Another thing..... The S is equiped with a sport susp., better exhaust..... To me the S has done most of the work for you. If you want to go from there... it will only get better.

OK Sorry this was so long.
Hope this helps.
SW

If you want to read more on a Supercharger.... go to http://www.theoldone.com
These people have pulled up to 600+hp out of superchargers in 4 cylinder engines.

By the way.... this should be moved to "Beneath the Bonnet"

_________________
Motor On!!..... Mini Me!!

 

my response is similar to Sfiveten's. If you want the performance and the power, get the CooperS, out of the box it's got quite the punch. I don't yet have my S, it's ordered but it's not coming till December... oh the agony.

From what I've learned talking to friends owning both TC and SC cars, is that for less money you could get a lot of horsepower from chipping the engine, and getting a smaller pulley for the SC. These two upgrades will give you the biggest bang for the buck, and is easy enough to do, even on your own. After that I heard that upgrading headers will benefit SC engines a great deal more than NA engines.

So my opinion is, if you can, go for the Cooper S. If you plan to get the Cooper, or already own the Cooper and are shooting to add 50 hp just to match the Cooper S it might cost you more than the 3 grand difference to make it equivalent to the other.

 

Hi SW,
I liked your post, but thought you might benefit from abit of insite into the world of compressed air. One, if you have presure built up in the header of a turbo engine, it will simply not make any power at all, as the flow would stop. Turbo exhausts must be very free flowing, just for this reason. The pressure build is in the compresser side of the turbo and ultimately to the intake side of the engine. The exhaust side of the turbo needs to be unrestrictive.
Secondly, the limiting factors for the amount of boost, whether from turbocharger, roots blower, leaf blower or high wind, are mechanical limits(will the rods blow through the engine, will the headbolts stretch etc) and detonation. The air density increase from anyform of pressurized induction will yield the same output at any specific volume and temperature (of course, the roots blower does use some engine power to opperate, unlike the turbo which uses "wasted" exhaust heat /energy). Ultimately, either you will reach the mechanicl limits, or will be unable to quell detonation, and those are what limit the power. In the real world of engines that must be able to be somewhat reliable and able to meet smog requirements, the big advantage of the roots style blower is the instant response. On a car like the MINI that would be more desireable than the slow (relativly) response of the turbo. Also, the turbo will respond differently depending on load, so it is hard to get boost in the lower gears(less load) than the higher gears(more load)
Hope this helps!!Ron

 

Ron,
Thanks for the reply. After rereading my post I see that I worded it badly.
I do understand the mechanics of a turbo.... Just didn't put it down in type very well.
My main point was that with a base it would take every bit of the 3k difference to make what the S makes (and still may not) in power. The only way to do it cheaper would be with NOS. That or getting an aftermarket blower (which would take you very close to the 3k dif)........ which you would then have to get installed and may require other upgrades to work properly.
Again thanks for the clear up.....
SW


_________________
Motor On!!..... Mini Me!!

 

I have a Cooper S and need more power. What are my options for about $2-3K?

BTW, I race my MINI against Porsches, and WIN. See the article in the newsletter link below for a video and pics.

Scott

http://www.scottevest.com/htmlemail/sept2002/

and

http://www.scottevest.com/htmlemail/...cotts-mini.jpg

Pic of me and carVideo of me beating porsche; see article

 

That video was awesome. even if that silver porsche it shows you passing was just coming onto the track, you were definitely ahead of the pack on all those others!

I am praying that within the year or so, BMW will actually offer factory warranteed high performance upgrades ala Dinan. If so, then you should probably just stuff your 2-3k into your mattress and buy little more than track tires for a few months before any announcement might be made. I can be patient and wait for a factory 200hp kit rather than bolt on the first thing someone cobbles together and sells for $4k.

MINI USA, I KNOW YOU ARE READING THIS. IF YOU OFFER IT, WE WILL BUY IT!

 

>>I have a Cooper S and need more power. What are my options for about $2-3K?
>>
>>BTW, I race my MINI against Porsches, and WIN.

OK, I'll bite; what do we define as "racing"? I saw you going "by" a silver Porsche while merging on what appeared to be a "road/track". If the point is that a stock MCS can routinely beat a recent model Porsche 911 (which is roughly 300 lbs heavier, and about 200 HP "stronger" than an MCS); you don't need ANY HORSEPOWER AT ALL!!!! You're doing just fine "as-is"!

However, after test driving an MCS (and having owned a 911), I would expect an MCS to give a (non-turbo) Porsche 911 a very good battle on a slalom or autocross course (maybe even winning, with a good driver), but be left behind on a "road" course... just because the 911 has so much more power (and can USE it on a road course).

Of course, as they say; "actual user mileage may vary...."

 

From a slightly different perspective, I am most interested in non-competitive spirited driving on a closed track. Just so much fun to spend an afternoon playing and learning. As such, the MCS is going to be incredibly fun on the track as is, or until there is a really tried and true 200hp kit available that I am confident running with.

 

Thanks for your responses. Although you are correct that the silver 911 is just merging in, I was the fastest car in the slowest group at Gingerman and Blackhawk (both road courses but with lots of turns), and then at the mid top of class in next fastest run group. This is technically drivers ed, but suffice it to say everyone is driving very fast trying to pass each other, and there are no speed limitations, but passing is restricted to only certain points on the track and ONLY with a point. I was beating most stock Porsches (non turbo) and even some upgraded Porsches with racing slicks. Everyone was amazed. The car just won't slip from the track. I feel like I'm cheating in a way.

I realize that the Porsche has more power, but it is MUCH more difficult to control. Even in the straights, I didn't lose that much ground, and whatever ground I lost I easily made up in the corners. I have more videos to prove it but they are HUGE files.

I use this car for my company car, and everybody loves the decals.

Even though I can best most Porsches, including my own, it still does not feel very quick. Very odd.

I will wait for the correct upgrade kits, i suppose.

Thanks for the advice.

Scott

 

more proof, before decals:

http://www.pca-chicago.org/scene/SceneSept02.pdf

 

The way I see it, the MINI is probably the first car built in several decades that the final product to the consumer matches its original design concept.

BMW wanted to re-create the excitement of these historic and famous cars that showed up at Monte Carlo in the mid 60's and beat anything and everything the exotic race car companies could throw at them.

BMW took the design concept of a "power to the people" legend in motorsports and recreated it with their highest modern technology, and these new MINI's are going to be equally legendary in the history of autos.

In comparison, VW's NEW BEETLE was only a marketing aesthetic concept and so VW put a a stylish retro body on top of a relatively unimpressive Golf/Jetta platform. Most exciting thing about the NEW BEETLE is that it has great appeal to florists because of the standard flower vase.

I plan on spending a LOT of time on the race-track, and I know that my stock MINI (gonna keep it basically stock for autocross) is not the fastest thing ever, but it will certainly be respected on the track and difficult to beat on a very twisty road track without something exotic or custom costing 2 or 3 times the MSRP.