Possible stupid question

[minifish]

Ok I am about to buy a cooperand I am debating between getting an s or not. of course I know of all the benifits having a supercharger on my car would make. howeverI am going into my senior year of college and am doing this on a very limited budget. My question is are there ways to make a cooper a respectable amount faster. My father has an s with the JCW package so when I get into a plain cooper i feel very slow. Think I should hold off till I can afford the payments on an s or should i go for it and mod it alittle

[joeyjoe9]

get the S w/o any options.

[Leccy_Blue]

As above.

Get an S and you won't regret it

LB.

[quim]

I love Classic style of a Cooper... I prefer it.

[minifish]

are there any performance mods for the plain cooper

[dansmini]

Of course it's a stupid question. Regardless of any financial restrictions, Get an S. Even if you have to live in it and quit school. Everybody knows the Cooper is too slow!!!!!!!!!!!! No one should ever get a Cooper under any circumstances as long as the S is available. I heard soon MINI will only make the S, as the Cooper just isn't selling.

Just kidding. The differences are low end power. Get a Cooper and keep the revs up! Add on an exhaust and an intake for around $700, it will sound and feel proper!

[minifish]

Not trying to say your wrong by any means but the salesman at the dealership told me that you wont feel any differance below 4000 rpm. Is he full of it?

[dansmini]

Quote: Originally Posted by minifish

Not trying to say your wrong by any means but the salesman at the dealership told me that you wont feel any differance below 4000 rpm. Is he full of it?

I noticed a big difference at the low end. I'm not saying it doesn't pull a bit harder higher up, too. My test drive was unfortunately on a lot of side streets with one short stint on the highway, so I did not get it going too fast for very long. But the big difference I felt was low end. I say test drive them both, figure out the cost differences (factor in fuel and insurance differences) and decide if it's worth it. For me, it wasn't. Not yet, anyway. Just got my Cooper last September and it's not my time to swap it out yet.

[AmRov]

Minifish -- I read an article a while back about performance tuning options for the Cooper and for the S. The verdict was essentially -- don't waste your money on performance mods for the Cooper. They couldn't squeeze much more out of it. The S has a lot more room for tuning, with increases of 30-40 HP very easily achievable, and even more... But they couldn't get much more than, say, 10 extra HP out of the Cooper (leaving it still well below the S).

Also search this forum on upgrades for Coopers. I seem to recall some boasting achieving nearly S-like HP ranges for a Cooper, but I'm not certain...

In the end, though, if speed and performance are very important to you, it will be worth it in the end to save up a little longer and go for the S. Not only will it be faster as stock, but you will have room later to boost it even more, if you wish (and as your budget allows).

[dansmini]

Quote: Originally Posted by AmRov

Minifish -- I read an article a while back about performance tuning options for the Cooper and for the S. The verdict was essentially -- don't waste your money on performance mods for the Cooper. They couldn't squeeze much more out of it. The S has a lot more room for tuning, with increases of 30-40 HP very easily achievable, and even more... But they couldn't get much more than, say, 10 extra HP out of the Cooper (leaving it still well below the S).

Also search this forum on upgrades for Coopers. I seem to recall some boasting achieving nearly S-like HP ranges for a Cooper, but I'm not certain...

In the end, though, if speed and performance are very important to you, it will be worth it in the end to save up a little longer and go for the S. Not only will it be faster as stock, but you will have room later to boost it even more, if you wish (and as your budget allows).

This is a very good point. The S is WAY more mod-able than the Cooper. You may find posts where people discuss adding a turbo and getting 200BHP out of a Cooper, but I think the gearbox will not take it, so by the time you turbo charge the Cooper, add in a stronger gearbox, you are probably in the realm price-wise (and HP wise) of a JCW S anyway.

[AmRov]

Quote: Originally Posted by minifish

Not trying to say your wrong by any means but the salesman at the dealership told me that you wont feel any differance below 4000 rpm. Is he full of it?

Drive 'em both and see! It's possible that the difference is not as pronounced below 4000 rpm... I do find that clearing 4000 rpm is where my MCS really takes off. So, needless to say, I tend to keep it near or above that range! If you are into driving fun and performance, you would likely do the same.

My opinion: Never settle for something less than what you really want, if you can get what you really want by waiting just a little longer. Assuming you own your MINI for at least 3-4 years, the extra few months you wait will be negligible. If the S is what you really want, then go for it!