My Seksi Ryde.

[tavern]

1963 Cooper S, heavily customised.

[tavern]

http://members.dodo.net.au/~tavern/mini.jpg

[kré]

jeez dude you gotta resize those pics

nice ride nonetheless :cool:

[IML337]

nice car man. Now it's my turn.

2002 MINI Cooper S, heavily... ummmm... optioned :)

http://iml337.com/ben/mini/1.JPG

http://iml337.com/ben/mini/2.JPG

[tavern]

Nice, you should join your local mini club.

[thingy]

Your local? Slight locational problem there, unfortunately.

[Buffalo]

Mark I or II?

[oracle]

Uhh... Nice license plate :rolleyes:

[tavern]

My Cooper S is a mark 1

but the engine is a british mini metro engine, 1310cc, extractors, high lift cams, double valve springs etc. about 92 HP.

[That Bloke]

Originally posted by IML337
nice car man. Now it's my turn.

2002 MINI Cooper S, heavily... ummmm... optioned :)



New minis are kinda tacky, they don't have the charm of the Original, not as bad as the new beetles though.

[IML337]

Originally posted by That_Bloke
New minis are kinda tacky, they don't have the charm of the Original, not as bad as the new beetles though.

but have you DRIVEN ONE? :D

I thought they looked disgusting, but after reading glowing magazine reviews about them (and being refused insurance on an Audi S3) I went to the MINI garage to see what I was "missing out on"

It only took five minutes behind the wheel to find out ;)

[That Bloke]

Originally posted by IML337
but have you DRIVEN ONE? :D



I don't have a liscense:), I've driven a Porsche 928(about 100 metres), Datsun 200b, Diahatsu Charade, Chrysler Sigma, Toyota Carolla KE70, Holden Camira & Datsun 120Y.

[Lurgen]

It's actually smaller than a Mini Cooper, but stacks faster and a lot more fun to "drive"....


http://www.lurgen.com/images/cbr600f.jpg

:D :D :D

[Pirate]

Oooh I want a new mini too, I think they look fucking great. But I couldn't give up my falcon. I love it so.

http://www.zgeek.com/albums/uploads/Pb240045.sized.jpg

[IML337]

Originally posted by Pirate
Oooh I want a new mini too, I think they look fucking great. But I couldn't give up my falcon. I love it so.

I dare you test drive a Cooper S ;)

[DumHed]

sucks to the cooper S, drive a silvia :)

[Pirate]

Originally posted by IML337
I dare you test drive a Cooper S ;) I know if I do, i will like it and this will cause me much chaos in my life. :)

[Pirate]

Originally posted by DumHed
sucks to drive a silvia :)

I think thats what you ment.

[DumHed]

shut it auto boy!

[Scumbag]

Shit I thought this thread was about a particular suburb of Sydney :(

[jmello]

my ride:D :D

http://www.zgeek.com/albums/uploads/jmello_mini.jpg (http://www.miniusa.com/crm/mini_entrance.jsp)

if i were old enough to drive, i'd post something..
(click the pic for teh linkage)

edit: well, if i had a car, i am old enough to drive.. (a liscense helps, too)

[DrDivad]

mines betterest!

[V_Max]

The engine, she belongs in the middle :)

http://www.nw.com.au/~mike/AW11SC.jpg

[huwbacca]

heres my ride.

[That Bloke]

Originally posted by huwbacca
heres my ride.

Another Silvia

[huwbacca]

correct

[kré]

Originally posted by V_Max
The engine, she belongs in the middle :)

http://www.nw.com.au/~mike/AW11SC.jpg

that looks pretty nice O_O

[tavern]

i still think the power to weight of the cooper s is hard to beat in the car market today.

[V_Max]

I agree Tavern, and the handling makes a Cooper S even more fun :) I once read a quote, I think it may have been in Evo or Performance Car magazine, about the Cooper S - (paraphrasing) "It only does sixty miles an hour - down the straights, through the corners, around roundabouts and up your driveway"
:D

[tavern]

it's the only car i've driven that can take a 90 degree corn at 35 (without handbrake).

the best bit is with the engine i have had *cough* tweaked it has a sweet top speed of 150 km/h and a nice rating of 96 Brake HP. unheard of in 1963 (for a mini).

i love it, it's like driving a go cart, i do however still look for fifth gear on occasion :)

[tavern]

a GT 40 kit car.

i have lined up a chevy 6.6 litre v8 with EFI for it.

http://www.me.mtu.edu/~prater/carpics/fords/GT40/GT40-2.jpg

the best bit is it's street legal, BTW it's called a GT40 because it's 40 inches tall.

