motor

coloradosilver · 09-30-2004, 03:54 PM

Hey all, this past Tuesday my friend and I went out and test drove a new Mini Cooper S. He's in the market for a new car and we though it'd be fun to see what these little cars were all about.

We were really surprised with the car. It handles really well for a FWD car and with about 165 hp from the supercharger, it went pretty well too. The "Fun To Drive" factor with this car is pretty high in my opinion.

Anyway..when were done with our 1 hour test drive, the dealer told us about a company called Mini Madness that makes performance packages for these cars. Apparently a Stage 3 package costs about $6,000 and gives the car about 245 hp.

I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with a mini with this sort of power and what it is like to drive. Would this package be worth it? Any comments or opinions are greatly welcome.

Here's the link to the Performance Package site so you can look for yourself:

http://www.mini-madness.com/index.as...S&Category=211

TT · 09-30-2004, 03:57 PM

You could give a read here as for a start

http://www.motorworld.net/forum/show...?p=27796#27796

coloradosilver · 09-30-2004, 04:03 PM

Thanks TT, but it seems like those minis are a little under the power level that my friend's looking for. Also that eval doesn't include the "Madness" package that he's looking at. I want opinions from members here with real world driving experience with high HP minis. Is the cost of the power worth it?

TT · 09-30-2004, 04:06 PM

Did you see the TG video with the 275 HP BBR Mini?

coloradosilver · 09-30-2004, 04:11 PM

Yeah, that was great! I was on the BBR site though and that 275 package adds over $12K to the price of the mini. Thats a little much. And plus it'd be more convenient to have the parts come from this side of the Atlantic. The trick with BBR is that in order for them to warranty the parts, they need to be installed by BBR. I don't think my friend would want to ship his car overseas for that install. That, plus the price of that package makes it a little unrealistic for him. I do really like that dual split exhaust package that is highlighted on the BBR site though.

coloradosilver · 09-30-2004, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by everso

one of my best friends bought a Mini Cooper S. then one day in the rain...at about 15 MPH, she skidded in the rain and hit a curb.....the car's axle was bent and it was TOTALLED! fragile.

i helped her choose and buy the car when she was buying it....i must say that the handling is VERY good, however i didn't like the gearbox much and i thought the car was way too slow and sluggish. On top of it, the "trendiness" of it right now really puts me off of it. The interior is one that either you hate or love......i loved it at first, but found it a bit irritating after spending time in it.

It's a good car, but it's one of those cars that either you LOVE or you HATE...personally i wouldn't buy one....but i can see why people would want one.

I didn't realize that they could be that fragile. During the test drive we beat the shit out of that car and it seemed to take it all pretty well. You're totally right about the trendyness of it, but thats why, one bought, he'd modify the hell out of it to make it pretty custom and more fun to drive.

My only real gripe with the car was that everytime I'd need to use the throttle, or let off, my foot would rub on the break because the peddles are so close together. Other than that, I rather liked the car. It could have been a bit faster, but like I said, thats the easy part.

mindgam3 · 09-30-2004, 04:21 PM

If you're getting a new mini then you have to bare in mind that any warranty wont apply if u get a tuning kit. Thats unless you get the works kit which gives out 200 horses and doesent effect warranty, although is slightly pricey for what it is, but you know you're getting quality. Hartge is probably the next best bet.

It does look like you're wanting more power than that though. I suggest you try and find a works to test drive to see if you really need any more than 200hp in a mini. Im not sure if anymore than 200hp will ruin the minis great handling. I've personally never heard of mini madness....

TT · 09-30-2004, 04:24 PM

BTW, IMO the S or the Works one already have enough punch to have fun on most roads and could match more powerfull cars with no problem at all

the Mini chassis is very well sortet, it can for sure handle 250 or something horses, but I guess if it's really that necessary to compromise maybe its life (length) with that sort of tuning

coloradosilver · 09-30-2004, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by mindgam3

If you're getting a new mini then you have to bare in mind that any warranty wont apply if u get a tuning kit. Thats unless you get the works kit which gives out 200 horses and doesent effect warranty, although is slightly pricey for what it is, but you know you're getting quality. Hartge is probably the next best bet.

It does look like you're wanting more power than that though. I suggest you try and find a works to test drive to see if you really need any more than 200hp in a mini. Im not sure if anymore than 200hp will ruin the minis great handling. I've personally never heard of mini madness....

Ok, thats the great thing about the "Madnedss" kit it will void the warranty from mini, but the Madness will cover anything that goes wrong with the car as a result of the kit, so it coversthe warranty you lost from the dealer. Thats with the 245 hp stage 3 kit.

SPAD · 09-30-2004, 09:28 PM

^^^ I could see that being a problem but if it is i guess thers always the old take em to court thing

Buba81 · 10-01-2004, 07:36 AM

Hi!

Oh boy, a Mini with 245hp... Actually I thought 163hp are plenty... Ok, the top speed is a bit disappointing, but then its just a tiny car...

But already with the normal S version the traction control was killing me in some corners... And without the DSC I don't know what the car would do...
For me, and I love lots of HP as everyone does, 200hp in a mini would do it completly...

Buba

cooperluke · 10-01-2004, 07:49 AM

low power/sluggishness

Are we talking about the same car??? Do you know that until 200km/h it can follow a Boxster?
I don't call that a slugg... lol

Wutputt · 10-01-2004, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by TT

BTW, IMO the S or the Works one already have enough punch to have fun on most roads and could match more powerfull cars with no problem at all

Totally agree.

Originally Posted by TT

the Mini chassis is very well sortet, it can for sure handle 250 or something horses

But the front tires probably can't handle so much power

I've driven quite a few high powered(*) FWD cars (but not a tuned Mini Cooper S) and I would say for the Mini I would go over 200-210 bhp and 250 Nm (185 ft lbs (?)). Otherwise you probably can't put all the power down the road below 50-60 mph without loosing loads of grip. I also think the transmission can't handle much more torque as well.

(*) for FWD standards of course

Guibo · 10-01-2004, 08:32 PM

Might want to ask the regular users on this forum:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/

Might want to also consider MiniMania (Nevada City, CA).
http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NMK1243/InvDetail.cfm
http://new.minimania.com/NMM/Road___...Cooper__S_.htm