Thank you for reminding me, Bilbo...
Bobcruchett -
The other thing is, if you add a supercharger, you'll need to lower the compression ratio (thicker head gasket, new connecting rods, etc) to prevent engine-damaging knock. As soon as you open up the engine to do any of this, your warranty is void (installing the supercharger itself will probably void the warranty
)
Right now, you probably won't lose much money on selling your Cooper (just put it on eBay with a reserve price a couple of hundred below what you paid .. it'll sell). And place your order for an S with one of the more obscure MINI dealerships (Charleston SC, for example) so you won't be waiting eight months.
Chip H.