In the second of our “Spotlight” series we'll be featuring Dave Bunting. Dave took delivery of his MCS very early on in production and has put an extraordinary amount of miles on it since. He's now at well over 40,000 miles with no signs of slowing down.
Dave has been a prominent fixture at North American Motoring.com as both a frequent contributor and a moderator. He also helped found one of the first new MINI clubs, MINI5280 – a Denver area club.
Dave recently took some time out of his busy schedule to tell us more about his MINI and how he's modified it:
'I took delivery of my “pre-spec” MINI COOPER S in June 2002. Being an early MINI owner meant doing a bit of pathfinding, especially when it came time for mods. Sometimes we forget how far the modification offerings
have come in the past two years.'
'In August of 2002, after a couple months of waiting, I finally got the
very first production Rogue / MINI Madness intake. I installed it the day
before heading out on a 3600 mile road trip to the Canadian Rockies. Once
I returned, both MINI Madness and Rogue were interested in what I thought
of the intake's fit and finish. I now have over 30,000 miles on the
intake without any issues.Living in Denver, I was lucky enough to get to know Randy Webb. At the
time I met him, MINI Motorsport (now Webb Motorsport) hadn't opened for
business yet. Like many enthusiasts, Randy's technical knowledge has
guided my modifications. Together, we did some of the first how-tos for
exhausts, sway-bars, springs, and later on supercharger pulleys (mostly me
taking pictures and Randy turning the wrenches). In a fair number of
cases, we were working with the first production parts made available. It
was a great experience for a MINI enthusiast.Overall I'd say my MINI has evolved into something that could be
categorized as OEM Plus, subtle, or maybe even a sleeper.The exterior is fairly subdued with the MINI Aero Kit Spoiler, 35% tint,
and a change in ride height from H&R springs. The springs drop the car
about an inch, but it still looks natural. After seeing my MINI every day
with the springs, MINIs with the stock ride height take on a bit of a 4×4
stance in comparison.The performance mods on my MINI include the previously mentioned Rogue
Intake, the Borla street exhaust, and a 15% pulley. At one point I had
installed the Magnaflow exhaust, and liked it quite a bit around town.
The issue for me with the Magnaflow was the amount of cabin noise during
road trips. Thus, the Magnaflow came off, and the Borla (my original
aftermarket exhaust) went back on. So far I have about 20,000 miles with
the intake/exhaust/pulley combination and have had no problems related to
any of those parts.My intent with suspension modifications was to drop the car about an inch,
make it easier to rotate during autocross, and not reduce the ride quality
to the point it wasn't usable as a daily driver. The parts I selected for
this include: H&R lowering springs, the MINI Madness Rear Swaybar, and
changing the run-flats out for regular tires. Of those items, the
modification that I have enjoyed the most has been the change out to
regular tires. It improved the ride comfort and the acceleration of the
car. In addition, the tires are cheaper and there is a wider range of
tread options (I have used the Falken Azenis, Yokohama AVS ES100s, and the
BF Goodrich T/A V)'.
