# Mini Cooper s



## ttsteve (Nov 1, 2007)

My mate with a Mini Cooper S 1.6 03 came to see me tonight. He said it was fast. We didn't do a side by side 'race', instead we went for a spin in both cars. My TT first. It's Custom Code remapped, otherwise not a lot to write home about, modwise. The TT pinned us both back into the seats, heads bent backwards as I accelerated hard. In the Mini, when he accelerated it felt like any old car trying to go fast; disappointing really.

Maybe that's not a surprise, but I expected the Mini to be a lot faster. Believe me, my remapped TT was MUCH quicker. I thought these Cooper S minis were fast. Comments?


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## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

We have a cooper but I test drove an S and I thought it was fast ,was it a MkI or a MkII?


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## Serj (Dec 24, 2007)

wallsendmag said:


> We have a cooper but I test drove an S and I thought it was fast ,was it a MkI or a MkII?


Yeah would be interested to know whether it was the mk1 or mk2, the first being supercharged the second being turbocharged. If its the mk1 i can understand the power may not be overwhelming like it is in the TT due to the way it will deliver its power with a supercharger. If its the mk2 then its nice to know that its possible to spank it in a TT.


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## Juber (May 20, 2007)

Drive a cooper S JCW GP

You will soon eat your own words. :wink:


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## Serj (Dec 24, 2007)

Just noticed, 03 plate was it? Supercharged then. I can imagine the sensation of speed and power building won't be as obvious as it is in the TT, the power deliver will be a lot more linear. TT is quicker though in a straight line, certainly.


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## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

Its all down to the way the car delivers the power.


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## s7fan (Feb 27, 2007)

Juber said:


> Drive a cooper S JCW GP
> 
> You will soon eat your own words. :wink:


 i raced my friend with oneand i battered him somthing silly. There soooo slo iv .driven it as well the only thing i like is the super charger wine it sound beautifull even the new cooper s is slow


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## Hark (Aug 23, 2007)

My mate has some special addition cooper s thing I believe. Think it 210bhp but I might have pulled that out of the air. Seems quite quick, but would think a remapped TT would have it. Not sure on the weight though.


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## ttsteve (Nov 1, 2007)

Just to confirm, it was an 03 plate with Supercharger. Nowhere near as quick as the mapped TT. Way off the mark.


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## cwiseh_tt (Feb 19, 2008)

the cooper s does 0-60 in around 7 secs, the cooper s works does it in around 6. An obvious good thing about the minis are handling on the twisties


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## vassy (Jul 31, 2006)

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Sum ... model=1270
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Sum ... model=1544


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## cad monkey (Jun 13, 2007)

Just seen this post. My wife has the cooper s works 210bhp. The mini handles better than my TT, but on a straight drag race my standard 225 pulls away from it once you get above about 60mph. The build quality of the mini is utter s**t though the interior rattles badly and lots of brackets have gone rusty under the bonnet.


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## Meeerrrk (Mar 21, 2008)

i owned one before the TT.

mine had the GTT 240 (240bhp) kit fitted. It was very slightly quicker than my mates 275bhp Seat Leon Cupra R, which is as quick as my mapped TT. And the sound was fantastic!

Round a track it would keep the TT honest, my TT was a bit quicker on track than the Leon due to the fact i could get the power down that much earlier in the bends.


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## Tim G (Feb 16, 2005)

I have just sold mine (53 reg 'S') last week. Brilliant in the twisties and you cant help but love the supercharger noise. I wouldn't say it was slow by any standards, but with 163bhp its not gonna be keeping up with a mapped 225 to be fair.

The guy I have sold it to is a friend who is going to mod it (plugs, reduced pulley, intercooler etc) and should hike the power up to around 210bhp ish which should make 'nice' difference! Gonna get him to take me out it in when its done.

I sold it for variuos reasons though. Build quailty was poo compared to VAG stuff (the mini rattled Sooooo much) and although they have character & are a decent all round standard car, I just didn't love it enough to want to throw money at it and mod it


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## ttsteve (Nov 1, 2007)

Tim GTI said:


> I have just sold mine (53 reg 'S') last week. Brilliant in the twisties and you cant help but love the supercharger noise. I wouldn't say it was slow by any standards, but with 163bhp its not gonna be keeping up with a mapped 225 to be fair.
> 
> The guy I have sold it to is a friend who is going to mod it (plugs, reduced pulley, intercooler etc) and should hike the power up to around 210bhp ish which should make 'nice' difference! Gonna get him to take me out it in when its done.
> 
> I sold it for variuos reasons though. Build quailty was poo compared to VAG stuff (the mini rattled Sooooo much) and although they have character & are a decent all round standard car, I just didn't love it enough to want to throw money at it and mod it


Fair comments. Re build quality, I would have thought that a 'BMW' is better then a VAG? Certainly, if build quality relates to reliability and endurance of parts, I don't rate the TT that high. Or is the Mini built to lower standards than mainstream BMWs? Interesting.


