Table of contents for April/May 2022 in Performance MINI

WELCOME TO THE APRIL/MAY 2022 ISSUE This year is well underway, and Christmas feels like a very distant memory at this point. As I write this, the weather is doing its best to make me never want to leave the house again, but that is precisely why you need Performance MINI to keep you feeling inspired, with seriously hot MINI builds from around the globe to get you fired up for when the weather warms up. Looking at our cover shoot, you might well want to wrap yourself up in a massive blanket but, even in those freezing conditions, SpeedTech Motorsports’ blistering R56 Cooper S is guaranteed to get you feeling a bit hot under the collar. We’ve seen plenty of powerful builds here at Performance MINI HQ but, even…

FEATURE R53 COOPER S STRICTLY COME STANCING FOR COLT POWELL, THE STANCE SCENE IS LIFE, AND HE’S INVITING MORE MINI OWNERS TO JOIN THE MOVEMENT Words BEN BIRCH Photos 24SEVEN PHOTOGRAPHY Anyone who loves modified cars will agree that the formula of massive lows and dished rims is an absolute winner and makes almost anything on wheels instantly cool. Get your stance on point, and the rest of a build looks after itself, but get it wrong, and no matter what other amazing mods you have, you’ll still be driving a lemon. The global stance community takes this concept to its absolute Nth degree, turning out slammed showstoppers by their 1000s from Japan to California and now, Portsmouth, England. Colt Powell developed an obsession with this scene even before he…

FEATURE R52 COOPER S CONVERTIBLE CIRCUIT BREAKER THE R52 CAB PROBABLY ISN’T THE FIRST CAR YOU THINK OF WHEN SOMEONE MENTIONS TRACK DAYS, BUT THIS HARDCORE SOFT-TOP IS FAST, FOCUSED, AND DELIVERS ROOF-LESS THRILLS A HATCHBACK COULD ONLY DREAM OF Words ELIZABETH DE LATOUR Photos JASON DODD If someone were to say they were building a track car, an R52 Convertible is probably not what you’d think of. And yet here we are, with Justin Kennedy and his track-build R52 Cab. It’s an unlikely combination but, you know what? It works. Somehow, Justin has taken the soft-top track day candidate, and with some serious enhancement, he’s built himself a hardcore, circuit-hungry convertible, and it’s an impressive offering. Except this wasn’t a solo build, and this is more than just a…

PROJECT CARS TODD’S R53 RALLYCROSS CAR WORK CONTINUES ON THE R53 AHEAD OF THE NEW SEASON, AND THIS TIME A NEW WIRING LOOM IS ASSEMBLED Since the last update, the team has been working flat-out on preparing the car for the season ahead. With the refreshed engine dropped into place, the rest of the supporting modifications could begin. We started with the updating of the exhaust manifold and downpipe to adapt to the newer turbo, which uses larger V-Band sizes on both the turbine inlet and outlet. This larger size on the outlet drove a need to update not just the downpipe, but the full exhaust system to a larger 3” diameter. A new sports cat was found and fitted as far back as feasible on the system, made in-house…

PROJECT CARS MARTYN’S R50 COOPER MARTYN’S COOPER GOES FOR A PROMISED POST-LOCKDOWN WASH At the end of 2019, local R53 Cooper S owner Tim Wright and I got talking via social media about my Cooper. Tim works for Farécla, the makers of finishing compounds and the G3 Professional car cleaning range. Knowing how much I like to keep my MINIs clean, Tim kindly sent over a selection of their products to try, with the promise to detail my Cooper early in 2020. Well, you can guess what happened next, and the detail was put on hold thanks to the pandemic and various lockdowns through that year and 2021. However, he kept in touch, more products to try from their growing range followed and last year Tim and Farécla proved how…