<p>Dave-</p>
<p>I’ve enjoyed your comments and photos over the years; thanks for guiding the rest of us. You and Randy have a lot of experience with the MINI modifications. I’m curious; of all those tires you’ve used, which would you recommend for spirited street driving?</p>
<p>Dave, I have roughly the same set up on my car MCS 2003 minus the pully. I do have the maganaflow exaust and a Pro Mini intake and srtut bar and Nology wires and upgraded plugs. I am concidering doing the pully. How noticable was the increased power after the pully reduction was done? Any 0-60 or 1/4 mile timing ever deen done?</p>
<p>Excellent to read another “spotlight” – and so very different from me ;)</p>
<p>Dave, that must have been a wonderful time on the vanguard of MINI mods – I envy you!</p>
<p>Gabe – thanks for this new feature; hope it continues for a good while.</p>
<p>Yes I hope it does as well. If anyone would like to nominate someone for a future MotoringFile Spotlight please contact us via the “contact” link at the top of the page.</p>
<p>Lee (tires): if you aren't concerned with snow, then I would recommend the Falken Azenis for ultimate street traction (~$100/tire). The AVS ES100s are a little less aggressive (more rain groves) and cost less ($75), but the AVS ES100s in my experience didn't hold up as well as the Falkens on the track or autocross.</p>
<p>Mitch (pulley): I had the intake and exhaust before getting the pulley (15%). The pulley was very noticeable and made me wonder why I'd just spent $700 on the exhaust when the pulley had a much more noticeable power gain and was only $400 installed. </p>
<p>Ian: Thanks. I enjoyed reading your spotlight as well. One of the nice things about the spotlight is that it allows people to get a sense of different modification philosophies and the various trade-offs people have made along the way.</p>
<p>Gabe: I have a couple ideas I'll e-mail you about.</p>
<p>I'm encouraged by how good the MINI looks after a few years…I'm intending to keep mine for a looong time…..very nice car!</p>
<p>nice to hear about a mini with lots of mods performing well after some serious miles. thanks for sharing!</p>
<p>Dave — Congrats on the “spotlight”… you definitely deserve it.</p>
<p>Keep on Motoring!</p>
<p>Deb</p>
<p>Dave, how is the windshield holding up? This is your 4th one right?</p>
<p>Actually it's the 5th.</p>
<p>The first four were MINI windshields (original formulation) and they each lasted 2-3 months. </p>
<p>For the 5th windshield I had the PPG version installed. That windshield is almost a year old now with no crack or chips. :)</p>
<p>MINI has recently released a new formulation of their windshield, but it's real world durability remains to be proven out.</p>
<p>If I were replacing a windshield today, I would go with the PPG because it has demonstrated (through numerous reports on NAM) that it is more durable. </p>
<p>Even if the new MINI windshield turns out to be as good as the PPG windshield, I would still get the PPG windshield, so as not to reward MINI for dragging their heals on addressing this problem.</p>
<p>Dave where did you hear that MINI has released a new windshield? All the part numbers I saw on the forums were simply the tinted version and nothing actually new. I also asked some sources at the plant and they assured that there hadn't been any change to the MINI windshield in the way of a new part #. Also a source at MINIUSA has said that there will be news on the windshield front coming shortly and impied nothing has been changed yet.</p>
<p>BTW I'm on my 4th!</p>
<p>Yeah, now that you mention it, I saw those reports about the new part numbers belonging to the tinted windows too. That said, I keep hearing MINI has released a new windshield. I suppose that conflict of information is another reason to go with the PPG windshield for now.</p>
<p>Based on my experience with the MINI windshield I would have to agree.</p>
<p>2002 Cooper CVT = 22K miles and still on original factory windshield. Glass is in pristine condition, just a couple of small nicks. car has been driven all over the East Coast for around 10K miles worth of roadtrips.</p>
<p>2004 MCS, 6,800 miles and no problems either.</p>
<p>What? Only 40,000 miles in two years.</p>
<p>A friend in my town picked his MCS up in June 2003 and he is already at 45,000 miles. He expects to have 100,000 miles by his first year anniversary. </p>
<p>Know anyone looking for a '03 BRG MCS at a reasonable price?</p>
<p>So in 10 months he's driven 45,000, but somehow he's going to drive 55,000 in the next two months? </p>
<p>Projecting out from 45,000 gets us to 55,000 miles (assuming similar driving), which is still a heck of a lot of miles. What's this guy do to put that kind of mileage on the car?</p>
<p>I am impressed with the milage you have put on and with no mechanical problems.
I myself will at one point put on regular tires. I have 16″ on my MCS and will be doing some serious traveling this summer into Canada. Not very thrilled with my runflats what would I need as a spare short of buying a complete rim and tire? What are you using as a spare?
Thanks, Hans</p>
<p>I delivered the car with Michelin Pilots last winter…</p>
<p>my tire shop gladly took my “reasonable” trade in offer for the stock goodyear runflats and picked up a set of Michelin Pilot Sports (205/50/16)</p>
<p>this was on your recommnedation and all the reading I found that the run flats were one of the first things to change…if it was universal advise…I took the chance and the slight hit to the pocket book to trade in a perfectly NEW tires.</p>
<p>not regretting it, the tires are amazing (have them on my VW Jetta also) but i haven't driven on run flats to know what I'm missing :D</p>