This past March we featured a list of the top 5 non-performance modifications you can make to your MINI. These were things that were, in many cases simple to do, and fairly inexpensive. Our next topic in this series are the top 5 performance mods for the MINI. This month we'll discuss the Cooper.
The standard Cooper is an brilliant car and a great value. It may not have the mid-range power that the MCS delivers but it has almost everything else going for it. In fact from my experience in city driving you can't easily tell them apart. Because of this and for a number of reasons the Cooper is a great choice for the many of owners out there.
However MINI forums everywhere seem to be full of mainly MCS performance threads and modification information. Based on the info that's out there one would think that the Cooper's choices are limited. To some regard they are – buying a Cooper will indeed limit your opportunities to increase performance. First off, according to MINI engineers, the Midland 5-speed gearbox offered from 2002 to 2004 will not sustain much more than 135HP for long periods of time. Further the CVT can't even cope with much more than the stock 115hp.
But none of that should stop the eager Cooper owner from performance mods. Granted you may not want to focus on raw power and speed when modding a Cooper but there are many things you can do to increase performance. Just be fully aware that much of what, for an example, an exhaust or air intake will do will be more for the ear and less for the seat of the pants.
Most Cooper owners don't care to spend too much on performance – otherwise they would have probably opted for the Cooper S. Because of this we'll only mention items that are $750 or less in this list.
Of course this list isn't meant to be the end all be all in Cooper performance but it can certainly be used as a guide to some of the better things you can add.
Now on to the list…
(The number in parenthesis represents generally how difficult it will be to install each item yourself.)
5. Ditch the Runflats: On a Cooper they're meaningless as there's a usable spare under the boot. What's worse they do nothing but spoil the ride and worsen performance with their weight and stiffness. Check out the TireRack or a local tire shop for something that better meets your driving needs. Some Cooper owners may use this opportunity to go to a larger wheel or non-MINI wheel altogether. For looks it's hard to beat either of the OEM MINI 17″ wheels, the S-lites or the R90s. From experience I can say that ditching the runflats and then going with a larger wheel gives you about the same ride quality if not just a bit smother. But if you're needs call for something ultra-light weight you'll want to go most likely with a 16″ non-MINI wheel. Of course in the end this is all a personal choice and really depends on what you want from the car.(3)
4. Sports Suspension Plus: Yes this is a factory option but I can't stress enough how it improves handling and overall composure of the Cooper. If you already have your Cooper and didn't get this option there is one easy thing you can do to help bridge the gap…find an MCS owner who wants to upgrade themselves and have their left over springs and rear anti-roll bar fitted to your Cooper. Otherwise there are alternatives at #3…(4)
3. Aftermarket spring and/or rear anti-roll bar: Aftermarket springs are for those that want a lower and more aggressive look with a bit stiffer then even the ss+. What the anti-roll bar does is reduce body roll and give it a more squat feeling through turns. I would recommend the anti-roll bar first and then the springs if you can't do them at once.(4)
2. Cold Air Intake The Cooper doesn't enjoy the same HP gain in this area that the MCS does but you can get great sound and an impressive looking piece for under $200. I personally have experience with the Pro Mini cold air intake and even have a review of it on the right side of this page. However there are other units out that may deserve a look as well. (2)
1. Aftermarket Exhaust There are many options when it comes to exhausts for the Cooper. I personally recommend the Remus for it's engaging note, lack of highway drone and it's moderate price. However there are several out there that are also worth taking a look at. In fact most MINI owners probably don't know about MINI's own 100% stainless steel “sport” exhaust which is quite a capable product. Overall an exhaust will add a touch more performance, a great look, and a wonderful sound to your daily driving.(3)
Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments section with different ideas. And for all your MCS owners out there we'll be running this same article for you soon!