FEATURE F56 COOPER S POWER HUNGRY MARIO SAIEVA THOUGHT A STAGE 1 REMAP WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR HIS F56 COOPER S. FIVE YEARS ON, HE’S CREATED A 400HP MONSTER… Words MARTYN COLLINS Photos 24SEVEN PHOTOGRAPHY The MINI Hatch might have grown over the last three generations and almost 21 years, but what hasn’t changed is the same fun-to-drive formula. On top of this, MINIs have their own unique look, itself a reimagination of Classic Mini cues that appeal to current hot hatch fans. One such fan is Mario Saieva, the owner of this F56 Cooper S, who admits he’s always been a fan of hot hatches. Although, Mario started with more humble beginnings – a 1.2-litre Vauxhall Corsa B. With a no-claims bonus built up, Mario’s first hot hatch, a…

FEATURE R56 COOPER S FAST CLUB WITH AGGRESSIVE STYLING, A HARDCORE INTERIOR AND PUSHING OUT OVER 400WHP, SPEEDTECH MOTORSPORTS’ FULL-ON R56 BUILD IS ONE INCREDIBLE AND INCREDIBLY COMPLETE PERFORMANCE MACHINE Words ELIZABETH DE LATOUR Photos ETHAN HAYNES We love every car we feature in Performance MINI because if we didn’t, we wouldn’t feature them in the first place, but some cars just hit different and SpeedTech Motorsports’ R56 Cooper S is one such car. This MINI goes hard on every level – it looks so good, it sits so right, the interior is special and, as you would expect from a company with the word ‘speed’ in its name, it’s got some serious power on tap. R56s really don’t get much better than this. SpeedTech Motorsports has been around for…

IN THE SCENE CLUB DIRECTORY IN THE CLUB! LOOKING FOR A MINI CLUB IN YOUR AREA? TAKE A LOOK AT OUR DIRECTORY FOR ENTHUSIAST GROUPS NEAR YOU… NATIONAL MINI CLUBS BRITISH MINI CLUBwww.britishminiclub.co.uk FULL ON MINIwww.fullonminis.co.uk MINI COOPER REGISTERwww.minicooper.org CLUBMAN ESTATE REGISTERwww.clubmanestates.co.uk MINI TORQUEwww.minitorque.com TOTAL MINIwww.totalMINI.com GP OWNERS CLUBwww.gpoc.co.uk 210CLUB FACEBOOK GROUPwww.facebook.com/groups/210Club(Challenge210 Owners only) MINI MOVEMENTwww.facebook.com/groups/MINI.Movement MINI COOPER OWNER/DRIVERS CLUBwww.facebook.com/groups/504433849698049 R53 OWNERS CLUBwww.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141 MINI Y-REGISTERwww.miniyregister.co.uk 02 S REGISTERwww.02sregister.co.uk MINIACS ONLY GROUPwww.miniacsonlygroup.co.uk THE CLUB53www.theclub53.com MINI BITZ - KILL ALL CHROMEwww.facebook.com/killallchromeminibitz BMW CAR CLUB GBwww.bmwcarclubgb.uk MINI WHORESwww.facebook.com/andy996sps JCW CLUBMAN UK REGISTERwww.facebook.com/groups/1713021032320203 MODDEDMINI.COMwww.facebook.com/groups/1727463463951925 BMWMOGwww.facebook.com/groups/997488570719427 SCOTLAND NEW MINI SCOTLANDwww.newminiscotland.co.uk MINICLANwww.miniclan.com SCOTTISH MINISwww.scottishminis.com MINI MAYHEM SCOTLANDwww.facebook.com/groups/200110513800064 IRELAND MINI CLUB OF IRELANDwww.miniclub.ie MINIS IN NORTHERN IRELANDwww.minisinnorthernireland.co.uk NI MINISwww.ni-minis.co.uk WALES CARDIFF MINI CLUBwww.cardiffminiclub.co.uk SNOWDON MINISwww.facebook.com/SnowdonMinis NORTH WALES/WEST MINI OWNERS GROUPwww.northwaleswestminiownersgroup.weebly.com NORTHERN ENGLAND LEYLAND & DISTRICT MINI CLUBwww.leylandminiclub.com NORTH…

