Reader Ride: 2002 MINI Cooper S
Time for total honesty: if we were to pick up a MINI tomorrow, this is the one we'd have. The combination of dark silver and a black roof is understated enough to be overlooked, but menacing in a way that makes us itch for the twisties. It tells anyone in The Know that you've got taste, and the blacked-out rims with a polished lip don't hurt either.
Today's RR comes courtesy of Flickr member tenfifteen, whose chosen chariot proves that he's every bit the car guy, and has impeccable taste in color combos. The blown four on his S gets a slight boost in intake pressure via a 15-percent reduction Helix supercharger pulley, an Alta cold air intake and an ECU tune by MTH. Sending the extra ponies to the ground is a custom-machined M7 flywheel that mates to a SPEC 2.5+ clutch and on down to a Quaife TB LSD.
Tasteful mods mated to a perfect balanced color scheme make this our Reader Ride for the day, and the great shots that tenfifteen provided don't hurt either. Follow the jump for more, including a full list of mods and directions on how to submit your own ride to our Flickr pool.
*ENGINE*
-15% reduction pulley by Helix
-Alta Cold Air Intake
-Milltek Sport Exhaust
-MTH ECU tune
-Kingsborne wires
-NGK plugs
-Alta oil catch can
*TRANNY*
-Quaife TB Limited-Slip Diff
-Custom-machined M7 flywheel
-SPEC 2.5+ clutch
-Alta Short-Shift Kit
*MISC*
-Leather, Premium/Cold packs
-Blacked 'S' trim
-Crap wheels (mfr withheld, all curbed by now)
-MonsterCable iCruze (discontinued iPod->OEM interface)
-Short antenna from Moss
-Bonnet stripes by Aesthetic Creations Phoenix
How to submit to RR of the Day:
Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. Join the group called "Autoblog Reader Rides." Upload up to three photos of your ride to your own account at a size no larger than 450 pixels wide and include as much information about it and yourself as you can. Vehicles lacking description will not be eligible and will be summarily deleted. Click on each photo and just above the picture it will say "Send to group". Click that and select the Autoblog group. You're done!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cody Peterson 11:12AM (8/20/2007)
Very slick... when these new Mini's first came out, I thought they were stupidly unfit for a daily driver due to how cramped they seemed to be, plus thought they were more of a toy than actual car.
Having said that, I recently had a chance to drive and also be a passenger in the rear seat of a 2004S and they actually have grown on me.. between the power / size / manueverability / gas mileage, it's a pretty sweet ride. Yes, it doesn't have as much space as your Lincoln Navigator, but considering I rarely carry stuff around (other than say a backpack) and usually have 0 or 1 passengers in the vehicle, I would be interested in owning one of these... especially, the new S.
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Ted Striker 12:35PM (8/20/2007)
It's a doppleganger of my 2005 CooperS. Same color combo, same stripes, similar black/polished wheels. I just need about 20 more horses to match.
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tenfifteen 12:51PM (8/20/2007)
Thanks Damon for the choice, and thanks to others for the nice comments. Probably should've added that Missus Tenfifteen also drives a Cooper S ('04, bone-stock, British Racing Green/White). We've been very happy with both of them.
I've been on the fence about picking up a new one for her owing to the better power/fuel economy, but I'll probably keep this one until the wheels fall off or unless I can get $10k out of it (to put towards a 135i next year). ;)
Thanks again! -- Paul
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doglet 3:42PM (8/20/2007)
nice mini, does it see any autox or track days?
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tenfifteen 3:46PM (8/20/2007)
None. As noted above, track days are a little expensive/far away, and in autox I'd be running up against STIs and EVOs given the engine/tranny upgrades. Many thanks though!
Andrew 2:00PM (8/20/2007)
As a fellow cooper s owner (2006 Cooper S convertible) I gotta say I love the look of your ride. Very tastefully done.
