I purchased my 2006 MCS nearly 6 months ago and love every mile I've driven in that little thing. It is the first car I've purchased and I intend to do as much work on it as my (admittedly limited) skills allow. My MCS was well-maintained by its previous owner and is bone-stock, so I am open to any tips or suggestions for any light mods.
:cornut: Welcome welcome to MA! The best 'bang for the buck' mod is always,'Add Lightness' and 'Improve the Suspension'. Only then comes the other mods. If it has 'run flat' tires, get rid of them, they're heavy. If it has factory MINI wheels, get rid of them, they weigh at least ~ 24lbs each. Get some after market 14-16lbs wheels and between dumping the heavy run flats and the heavy wheels, you'll have dumped 50-70lbs of unsprung weight which improves the suspension responsiveness and tightness by a considerable amount. For the one price you have improved looks and handling all in one fell swoop and if you keep the old wheels and one old tire, you now have a REAL spare in the boot. To get some good ideas go to 'tirerack.com'. Jason
:cornut: Bump Bump. I just thought that perhaps others might want to welcome you and offer advice Jason
Thanks for the tip! Luckily, my car didn't come with runflats, but it did come with s-lites, which I think are kinda chunky. I'm thinking about keeping them for a set of winter tires and getting something lighter for the warmer weather next year. Any brands in particular I should look out for?
:cornut: There again I would say go to Tire Rack(on line). I'm not uninformed about tires but Tire Rack is very professional and will get to know you by asking appropriate questions like,model and make of car, your intended driving venue and style, any cost constraints, style of racing or spirited street etc, and then show you several possible good choices. They won't be pinned down to a single choice however, as they are professionals. Then when you have several choices and if still undecided then, bring them back here and ask and you'll then get good info from members that have actually used those specific tires in your intended purposes. I'm not trying to give you the run around, just introduce you to the education process of our MINIs. MINI on soldier, MINI on. We're glad that you're here and asking questions. Jason
Welcome to M/A! First car, first time driver? If so, my advise would be to learn the car as it is and then if you feel it needs more then begin to make some changes. If your not a first driver then forget everything I just said, lol.
I've driven a Mini with a pulley mod and it is tempting, but I'm afraid of voiding my warranty. Maybe I'll get it done and say it came like that...
One of my favorite cheap/easily reversible "mods" is to change the alignment to have zero toe front and rear. It really wakes the car up! I had my first mini set up like that and when I was shopping for my replacement, I thought it was broken during the test drive lol. Makes a huge difference to the go-cart like turn feel :cornut: I would also agree on getting some lightweight wheels, another difference you don't have to be an f1 driver to notice appreciate!
Yeah, my MCS is in excellent condition, but all the major parts are original and it is had 96k miles when i bought it (over 110k miles now), so i thought I'd be good to have a powertrain warranty to cover all the parts that might make my wallet cry if they failed suddenly.
Nice. I bought mine "As Is". It had 21K on the clock. I opted out for any warranty..... I wanted to do whatever I wanted to it immediately