New Mini owner

Hello Everyone,

I purchased my first mini cooper this last Sunday. It was a quick purchase as I thought it was a good deal. Funny how things work out; I was watching youtube reviews on well handling decent mpg cars, mainly BRZs. Found a everydaydriver video of the mini: [ame=""]MINI Cooper (Compacts Pt.3) - Everyday Driver - YouTube[/ame] They raved about it and I always liked the mini and for fun i checked for some r53 mini cooper Ss on autotrader.com and craigslist.org. I found it at the end of the autotrader list at $4750. Checked it through carfax(clean) and I drove two hours and I bought it for $3300 and a 02 Santa Cruz Superlight. It is by no means perfect and needs a refresh but nothing critical. I will be doing most of the work myself. Plus it means i get to replace parts with the ones I want. MA helped a lot to know what problems to look for while buying it.

I am coming from Subarus(95 impreza rally car and 94 turbo legacy) but am excited to start playing with a new chassis. I will be building it to be a DD, good in the snow, a canyon carver, and dirt play car. I am considering rallycrossing it though i know i will need to address several areas of concern(strut towers, some rally tires, skidplate, and maybe some radiator support reinforcement). I am following the rally build thread on here for some ideas.

After owning it a couple of days, taking one canyon run and a dirt/snow drive, I love it. Quiet compared to my Legacy, more refined, and the suspension is so well sorted from the factory. I was so excited about it I could barely sleep Sunday night. It was like I was 4 again and it was Christmas Eve!

Okay, enough talking.

Specs:
2002 Mini Cooper S Chili Red, white racing stripes, Union Jack on the roof.
124,000 miles
6spd
CAI
17" s lites with studded snows.

Plates have changed so no worries about that.