MAXI YOUR MINI
Parts for the Lastest British Invasion

Text and Photography By: Drew Hardin

   Few cars were as hotly anticipated by the tuner market as the new MINI. Well before the retro couple hit the streets, companies all over the world were tooling suspension, body, engine, and interior parts, guessing (correctly) that new MINI owners would want to accessorize their rides way beyond the factory dress-ups such as Union Jack roof graphics and hood stripes. All that prep work paid off big-time. The list of parts available for the MINI is big and growing.

That's great news for MINI owners (and prospective MINI owners). It's a challenge for us, though. When we first planned this MINI parts story, we intended it to be an all inclusive roundup of everything made for the MINI. But as we did our research, the market unfolded faster than we could keep up. Consider this a lengthy introduction to what's available for the standard Cooper and supercharged Cooper S, and keep your eyes on these pages for updates as we get'em. …

BEHINDtheSCENES
While we were compiling this article, MagnaFlow was prototyping an after-cat exhaust system for TVA's Got Mini? division, and we had a chance to snap some pics of the under-development parts. Plus, we got to see the results of MagnaFlow's work when the techs there bolted the system onto TVA's Liquid Yellow Cooper and spun the drums on the chassis dyno.

Note that this system will fit the standard Cooper, not the Cooper S. Because the exhaust exits the supercharged car at the center, it will require a separate kit, which is on the MagnaFlow drawing boards as we speak.

Here's the stock muffler from TVA's MINI. Compare this square, restrictive thing to…

…MagnaFlow's free-flowing Street Series muffler, which will be part of the after-cat kit. MagnaFlow considered using an even less restrictive Race Series muffler, but it was deemed too loud by the MagnaFlow engineers.

Similarly, the stock resonator is replaced by this MagnaFlow resonator.

Here's a look at the whole kit, stem to stern. It will bolt right in, says MagnaFlow, though owners will need to drop that black center cradle to access the resonator hangers. Remember this is a prototype; the kit available for sale will look much prettier, with all stainless, mandrel-bent piping that's 2.25 inches in diameter (compared to the stock 2-inch pipes).

On MagnaFlow's chassis dyno, the TVA MINI sent 106.6 hp and 97.7 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels in stock trim. (The MINI is rated by the factory at 115 hp and 110 lb-ft at the flywheel. When tested, TVA's car was fairly fresh with barely 1,000 miles on the clock.) The new after-cat exhaust bumped those numbers up to 111.4 hp and 104.4 lb-ft of torque, and kept those peaks in the same powerband range as stock.