MINI on Tuner Transformation

Sections: Uncategorized Mar 27th, 2004 35 Comments

This Tuesday, Speed Channel's Tuner Transformation will be featuring a MINI for the first time. Here's the inside story from the owner himself:

Well, as it turns out I was selected to participate in that new TV show “Tuner Transformation.” The format is pretty simple. They know what I use the car for, they take that into account, however they don't tell me what mods they're going to be doing until they reveal the car to me at the end. This way they get my reaction etc. So I could end up with a purple car with pink polkadots but I could also end up with a great autocross/performance car. Think of it like one of those home decorating shows like “While you were out” except for cars.

The episode will be airing on Speed channel Tuesday March 30th at 7PM EST. I've got the car back but cannot post pictures etc of the car or discuss it. Watch the episode!

Cheers,
Paul

Written By: MF Staff

monkey_punch

I might have to dust of the tv to see this one. Any info when and what time this episode will be on the air.

One more thing. The M7 MCS lost to a STI today in socal..Willow Springs .. We lost by 4/10 of a second. We can keep up with the big boys, but we did not beat the STi.

8(
James V

Saw Pauls car this weekend :)

In Canada at least, Tuner Transformations will air the episode at 7pm on March 30th (Tuesday) on SPEED channel.

James
Randolph Lee

this was fun to see the Works kit installed… what an idiot the 'graphics guy is and it's a good thing they did not let that ricer mechanic near it either,,, the suspension guy was good though and did a nice job on the pictures but I was supprised (pleasantly) by the improvements that the JCW kit provided over the 15% and chip etc he was already running and after mentioning the Whalen knob so much you would think they would give it a plug… and who checks the copy on these shows. it should be arachnophilia! he likes spiders he does not fear them
David S.

I saw the episode last night!, actually I taped it so that I could watch it when I got home from a round of lighted night golf! I already have the JCW kit installed on my MCS and love the added torque…..but and I say but the open diff takes away from the full spirit of things when you want to really go quick out of a corner. The inside wheel just wants to spin like crazy (w/ JCW). You really have to feather the throttle on the Autocross course, where I am every Sunday it's available. So I have a question for the “tarantula” owner. How daoes that LSD system work with the MCS JCW?
http://www.georgeco.biz George Hovis

It was an interesting shows on a couple of levels: I agree with Randolph that I was surprised to see the improvement they got with the JCW given what the owner had already done, but it appears the lack of a limited slip dif. is a real weakness in the package. The other thing I found interesting was the overall production values of the show. Maybe it's just me, but that was one of the worst shows I've seen in a while, even for the “extreme make-over” genre which appears to be the staple of current programming. You had a group of mechanics who didn't know what they were doing with a Mini; were not very interested in doing it; and a customer (victim?) who was presented as not really interested in getting this done or appreciative of the JCW. Maybe it was just edited poorly, but the producers could benefit by watching more Monster Garage… It was also interesting to contrast that show with the Mini review in the Sports Car Revolution show that followed.
Ken Endres

I agree with George. David go back to your tape and you will see the stats sheet was for a Honda LX. If you look at the top it clearly reads “Performance Stats Honda LX”. I tivo and had to go back for a second look. I'm sure the numbers are for the MINI S but it's sloppy work. I learned that a JCW kit is not complete without a limited slip. And the MINI tech looked Ticked to be working on the car again. I think I would have edited that part out. It didn't help the image of MINI techs. Glad to see the car getting on going attention in the media.
Eric

I can understand how underwhelmed Paul was when they showed him the car at the end. We spent $10k on your car and the best thing you got was LSD. Overweight 18″ wheels will not fair well in auto-x or with potholes in Toronto either. He already had exhaust and pulley, so JCW got him head work and ECU. Both of those are done better and cheaper by others. Graphics are personal, so I will leave that as neutral.

I hate this show more and more each time I watch. It is now officially on my “do not watch” list.

I wish they would get rid of their tuners and send the cars to real pros that are known for moding each type of car.
Dixon Chan

guess they picked the wrong Mini owner, cause most people would be thrilled with the upgrades they put in. I have a feeling the upgrades were sponsored by BMW so there was less options the show could go.

