Hi There From A Mini Cooper R53 Owner In Kent

[Wilko R53]

I just thought I'd say hello as I have just joined the forum. A little about myself, and my car.

I am a mechanical engineer by trade, and i have always been a bit of a petrolhead, having owned a few of the RS branded Fords in the past, as well as an E30 M3, and now I'm in the middle of building and tuning my Mini Cooper R53 to do the odd track day, and of course to surprise a few people on the roads, as well. I will probably spend more time on the Mini section but I will watch with envy some of you guys with your far superior cars on the other parts of the forum.

[G4VHD]

Welcome mate.

Get some pics up dude

[Snypa-D]

Welcome to BMWOC :)

[kee1173]

welcome mate...be nice to see how it turns out and what speed figures you get...

[Wilko R53]

I'll dig some photos out from when I purchased the car, up to where I am with it now. Not quite sure how quick it actually is, but it's all coming together rather nicely. Maybe if there's any regional meets in the Kent area, I can come along in my mini. One thing is for sure......... you will certainly hear the car from afar! I run it with a janspeed manifold, a decat pipe, and a Miltek cat back system.

[Wilko R53]

I hope this works

[G4VHD]

Looking good mate

Whats the spec?

[Wilko R53]

Another one. It has changed a little since these photos were done. It now sports the JCW grilles up front now.

[Wilko R53]

I'm running it on a fully rebuilt engine after an after market cam disintergrated on a rolling road session and all the fillings went everywhere within the block along with the engine oil. It now runs a 1750cc conversion, lightened and balanced, forged ceramic coated pistons, billet conrods, the block is the thin walled block but sleeves have been fitted to make the cylinders stronger as the thin walled blocks tend to end up with ovalising of the bores through heat distortion when running big power. The whole engine is held together with ARP bolts and so good for 8000 RPM if we use a cam with the power at that end of the rev range. The head has been ported and polished, new valves and guides etc. And all is timed in on a race spec Schrick cam. The main bearings, big ends, and small ends are all uprated items. The inlet manifold has been ported and polished and matched to the throats of the head, as well as the janspeed manifold has been opened out to match the exhaust ports perfectly, too. I run a chargecooler to keep the IAT'S down, with all the mods I'm running, because the engine is now far far more efficient at getting the exhaust gases out of the block, I have seen nearly a four psi drop on the supercharger's back pressure with a higher output. I'm now looking to run an even smaller pulley to give me back the 18-19psi along with running yet bigger injectors to give me even more power. At the moment, until the cars fitted with the new VIPEC stand alone ecu, we are guessing a power figure in the region of 240-255BHP is more than possible at the moment. We could be looking at a figure in the region of around 285-295 once we have worked a little more on it. this car goes off of its 150mph speedo anytime.

[Wilko R53]

I run a set of fully adjustable coil overs on it with camber adjustment up front, adjustable camber arms on the rear, and a set of the R56 Brembo brakes up front at the moment, to help keep the car stable on the roads.

[Wilko R53]

Another shot of the car.

[Wilko R53]

[Snypa-D]

NICE MINI !! :)

[Wilko R53]

Thank you. Obviously a bit out of the league you guys are in with your BMWs. However, I'd be up for popping along to a meet or two in the Kent area when they are going on, or maybe mix it up with you guys on the track when the next trackday is at Brands?

[G4VHD]

WOW....speachless...

[Wilko R53]

Many thanks. Trouble is. The modifying won't stop here. Looking at more mods, bigger brakes, better coil overs, possibly KW Clubsports, and a bigger supercharger too.

[Snypa-D]

MODDING FTW :) !!

[kee1173]

lovely looking motor, problem is once you start modding it never stops , i am the same with my V70r ( which i was supposed to sell as i got the 728) but got that upto 290bhp 0 to 60 5.8secs mid range is ridiculously quick , top end about 165mph, so no where your coming from.... good luck mate, looks and sounds awesome

[Wilko R53]

Tell me about it. Thing is, the mini is addictive. You can really chuck it about and it seems to handle the power really well.

[kee1173]

i bet it is, the V70r is great in a straight line with awesome power but not so good at the handling, in fact the 728 sport i have is better, but been told by the missus again " get rid of that car " meaning the V70r but it is so addictive when you kick her down, specially when you sit on the ##### of a porsche in an old vlove estate.....

[Charlee]

Welcome.. Nice mini ;)

[J4M3S]

nice mini pics :) sounds like it'll be a lot of fun on the track and certainly suprise a few on the roads too .

[andy-mcq]

Another mini owner. Finally! Mines standerd tho :-(

[Wilko R53]

Welcome.. Nice mini ;)

nice mini pics :) sounds like it'll be a lot of fun on the track and certainly suprise a few on the roads too .

Another mini owner. Finally! Mines standerd tho :-(

Well I have just ordered a 20% reduced pulley and the water meth injection is on its way too. Should really improve mid range pull and I'll be able to run wide open throttle for far longer periods.

[Wilko R53]

Just had the cat refitted as the exhaust was getting louder on long journeys. Now found out the centre box had cracked all around the pipe exit from the box, so I had the centre box replaced with a smaller one and the car sounds really good now. It'll easy pass the decibel limit trackside now! Looking to replace the wheels in the future with either a set of BBS RC's, CH's, or LM's.