westf27
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:22 PM |
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BMW Mini Cooper S
Looking at one of these,its a John Cooper Works.Anyone got/had one,even just standard cooper or s.Whats bad whats good.
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BenB
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:25 PM |
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I've got a supercharger off one and 4 injectors  Very nice they are too 
Last of the supercharged Coopers. How can you have a CooperS with a turbo on it (oh the shame.....)....
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westf27
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:40 PM |
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Ben,good point lag may be an issue,supercharger is always on tap for power.So thats one negative.
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eznfrank
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:40 PM |
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I had a Cooper S for about a year and recently nearly bought another. Depends what you want out of a car but they're good fun and pretty quick
for what they are. Loved the supercharger whine too!
Main downside for me was space, even struggled with medium sized suitcases and I go away quite a lot so it was a bit of a drag. I also had a problem
with the onboard computer failing but BMW just re-set it (after they asked me if I had recently thrashed the car )
I would have probably kept it but I bought it cash and then later needed a new bathroom and kitchen and couldn't really justify £18k sat in my
works carpark all day doing nowt!!! I think I lost less than a grand on it but that was back when the new waiting list was massive!!
On average mine did about 23mpg! But I do have a particularly "stop-start" commute.
[Edited on 5/8/08 by eznfrank]
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westf27
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:48 PM |
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ok thats positive,thanks
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Wells
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:50 PM |
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I have one sitting in front of me in the showroom. I sell them for a living. Give me a shout and I will keep you right.
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Fatgadget
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:51 PM |
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Sacrilege! A real Mini Cooper S is 1275cc has twin fuel tanks,hugs the road like a limpet and leaks like a sieve.
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iank
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Fatgadget
...and leaks like a sieve.
Water into the cabin and oil out of the engine
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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adam1985
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 04:53 PM |
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i dont like them typical bmw plain and everything is an extra
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mr henderson
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:10 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by westf27
Ben,good point lag may be an issue,supercharger is always on tap for power.So thats one negative.
On the other hand, turbos can produce good torque and power at much lower rpm than superchargers, simply because the boost they produce doesn't
depend on the engine speed.
A good example is the Audi 1.8t turbo engine which doesn't need lots of revs to get it going. Just a question of getting the turbo sizing and
control right
John
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carpmart
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:20 PM |
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My wife has had one for a year now. I have 're sized' the supercharger pulley and put a free flowing cold air induction kit on hers.
Also put some iridium plugs in it and I reckon I have near to the works output now! 
I was happy to not buy the works and go for a standard cooper s but with the aero kit which I personally think makes the car.
Great car but very tiresome on longer journeys as with runflats the ride is ROCK hard.
She hasn't worn the runflats out yet but I will be going for 'ordinary' tyres when these are dead.
The supercharger whine is great!
Her car is running at circa 28 mpg but if get hold of it hat drops quite quickly.
Finally, I am not sure its a 'man's' car?
You only live once - make the most of it!
Radical Clubsport, Kwaker motor
'94 MX5 MK1, 1.8
F10 M5 - 600bhp Daily Hack
Range Rover Sport - Wife's Car
Mercedes A class - Son's Car
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BenB
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
quote:
Originally posted by westf27
Ben,good point lag may be an issue,supercharger is always on tap for power.So thats one negative.
On the other hand, turbos can produce good torque and power at much lower rpm than superchargers, simply because the boost they produce doesn't
depend on the engine speed.
A good example is the Audi 1.8t turbo engine which doesn't need lots of revs to get it going. Just a question of getting the turbo sizing and
control right
John
You can get low down grunt by (without using a variable vane turbo) only by over-turbo'ing and then blowing off the crazy amounts of boost at
"proper" rpms. The output curve of compressors is pretty skewed to high rpm....
For low down grunt a belt driven supercharger (Roots or twin screw) will beat an equivalent exhaust drive centrifugal supercharger hands down...
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westf27
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:46 PM |
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Have we gone gay on this car as well
quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
My wife has had one for a year now. I have 're sized' the supercharger pulley and put a free flowing cold air induction kit on hers.
