1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Whats next???

Motor only downhill:wink:

 

:cornut: The first thing would be a 'tune' which will help a lot. Then if still wanting to carry it further: exhaust headers, pipes, new cylinder head, more aggressive cam,bigger supercharger, and a huge bag of money followed by another tune.

Jason

 

If you want to go fast get rid of OEM wheels and run flat tires and get some lighter rims and better tires. You can drop 15+ lbs a corner easy. OEM rims weigh in at about 25-26 lbs each before a heavy run flat tire is ever mounted.

Also remember no mater how big your brakes are or what pads you choose they are only as good as the tires mounted to your rims. Grip is important not only in turning but more importantly when stopping.

Things that don't make power are:
MSD coils and Plasma boosters
Red painted anything
Headlight eyelashes
Shark ECU flashes
Cheap eBay parts
And anything that says ALTA on it. :devil::lol:

 

You want to drive your MINI without a muffler?

Be prepared! It'll sound like an angry chainsaw!

 

I'm pretty much at this decision point after I upgrade my JCW brakes with slotted rotors and new pads. However, I have a JCW so I'm pretty much through steps 1-5. Aftter spending $700 on brakes I'll have just a little bit more to invest in either a header or a tune.
The general consensus is to call Jan at Revolution Motor Works (RMW) and speak to him about what you should do next. A good gameplan goes a long way when modding.

 

Oh no! Dave we can't start bashing ALTA! We'll get thread hijacked by the ALTA people. :devil:
However, IDK about you but my mini eyes added atleast 5hp :cornut:

 

Yeah and my car is fast because its red.

 

reduce your mass.
f=ma

 

can car handle pulleys (blower and crank), header, and pipe without a tune, or will it run too lean at that point? and then, does it really need a tune, or would injectors and stock pulse suffice?

mostly curious. im adding 15% pulley and 2% overdrive pulley on otherwise stock rotating assy, and much like rocco, want to know whats too far before i get there.

 

:cornut: According to the book 'Motoring'(strictly R50/R52/R53) by Gary Anderson and Don Racine, the list(only including engine upgrading and NOT including braking/handling/steering/suspension/wheels/tires up grades) is:

1. CAI

2. Supercharger pulley and belt

3. Tune(aka ECU remap)

4. Iridium(or better) plugs

5. Cat back(or ILLEGAL delete) exhaust, a better idea is header and cat back exhaust

6. Performance clutch and light weight fly wheel

7. Plasma booster or spark plug wires

8. Throttle body upgrade

9. Water to air inter cooler

10. High performance Cam, Head, and Injectors

11. Another tune/ECU remap to allow for all of the above up grades

12. Beyond the 11 above is getting into the 'short block', pistons, connecting rods, crank shaft, main and rod bearings, and boring out to 1.8L or even 2.L

Again, this is only for R53 and below. Only some of the above applies to the R50(normally aspirated) engine. The R55 and above being different engines and, if they have forced induction, turbocharged as opposed to supercharged. Also there are MANY MANY handling/braking/steering/suspension/wheels/tires up grades to be considered and of course the very FIRST UP GRADE should be driving school.

I Hope That This Helps,
Jason

 

An aftermarket catback exhaust will increase hp and reduce weight. I'd start there. You'll feel the gains mostly in the upper RPM range. And then you're pretty much done with the easy stuff.

If you still want to go "faster," you should figure out whether you want your car to be a drag racer or a nimble road racer. The former entails a more aggressive head and cam, while the latter includes stiffer suspension, polyurethane bushings, and bigger brakes. Lighter wheels and stickier tires are common to both lists.

 

Speaking of exhaust systems, is there a company that sells mandrel bends for these cars WITHOUT mufflers? Im not interested in paying $700+ for a cat and muffler system ant i dont want.

 

No, i wanna add my own muffler to the system. Ive found mufflers that sound very good on small cube engines, low drone and still growl at wot.

 

must be a good thing im painting all my extra parts black, then, eh?

so. DOES anyone know of a company that'll sell just the mandrel bent pipe (no muffler) for an r53? i REALLY dont want to put a kink bent pipe on my nice car, when my $500 car has a mandrel bent kit

 

You can buy bent pipe in any size you want from magna-flow. You will just have to pay someone to weld it all together. Make sure you get stainless steel.

Keys and Summit also sell DIY exhaust kits.

 

There are lots of exhaust options. I think there are some vendors on here that sell pieces and parts for your exhaust like this...
janspeed

 

this is what im trying to avoid.

i have a two piece mandrel bent pipe kit for my shelby charger, which contains over axle bends and all in two slip joint pieces.

something like this, but with bends appropriate for mini.
these start at factory cat location and run in two pieces to the rear bumper of the car, letting you choose where to place resonator(s) or muffler(s)

FWDPerformance.com

ive bought various pieces for charge piping (aluminum, of course), but i dont want 6 million welds in my system, either, if i can help it.

surely the mini aftermarket has developed this far in ten years?