Does anyone have any experience with the Cooper S family tree? that can give advice on which is preferred (supercharged or turbo charged). Looking into next year I'm thinking about getting one so just thought id ask the question on here, rather than a mini forum where opinions will more than likely, be bias. I had a standard one as a first car and i really do love the looks, but just wondering about the ride etc. mapped to 250hp they have a similar power to weight ratio as a 250 mapped to 300hp. about 217 per ton. I believe that is the case anyway.
I had one for 3 months (turbo Peugeot engine). Rubbish engines,use oil,eat timing chains,leak oil. Fun but fragile.
i always thought the engine was BMW produced, but based off what you said and a quick google its just bmw 'technology' so stop/start etc. Thank you for your opinion though, will have a dive into other forums based on those issues.
I bought a new Cooper S in 2006, 55 plate, supercharged one, my wife mainly drove it, we kept it a year and traded it in for a Fiat Punto 1.2 8v she kept that for 6 years. I would say it was possibly the worst car i have owned, handling was debatable, fuel consumption was awful, driving like Miss Daisy i couldn't get 30mpg, on normal driving mid to low 20's, spirited driving 15 to 16mpg. The garage up the road and the one near my workshop will not work on them anymore, both say that simple jobs turn into big jobs, stuff breaking seized and just plain awkward to get at. Personally i would have an old Clio before another one of these, even better a 250 Megane, not come across a quick one on track yet either
Did see one cheap a year or so ago, the turbo one, full dealer service history, 66k miles, cam chain broken
Its not looking good haha, I've got a few friends with them and they aren't having the above issues. I guess it just depends on how lucky you are with the one you buy. Few months before im looking to take the plunge! I've had a clio 182 and i loved it, but theres just something about the mini styling that i really love!
Its your choice matey I took a guy out in my 225 at Donington, he had a Mini that he spent £7k on performance parts, a week later he stripped it, sold the bits, put it back to standard and sold the car a week later. Ohhh yes he bought an R26
You had the old 1.6 supercharged engine. Then the 1.6 turbo. This was the psa lump, more recently the 2.0 litre twin scroll turbo from the 330i bmw. So that is tunable. But relatively new. Wild card. The normal cooper uses 1.5 litre 3 cylinder turbo. This is a relative of the i8 power plant. Thd petrol bit. Thus engind maps well. Cooper is lighter and less engine weight. A chap at work who looks for peach in the range suggests that this is sweet spot.
1.5 3 cylinder cooper engine ( not s) maps to 190 bhp and 220lbs torque and is 100kg lighter than s. So a mapped cooper gives same power as a std s with 100 kg less. I can see why it would be popular.
I drove many years ago the first Cooper S, the 160-ish hp version. I thought it was cool.... wrong. Years after my cousin bought a Clubman S,....engine broke after 2 months of ownership. And as for track use, haven't seen any fast ones. Recently did the last track day of the year with my Meggy, and driving in my time sesion was another dude with the new cooper S....needles to say what Meggy did to it Get the old Clio RS with the 2.0 NA engine, pure porn
had a guy in a cooper S turbo overtake me, and a Mcclaren in one go at the Nurburgring at a very tricky part of the circuit on the utter limit!When we pulled into the carpark,the guy had his boot open,and it was full of all manner of crap!This guy must have literally,just popped in to do a cheeky lap from work!
I had a 2004 r53 cooper s and absolutely loved it! To be honest, it’s the car I miss the most! It wasn’t particularly fast but nippy enough and fun to drive. Mine had the panoramic roof too which was a nice addition. It had its fair share of problems during my 3 years of ownership but all were easy to sort. I’d definitely have one again! [emoji1303]
original cooper was all bmw`s work,and was a real go-kart for the road,with great steering. engine was a nail though. As the years have gone by,they had literally doubled in size!
