hi there i have just bought a cooper s convertable, in black. love it already, i live in stoke on trent, would like to no more about pulley upgrades and stuff to increase the power, this one seems a bit slow to me, any help would be greatfully received. thanks for your time john

I felt the same way really, it feels a slower than I thought it would given the specs. However, out of the 5 that I tested when I was looking to buy, this one was the best.

I fitted a 15% pulley (Cravenspeed) and shorter belt from Lohen and some new iridium plugs. It was much better after this but I felt it was really struggling past 4000rpm. I checked the air filter which should have been done a few thousand miles ago at a mini main dealer and was listed as such.
It was filthy, clogged and clearly hadn't been done.

Swapping the filter livened it up a bit, it will pull cleanly through the rev range now but it still feels under expectation on full throttle.
In my VR6 with a Schrick inlet, (209bhp/210lbft) I very rarely went past half throttle, there was no need as there was never enough road without breaking the speed limit.
I can push the throttle all the way down on the S and it always feels like it's struggling to get air flowing in. Having looked at the filter and inlet piping, it's tiny!
The filter areas is roughly 2/3rd's the size of the golf.
However I have read that swapping the air filter or fitting a new airbox doesn't have a dramatic influence here so it may be a general throughput problem rather than just the airbox. The Works went with larger valves I believe.

It might just be for me that I'm missing the torque of a tuned 2.8 v6 and a 1.6 s/c engine even though it can match on bhp with a few tweaks just can't replace that.

I did look at a Renaultsport Clio 197 before buying the Mini and it felt like an absolute wet lettuce engine wise (chassis and looks/interior were great!) and that is another that's lacking in torque.


I've gone off on a bit of a ramble there, but it sounded like you are having the same thoughts as I was/am. The pulley upgrade does seem to add literally 15% more to the engine and you can feel the difference for sure. It's a very effective upgrade cost wise. I chose not to go to 17% to keep everything within manufacturers tolerances as I use the car for work etc and didn't want to reduce the life of the belt or charger too much, 15% keeping the supercharger spinning within it's rated spec I believe.

Get yourself a dave f airbox,around the £140 mark,great upgrade, from mini torque,com forum,

Get yourself a dave f airbox,around the £140 mark,great upgrade, from mini torque,com forum,

Is the "problem" I'm describing a common reaction then?
I've seen the Dave F (hybrid isn't it?) box discussed - is that the cure to what feels like lack of airflow?