[C0V3R]

My car as seen in "let's play guess that car":

http://forums.zgeek.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=181846

[kré]

a ford with a chevy engine :(

[tavern]

i'm not a purist, i'm just after the most reliable combination, the biggest horsepower engine i could lay my hands on was the chevy, even more surprising, the engine came out of a torana hatchback.

[That Bloke]

Originally posted by tavern
i'm not a purist, i'm just after the most reliable combination, the biggest horsepower engine i could lay my hands on was the chevy, even more surprising, the engine came out of a torana hatchback.

There used to be a notorius SLR 8000, I imagine the 8 litre engine was a rebore job.

[IML337]

Originally posted by V_Max
The engine, she belongs in the middle :)

http://www.nw.com.au/~mike/AW11SC.jpg

that's supercharged isn't it? :D A good mate of mine had an SW-20 mister about five years ago, and when I sold my Lancer GSR I found a 1998 model (SW-20) with 8000km on it (it was about 2 months after production stopped in 1999) and was so close to buying it it wasn't funny, but the dealer wouldn't move on the price. Bought an Audi A3 instead.

BUT, I did go on some MR2 Club NSW drives, and there were a few supercharged AW-11's, and those things are SICK! You must love it - and yours looks awesome too. Is it an Australian delivered car?

I like it!

[IML337]

Originally posted by C0V3R
My car as seen in "let's play guess that car":

http://forums.zgeek.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=181846

WOW! That's fucken AWESOME! Left Hand Drive and all!! :D

I'm impressed!!

[V_Max]

Originally posted by IML337
that's supercharged isn't it? :D A good mate of mine had an SW-20 mister about five years ago, and when I sold my Lancer GSR I found a 1998 model (SW-20) with 8000km on it (it was about 2 months after production stopped in 1999) and was so close to buying it it wasn't funny, but the dealer wouldn't move on the price. Bought an Audi A3 instead.

BUT, I did go on some MR2 Club NSW drives, and there were a few supercharged AW-11's, and those things are SICK! You must love it - and yours looks awesome too. Is it an Australian delivered car?

I like it!

Yup, that one is supercharged and the red one in front of it (which I sold shortly after buying the SC) is naturally aspirated. It's not Australian delivered - no SCs were. I'm the first owner in Australia apart from the company that imported it. For $10K I'm dead happy - I can't think of anything between that and the $60K-odd that I'd need for an Elise or 308.
It's tiny, and eminently chuckable, and the instant torque combined with the huge grip that you get (in dry weather) from having all the weight directly above the rear wheels means that it even makes a top notch entry in traffic light GPs - a bloke in an M5 (400bhp, $200K) was left wondering what the hell just happened some weeks back :D

My brother actually has an SW20 turbo - cheeky bugger, he's only 19 too. Insurance is a killer though at $3200/yr :eek:

Speaking of Audis... I had a spot of fun with an A3 over the weekend... he was a bit surprised at first but once everybody got acquainted much fun was had by all :)

[IML337]

$3200?

geez must be way cheaper over in WA. I'm 23 with a 50% NCB and my Cooper S is $3500 a year to insure!

For $10k, you can't go wrong though - it would be a pretty good steer. Does the AW-11 have that unpredictable oversteer quality that the SW-20 has? I've shat myself more than once when an SW-20 has felt OK and then *snap* the back just lets go :(

Are you certain there were NO Aussie delivered supercharged AW-11's? I've been led to believe otherwise - in fact I've seen one!

Unless it's rarity was because it was a factory supercharged car, and hadn't had an engine conversion... hmmmm I can't remember, that was too many years ago :(

[V_Max]

Yup, definitely no Australian-delivered AW11 SCs or SW20 Turbos for that matter - they were only sold in Japan and the US. I don't know what the split of imported SCs vs Australian converted SCs is, but I reckon it'd probably be around 50:50, in Perth anyway.

In the dry the snap oversteer of the SW20 just doesn't exist (although it's much less apparent in the 93+ SW20s than it was in the first ones), but in the wet it can be a bit of a handful - the rear tends to aquaplane over some puddles that the front cuts through, which makes things sort of interesting :eek:

That insurance price is a bit scary... I guess I'll stop complaining about my $1100/yr now ;)

[Lurgen]

Thanks to all this talk about cars (and Minis in particular) I have an appointment to test drive a Cooper S this afternoon. If I buy it as a result, I'm gonna have to beat the living snot out of whoever brought them up in the first place!

[Scumbag]

Heres my car (photo's taken in Japan before it was imported)

[Scumbag]

and again...

[tavern]

Originally posted by Lurgen
Thanks to all this talk about cars (and Minis in particular) I have an appointment to test drive a Cooper S this afternoon. If I buy it as a result, I'm gonna have to beat the living snot out of whoever brought them up in the first place!

