How serious is the Mini Cooper S's performance?
 

I have driven a stock Cooper S (supercharged not turbo) and it wasn't fast in a straight line but very nimble, and planted. I was wondering how serious of a performer these can be with some mods. The supercharged ones and then the turbo minis. I would think being fwd and light any power worth pulling it in a straight line would leave it melting tires or making it not so hot on a road course because of too much power and not enough traction...

I found one (the new S with the JCW package) here in México, going to Toluca@7,800 feet above sea level, uphill, doing 95 mph. It accelerated to 125 mph almost as fast as the Audi S3 2.0T I was driving. Great performance for a 1.6l.

just adding power will not make a MCS a good track weapon. like you stated, it will just smoke tires. i currently don't make a lot of power (190 at the wheels), but i have done substantial suspension, brake and tire upgrades.
this combination makes for a pretty potent little track car. here is a video of me chasing a lotus exige driven by another forum member. he caught me in traffic, i pointed him past, then ran pretty close to him for the rest of the session. we were both catching "faster" cars.
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=1f4953f6.pbr
i have since added a 4-pt roll bar, fixed back cobra racing seats and 6-pt harnesses. i have a couple of buddies w/ track prepped MINI's and we have a great time while bruising a few egos.

There isn't much aftermarket support (yet) for the newer R56 turbo cars. I'm sure in due time it will come. If you want a MINI and you're after some power now, then stick to an older R53 S. There is plenty of aftermarket support for the supercharged cars. A supercharger pulley, intake, exhaust and tuning does wonders for these cars. I have those mods and more, and I'm currently putting down 258whp in my '02 S. Check out northamericanmotoring dot com for more MINI info.

K5Cruiser: if i have your power w/ my suspension/brakes/etc, the MINI would be a very serious track weapon. i've been talking to jan for some time and will be installing his stroker/head/cam/exhaust/tune. still waiting to see how the TVS blower works out. this will put the MINI in some serious company in the weight/hp category while retaining the handling that makes these cars so special.

It's not a straight line car, & never really will be. If you push it to much, you will compromise everything else. My 08 MCS, has pretty good torque steer bone stock with a LSD. While I will flash, intake & exhaust it later, right now it's pretty good, but does feel a little corked up top. The MCS is about the balance of power & handling. They turn in wonderfully, & offer a ton of grip (stock), the brakes & gearing are also very well matched.

Don't think mine will ever be over 200whp, it gets to be hard to control, & you get a high strung, temperamental engine with horrible torque steer.

As an owner of an Exige, I can say that the Mini is a pretty darned good car. Better than average. Obviously, equal drivers the Lotus is seriously fast, but low on power. I'd put it on par with a C4S. Depending on the course.

The Mini is also nice because you can take a set of track wheels, while the Lotus is either on a trailer or driving the track with the tires it drove to the track on.

i put up the vid w/ a lotus because it is a respected track car. in another event, i was on track w/ three exiges. i ran pretty evenly w/ two of them, but the third went by me very quickly. driver skill will always be important. i have a friend who is an instructor w/ several groups who drives a C4S. he tracks the car on high performance street tires and cannot keep up w/ the four MINIs on r-comps. he is quicker in his E36 M3 on slicks (except in the wet).

i can no longer put a set of track tires in my car because of the cage that i added.

the MINI will not be a straight line car, but w/ the right suspension and 250+ hp, exit speed will be good and i should be able to hang w/ some serious iron.

the MINI is also a very easy car to drive quickly. w/ little experience, one can turn laps faster that more exotic cars that require more driving skill. it still requires some skill to get the last 1/10th.

i love tracking my MINI. we have a very good group of solo/instructor/race cars in my area and have earned the respect of those with which we share the track.