[G105ALY]

Hi guys,

Im fairly new on here, picked up an 04 Cooper S Hartge last month. I hope this hasn't been done before but I wanted to start up a Hartge registry to see how may people have upgraded to this? Mine is a black Cooper S with the 210BHP package. Im very impressed with it so far, and I am just about to get it fitted with the full Aero Kit.

[Shorty]

I used to have one, but don't suppose that counts?

[MiniEd]

Hartge Upgrade

Hi,
Have just joined and have purchased a MCS 52 plate and am thinking of going for either the Hartge 200 or 210 version in order to increase the throttle response and liven the car up since it's a bit sluggish at present.
What is yours or anyone elses experience of the Hartge upgrade?
I've e-mailed Kevin from the Birds garage and he has very helpful, saying there is little difference between the 2 upgrades on the road and that I could make up the 10 BHP later. What do you think?

[Shorty]

Quote: Originally Posted by MiniEd (original)

Hartge Upgrade

Hi,
Have just joined and have purchased a MCS 52 plate and am thinking of going for either the Hartge 200 or 210 version in order to increase the throttle response and liven the car up since it's a bit sluggish at present.
What is yours or anyone elses experience of the Hartge upgrade?
I've e-mailed Kevin from the Birds garage and he has very helpful, saying there is little difference between the 2 upgrades on the road and that I could make up the 10 BHP later. What do you think?

Having owned a Hartge, and now owning a GTT converted S, I'd go for the the GTT every time.
GTT offer a number of upgrades, and as good as Birds are Roland (GTT) goes that little bit further

[MiniEd]

Thanks for advice, the Hartge warranty is a plus but many people on the website seem to be saying such great things about Roland and the GTT conversions. I've also seen quite a few for sale on the Piston heads website.
The car goes into Mini next week to check if there's nothing wrong with the engine and hopefully once it gets the all clear it will be conversion time!
Hopefully throttle response will be much sharper and it will result in smiles all round! Decisions, decisions!

[G105ALY]

I think the Hartge upgrade is excellent, however I havent driven a GTT or any other Mini for that matter. I bought my S with the upgrade already done and afetr 20k it seems great. It is super quick and nice and civilised. GTT does look good though!

[MiniEd]

Thanks alot,
The great thing about Hartge is the warranty. However GTT are buckets cheaper! I've just bought a 52 plate Cooper S with 24,000 on the clock and am wondering whether it's better to upgrade to Hartge for £1,700 or wait for a newer model (post july 2004) and then upgrade. That would cost more however! What plate is yours?

[rasp]

This is what Jeremy Clarkson had to say about my car when Top Gear had it for testing.
You can find the article on Birds website.

Souped up Mini is one in a Million.
quotations from a recent article in the Sun newspaper
We've always known that the new Mini's chassis could handle even more power and now tuning companies are queuing up to release it. Some of the modifications being offered are expensive and not that good, but I tried one this week that was sensational. A company called Hartge, try saying that after a couple of drinks – in fact try saying it when you’re sober – has fiddled about with the supercharger and let its geeks loose with the engine management system, so that their version of the Cooper produces a whopping 212bhp.
That’s about as much as you get from a Ford Focus RS and it means the Mini fairly flies, 0 to 60 in 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 145. 145mph. In a Mini. And the cost of this metamorphosis is just £1,700. So you get a 25 per cent power hike and only add ten per cent to the cost of the car.
I gave it a damn good seeing-to and couldn’t find any flaws. There was oodles of power at the top end of the rev range and lots of steak down at the bottom… they also offer a suspension kit which isn’t worth the bother as well as a four tailpipe exhaust system which is probably a bit much too. I liked their big wheels though.
In fact, I loved this car. It feels like it’s running on Tabasco sauce. Chic, cheap and properly fast, it’s the million pound jackpot.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy Clarkson, The Sun, February 14th 2003

[Bonnie Scotland]

I had the first Hartge conversion in Scotland carried out by Birds, i wrote a review for Mini2, couldn't fault the conversion.
Like others have said, i have not driven any of the latest tuners cars so can't compare, however, i reckoned the Birds upgrade was very aggressive, ideal for me
I finally went for a BBR 240, which ,was as much an improvement from stock to 210 as the raise to 240 was.
In fact our very own Mr Mullet drove it before i did

My Hartge review:-
http://www.mini2.com/review4-hartge-...le-review.html

And Paul's review of my BBR 240:-
http://www.mini2.com/review15-bbr-gt...n-reviews.html

[Hartge210]

Had my 03 MCS + 210 Hartge upgrade since July 05, the original owner had the conversion done (including full Milltek exhaust) shortly after he bought the car brand new, up till now not a problem with it. Apart from when the missus tells me to slow down !!

[Roadrunner_1]

Had my Hartge package a few months now, roughly 5000 miles in and touch wood no problems. Now with a Borla cat back exhaust fitted last week.

I know the Hartge pakcage is slightly more expensive, but they are a true German tuning company and warrenty to boot.

[kalv]

I've got a Hartge 2002 MCS.. loving it.. added an exhaust system, panel filter and dropped the suspension.. great car...

[ragerover]

just bought a red one sold a cooper, car is awsome but crap low down ie 1k to 2.5 k rpm is this normal

[Roadrunner_1]

Does anyone know why the Hartge website has dropped the 210 bhp R53 Cooper S tuning kit? Birds still have it on their list...

[Hartge2002]

Hello..

This is my 2002 Hartge Cooper MRS. Modified by Hartge in Germany. 200BHP kit

Specs:
Pulley and software
Lowering kit
Exhaust (rear silencer)
Wheels tires Union Jack with Pirelli Nero 18"
Aluminium pedals
Aluminium foot rest
Aluminium gear knob
Aluminium hand brake handle
Key ring
HARTGE badge

[Hartge210]

Hi mate & welcome, not to many of us around

Sounds like a nice car you've got, don't forget to post up a few photos.

Cheers
John

[Hartge2002]

Thanks..
Here is some pictures of my ride

[Hartge210]

Looks . Love that Norweigian scenery in the background.

I replaced my Cooper S badge with the Hartge one, just to keep people guessing

[MINIMANIAUK]

For you Hartge lovers -we had a Hartge car in the other week ,it also had a GTT intercooler and a different manifold fitted -it made 223 bhp (crank) thanks Paul at 1320 - had our head/cam fitted and made 259(crank) once again thanks Paul

The car went well,the only thing I didnt like was the amount of stone chips that showed through the white undercoat along the sills and front due to them being fibreglass - I guess the owner was putting it to use!!

[Hartge210]

I've got a Milltek + manifold on mine & BIG intercooler is next on my performance mod list