MOTORSPORT TRACK GUIDE BRAKING ON TRACK, GOING FAST IS IMPORTANT, BUT KNOWING HOW TO SLOW DOWN PROPERLY IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT. ALEX NEVILL TALKS US THROUGH THE FINER POINTS OF BRAKING Words ALEX NEVILL Braking is a very important part of driving on track; you won’t get very far without it! Aside from the obvious, the corner really starts with the braking zone. Poor braking will put you on the back foot for the rest of the corner, as you desperately try to stay on the track and can’t focus on your corner or exit speed. Good braking, on the other hand, will give you the confidence to come off the brakes and carry the speed through the corner. It’s not as simple as just applying the brakes as you do on…

PROJECT CARS NEIL’S R56 COOPER S A TURBO RESTRICTOR IS REQUIRED FOR RACING, AND WITH NONE AVAILABLE, NEIL MAKES HIS OWN, AS YOU DO… There are three things you have to think about when building a car for motorsport: safety, performance and regulations. To keep costs down and to keep performance in check, the motorsport authorities (e.g. the FIA and Motorsport UK) require forced induction (in the R56’s case - turbocharged) cars to run a restrictor on the turbo inlet. They also put forced induction cars in a class for higher capacity naturally aspirated engines (you multiply the forced induction car’s engine capacity by 1.7 to find the equivalent naturally aspirated size). The turbo restrictors limit the intake to 34mm, and the restrictors have to be designed to a precise…

NEWS WOLFTRAX RACING After having had their first taste of motorsport in 2021 in their R50 MINI Cooper, attending track days, car events and sim days at several UK tracks, in 2022 Emma Dawson and partner Steven Thomson are progressing into proper motorsport competition. They will shortly be acquiring their race licenses and entering into the 750 Motor Club’s Roadsports Series in an R53 Mini Cooper S. This is a six-event, mini endurance series throughout the summer months at various UK tracks, which will be live-streamed on YouTube. Their MINI is currently in winter preparation as they take it from road to track car. The team is called Wolftrax Racing, and you can follow their progress on Instagram @wolftraxracing and Facebook.com/wolftraxxracing, and sponsorship opportunities are available if any companies are…

BUYING AND TUNING GUIDE R56 MINI COOPER S WANT A FAST MINI THAT’S STILL AFFORDABLE, WITH BETTER BUILD QUALITY, PLUS A POWERFUL AND MORE TUNEABLE ENGINE? THE R56 COOPER S COULD BE THE ANSWER Words MARTYN COLLINS Photos BMW, MATT ANDREWS Following the success of the first-generation R53 Cooper S, which went on sale a year after the One and Cooper in 2002, MINI thankfully didn’t make buyers wait as long for its replacement, as it was one of the first models available from November 2006 UK launch. As with the standard R56, the fastest second-generation MINI (well, until the John Cooper Works came along later), was more of a clever rework than a new model. Outside, legislation dictated an 18mm taller shoulder line, but this MINI is also 60mm…

FEATURE R56 COOPER S DESTINY CALLING MOST OWNERS GO LOOKING FOR THEIR CARS, BUT IN THE CASE OF THIS R56, IT FOUND ITS OWNER, AND HE WAS CLEARLY THE RIGHT MAN FOR THIS MINI BECAUSE HE’S TURNED IT INTO A SERIOUS BUILD Words ELIZABETH DE LATOUR Photos PATRICK LAUDER It’s hard not to fall for the charms of the R56, with that punchy turbo engine, its still-compact size and its incredibly capable chassis. It’s the handling in particular that sold Ronnie Michelini on what would become his Cooper S, not that he needed much convincing, mind. “I have always appreciated the MINI styling. Then my dad got a 2016 Cooper S, and I definitely liked the way that car felt driving down the road,” he smiles. And while he’s owned…

PROJECT CARS ALEX’S R50 COOPER RACE CAR ALEX IS VERY CLOSE TO SECURING A SPOT ON THE GRID FOR THE JCW CLASS OF THE MINI CHALLENGE The off-season is always a tough time in motorsport, with plenty of uncertainty and hard work behind the scenes to get everything arranged for another year of fun. Although this section is about project cars, maybe a more appropriate name for mine would be ‘project getting into the car’! Over the last year or so I’ve made no bones about my goal to move up to the JCW class of the MINI Challenge, and I’ve also made no secret of the budgetary challenges of doing so. Motorsport of any kind is expensive, but the budget needed to race in the JCW class is double…