Warning: Long post. I've now had the new (to me - it's a 2008 MCS) Mini for a couple of weeks and I have to say that this is a very fun car. I still don't know how to work most of the stuff inside, I ordered a complete user manual off eBay and it arrived today, so hopefully I should at least be able to change the radio presets to something other than Los Angeles area hip hop stations (I live in north San Diego County). After my daily driver (pile-o-crap on wheels) died, I considered starting my mid-life crisis early, but I don't quite have enough cash for that yet. I also could have gone the practical, boring route and bought a Civic or something. I decided to go in between and get a fun car that was somewhat practical (good gas mileage - not practical for hauling people or cargo). The Mini fits the bill quite nicely. In my younger days (15+ years ago), it seems that everyone drove Hondas and fixed them up with varying degrees of success in actually squeezing more performance out of their engines (most people settled for making their car sound annoying and/or seeing how many performance product stickers they could fit on their car). I'll admit to doing some performance enhancements to my Honda, but I tried not to be too annoying and I didn't cover it with stickers. I did chip my 2000 Passat 1.8T, which raised the boost from 7 to 15 psi (that made for some tire burning fun) and upgraded the suspension to improve handling. Though the Mini doesn't really need much more to enhance performance (it's probably the best performing car I've owned thus far), and I've been out of the car modification scene for nearly 10 years, I'm thinking I might do a little something with this car. I've not yet explored the aftermarket offerings, but if anyone has any suggestions for increasing the fun factor beyond what the stock Mini already offers, I'm all ears. If nothing else, I'll probably get new wheels after the tires wear out (not enamored with the stock wheels). I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a long and fun run with this vehicle.

 

Hit the suspension page. If you want fun go for laterial G.

The world is not made of short, straight roads. You got to make a few turns to get back home.