19 replies to this topic

[Black998]

I'm looking into buying either a Stage 1 Kit or Stage 2 Kit (depending on how money goes) and have found them both on the Minisport website. Just wondering if anyone has tried either of these and if they're worth the money, or any good (preferably for a 998, but any advice will help!) I have read mixed opinions on Minisport products. Thanks everyone!

[jamiestevenbell]

i have a mini sport stage one kit on my mini i found the performance is alot better but the quality of some of the part is abit poor as we had a problem with the threads stripping on the exhaust clamps and it didnt seen to fit very well do mra minis do a kit as i have found them to have the best quality bits so far

[Cooperman]

I'm looking into buying either a Stage 1 Kit or Stage 2 Kit (depending on how money goes) and have found them both on the Minisport website. Just wondering if anyone has tried either of these and if they're worth the money, or any good (preferably for a 998, but any advice will help!) I have read mixed opinions on Minisport products. Thanks everyone!

Personally I think Mini Spares stuff is the best by far. However, all this 'stage this, that & the other' is pretty meaningless, as it's not an established standard.
To make a Mini go better, the key things are a better more free-flowing cylinder head, a better inlet & exhaust system and, when affordable, a better cam to allow the better head to get the mixture in as well as possible.
A really good head can be obtained from Rob Walker Engineering, Witney, Oxon. His work really is the best quality and his prices are good too.
Then get an alloy inlet manifold - I got a Howley alloy inlet off ebay for £15 a short while back, and a 3-into-1 ex. manifold with RC40 exhaust.
Put it all together well and get it set-up on a rolling road and you'll be amazed by the results. Pay no attention to the 'Stage...' expressions, they are largely just 'sales puff'.

[jamiestevenbell]

well last year i brought £500 worth of stuff from mini spares and i wasnt too impressed with the stuff

[Black998]

thanks for your help guys! maybe a bit of mix 'n' match would be suitable.

[mohammed]

im on the same boat, thinking of buying stage 1/ 2 in few months time.. first save some money!

[jamiestevenbell]

yes i would mix and match it if i was you

[Black998]

yes i would mix and match it if i was you

was thinking maniflow lcb and y piece, maniflow 1.75" side exit single box, k & n filter, and source the rest from the nearest mini garage? then rolling road! cant go wrong with maniflow.

[jamiestevenbell]

dont forget you will need a new inlet manifold and what engine you got in your mini?

[Black998]

dont forget you will need a new inlet manifold and what engine you got in your mini?

i have a 998. is the minisport inlet manifold decent? i will get as many parts from minisport as i can because theyre much cheaper than here in australia (even with shipping!)

[danny1]

from personal experiance, i lcb eaxhaust manfiold are a pain in the bum! as they will always blow at the y piece unless use use a stupid amount of exhaust selant and then if the exhaust sytem moves and it all breaks fo and it blows again.

get a cooper free flow, great for all sizes of engine, weather it be a 998 or a 1275 or even bigger bore.

gives out great tourque figures, and theres only 1 join on to the center pipe

[AlexMozza]

Stage 1, with LCB Manifold and RC40 system has to be the best cheap mods to a mini.
They recon its about 20% extra power

[matt615]

I had a Mini Sport stage 1 kit once. It was poor quality and difficult to fit. In fact I never got it to fit properly, it was always banging against the under side of the car.

After 6 months I got fed up with it and ripped it off, and replaced it with a Mini Spare stage 1 kit. This was a doddle to fit in comparison, much better quality, and three years later is still on my car.

So I don't recommend the Mini Sport ones!

[matt615]

One bit of advice

If you can get one, original Mini or Metro inlet manifolds are much better than the after market ones the Mini suppliers sell. The original ones are set at the right angle for the carb to clear the bulkhead, whereas with the after market ones you often get a problem with the carb / air filter fouling the bulk head.

[spork]

I had a Mini Sport stage 1 kit once. It was poor quality and difficult to fit. In fact I never got it to fit properly, it was always banging against the under side of the car.

So I don't recommend the Mini Sport ones!

I had this with the minisport one, waited weeks for it to turn up and was missing two mounting brackets.