Also they were aware of paul's auto-x ambitions so their choices of wheel/tires was definitely odd.

in the end it was the a great transformation, but for the wrong driver profile.
Tom Sizemore

What cracks me up was at the end, when the bimbo who obviously didn't know much about MINI's was trying to whip up some reactions from the low-key owner. She proudly throws open the bonnet and proclaims that they supercharged his car… like it didn't have one before. I could see it in the owner's eyes – “What the hell did you do to my car?”

But seriously, it looks like this was a sort of me-too rushed production that was just thrown together to capitalize on a new fad. Even their web site is a bit amateurish. At least the car owner got a free JCW kit and wheels and a LSD. If he is a serious autocrosser, and you need to be to run in the Modified class, he will be running race rubber on a separate set of wheels. So the JCW wheels will be real neet on the street, but probably never run on the autocross course. At least he can sell them for a small fortune on ebay if push comes to shove. The other two mods are of dubious value – the semi-lame graphics and lowering springs.
David S.

Ya, I agree with all of you guys. I was definatly expecting something pretty cool.

Those guys on that show don't no S&*t about cars. The one guy who is suppose to be the trany pro is like, “ah, ya the “JCW” uh adds like uh 200 horse uh…yadee yada ya..”

They don't know what the hell they are doing. The only thing proactive that they could come up with was adding an LSD unit which they did none of the work on themselves.

If they wanted to make an autocross ready car they should have taken some of the heavy weight items off…added a totally revamped suspension, a big brake kit, adjusted the cambers to optimum, put on some 16″ or 17″ super light weight rims wrapped in ultra sticky Falken Azenis Sport wheels, and given him some super sweet decal options to play with. Instead they put supper heavy 18″ rough riding specials with a preworn dirty intercooler to boot. Notice that they didn't show the engine after the upgrades..they didn't even want to clean it…oh well.

Hope that they can still get people to watch the show because the only reason I ever watched it was to see a MINI get the ultimate AutoX job…alot of good that did.

Peace
http://www.michiganmini.com Ryan

I work in media and have been editing for 7 years. This show has the worst casting director/producer I've ever seen on television. This was horrible. The only guy who could remotely make good television was the guy organizing all of the work. And this owner…what a piece of work. Here this guy get a brand new factory backed JCW kit and he is like, “oh, that's interesting.” Are you kidding me?? Give me a new intake for free with install and I'll be, “Thank you so much man!” let alone a JCW.

I thought the decals were a nice touch. Not too gaudy, and arranged nicely on the vehicle. The best part about this show was seeing the guy speed away at the very end. That car took off like a rocket. I can only imagine having a Mini like that.

All in all, Poor Poor Poor casting in every person on that show, including the Mini owner. Poor editing by leaving the Stats Template reading Honda, not researching your show enough to know it's not a BMW Mini Cooper, showing the disgust of the guys working on the vehicle, including the dealership, and not doing any of the work yourself. What a sham of a show this is.
Randolph Lee

ok every one lets have a round of that fine anthem 'Blame Canada' (DG&R)

It does seem as though the 'experts' (right down to their ricer nicknames) are trying a bit hard to be Southern Cal 'hot dogs' and you are right the tuners themselve did bugger all in this show except for the suspension guy getting to be a tool holder for the MINI Mechanic. I think the Mechanic was peeved at not only having to work on his day off (and I bet with out double time or even time and a half [we will make you famous]) but that they could not get their act together to have the LSD parts so he could do it in one teardown. and yes quite a contrast to the review in the next program … but I do not think I will be watching eithe show again… that sort of childish 'attitude' just turns me off big time but I am not thier target demographic… which I bet is 12 to 22 year old boys
Iain Gillott

I taped the show and then watched it with my nine year old daughter. She liked it when they started taking the car apart – I was amazed they did it twice, the second time to put the LSD in.

And even my 9 year old noticed the owner was not very enthusiastic – she was mroe excited than he was and she cannot drive.

So my question: the LSD they put in is about $400 from Mini Mainia, compared to $1200 for the Quaife. As I have an MCS on order and am planning the JCW, the lSD seems to be a good idea. Will the dealer put an LSD in? And is the Quaife worth the extra investment?
ANTSMINI

A dissapointing show all around. I apologize as I was the one who suggested to Gabe he post about it so we all could watch it. Best part is when the graphics guy says “All these cars are, is marketing”. Right there I knew he obviously never drove one, but hey hes right…its no Civic. lol.
http://www.somc.on.ca/ paulmon

Ryan, I'm the “Owner that is a piece of work.” I respectfully suggest you get the fact about the show before spouting off.