Side note: Something was lost in the look of the new Cooper. I don't like it nearly as much as mine. Plus, the exhaust burble is gone :(
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tenfifteen 2:10PM (8/20/2007)
Thanks for the nice words, Andrew; I believe I read in MC2 mag that the burble is just a function of the engine not getting gas while not under throttle. The '02-'04 MCS didn't have it either, they 'added' it in '05. Mine has it now, but only after that ECU tune. The wife's doesn't have it. I really like the new Coopers, and despite some reservations about the center console and stock wheels, we'll probably add one in the next three months or so.
autoblog 2:23PM (8/20/2007)
I think you and I have similar tastes good sir! I unfortunately don't have any more recent photos of my MINI, but it looks quite close to mine :) I've since redone the front with an M7 grill on the top/bottom and a black m7 ram scoop.
http://flickr.com/photos/tristanotierney/sets/72157594532158312/
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tenfifteen 3:20PM (8/20/2007)
Rad! Knew that was Thunderhill, buddy of mine when I lived out there (Vacaville area) used to run his Viper GTS-ACR at that track, seen tons of pictures. I thought I might race my car, but after throwing the pulley on it, it's just too far out of its league in the upper SCCA classes. Track days could be fun, but awful expensive out here. :)
Anyway, nice lookin' ride yourself, there! That M7 grille-kit looks great on the ds/b; a local 'twin' has that very same mod, and almost that exact same striping. Weird. Thanks in any case!
forsaken 4:21PM (8/20/2007)
Gay peoples and their MINIS.
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tenfifteen 4:32PM (8/20/2007)
Awwww... don't be like that, dude. We can't all own Sunfire GTs. ;)
/forsaken: please insert your reply about how you actually own a [select: M3, Z06, F430, or Vanquish] below this line:
____________________________________________
:D
BartMack 5:22PM (8/20/2007)
Those are Killboy Dragon shots, yes? I would know those curves anywhere lol. I'm guessing you are a MOTD veteran? Also, Helix did the pulley and CAI on both my 05 S and my current 06 S convertible- they're excellent.
@forsaken: according to Jalopnik the Yaris is actually the no. 1 gay car, followed by the Saab 9-3 and the MX-5. MINI isn't even on the list.
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tenfifteen 6:53PM (8/20/2007)
Yeah, that's the Dragon from 2006, Bart. And yup, Killboy took two of those shots; those guys do great work. Apart from the logo itself, I helped design some of the swag for that year (the bottle, the tote, the badges). I had fun, have two good friends in K-ville, but did not want to go in 2007. Great drive, but a little anti-climactic, and some people were driving well beyond their abilities. I pulled off several times because my passenger was getting carsick. :)
The parts... my pulley is a Helix unit (six bolts), but it was installed by a guy from Atlanta (Steve, iirc. Nice guy). I would've had them do it, hear nothing but good things, but I caught them at a real busy time, and couldn't get a firm install date. Steve happened to be in town at the time, and did the install in an IKEA lot in under 30 minutes. :) I did the CAI, ECU flash, plugs, wires and catch-can myself, those being pretty easy. Randy Webb installed the Milltek cat-back (also a very nice guy), and Peter at M7 is always a pleasure to deal with. The MINI tuning community as a whole is actually very nice and helpful, but I know there's a lot of competition (not always friendly) between the different shops.
Thanks for the comment!
Nick 12:00AM (8/21/2007)
Minis and Miatas should be British Racing Green. And I don't even like green. Thought the Mini looks great in fly yellow with a black roof.
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Ashish 12:46AM (8/21/2007)
I wish the there was absolutely no gay stigma linked to the Mini Cooper.
It is one fun car and I test drove a 6 speed Cooper S 07 few months back, that thing sure feels on rails, I loved the interior, very high on quality. Just couldnt justify spending $25K+. Also the first friend I told about the car was like "oh so u wanna buy that gay car."
I have a Pontiac GTO (06 6L), and the gay thing just pushed me off the mini purchase. And, ur ride is really hot.
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Nick 1:04AM (8/21/2007)
My conundrum is old 2-3 year old BMW 330ci or new Cooper S?
Ashish 1:20AM (8/21/2007)
330Ci or the cooper S
If u wanna buy used then the beemer else the cooper, I would say wait a little and buy the 135i, I think the 1-Series is being introduced to the US because such Conundrums do exist, its a bridge between the 3 Series and the mini cooper. I think best of both worlds.
If you can get a 128i for $26K it would be an excellent deal for so many people, a 135i would be even better for anyone willing to cross $30K for a twin-turbo motor.
WAIT AND GET THE 128i/135i , they'l probably even have the convertible versions (soft tops)
Nick 1:25AM (8/21/2007)
Yeah, but I don't want to buy the first year of a new BMW- that's just asking for it.
The King 1:18AM (8/21/2007)
Beautiful car mate!! Well done. I think the bloke who classified the car as gay may have been spending too much time on gay porn sites. Thats how he knew that gays like this car!!
Poor sod!!
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John B 11:43AM (8/21/2007)
Nice car and I like the colour combo. Now if only BMW would stop screwing Canadian customers on price, I might buy one.
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