Also put some iridium plugs in it and I reckon I have near to the works output now!
I was happy to not buy the works and go for a standard cooper s but with the aero kit which I personally think makes the car.
Great car but very tiresome on longer journeys as with runflats the ride is ROCK hard.
She hasn't worn the runflats out yet but I will be going for 'ordinary' tyres when these are dead.
The supercharger whine is great!
Her car is running at circa 28 mpg but if get hold of it hat drops quite quickly.
Finally, I am not sure its a 'man's' car?
ok so what car can you buy that doesnt have a gay,hairdresser or any other tag.
something that only a bloke can drive.
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afj
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:47 PM |
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all off the crashed ones ive picked up held together very well ....so thats a plus. also ive not ever picked up a mini thats brokendown
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phoenix70
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:50 PM |
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I really wouldn't recommend the works conversion, I've driven both the standard and the works conversion S, and the standard is much
better. The problem with the works, is it's got too much power, the traction control just robs all the power unless you are featherlite on
the throttle. If you switch off the TC, you'll just end up spinning up the front wheels all the time.
I think the new mini is great, in fact I'm planning to get one for SWIMBO when its time to replace her current car.
Cheers
Scott
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afj
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:50 PM |
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older style civic type r? focus st golf GTi/R32
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mr henderson
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 05:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by BenB
quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
quote:
Originally posted by westf27
Ben,good point lag may be an issue,supercharger is always on tap for power.So thats one negative.
On the other hand, turbos can produce good torque and power at much lower rpm than superchargers, simply because the boost they produce doesn't
depend on the engine speed.
A good example is the Audi 1.8t turbo engine which doesn't need lots of revs to get it going. Just a question of getting the turbo sizing and
control right
John
You can get low down grunt by (without using a variable vane turbo) only by over-turbo'ing and then blowing off the crazy amounts of boost at
"proper" rpms. The output curve of compressors is pretty skewed to high rpm....
For low down grunt a belt driven supercharger (Roots or twin screw) will beat an equivalent exhaust drive centrifugal supercharger hands down...
Well I guess that's why they use superchargers on diesels then.
John
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I love speed :-P
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 06:06 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
Well I guess that's why they use superchargers on diesels then.
John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbodiesel
Which more or less says diesel is better suited to turbo's than petrol as of smaller rev range etc
[Edited on 5/8/2008 by I love speed :-P]
Don't Steal
The Government doesn’t like the competition
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iank
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 06:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by westf27
quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
My wife has had one for a year now. I have 're sized' the supercharger pulley and put a free flowing cold air induction kit on hers.
Also put some iridium plugs in it and I reckon I have near to the works output now!
I was happy to not buy the works and go for a standard cooper s but with the aero kit which I personally think makes the car.
Great car but very tiresome on longer journeys as with runflats the ride is ROCK hard.
She hasn't worn the runflats out yet but I will be going for 'ordinary' tyres when these are dead.
The supercharger whine is great!
Her car is running at circa 28 mpg but if get hold of it hat drops quite quickly.
Finally, I am not sure its a 'man's' car?
ok so what car can you buy that doesnt have a gay,hairdresser or any other tag.
something that only a bloke can drive.
Bowler Wildcat
grrrr
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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BenB
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 06:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
quote:
Originally posted by westf27
Ben,good point lag may be an issue,supercharger is always on tap for power.So thats one negative.
On the other hand, turbos can produce good torque and power at much lower rpm than superchargers, simply because the boost they produce doesn't
depend on the engine speed.
A good example is the Audi 1.8t turbo engine which doesn't need lots of revs to get it going. Just a question of getting the turbo sizing and
control right
John
You can get low down grunt by (without using a variable vane turbo) only by over-turbo'ing and then blowing off the crazy amounts of boost at
"proper" rpms. The output curve of compressors is pretty skewed to high rpm....
For low down grunt a belt driven supercharger (Roots or twin screw) will beat an equivalent exhaust drive centrifugal supercharger hands down...