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## taylormade-tt (May 14, 2007)

I bought "her who must be obeyed" :roll: a black 04 mini cooper s in january  
cracking little thing 163bhp supercharged very nippy, handles like a go cart  ,but Definately not as quick than a remapped TT 

My old 225 TT was standard,well bar the coilovers,r32 anti roll bars poly bushes + magnex /k/n filter,and i got absolutely stuffed by a cooper s works  
The works was definately quicker, i just couldn't keep up with him :? when we finaly got on to a straight, were i could open up the taps in the higher gears, i reeled him in and showed him my giant tailpipes. :wink: 
i am no sterling moss,so in the right hands my TT would have probably kept up, or beaten it 

the mini build quality is a bit iffy i have noticed now 04 (24k miles)a few creaks and rattles and some dubious rusting of brackets :?
but a great little car to be honest ,she loves it so thats all that matters, :roll: :lol:  my beast is just on another planet  and she doesnt drive it, so all in all i am a happy bunny, fun in the mini and serious performance in the M5. 

Tom.


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## Tim G (Feb 16, 2005)

ttsteve said:


> Fair comments. Re build quality, I would have thought that a 'BMW' is better then a VAG? Certainly, if build quality relates to reliability and endurance of parts, I don't rate the TT that high. Or is the Mini built to lower standards than mainstream BMWs? Interesting.


I was pretty shocked at the poor build of the interior. Biggest let down from my perspective. If you gave the dash a push along the top edge it creaked like hell. Constant rattles from the sunroof when open and from variuos other locations around the car. I would find myself constantly pushing on things to try to locate rattles! Not really acceptable especially as mine had only done 22k miles when I got it.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

I can only say that ours doesn't rattle - but then it's not an S.

It is s-l-o-o-o-o-w though.


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## Stucoupe (Mar 9, 2009)

Great comments so far, and some making so good sense. The biggest being its not a like for like comparison if its only a normal 'S'. The TT is about, what, 300kg more in weight, but produces oodles more power?

You mentioned being pinned in your 225+ TT; just be mindful that its also a matter of power deilvery. I had a 170 merc that actually gave a nice little nip a 50mph plus, and yet testing a Ltd Ed TT I felt no real pinning; yet I know the TT was quicker - just very smoothly done.

Also, quick is all relative; im sure both handle rather well on the twisties; no idea if the tt can power down sooner on exit; thats for the likes of 5th gear to test. 0-60 is one thing, but the acid test for me in real life conditions is that I find the better power cars to do a better job for overtaking; surely a 225+ will have the better legs at 50mph plus. Typically a serious weakness in cars is just that; a viewpoint coming from bikes my self. So jumping in the likes of a TT, surely they just dont run out of puff compared to a 1.6L car....?!!


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Not all Cooper S' are the same though. From Oct 06 they became Turbocharged and are a LOT more 'urgent' than the SC earlier versions and pack close to 200 horses with lots of torque (the factory outputs are VERY conservative!). I can keep up with mapped TTs in mine and normal MK1 TT's are easy prey! 

It's 99% certain mine will be going to a new home tomorrow (he's paid a deposit etc). I'm really going to miss it, the new Turbo versions are cracking very underrated cars, I'll try and do an end of term report if she does sell.


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

kmpowell said:


> Not all Cooper S' are the same though. From Oct 06 they became Turbocharged and are a LOT more 'urgent' than the SC earlier versions and pack close to 200 horses with lots of torque (the factory outputs are VERY conservative!). I can easily keep up with mapped TTs in mine. Normal MK1 TT's are easy prey!
> 
> It's 99% certain mine will be going to a new home tomorrow (he's paid a deposit etc). I'm really going to miss it, the new Turbo versions are cracking very underrated cars, I'll try and do an end of term report if she does sell.


Should we monitor thr MK2 forum for announcements :roll:


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## Stucoupe (Mar 9, 2009)

kmpowell said:


> Not all Cooper S' are the same though. From Oct 06 they became Turbocharged and are a LOT more 'urgent' than the SC earlier versions and pack close to 200 horses with lots of torque (the factory outputs are VERY conservative!). I can keep up with mapped TTs in mine and normal MK1 TT's are easy prey!
> 
> It's 99% certain mine will be going to a new home tomorrow (he's paid a deposit etc). I'm really going to miss it, the new Turbo versions are cracking very underrated cars, I'll try and do an end of term report if she does sell.


1, whats next, a Mk2 tt?
2, how did the S2000 and VX220 compare to the tt? (although you were probably drowned out by the noise in the S2000, lol)


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## C.J (Mar 24, 2009)

Has anyone had a going with a 225 (standard) against a Cooper S (Supercharged / standard)?


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## Dance171 (Feb 8, 2009)

C.J said:


> Has anyone had a going with a 225 (standard) against a Cooper S (Supercharged / standard)?


When i had;my coopers i ad a run with a mate who had a 225 raced him to about 115mph up hill and he gained about 3 car lengths on me!!!!


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## C.J (Mar 24, 2009)

Dance171 said:


> C.J said:
> 
> 
> > Has anyone had a going with a 225 (standard) against a Cooper S (Supercharged / standard)?
> ...


So the 225 is marginly quicker.


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