Hi fellow Scots and all mini owners! :)

[Hoggy90]

hi there guys...from kilmarnock on the west coast. looking to buy my first mini soon and im looking for advice on which to buy!

been looking at a cooper and a cooper S...both 1st generation (to keep the price down lol) and i was wondering....if i was to remap a cooper, could i get it close enough to the cooper S without spending the extra 1K on the cooper S itself?

also, you guys will know your stuff so recommend a mini to a 22 year old guy with a max budget of around 6k :) will be much appreciated folks!

cheers, craig.

[stoney]

Welcome Craig you won't get a cooper to the same power as an s but you can have just as much fun in a cooper as you can the s ;)

As for what mini to get it all depends on what you are looking for and what spec

If it was me I would look at getting an s as love the wine you get from them ;) and can be easy mod for more power ;)

[Gismo]

:welcome:
Big decision at your age getting an S, insurance may be too high
I would highly recommend a One, then blue fin map, play mini exhaust and better air filter, Cooper power and better gearing.
Well driven you'll keep up with similar S drivers

[Hoggy90]

Welcome Craig you won't get a cooper to the same power as an s but you can have just as much fun in a cooper as you can the s ;)

As for what mini to get it all depends on what you are looking for and what spec

If it was me I would look at getting an s as love the wine you get from them ;) and can be easy mod for more power ;)

lol thanks mate, ive got an S in my sights at the moment, but thinking it might be a better idea to possibly look at a cooper first to keep the insurance down! im guessing the cooper with a simple remap should hit about 140hp?
it needs to be nice inside though, perhaps the chilli pack inside :)


:welcome:
Big decision at your age getting an S, insurance may be too high
I would highly recommend a One, then blue fin map, play mini exhaust and better air filter, Cooper power and better gearing.
Well driven you'll keep up with similar S drivers

a mini one? whats the difference between the cooper and the one? isnt the ONE the more kind of standard non-sporty mini? lol
think its definately betweeen a cooper and cooper S though Gismo Man. as my insurance for the cooper S is only 40£ a month more than my leon.

thanks for all replies guys :)

[MiniSnaps]

If it was me I would look at getting an s as love the wine you get from them ;)

Red or white?

[stoney]

Red or white?

Lol has to be red ;)

[stoney]

lol thanks mate, ive got an S in my sights at the moment, but thinking it might be a better idea to possibly look at a cooper first to keep the insurance down! im guessing the cooper with a simple remap should hit about 140hp?
it needs to be nice inside though, perhaps the chilli pack inside :)



a mini one? whats the difference between the cooper and the one? isnt the ONE the more kind of standard non-sporty mini? lol
think its definately betweeen a cooper and cooper S though Gismo Man. as my insurance for the cooper S is only 40£ a month more than my leon.

thanks for all replies guys :)


Prob around 140bhp I think ;) Can not mind of top of my head

A well spec ONE will be as good as a cooper if you remap it as they are the same eng just the ONE is de tuned and different gearing that's all ;) just de badge it ;)

There are a few guys on here that have had ONE's and remapped them and they have been very good ;)

[ELFMAN]

COOPER S is magic, as Stoney says - you get the WHINE from the blower, and you can tune it for much more power/torque than the COOPER (if you can afford the petrol!)
BUT...
as others have said, a nice COOPER (or remapped ONE) with sorted suspension and brakes can be just as quick on the twisty bits and great fun too! Of course, you can get the S, sort the running gear and you'll have the power for the straights, the torque for the 'in gear' stuff and the suspension etc to put it down on the road. RESULT!

[Mon the fish]

A Cooper will quickly eat it's own gearbox if you up the power, chasing power on a Cooper simply isn't worth it IMO. A One is easily got to 120-ish bhp, but you don't get a rear anti-roll bar on a One, and IIRC there's no fixing points for one either. This means lots of understeer. I'm also guessing that the One has the same lovely cheese-like Midlands 'box.

If you like cars, you're willing to pay for them. Once you put a smaller pulley, Dave.F and manifold and exhaust on an S you won't look back

[Hoggy90]

A Cooper will quickly eat it's own gearbox if you up the power, chasing power on a Cooper simply isn't worth it IMO. A One is easily got to 120-ish bhp, but you don't get a rear anti-roll bar on a One, and IIRC there's no fixing points for one either. This means lots of understeer. I'm also guessing that the One has the same lovely cheese-like Midlands 'box.