There really is something you've all got to understand. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE DOING TO MY CAR! They knew I was an autocrosser, they new I already had a supercharger pulley, intake, Magnaflow exhaust, sway bar, slotted rotors and use track rubber, 15″ Kosei K1 Racing with 225/50-15 Victoracers. Am I happy yes! Very! Do I think the show could have lived up to it's name better? For sure. I think they could have done a complete engine build for the type of money that is in the JCW. They could have done a full port/polish, larger valves, external fuel managment controller, throttle body, custom FMIC etc etc etc. But at the end of the day the show is going to be what they can get from sponsors!

You've got to understand that when they showed me the car that was the first I had seen it. I didn't know what they did until that second. I didn't know the budget, nothing, nada! And ya, I was underwhelmed afterall they have a $10,000 budget and give me the same amount of power the car already had!?! Sure, the JCW is nice, the power is WAAAY more smooth than what I had before but come on! Give me a break! I was underwhelmed simply because they could have done so much more!

Would you get excited right now if I told you you are getting $10,000 added to your house so I yank your pool out and put in another pool of the same size?!?! You'd be like WTF!?!

At the end of the day the JCW was nothing more than a very expensive reinstatement of my warranty. I was hoping they would have ran with the autocross theme a little more. However this particular episode was sponsored by MINI so that wasn't going to happen.

Was my excitment over the LSD not enough for you?

Paul
http://www.gbmini.net Ian Cull

The show tried to walk a line between being good for enthusiasts and interesting for everyday people. In my opinion it failed. MINI must be happy with the publicity, but not with the fact that almost the first words were “no, I don't like them … all marketing …”

A few screen captures here: http://gbmini.net/gallery/TunerTransformations
Lyal Moffatt

I have to agree with Ryan about the production/editing. I am a Canadian editor with more than 20 yrs. experience, and have to say that piece was definately less than stellar. There were so many basic editing errors made it became a mess. It probably was a typical scenario that the producers, editor, tuners (term used lightly) really didn't have a clue as to what direction they wanted to go. Add to that, poor research/proofing and well, there you go.

Case in point, for those that watched the show that followed the tuner show. Chassis is spelled wrong on one of the supers. (chasis)

Canadians, fellow Mini owners, and particularly Paul deserved better.
http://www.somc.on.ca/ paulmon

Lyal, I too used to be “in the bus.” An editor to boot and I agree tons of mistakes. However one area that they have improved is colour continuity and sound levels between scenes. They must have taken some of the mod money and bought a spectrum analyzer and a sound level meter. ;) LOL. All joking aside the production values are getting better every show. I just think they're rushing too much. I dropped my car off on the 13th of March and had it back by the 22nd. The did all the shooting for the show that week and then spent the next week editing.

Oh, want to catch a bigger mistake than just a spelling mistake of “chassis?” Check out the “Performance Stats” on Ian Cull's gallery, it says I drive a Honda Civic DX. Hrm, looks like somone reused a graphic. ;)

I got to say though, the host, Jack and Jason (director) are a great bunch and it was a great experience to work with them. The show is getting better with each episode and I'm sure it will get there.

Paul
greatgro

Don't blame paul – he's right – his house comment is the perfect analogy. I have an intake, exhaust and pulley too and if someone was going to spend 10k on it and the most expensive thing they did was give me the JCW kit – and trade my awesome UUC exhaust for the JCW one, I'd flip!

As for that JCW install, OMG – does anyone have that much confidence in their dealer? PArt of the reason I went aftermarket (and used Helix for installs) was to have professionals working on my MINI. The service at the dealer I purchased from can't even do oil changes right (that's a story for another time)! And I'm gonna let those guys install a supercharger and head! OMG! No way!!!

Of course I'm sure some dealers do have knowledgeable people working for them. But I know my dealer's service department is installing just as many JCW kits as any other dealer. Yet they don't have a clue!
http://m3ntal.com Kevin Sodhi

I have to say that MINI Woodbridge is one of those dealers that you can trust.

Flat out, Chris and Daniel are an awesome team. Daniel does fantastic work and Chris always manages your expectations well.