Well I guess that's why they use superchargers on diesels then.
John
Turbo diesels are a case in point re what I'm talking about!!!
Rev to 4k and only produce decent power after about 3.2k!!!!!
You can spin a turbo or spin a supercharger as fast as you want if you get the pulleys or compressor / vanes the right size but for a given RPM a
centrifugal type blower (whether exhaust driven or belt driven) will produce power later on in its rpm range (the blower not the car!!!!) than a
Rootes or twin screw (which give more linear boost but with decreased efficiency- especially in the case of the Rootes).
Or put it this way. If Turbos are so uber powerful with absolutely no downside whatsoever why would they (out of preference) put a blower on drag
cars. Or why wouldn't they just put the worlds biggest turbo on cars with an almost vertical boost graph at anything above idle and then just
blow off the excess boost. If centrifugal blowers (whichever way you drive them) are so magnificent why would people bother with Rootes or
twin-screws.....?
A mini is supposed to be a zippy run-around.... Therefore in my book a supercharger would be much more preferable than a turbo. Unfortunately, peak
BHP sells cars more than the shape of the power output graph and hence exhaust drive superchargers are often used in preference to a belt-driven
supercharger despite the fact that the belt-drive supercharger may well drive nicer and may even be quicker (it doesn't matter if you produce
1000Bhp if it all happens between 4999rpm and 5000rpm)......
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mr henderson
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 07:14 PM |
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I'm not going to get into an argument about turbos versus superchargers, I only made my earlier comment to remind people that turbos have some
advantages.
All I will do is to suggest anybody who is really interestedin the subject to read the various books that are available, especially this one
http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost-Turbocharger-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837601606
or simply have a look at what most manufacturers and tuners use when they want more power from an engine
John
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hellbent345
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 07:16 PM |
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we had a mini cooper s at one point, and i learned to drive in a mini, and i can say that they are a great little car, very tight go kart like
handling and really nippy, as above the supercharger whine is excellent, problems would be the exceedingly small rear seats and the small boot. but i
really want another one!
I wouldnt say gay at all, they are a hot hatch really, but it does dpend if you have the 'italian job' aerokits on etc
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Danozeman
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 07:35 PM |
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Cooper S's are great fun but theres no room in them. My sister has a mini one which she uses for her kleeneze stuff and cant fit the books in
it let alone the goods.
Get a standard S and upgrade the supercharger etc and theyr a beast.
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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BenB
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 08:50 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
I'm not going to get into an argument about turbos versus superchargers, I only made my earlier comment to remind people that turbos have some
advantages.
All I will do is to suggest anybody who is really interestedin the subject to read the various books that are available, especially this one
http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Boost-Turbocharger-Engineering-Performance/dp/0837601606
or simply have a look at what most manufacturers and tuners use when they want more power from an engine
John
True. I'm just pointing out that turbo vs supercharged engines deliver power in different ways and for me a Mini should have low end zippiness.
And the Corky Bell book on turbos is good. Almost as good as his one on superchargers
All I'll say is this from the yahoo comparison between the supercharged and turbo'd Cooper S's
"Its worth reiterating that a turbocharged engine and a supercharged engine deliver their performance in quite different ways.
What was particularly exhilarating about the old car was the low-end grunt from the always-on supercharger. The turbo power delivery is less dramatic
down low but in the midrange and upper reaches of the rev band, it provides even more brutal shove."
http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/mini-cooper-s-1005327.html
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Hellfire
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| posted on 5/8/08 at 08:51 PM |
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My Seat Leon FR TDi
Has 258 lb/ft of torque @ 1800 revs, thats more than a BMW530i, Merc E350, Porsche Boxter S. I revs to 4500 before the turbo spools out. It'll do
135mph (where speeds allow) and it can (and often does) return more than 50mpg (6 speed)
Even though this is my company car - I loved it to pieces... there's hardly a car on the road I'd prefer.
Steve
PS - My beauty...
 
SEAT Leon FR
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