If you like cars, you're willing to pay for them. Once you put a smaller pulley, Dave.F and manifold and exhaust on an S you won't look back

so your saying if i get a cooper and remap it, be prepared to fork out for an uprated gear box.

but your saying i'd be better off with the cooper S as a whole? what kind of mpg does the cooper S get if you dont mimnd me asking?

[ELFMAN]

You have to accept that a hard-driven S - especially a tuned one - will drink like Oliver Reed. So if you commute a distance or do big miles, it's going to be an issue. You'll probably get into the 30's on a mixed run, but if you 'use it', you'll be in the low 20's - or worse - easily. But you play that off against the performance and the unique noise, which with the right manifold and system is awesome!

MON knows what he's talking about, so I'd listen to him. I ran a COOPER for 2 years from 2001 and apart from an exhaust, I left it alone - the amount of money I'd have spent trying to tune it wasn't worth it in the long run. I just enjoyed it for what it was - a great wee car with lots of personality which was a hoot to punt down a good road. I went for the S in 2003, and tuned it over the next 5 years before moving on to my current car in '08. Loved that car... So I'd recommend a good S and some fettling as you go along!

[Mon the fish]

so your saying if i get a cooper and remap it, be prepared to fork out for an uprated gear box.

but your saying i'd be better off with the cooper S as a whole? what kind of mpg does the cooper S get if you dont mimnd me asking?

The gearbox in the Cooper is weak as standard, they're prone to fail. Any more power will make that worse, and a N/A engine isn't easy to get power out of.

A properly tuned S (not a canned tune) will get better mpg as they run too rich as stock. Even standard, you should be looking at mid to high 30's on a motorway run, and generally low 30's for everyday driving.

But if you want a fast car, you do need to pay for it

[Hoggy90]

The gearbox in the Cooper is weak as standard, they're prone to fail. Any more power will make that worse, and a N/A engine isn't easy to get power out of.

A properly tuned S (not a canned tune) will get better mpg as they run too rich as stock. Even standard, you should be looking at mid to high 30's on a motorway run, and generally low 30's for everyday driving.

But if you want a fast car, you do need to pay for it

yeah well it was between the leon cupra R(mk1) and the focus ST...but came across the cooper S and prefered it to the others :) and im pretty sure im probably saving money with the mini as the cupra and focus are higher insurance, plus have bigger turbo charged engines.

[ELFMAN]

A properly tuned S (not a canned tune) will get better mpg as they run too rich as stock. Even standard, you should be looking at mid to high 30's on a motorway run, and generally low 30's for everyday driving.

Oh dear... :blush: Does that mean mine wasn't 'properly' tuned then? :smilewinkgrin: JCW 210 + Bits... Went like a flippin' dream though! :thumbs up:
Never got around to a custom map probably because I was quite happy with the way it went and wasn't TOO bothered about MPG due to my low daily miles.

I do know what you mean - you're talking about a custom remap as opposed to a 'plug 'n' play' type upgrade :idea:

[Mon the fish]

Yep, which is the way I'm going soon - got my Newman in the garage waiting to be fitted ;)

[stoney]

The gearbox in the Cooper is weak as standard, they're prone to fail. Any more power will make that worse, and a N/A engine isn't easy to get power out of.

A properly tuned S (not a canned tune) will get better mpg as they run too rich as stock. Even standard, you should be looking at mid to high 30's on a motorway run, and generally low 30's for everyday driving.

But if you want a fast car, you do need to pay for it

this is true mine went under standard power


yeah well it was between the leon cupra R(mk1) and the focus ST...but came across the cooper S and prefered it to the others :) and im pretty sure im probably saving money with the mini as the cupra and focus are higher insurance, plus have bigger turbo charged engines.
mini all the way TBH i drove both the above and mini way more fun :thumbs up::smilewinkgrin::smilewinkgrin:

Oh dear... :blush: Does that mean mine wasn't 'properly' tuned then? :smilewinkgrin: JCW 210 + Bits... Went like a flippin' dream though! :thumbs up:
Never got around to a custom map probably because I was quite happy with the way it went and wasn't TOO bothered about MPG due to my low daily miles.

I do know what you mean - you're talking about a custom remap as opposed to a 'plug 'n' play' type upgrade :idea:

custom map will allways work better than a plug and play i have had 2 of my cars custom maped and works very well :thumbs up:

[Duncan Stewart]

:welcome:

[Hoggy90]

:welcome:

thanks duncan lol

[Colin]

:welcome: