I have a 2002 Mini Cooper S. I was wondering if anyone knew the Towing Capacity of the Generation 1 Cooper S? I've heard several numbers. I am going to buy a Teardrop and I want to make sure I don't go over on the Towing Capacity. Thanks.
gvwr allows 1030 extra lbs over the cars weight- this setup was 800 lbs, I weigh 190, under gvrw drug it all over the southwest and no issues ever.
Our teardrop weighs in at about 600 lbs, with a hitch weight of about 90-100lbs. Your first Gen. can handle this no problem. More here; http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/mini-stuff/3855-running-rich-when-towing-trailer.html Mark
:cornut:That's pretty cool. It almost looks as though the bike should/could have been towing the MINI. Jason
I had a Mini Cooper Salesman tell me he found 1400 pounds towing capacity and then I heard 1100 towing capacity max. Does anyone know?
There's no "official" towing capacity for your car, the general concensus is about 1400-1500lbs with no more than 150 tongue weight. That does not mean you can tow a 1000 lb teardrop and fill it with 1000 lbs of stuff tho, 1400-1500 total, max..... There are several people who flat tow a Mini with their MINI too...
MINI only has towing capacity listed for the Countryman and those are for Euro Spec vehicles only. For some reason, probably having to do with legal things and the DOT/NHSTA there is no US listing. Countryman Allowable Towing capacity: braked (12%) / unbraked 1650 / 1100 (pounds) I'd extrapolate from there and mix with the anecdotal information others have provided from actual experience.
I've got a little trailer for my R53 as well. I started out on the assumption of 1400lbs total (including gear in the car) and 140 lbs hitch weight (direct downforce on the hitch ball). My trailer is 550 lbs dry... Probably 800+ lbs with gear... And 150 lbs at the hitch. I don't have any handling issues at all with this load, but it does cause some rubbing over hard bumps in the rear tire wells (lowered with tsw lowering springs on stock shocks). I've thought about having the trailer axel moved a bit forward to reduce the hitch weight, but I've got new coil-overs on the way, so I think I'll wait for that before breaking welds on the trailer. My MCS (engine lightly modded) handled the weight with ease. The front bbk helps with braking, but I have never noticed any issues with braking. My mpg goes from 29 on the highway to 24, towing a big box behind a box of a car.
Towing capacity I now use my wife's Clubman S, but I used to tow my '75 Mini Clubman Estate (about 1500 lbs) with my '04 Cooper S on a 200 lb. tow dolly made for a classic Mini. No Problems, as long as I'm careful. And I've been careful... I fabricated the hitch and dolly myself. Tim