31 replies to this topic

[93rovermini]

hi as im after a mini cooper 1.3i I was wondering what they weigh as i'm curious do they weigh more than an average mini and if so by how much?? cheers guys

[Jammy]

I think they weigh about 800odd kgs, whereas the austin minis wiegh about 650odd. I think the extra weight comes from things like side impact bars, more insulation, more safety features, generally more C**p!

[Bungle]

the newer the mini the heavyer they are

its all the sound proofing and biger seats etc that make them weigh more :smartass:

[93rovermini]

ah man i wanted a lighter one what sort of performance difference is there between a say 85-90 cooper and a 90> cooper in both weight and speed?? i dont really care about safety beams because lets face it in a mini they wont do much anyway!!

[Jammy]

Although you could get say a fibreglass mini, build it with lighweight components, even an engine lighter than your average A series (maybe a bike engine) in it, but if the driver is, how do I say this?!, weighed in tonnes rather than stones, it isn't really going to matter how light or heavy your car is! :tongue:

[Jammy]

If its performance your after get a carb cooper, think they were built upto 92/93?! Carb coopers are alot easier to modify than MPIs and easier/cheaper generally to fix when they go wrong.

As for a direct answer to your question, I doubt there would be a huge difference between the performance of the two, but I'd say the newer Cooper would just edge the older.

[93rovermini]

haha i'm not fat! if thats what ur saying! but i know wht u mean tho driver weight is important. so roughly speaking for a 1989 cooper i'm looking at in weighing in standard roughly 700-800kgs?? also do coopers use A-series engines??

[Jammy]

Yea, for a 1989 Cooper your probably looking more at 700kg. All Coopers use A-series engines, and there isn't much difference between a Cooper and a standard mini, except if its one that has had the 90bhp Cooper tuning kit that was fitted aftermarket.

[Bungle]

If its performance your after get a carb cooper, think they were built upto 92/93?! Carb coopers are alot easier to modify than MPIs and easier/cheaper generally to fix when they go wrong.

A rover cooper carb will be H reg or J 1990-91 :smartass:

[93rovermini]

cool cheers whats this cooper tuning kit then? how fast to 0-60 and top end where they? they sound pretty nippy!

[Ade]

Although you could get say a fibreglass mini, build it with lighweight components, even an engine lighter than your average A series (maybe a bike engine) in it, but if the driver is, how do I say this?!, weighed in tonnes rather than stones, it isn't really going to matter how light or heavy your car is! :tongue:

Hmmm why are my ears burning?!???!?! :tongue: :grin:

[Guess-Works.com]

The 90hp kit went on the MPI's... basically, if you want a mini with a bit of go, then only production one was the Mk3 Cooper S circa 1969... anything else is just a lame imitation.

Get a carbed mini, and then get an engine to put in it...

[Jammy]

The Cooper tuning kit was sold by John Cooper garages. Its basically an advanced stage 1 kit, not sure if it included a modified cylinder head, I think it did. It also had to be fitted at there garages and you paid for it!! The 90bhp was quoted, but I don't know how many cars hit this, I mean you could have fitted it to a wreck and it would never hit 90bhp! I'm not sure if that figure was at the fly or wheels either.

Performance figures, as ever, are going to be very car specific, 0-60 I reckon would be roughly 9 secs I would think, and top speed would be somewhere over 100, maybe about 110-120?? It also depends on the final drive that was fitted, I believe Rover began to introduce Coopers with a 2.9 (might of been 2.7) final drive to be more suited to motorway driving. This would cause the 0-60 to be slower but top speed to increase.

[Bungle]

Although you could get say a fibreglass mini, build it with lighweight components, even an engine lighter than your average A series (maybe a bike engine) in it, but if the driver is, how do I say this?!, weighed in tonnes rather than stones, it isn't really going to matter how light or heavy your car is! :tongue:

Hmmm why are my ears burning?!???!?! :tongue: :grin:

its alright Ade jammys not talking about you :grin:

you can go back to that burger , chips & piza

[Purple Tom]

the best Cooper for performance tuning (if we're talking late Cooper's and not the 60's cars), is the carburretor equipped models, from 1990 to 1992-1993.

After that they went to Single-point injection (Minisprocket is a good bloke to talk to about this, he seems to know a lot about SPi's), and in 1996 they went to multi-point injection(these are considered a bit like voodoo, tuning them is a nightmare and people who are after performance tend to avoid them).

For reference, there isn't such thing as a 1989 'Cooper', except for the John Cooper conversions available for the 998, which consisted of twin carbs, filters, modified head etc....but they were never badged as Cooper. The Cooper name was officially used from 1990 with the introduction of the RSP (a limited edition Mini, with a 1275 engine, oil cooler, sunroof, 1000 built), right up to 2001 with the last of the Coopersport 500's.

The early Coopers (including the RSP's) in fact had the MG Metro engine, producing about 73bhp at the flywheel. They unfortunately had a catalytic convertor, which sapped a good 7bhp, but they were still lively performers.

After the introduction of the SPi Cooper, they got progressively more 'standard' with more in the way of aesthetic and interior modifications than anything to do with the engine. In fact, from 96 and the advent of the MPi, there was no difference in the engine room at all, whether it be a 'Cooper' or a standard Mini. One spanner in the works is the John Cooper 90 bhp conversion. Offered as an extra, some MPi's have this. It included a reworked cylinder head, different exhaust manifold and system, new air filter and a few other bits and bobs. Whether it actually produced 90bhp on an MPi without ECU mods is a point for debate, but it certainly gave the relatively slow MPi's a bit more get up and go.

Weight wise I don't think there's a lot in it between a carbed Cooper or a standard 998. As Jammy and Bungle said there's more soundproofing and interior in the later cars, so they weigh more. But it certainly makes them a nicer prospect for driving long distances in, and with their 2.9 FD they are quite economical at speed, unlike the earlier Coopers with a 3.2 or 3.44 FD.

All Mini's as standard had A-series engines, but there's all sorts of conversions out there. The A-series as a lump is actually quite heavy, being cast iron. I believe something along the lines of a Rover V8 with a Princess gearbox is about the same weight, but, you don't want to do that! Stick with the A-series, its a good engine

Performance wise, I'd have to say that the earlier carb'd Cooper's, if set up correctly, would easily outdrag an MPi, but the MPi would definitely have the edge top end, with its higher final drive. SPi's I'm not so sure of, as I don't know what their FD is, and what they do performance wise, although they're not too shabby.

Hope that helps.

(edit: it took me 15 mins to type this, so everyone else has already covered it! d'oh! :nugget: )