<p>Gabe, pardon my thickness this AM, but what do the numbers in () mean? Esp. since #3 has a (4)….Is this a rating, and if so, on what scale? 1-5?</p>
<p>That number represents generally how difficult it will be to install it yourself.</p>
<p>We have a member in our club with a Cooper who has added the following:</p>
<p>Madness Intake
Superspring Exhaust
Powerchip ECU
Performance camshaft
Ported/Polished Head with MCS Valves
Anti-roll/Anti-sway bar
Lowering Springs
Adjustable Lower Control Arms
R90's with Yokohama AVS ES100's
Aero Kit and many other cosmetic mods</p>
<p>His CVT is holding up fine after nearly 8 months, and will give most stock MCS's a run for their money!</p>
<p>Doh, that's SuperSprinT exhaust, naturally. <em>blush</em></p>
<p>The Supersprint is a nice unit.</p>
<p>As much as I loved my runflats, I decided to put non-runflat summer performance tires on my MINI this year (I just couldn't justify the cost of the runflats, as I was replacing tires that were not even 2 years old yet). And wow, what a difference. Tye are Yokohama AVS ES100, and besides the fact that the ride is a little bit smoothed out, road noise is decreased, and the grip seems much better than the OEM All-Season runflats.</p>
<p>When will be the MCS mOD</p>
<p>Replacing the run flats, when they wear out,
with high performance summer tires
is both a cost saving and a performance
upgrade.</p>
<p>Nice little list, Gabe. I bought my MINI with the idea of comfortable commuting with a sprinkling of long-distance drives and twisties attacks. I opted out of the sport suspension, mostly for my wife's comfort but also for long term cockpit-time for myself. Lumbar support was a must, and after the first test drive, I was quite pleased with the handling of the standard suspension. Admittedly, I would gladly swap out the underpinnings for SS bits if I find a real deal, and I'm lowering it soon anyway.</p>
<p>I've gone to the MINI Mania intake, after conversations with Randy Webb when he was down my way for a pulley session, and after hearing your Remus sounds I held out for one of those, which is arriving this week. I figure 120 HP + or – is plenty for my CVT, so that's the limit of my in-n-out breathing mods, I'm thinkin'.</p>
<p>Like Rocketboy, I went for Yoko AVS ES100's, an excellent choice, which made the ride much more comfortable, and they do indeed grip MUCH better.</p>
<p>Other than that, I'm sure my chrome mirror caps and all-white sunroof decal have added at least 50 HP to the mix! 😉 HeHe!</p>
<pre><code> BCNU,
Rob in Dago
</code></pre>
<p>Why wait to replace the run flats when the wear out?</p>
<p>Replace them right away and you can sell your run flats for people that need a replacement and recoup most of the cost of something like the ES100s or possibly all the cost</p>
<p>That's what I did at 300 miles on my MCS and the new Yoko's ended up costing me almost nothing.</p>
<p>There is a never ending market for people that need just 1 or 2 run flats because of an accident or bad sidewall cut or didn't rotate their tires and wore out just 2.</p>
<p>This seems as good a place as any to ask: can non-runflat (conventional) tyres be mounted on the OEM runflat rims? Yes, I know this article is geared to the MC and I have a MCS but the theme seemed appropriate. Thanks.</p>
<p>Nice writeup Gabe.. I already have the little (15 inch) non-runflat wheels and SS+ and am very happy with both.</p>
<p>What I really need to make my car faster is to adjust the nut behind the steering wheel.</p>
<p>One more performance suggestion is a driving school or auto-x practice to better use the 115 or so horsepower that we already have.</p>
<p>Yeah good point Steve. </p>
<p>Lex – yes OEM wheels will easily accept both runflat and regular tires.</p>
<p>If you replace runflats with regular tires, how does the runflat monitoring system react? Does it still monitor loss of tire pressure (if that's what it does)? Or does the flat indicator light need to be deactivated?</p>
<p>Steve… I've done just what you're wondering 🙂 . The Runflat sensors are part of the ABS system, so there's no difference as far as the car can see. If you lose pressure, it should still notify you, but as they are not runflats, i'm sure you'll notice before the little light comes on.</p>
<p>replaced the 175-65's with 195-60 Yoko's at 1000 miles (second day. The car looks and rides better. This seems to me to be the perfect size as the car seemed under tired for it's capabilities and portly bulldog stance. Have made the mistake of too wide a tire on other cars to where it stuck so good it wasn't any fun and beyond my skill ability to catch it. Put an S rear bar and poly bushings on with the stock (not SS+) front bar and love the flat compliant ride. Another thing I learned about not making a car too stiff for the street so you can live with it safely. And finally, don't forget the Rspeed exhaust. Simple bolt on install, high quality and absolutely brilliant (mellow but roars when you get on it).</p>
<p>Gabe – does this “mod-ing” (#1-#4) affect the warranty?</p>
<p>How about an ecu upgrade, like the oneclick (easy and reversible), or one of the others available for the MC.<br />
I know they only get you about 5-8 hp, but that's about the same as an exhaust, and about the same price, too.</p>
<p>Bonus of the exhaust – you get great sound and a great look.</p>
<p>I know this is a little off the subject, but I just found out that Dinan (of BMW tuning fame) are preparing a line of products for the Cooper and MCS. Exhaust, throttle body, cold air intake, etc. I dropped by a dealer in CA and they gave me the scoop. Then I called Dinan – they are planning availability in a couple of months.</p>
<p>But here is the best news – Dinan offers a warranty equivalent to the new car warranty. And since the total kit will likely be cheaper than the Works package, Dinan is offering a viable, warrantied alternative to the Works kit.</p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.dinan.com" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.dinan.com</a> for details…</p>
<p>lain – we actually had an article about in in October of last year: <a href="https://www.motoringfile.com/2003/10/27/BMWTunerDinanEntersTheMINIMarket">Dinan Enters MINI Market</a>.</p>
