[Fifth Gear Racing]

I was very pleased to see some nice Minis on the cover of this months EC. The article in the mag talks about all the companies that are making parts for the mini. After reading the article about the Mini I kinda felt like the writer was trashing the car and its characteristics.
However, 3 things did catch my eye
1. What the hell is the Mini Cooper RS and is this going to be a new model offered above the S?
2. It looks like a company is making a LSD for the S 6spd
3. Dinan appears to jumped in the ring, a little late in my opinion.

If anyone has any feedback on the article please let me know.

Chris

[TomM]

Too late? The car is not even a year old yet. I wouldn't even consider half of the products out there right now. I'd rather wait and see what people like/dislike, what other companies put out, and then make my decision about what I buy later.

JMTCW

[Fifth Gear Racing]

When i said that Dinan jumped in a little late I am just saying, that Dinan being the authorized dealer of BMW performance parts in the US to just now "begun the evaluation and development process for performance enhancements for the two Mini Cooper models, EC Jan03" to be a tad late when compared to other aftermarket companies. Dinan I am sure had the oppurtunity to get a Cooper and Cooper S early, even before it was going to be released in the US and begin the evaluation and development, they are again the only authorized BMW aftermarket performance company that will not void your factory warranty. I would of just thought that they would of wanted to be the first. Dinan is a very well known company and I am sure that people would purchase their products just for the comfort that they will recieve knowing that thier warranty would not be void. but hey that is just my .02

Chris

[minimc]

Dinan late to the party?

Maybe Dinan is intentionally late? Ya know... let everyone else make the errors and spend $ chasing gains/thier tails, then refine the good ideas and add some of thier own know-how. Seems like typical move in a competitive market.

BTW I haven't got anything against Dinan (nor for them) just seems like a business strategy I'm familiar with.

[CUTiger3]

Quote:

Originally posted by minimc
Dinan late to the party?

Maybe Dinan is intentionally late? Ya know... let everyone else make the errors and spend $ chasing gains/thier tails, then refine the good ideas and add some of thier own know-how. Seems like typical move in a competitive market.

BTW I haven't got anything against Dinan (nor for them) just seems like a business strategy I'm familiar with.

I agree. Sound like and effective business strategy. My dealer believes that Dinan will have a chip on the market during 4th qtr 2003. Of course, this is a guess

[Fifth Gear Racing]

I was just reviewing Dinan's website and it appears that they are still developing some things for the E46 M3, so i can see now that this appears to be how Dinan's R&D works. I was definely impressed that they charge only $399 for chip work on the new M3, which also runs with the drive-by-wire system. If we see that price for a chip for the Mini I am gonna jump on that.

But what the hell is the Mini Cooper RS??