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| ROADTESTS |
| Mini Cooper S |
 | Magazine - January 2004 | | | Part 1 - Conversions for the Mini Cooper S | | Then an intercooled supercharger was added, along with the famous "S" badge. | | This unleashed a heady 120kW. But still the demeanor of the car was such that it kept asking for more. | | So, with the co-operation of Cooper, BMW tweaked the Eaton supercharger, the cylinder head and the exhaust system and named the resultant package the John Cooper Works Cooper S. | |  | |
| This produces a serious 147kW,but the additional excitement will cost you nearly, to the tune of R43 285. |
| Enter Steve's Auto Clinic, stage left, with a conversion kit supplied by Dastek Power. |
| The heart of this conversion is a Dastek Unichip developed, with the aid of a dynamometer, to suit the unique characteristics of each engine. |
| The chip is piggyback mounted so as not to otherwise alter the original "black box". |
| Accompanying the chip is a smaller supercharger pulley that increases the speed of the two counter-rotating rotors, thereby boosting output, which has been kept down to a sensible 10 percent in order to maintain reliability. |
| The exhaust was not tampered with due to the minimal gain in power at the expense of additional noise. | | The best part of this conversion, though, is the price - a reasonable R6 900 including fitting. | | The claimed output is 150kW at 6 500 r/min with 258 N.m of torque at around 4 300 r/min. | | A further development by Dastek Power is the Power Cooler, which is an intercooler mounted under the nose, a much cooler environment than under the bonnet. | |  | |
| Performance testing resulted in a 0 to 100 km/h figure of 7.87 seconds, which beats the standard Cooper S time by 0.48 seconds - a six percent improvement. |
| The kilometre sprint time too, was marginally better, but the most notable - and probably more useful - gains come in overtaking acceleration, especially in sixth gear, where times are quicker by up to a second per 20 km/h speed increment were recorded. |
| Top speed went up by only 3 km/h, from 212 to 215, and was achieved at a high geared 5 660 r/min in top gear. |
| With standard 16-inch wheels instead of the optional 17 inchers fitted to our test car, the gearing would be lower, with engine speed higher up the power curve. |
| This would no doubt result in a healthier maximum speed. |
| Although the test vehicle had more than 10 000 km on the odo and probably a hard start to its life, the engine and especially, the gearbox performed admirably, with syncromesh being particularly immune to the abuse necessitated by snap changes during acceleration runs. |
| With a modification such as this, fuel consumption is not the most important factor, but in the case we achieved an index figure of 9.8 litres/100km, significantly better than this standard Cooper S and not far off the unboosted Cooper's figure of 9.38 litres/100km, proving that performance need not always come at the expense of the economy with normal spirited driving, consumption was in the region of 10.5 litres/100km, so much depends on the driver's style. |
| Although the suspension is super slim, BMW has managed to provide sufficient progression in the set-up to prevent uneven road surfaces from causing painful jarring, a definite improvement on the original Mini's rubber cone variety that was feared by kidneys worldwide. |
| Description and opinions of the interior appointments have been covered in our November 2002 test of the Cooper S, but some additional comments may never the less be of benefit. |
| The overlay plastic is finished in brushed metallic, which one tester described as looking as if someone had left boot prints on it. | | We feel that a more fitting retro theme would use body colour, or perhaps go in to the opposite direction and employ the "modern" carbon fibre look. | | Other criticisms include sun visors that are to small, no grab handle for the front seat passenger, and cloth seats that build up static electricity quite easily. | | Casting a glance in the rear reveals a seat cushion that seems long, supportive and to offer sufficient legroom. | |  | |
| Respectable improvements in overtaking acceleration |
| Unfortunately this is all an illusion, as front seat occupants must give up some of their room to accommodate two passengers in the rear. |
| This works well enough for the passenger side except that the parcel shelf can connect with shins. |
| Access to the rear seat requires some Houdini impressions, not with standing the large doors. |
| What appears to be a storage bin ahead of the gear lever is, in fact, an open passage to the floor, and any objects inadvertently placed in this area will soon reappear beneath your feet. |
| The design engineers of this neat little number did such a thorough job of blending in past clues that even the supercharger shine is reminiscent of the transfer gears from engine to gearbox in the original. |
| Access to the rear requires some Houdini impressions |
| The sound is not overly obtrusive, thanks to a 60º helix on the rotor lobes. Further dèjà vu comes form the sound made by the closing doors. How did they manage that? |
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