<p>The thing to remember here is that Dinan can only warranty items through Dinan dealers. Most BMW dealers don't sell Dinan parts and by that rational the majority of MINI dealers won't either. Also MINIUSA has made it clear to it's dealers that any aftermarket Dinan part will nullify the factory warranty in area of the car associated with that part. So it's really not the solution many were hoping for. </p>
<p>The kit was to become available in March of this year but the timetable has slipped to mid-summer last I heard.</p>
<p>Gabe,</p>
<p>Thanks – I only just discovered your excellent site. MCS is on order and due in June.</p>
<p>Dinan lists my local BMW dealer as one of their distributors – our nearest Mini dealer is 75 miles away. So I may be one of the lucky ones.</p>
<p>Pricing will, of course, be the determining factor.</p>
<p>One idea for a future article: has anyone experienced major problems with cold air intake/pulley upgrades for the MCS? How reliable are the cars after these upgrades?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I agree in that the regular Cooper is a fantastic car. I also contend that the Cooper CVT model offers much potential for performance mods, but at this time the programming code seems to be the “real” brickwall, more so than the ZF CVT transmission and TRITEC 115hp engine.</p>
<p>The CVT is one amazing machine but grossly under rated even within the MINI community.</p>
<p>According to some official ZF documents I have in my posession, the VT1 CVT Transmission in the Cooper appears to be capable of handling way, way more than 115HP….</p>
<p>I've heard from MINI techs a couple different separate times now about how fragile the CVT is with added HP and Torque. I don't doubt your info but I'm interested as to why there's conflicting views.</p>
<p>It's great to hear people modifying their CVTs – in the early days of the new MINI it was almost unheard of.</p>
<p>The VT1 appears to be a quite sturdy unit. I am not saying it will handle 200HP in its current shape, but probably it can comfortably handle 150-160HP with no problems. The CVT belts in the VT1 are made of steel and given the lighter and less complex nature of the CVT configuration vs your 4-speed slushbox, many things are possible.</p>
<p>Then again, the biggest deterrent at this time appears to be the CVT/ECU controlling software. This car is purely software controlled from the moment you set your foot in the gas pedal to the moment you stop. The ZF CVT document I have explains in great detail all the happenings inside this incredible gearbox and all the fail safe routines it has for emergency braking, sudden acceleration, target speeds, etc.</p>
<p>The aftermarket has a great opportunity to develop CVT specific mods but I am sure many have hit the same brickwall with the propietary CVT controlling code. Last I heard Diamond Racing was doing some naughty experiments with Cooper CVTs, but I haven't heard any news from them in several months.</p>
<p>This is straying OT some, but I will say an un-nammed CVT owner 😉 on a Club Run diced a bit with one of the Diamond lads going up Palomar Mountain Rd in their naughty CVT a while back, and was impressed with its performance. Said anonymous CVT'r was just able to keep ahead, and was thinkin' about heeding the “blue flag”, when something minor in the Diamond MINI let go in leaky, oil dripping way, and sadly, he “DNF”'d. 🙁 (Not the tranny, I was told.) </p>
<p>The CVT is one aspect pretty much ignored by the after-market, so left-foot braking is the best “mod” to one's CVT I can think of. I have one of the first US CVT's out there, and when I first got loose of the break-in period, I took Brooksie out to discreet industrial parks hereabouts and “experimented” with the various modes. I discovered the 1-D-SD flick, posted it online – and it's now a commonly used quick take-off tecnique, that's kinda fun. If you can't beat the ECU, you've gotta MAKE it help you. I'm not gonna overload her on HP, frankly – I like having a “Wednesday” car. </p>
<pre><code> BCNU,
Rob in Dago
</code></pre>
<p>still working away on my CVT…remus, MCS front bumper, tint, x-lights (summers: Michelin Pilot Sports 205/55/16) and S-light (winter tires – Michelin Alpins, also 205/55/16) and Nak CD400 deck</p>
<p>on this site's recommendation and most forum feedback, I don't even know what the run flats feel like…delivered the car on snow tires I gave the dealer and traded in the run flats to my local tire shop for the Pilot Sports.</p>
<p>coming soon, intake, MCS side and rear sway</p>
<p>The Remus cat-back exhaust is on clearance on ebay for less than half price. $200 for cooper,$300 for cooper s. unbelievable. Here is the link to the ebay store:</p>
<p><a href="http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZremususa" rel="nofollow ugc">http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZremususa</a></p>
<p>happy motorin</p>
<p>i’ve got a couple questions before i buy a mini cooper. i live where there is snow. do mini coopers have 4 wheel drive? i have heard that they need high performance racing tires and they have to be replaced often. is this true?</p>
<p>There are no 4WD MINIs (yet). But being FWD, with good tires and a sensible driver the MINI is pretty good in snow.</p>
<p>You can order a MINI with performance or all-season tires and you should get 20K miles from a set if you don’t wheel spin too often.</p>
<p>Depending where you live, you might want to invest in snow tires for the winter.</p>
<p>Dumb question: I have an ’03 Cooper S with 205/45 VR17 runflats. I’m going to need to replace them in the next few months. So would any 205 17 inch tire fit the car?</p>
<p>The various numbers and letters are confusing to this novice:)</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated.
Glenn
Baltimore, Md.</p>
<p>i used to have the same problems (im used to cars that were long before low profile tires). So here is a primer. 205 is the tread width, the 45 refers to the highth (45% of 205mm), the VR is a rating for use (Z is sport tires, dont ask me what V is) R means radial (as far as i know, as all tires seem to have them (except for the bias plies i have lying around of course), and 17 or course is the rim they fit on. So in short, no, not all 205 17 tires will fit your car, but all 205/45 R17’s will.</p>
<p>-Beecher</p>