[imthepredator2]

Hello everyone, My name is William. I recently picked up my Mini and I got to say I am impressed with it. It feels nice and handles nice as well. However, I have owned a lot of cars before, such as a 2005 Ford Mustang GT, 2012 Dodge Challenger, and even a 2015 Hyundai Genesis R-spec just to name a few. One thing I really like is making the car my own, so I tend to search out aftermarket parts for all my vehicles. However, with the mini its tough. Is it really that hard for finding parts for this car! Is my best bet just going to the dealership, and ask them for what I want? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I Am a speed freak, but I also love how my car sticks out due to its uniqueness and style. I know every group of car owners is different, hence why I stay away from some vehicles. But I know that minis are very close knit and willing to help each other, hence why I came over to the Mini rather than buying another massive V8. But as I said, any help would be great!

 

[Ryephile]

Hello. Sounds like you're in the 'States, given your car history. Do you have a Cooper or Cooper S? Pictures are always welcomed!

There's a decent aftermarket for the car, but not nearly as large as the Mustang. The engines in the MINI's are highly advanced and there are only a couple things that the aftermarket has done. That said there's already a good amount of suspension options. What kind of changes are you looking to do?

 

[imthepredator2]

Hello. Sounds like you're in the 'States, given your car history. Do you have a Cooper or Cooper S? Pictures are always welcomed!

There's a decent aftermarket for the car, but not nearly as large as the Mustang. The engines in the MINI's are highly advanced and there are only a couple things that the aftermarket has done. That said there's already a good amount of suspension options. What kind of changes are you looking to do?

Its a cooper S, and the big thing I am trying to do is remove most of the chrome. The headlight rings, the grille, and taillight rings to start. I either want to turn them to carbon fiber or black, but carbon is preferred. out of my history, This is my first turbo car as well. I would like to try to milk a little bit of speed out of it, but I am definitely aware that a fast car doesn't mean the best car. My challenger was 550 horsepower, and I am not expecting to get that much. I am not a very big chrome fanatic, but the big portion is removing the chrome, and using either black, body color, or carbon fiber to replace, both inside and out. The car currently has a nice exhaust note, but something the pronounce the sound of the turbo a bit more would be wonderful. Also, a question with the handling portion. I tend to drive my cars in a "Spirited manner". I was going up an off ramp with it, and it felt sketchy at about 50+ miles an hour. Do I need to have more faith from rolling, or is the handling a larger issue?

 

[Ryephile]

For the de-chroming, MINI offers "JCW Pro" accessories that replace the chrome headlight and taillight rings with gloss black rings, but they aren't exactly cheap. A DIY option would be to get some 3M vinyl and wrap them, satin black or the di-noc carbon would both look good.

There are currently only a few tuning options in the USA for the F56. The easiest is the NM plug-in module. This is a piggyback that plugs inline with the MAP sensor and gets the ECU to make more boost, thus more power. It's simple and doesn't push the engine too hard, and quickly removable for discreet dealership visits. After that, if you wanted to get an exhaust, how crazy you want to get is up to you. I've had great experience in the past with Milltek's exhausts, so I would trust their F56 offering has great tone without being too loud. I've also heard the JCW Pro "bluetooth" exhaust in person, and it's fantastic sounding [if a touch loud] with it's remote-control exhaust cut-out opened up. I would currently not recommend any intakes or airboxes until we see some actual dyno results. A K&N or BMC panel filter should be OK, but the stock paper filter does have extensive surface area and I don't see it as a bottleneck. Further down the road, the USA market should get opened up for flash-based ECU tuning, which will really wake up the engine without inducing any potentially strange drivability problems that pushing a piggyback too far will do.

More hardcore things like camshafts and cylinder head porting are likely not within the realm of possibility on this engine without factory ECU tuning, as the Valvetronic 4 operation is hugely complicated [see my Under the Bonnet thread].


The last bit; handling. There are currently a couple good options available; the JCW Pro, and KW's line-up, that offer improved handling over stock without kidney-rupturing ride quality degradation. There's also NM's stiffer rear anti-roll bar that will reduce understeer. Concurrently with those bits, consider a stickier summer tire to take advantage of the stiffer suspension.


I hope that helps,
Ryan