The Mighty Fun MINI

[stover]

I bought a MINI !!

so the mk2 gti was fun but it was by no means a proper daily driver, vr6 swap, cammed , lowered , loud and not even close to emmissions legal so it had to go

it was replaced by my new obsession , an 05 MINI Cooper S . This is the newest car and probably one of the nicest i have ever owned, and definately the most stock. but not for long if i have my way . anyway i took it over to princeton MINI , they gave me a 3500$ estimate of work they think it needs, which i agree with but not for that pricetag. the car has a 1 year warranty through ford (bought at a ford dealer) so i will see whats covered and take care of the rest myself. so now the good part, pictures!

these are all iphone shots so be gentle






I have already aquired a set of H&R coilovers for CHEAP that need a rebuild so im on the search for a company that can do that so far i know bilstein can but im not sure how much that will run me so im still browsing around , other then that heres the wish list (in no specific order)

Alta Rally light bar with HELLA lights
Exhaust
S/C pulley
S/C belt
Intake
Tune
Plugs
MSD coil
Wires
Ipod cable
Black out the chrome trim (exterior)
Coil overs
Wheels
Short shifter
Shift knob
LED tail lights
Honeycomb grilles

[Got Insulin?]

Awesome car, awesome color, but I'm biased. What maintenance do you need done? I have almost all of the MINI specific tools for major stuff and a bunch of belts/filters/FSM. Let me know what you need, bud! If I can't help you, Helix in Philly will help sort you out. Only dudes I trust to touch my car as they did my swap, and they're also make proprietary parts and know these cars A-to-Z.

Also, the stock coil is far superior to the MSD. Check out motoringunderground.com if you haven't found it yet, a much better community that's not quite as big as NAM, but into all sorts of custom work and the like.

Also, FEAL suspension does suspension rebuilds. Give them a shout.

[stover]

thanks, the big ones are , motor mount, control arm bushings, and the fans not having low speed . other small issues like a slow oil leak and a p/s leak need to be addressed eventually. ill def give you a shout !


anyway the journal is due for an update, in the first month of ownership i have managed to sell the blown coilovers i bought, purchase a pulley kit with belt and 1 step colder plugs (still have not installed the kit yet) . bought a set of gently used VMAXX coilovers and installed those, along with removing the very heavy and very quite mufflers in exchange for a straight pipe. the mighty mini got mighty rowdy!

click for video of exhaust

[stover]

so figured id update a little more for those who check. lowered the rear more and have just been absolutely loving driving this thing, im looking into what to do exhaust wise however because the straight pipe is a little "obnoxious" on decel and causes gunshot like bangs/pops and coming home at 11pm waking the neighbors is not something i want to do.





before and after coilovers

[drifty240]

Looks and sounds great... How is it for get up and go ? I know it does not have a ton of power but does it carry it well ? I want a fun weekend car or autocross car.

[Mitsu3kgt]

Wow Stover, it's Matt from Team Toyota. It's been a long time, I'm liking the Mini

[stover]

Originally Posted by drifty240

Looks and sounds great... How is it for get up and go ? I know it does not have a ton of power but does it carry it well ? I want a fun weekend car or autocross car.

the powerband is very linear and the car pulls "comfortably" to redline. the "custom" intake and muffler removal definately made the butt dyno feel it pick up a bit but, im really looking forward to the pulley kit and a tune! i would absolutely recommend this as a daily to anyone, this is by far the most FUN car ive owned even if its not the fastest

Originally Posted by Mitsu3kgt

Wow Stover, it's Matt from Team Toyota. It's been a long time, I'm liking the Mini

thanks matt! still have the monster? ill shoot you my number

[Mitsu3kgt]

Yeah, I still have the VR4 just sitting in the driveway. I bought a M3 a few years back and been working on that mostly. We should meet up, maybe hit a few BMW shows in the spring. Me and Ryan went to a few last year and it was a good time.

[stover]

sounds good to me!