can my MINI survive in a hot country??

[naufal.stab]

Hi all. I know this is a stupid question but it is worth asking cause when I google it, no useful answer came out. If you know the answer, it might be worth sharing right?

I am planning to bring the car back to my country later after finishing my study. This is a UK spec car suitable for climate and atmosphere in the UK. Can this UK spec car survive in another country especially in hot country?? Please don't laugh. for eg, I understand that UK basic MINI doesn't come with air-cond but do come with heater. While in hot country, air-cond is required while heater would be redundant. this is just a small aspect which can be rectified easily. but, how about the other more important stuff like engine,suspension,cooling system etc?? UK spec car is used to cold air intake while hot country is really hot as you might imagine (and some places have very dirty air than in UK). Will the 'hot air' affect the engine and cooling system etc which a UK spec car is not used to being exposed to a hot country?? Can it survive then??

Again, I am sorry if this question sounds really stupid but suddenly this question was spinning around my head. I was forced to get an answer to creep out of this curiosity. Please do share with me and please dont laugh cheers

[AndyP & Lenore]

No laughing here at all... Perfectly reasonable questions. I only wish I had the answers. I would have thought prett much all mini's come out the factory as standard when it comes to the components you mention. I can't see them putting different coolant in for Dubai for example than what they put in for Scotland.

I wonder if an email to mini customer services may answer your questions for you. Not even sure a dealer will know.

A. :D

[naufal.stab]

Hi thanks for your response :) I understand that not all cars in the world are produced at a single factory only. For eg, Honda is made in Japan. Since Japan labour cost is high, Honda cars coming into Southeast Asia market is manufactured locally in Thailand/Vietnam for eg. to reduce cost. Obviously parts will be a bit different depending on where the cars are exported to. This is just an example. So, I do believe that car specs are different depending on the region. Maybe MINI in hotter country need bigger radiator perhaps. or different oil viscosity. or different size intercooler. I don't know. Perhaps anyone here with knowledge can give it a blast :)

[weefossy]

Think all the Minis come from Oxford and I think the engines are all put together in Swindon, but I could be out of date on the later bit. Alan may be able to give a view on coolents etc as he lives in Florida. I think you will be fine, but air con will be a must in any hopt country.

[KenL]

Where are you going to? I would think that MINI UK Customer Services could give you the exact answer if we can't.

I doubt there will be any changes required though with regard to the engine. Although the ambient temperature may be different here to your home, the engine is a closed unit and quickly comes up to the same temperature no matter where you are in the world. Although some parts of the world feel different to us, there is unlikely to be a large difference to a machine like a car. In the UK we can range from -20C to 35C on extreme days. Anywhere else in the world in unlikely to get to more than 40C on a regular basis, so not much of a difference really.

I would only be worried if you are going from driving on the left to driving on the right, then the headlights would need adjustment.

[naufal.stab]

I am planning to ship this car back to my home country, Malaysia. RHD is not a problem as Malaysia also use RHD cars. Thats why I love UK cars! :) Malaysia temp average at 32 degree C during the day. However, in the afternoon it will be damn hot. Thats the figure of 3 years ago. Now, with global warming and etc, I am not sure how high the temp goes during the day. My car has air-con I guess. I think so. Do you know how to check whether there is air-con in the MINI? I have used the heater but never use the air-con yet. So not really sure. Plus, if anything happens later, it will be quite hard to find spare parts there. If available, the price is rocketing. I was planning to stock up some important parts before shipping it back. The worst thing is, imitation parts are almost everywhere with deceiving garage claiming them as OEM while in fact they are cheap fake Taiwanese/Chinese products. Really sad to leave UK next year :(

[Mon the fish]

Get yourself a Scangauge and a GP or GRS intercooler - you don't want IAT's over 55 degrees, which will be very easy in that hot a climate

[naufal.stab]

Okay mate! :) hopefully if anyone here ever wanted to swap their GP intercooler with my JCW, please do let me know! If possible, I want to remain standard. GP sounds better. GRS is cool but it'll be difficult if I want to sell my car later(just in case)