I don't know of anyone that has walked away from the service dept. at MINI Woodbridge unhappy.
http://www.somc.on.ca/ paulmon

I've got to agree with Kevin, I have complete trust in the work that MINI Woodbridge does for me. Chris and Daniel are both fantastic. Heck Daniel installed the LSD in 7 hours, I mentioned that to Eric@Helix and he was VERY impressed.
Randolph Lee

Paul Do you think if you asked the producers they might include a link to Doug's shift machine page when they do the web page for your show?

i was wondering about my guess as to the reason for the 'attitude' of the MINI mechanic? a few posts ago I said (reposted below)… do you think I was close? it is obvious that the work is being done when the shop is shut so either night or weekend is the only option and given how long they had your car he might have been working the WHOLE weekend on it! I would be ticked off too esp. if not much notice was given

From the old post: I think the Mechanic was peeved at not only having to work on his day off (and I bet with out double time or even time and a half [we will make you famous]) but that they could not get their act together to have the LSD parts so he could do it in one teardown.
http://www.miniwoodbridge.com Chris

Hi guys, believe it or not the producer actually wanted us to look upset to go in on Saturday. Since they edited out the actual dialogue with Daniel that morning, it made it look like he was really upset. We were actually looking forward to the installation of the LSD. We just wished they had given it to us while we were installing the JCW kit.
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

Come on guys, the show was on SPEED Channel. Not Bravo. Not A&E. What are you expecting? And in defense of Paul, Umm, I'm normally a pretty well spoken guy. I was on a phone interview for a local morning TV show about an ice storm a few months ago, and I ended up sounding like a stammering idiot. When you're put on the spot, it's unnatural. So slagging Paul's 'performance' on the show is not right.

And about the graphics, they probally could of (or should of) called Cooper Flags, they probally would have done a better job. Spider web, cool if that's what you like, but I'll take the spider before the LSD… (if you remember that from back in health class)
Neons

Wow…this owner Paul…what can I say… NO CLASS.

Here you have a show, retailer, sponsors, etc. giving him way over $10,000 in parts & installation…and what's his reaction?

“Give me a break! I was underwhelmed simply because they could have done so much more!”

Just because you would've spent the money differently, doesn't give you the right to come across so ungrateful. And trust me, you come across as ungrateful (whether you are or not in reality is another issue)

The show really made a huge mistake when they chose you to be the candidate. They should've known that someone like you would've expected more than they were going to deliver. They should've picked someone who would've actually appreciated all the parts, labour and work gone into the car. So that really is their fault, not the owner's fault.

At the end of the day…this owner has tainted the future of these shows and the viability for future people like all of us to be on shows like this and get free parts and labour, etc.

If the shows and sponsors start seeing such lack of appreciation and desire, they are all going to stop sponsoring and producing these types of shows/events.

Paul…get some CLASS. Don't look so disappointed on the reveal, don't start selling parts right after the show and don't start posting online how underwhelmed you were and comparing it to ripping out a pool and putting in the exact same pool.

If you didn't like what they did, say Thank-you, smile, look grateful and go on your merry way.
Tom Sizemore

I'm sorry but I have to defend Paul. The producers and so-called “talent” on the show did much more damage to the show's reputation that Paul could have possibly done. The hosts, with the exception of the suspension guy, were very negative about the car and BMW in general. No media relations or product placement department in a big company is going to want to place products with them if they have a record of portraying products negatively. The producers should have had the good sense to know that and edit the show appropriately. If you look at their web site all you see are apologies that they couldn't get everything in. Instead, as mentioned in the posting by Chris above, they deliberately edited it to create the “tension” and make the MINI techs come off as upset. To me, it would appear to be a short-lived show.
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

Neons… Umm, whatever. Yes, they gave Paul a JCW kit, but gee, he had already spent some of his own cash for parts that the JCW kit replaced. Not a great idea if you ask me. Tuner Transfomation is all sponsered. So they knew ahead of time what mods they were going to do to the MINI. They should have picked a less modded MINI if the main thing that they were going to do was just a JCW kit. The diff was a great addition, and the rims were cool, but lowering a MINI is not always the best of ideas.
http://www.somc.on.ca/ paulmon

