1st Gen R53 Cooper S One Well Kept Pep

Well, even friends w/ both Miatas & R53s would say the latter is a lot more fun. Not comparing the former with the Roadster S, but w/ the MGs. Rear wheel drive goodness.

 

Finally, Canton coolant tank & Stant cap arrived & insatalled.

 

It's been quite a while. Da Mastah's car has been in great shape & not much more tweaking can be done really.
He simply wanted to keep this OEM+. Instead of swapping for a BT headunit, he opted for the MINI aux kit:

Installed:

 

What normally comes after a WMW 15% & a DDM CAI? Not a custom tune.....yet, but a good catback ehaust system. Cheap hobo ones are aplenty, but Da Mastah wouldn't want any of those. Not even a Borla nor a Milltek could cut it. He had issues w/ their fit, quality & sound.
With much patience, he scoured, searched & stumbled upon a rare new set of Nippon-made CROSS cat back at about half the $1800 price tag it used to demand. Apparently, the same Japanese CROSS coilover company was clearing its US inventory.
I saw this kit in the flesh & haven't stopped drooling since. Listed at 22-29lbs for the entire kit, I really wouldn't mind it weighing a tad more. That's light for a dual exhaust system w/ a resonator at the straight pipe.
Stainless grade, fit & finish? These are where the Japs excel & beat everyone in. The kit can be installed by a single blind guy w/o alignment issues. That's Japanese precision at its best. Sound? Sweet deep toned music w/o the drone nor the unwanted loudness some found with the likes of Borla. All joints are flanged, not sleeved. Yeah, the standard mandrel bends, too.
Gains? We will know soon.....w/o further ado......

The extinct CROSS catback:

All buttoned up w/ the aluminum underplate:


Wish he would post some sound clips up......

 

M/A gets the 1st glimpse of this never-before-seen strut bar from AP+P GmbH. Such precision, attention to detail & beauty poured into a simple piece of engineering. It doesn't touch the DDM CAI nor the hood insulation. This was the problem of the m7. Another unique feature Da Mastah did was to have this bolted onto his Cravenspeed tower plates! Someday, I might afford this mod. I'm up for both the bling & whatever presumed performance benefit it gives.

World Premiere:


Thanks for peeking, guys. Who knows what he'll be up to next.

 

A useful tip: one thing he noticed after the aux kit install, the dash rattles went away. Tightening those screws up seemed to do the trick.

 

Next mod for this car might be front camber plates. Your opinions, views, reviews on what's out there would be much appreciated, guys. What's the most reliable (should at least be way better than stock, I suppose?)& clunk-free option out there? Vorshlag, IE, SPC, H-Sport, whatelse? Has anyone installed RTM camber plates? Coilovers are the last option. He doesn't track, but loves runs & spirited driving.
Thanks, guys.