• Martin's car is very cool.

    Started life as a Cooper, did the engine swap to a Cooper S.

    Mini Torque forum can give you much more info than I can regurgitate here or remember tbh since it's been so long for me.

    Don't buy cheap coilovers as they're just an easy way to make you hate your car. KW V3 will give you grip and compliance, if you just want to lower it and give it a slightly sportier feel while maintaining ride quality (or even improving it) then get Bilstein B8 with Eibach springs.

    Don't reduce the pulley smaller than 13% without getting a new intercooler, as your IATs will go through the roof and give you major temp clipping.

    If you want it to sound a bit louder, pay someone to remove one back box (one ball mod), a bit louder still then get an aftermarket exhaust, Borla is popular, many other brands too. If you want it louder still with more power then get an exhaust manifold, but get someone to weld the OEM cat onto the aftermarket exhaust manifold, it's much more resilient and free flowing than the aftermarket sports cats. John cooper Motorsport manifold is very nice (not JCW, jcm). If you want it asbo loud an OBX decat exhaust manifold and Borla Cooper exhaust (need to use Cooper rear bumper).

    Back in the day the DaveF intake was the one, you have to drill a whole to get air from the scuttle but it sounds good and gets best performance as proven on the dyno.

    If you want more power then you need smaller pulley still, 15, 17, or even 19%, in conjunction with bigger injectors, bigger intercooler, and a remap.

    If you lower it, I recommend getting camber adjustable topmounts for the front and adjustable rear control arms for the rear to get a proper alignment done.

    Regardless of anything else, get the front lower control arm bushes done as a minimum, and then as many more as you can afford.

  • Thanks for the heads up. Much appreciated.

    The exhaust on it definitely isn't stock but I can't make out what it is from the photos. I have a suspicion it could be a JCW exhaust already on it though.

    I was actually looking into the KW V1 coilovers as I figured the adjustable damping on the V3 would probably be overkill on a road car... I do want to go with the KWs though as the Inox coating would be worthwhile for longevity and I've read that the Bilstein monotube design can be a bit harsh compared to the twintube on KW due to the initial force required to start compression (something along those lines anyway)?

    The main goal is to just keep it reasonably comfortable and reliable while having a bit of craic with it!

  • Yes, sorry, I forgot KW V1 were twintube. They will be good, the Bilstein I recommended (B8) aren't coilovers but just non adjustable dampers for lowered springs.

    You're right, a guy I know who works at multi matic explained twin Vs mono to me, on the road twin tube is better unless you can afford the very fancy monotubes with external reservoirs or Ohlins have their secret sauce DFV units. On the road the monotube can't keep up with the road surface, you sacrifice track performance for compliance with the twin tubes but that's what you need on the road. KW are excellent and Inox coating will make them durable.

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