Neons, get a life! If you've got no mods on your car already you just can't possibly relate. I was grateful and even called the producer (Jack the suspension guy) the next day as well as the director (off camera) to thank them. I talked to Chris Borba and Daniel from my dealer as well. The experience was great, the mods are great. I'm not going to jeopardize my integrity and bull shit my way through the 'unveiling.' They knew what mods I had before the show aired. I'm willing to admit that they chose the wrong candidate if they knew ahead of time that they were doing the JCW. However, and I've said this 100x, I didn't know what they were going to do and never thought the JCW was ever an option. I agree with Tom Sizemore (thanks for sticking up for me) that having one of the experts “Johnny B” slag the same company that provided the parts was bad, VERY VERY bad. Word is MINI Canada is pissed about that too. However the entire concept of the show is to get the owners reaction when they unveil the car and they go it. A true no holds barred reaction. At no time did they ask me to fake a reaction and quite frankly I'd have trouble doing that. I'm not an actor and I don't play one on TV!!!

If faking emotion is your definition of CLASS then I suggest you get a new dictionary. I kept my integrity intact and gave them an honest emotion and got “giddy like a school girl” when they told me about the LSD.

As for selling some of the parts, that's my business. However suffice it to say my car will be way better for autocross this year than it was last year and I have the Tuner Transformation to thank for that. If that means I have to sell then 18″ JCW wheels then so be it.

If you see a big blonde guy walking in your direction, take my advice, turn around and walk the other way!

Thanks to Rocketboy, Tom Sizemore, greatgro and others who see my side of this.

Cheers,

Paul
http://www.motoringfile.com/ Gabriel Bridger

Here here Paul. I haven't seen the show yet but I say congrats on the additions – I'd take any of them! Oh and let me know if you sell those JCW wheels – I think I know someone interested ;)
http://www.somc.on.ca/ paulmon

Thanks Gabe.
R

The show is a joke, the graphics guy is a complete bafooooooon! Must be somebodies son in law! Next to Cut, Chop & whatever this is the worst show I have ever seen about automotive stuff. The Boyd Coddington show has quality people and quality end products….I sent Tuner a harse email on the crap they call entertaiment…R
http://www.gbmini.net Ian Cull

For those that did not see the program, I did finish converting the program into (5) quicktime files, and Kevin kindly is hosting them – see his post near the end of the NAM thread: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB_14&file=index&action=viewtopic&topic=24681&start=99 (I wonder how to get html links into the comments)
RicXX

Paul is a great guy with Class I will let you know. As for him being under whelmed I would put it stupifyed. You come on in front of a camera thinking your car is going to be “Hot pink with polkadots” (talk from another fourm) then just see some graphics, you are mildly relived. Then you have some chick who is saying “wow you now have a super chager! That has to excite you!” Um I would have told her I already had one, and probably something else not so nice to her. Obviously she didn't have a clue, and I don't think the other guys did either. The suspension guy was all excited about it, that was good, the guys who actualy did the decaling did a tremendus job and seemed excited about doing it. The guys at MINI Woodbridge, why do they seem so unenthused? Well I would guess it was early on Sat morning, after a night out, and looking at a realy long day of work on a day off. How would you feel? But bet they are totaly proud of their work, they are the real tuners of the show.

Hats off to the ones who did all the work on Pauls car. Paul we all know you are greatfull for the work they did, you kept talking about it during the Tech-day.

Don't go off reaming about his reaction till you actualy think about how you would react. Have you ever expected something, and then have it be less than you thought? How did you feel? Also don't make statements about someone character that you don't know just on a reaction you saw on TV. You think that everyone should be the same as you? Now where would the show be if we were all the same?

Sorry, end of my rant. Just don't like seeing good people slammed, especialy by someone who hasn't even met him.
http://www.somc.on.ca/ Paulmon

Thanks for the support RicXX.

Paul
kyriian

Here Here RicXX… I cannot agree more… here's a guy who already got his share of mods (and he said so also right on the show) and they just replaced that power w/ a warranty…

if someone did that to my car i'd jump for joy, yes.. but i have not spent a dime on performance mods yet… if i spent 5k on performance mods, and they just gave me back the parts, and replaced them all with JCW parts… i'd be pretty dam pissed… is the warranty worth 5000 dollars to you? i wouldn't know but in paul's case he obiviously know he's not going to get back his warranty

Hats off to the guys at Woodbridge Mini for putting up to this show…

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