Sorry man, hope you like it :p

[IML337]

Originally posted by Lurgen
Thanks to all this talk about cars (and Minis in particular) I have an appointment to test drive a Cooper S this afternoon. If I buy it as a result, I'm gonna have to beat the living snot out of whoever brought them up in the first place!

bahaha you'll be too interested in your Cooper S to be hitting any of us :D

The supercharger whine is just addictive!

[Lurgen]

Originally posted by IML337
bahaha you'll be too interested in your Cooper S to be hitting any of us :D

The supercharger whine is just addictive!

I drove it for about 40 minutes through nice windy pieces of road....

The supercharger is a lot quieter than my existing supercharged V6 (Holden Calais) so I didn't really find the sounds as enticing as you might expect.

All up the car was impressive. It handles amazingly well, has a lot of power for such a small engine, and was lots of fun. The pedals are too close together, making it difficult for my left foot to find the footrest without depressing the clutch by accident. The dashboard is confusing as hell, and while I suspect you'd get used to it, looking away from the road to find the tacho bothered me.

Great car, I just wish they'd been a little more sensible with the interior design.

There were also a couple of annoying rattles inside that I just don't expect on a $47k vehicle.

Another thing that I found annoying (and yes, I should have expected this) was that the thing struggled up hills. When I say struggled, I mean it didn't have trouble with them, just that it lacked the balistic enthusiasm my 3.8l V6 has.

It's going to be tough this year - I really have to think about upgrading and I just can't find the right machine for me. Anybody want to offer any suggestions? $45-55k is about the right mark, I have to have a nice fast car though, and I'm fussy about quality (no falling apart allowed!).

[IML337]

If you don't like the dash, the sat nav option is awesome - not only do you get a "Suzy" (well thats what I named my sexy britsh accented navigator :p) but a speedo and tacho that are in front of you!

The build quality is generally very good, but I think they all have a rattle or two in them - mine certainly did, though the dealer has been marvellous and fixed them all.

I think the Cooper S is a car you "want" to have - it's certainly not for everyone. There are upgrades in the vicinity of $5k-$10k that will add another 40kW at the flywheel, which should eliminate your performance problems, but front wheel traction becomes more of an issue than it is in the standard S already...

I think coming out of a Commodore, if you're fussy about quality you'll find it hard to be disappointed (haha joke :))

The S15 200SX is very good bang for your buck, but jap interiors don't do it for me... WRX, Integra Type R - all the usual suspects I guess...?

The Cooper S is small, fun, and different, and had some cool options, so I got it. At first it was because I couldn't get an Audi S3 for insurance reasons, but now I'm glad that happened - the MINI is superb!

Good luck with your decisions!!

[Lurgen]

Originally posted by IML337
The build quality is generally very good, but I think they all have a rattle or two in them - mine certainly did, though the dealer has been marvellous and fixed them all.

I think the Cooper S is a car you "want" to have - it's certainly not for everyone. There are upgrades in the vicinity of $5k-$10k that will add another 40kW at the flywheel, which should eliminate your performance problems, but front wheel traction becomes more of an issue than it is in the standard S already...

I think coming out of a Commodore, if you're fussy about quality you'll find it hard to be disappointed (haha joke :))

The S15 200SX is very good bang for your buck, but jap interiors don't do it for me... WRX, Integra Type R - all the usual suspects I guess...?


I have to agree with you about jap interiors - they suck in a big way. And yes, Holden have a lot of problems with build quality, although the Calais was very good in that regard (their higher end cars are always a bit better).

To upgrade the Cooper S to a configuration I'd be 100% happy with would set me back close to $60k. Once you break that 60 barrier you really have to think hard about what else it's competing with.

The 200SX is a pain to insure, as are the other obvious turbos. I'm going to spend the rest of my life wanting a different car :( Maybe I should just get it over with and buy a Boxter S - that would keep me amused for a while.

[V_Max]

Used Elise for mid-50s? Or a 308 if you don't mind the age :)
Of course neither are exactly Mercedes-like in terms of build quality but sometimes you can forgive that ;)

[IML337]

Originally posted by Lurgen
To upgrade the Cooper S to a configuration I'd be 100% happy with would set me back close to $60k.

Thats what I ended up doing. I just gritted my teeth and signed on the bottom line. It was worth it :)


V_Max: I've been told by some Lotus owners I know that the Elise is quite underpowered! On track days an MX5 can beat one apparently?! I still like them though. And I still don't like MX5's :p

[Lurgen]

Originally posted by IML337
V_Max: I've been told by some Lotus owners I know that the Elise is quite underpowered! On track days an MX5 can beat one apparently?! I still like them though. And I still don't like MX5's :p

I've heard the same thing about the Elise, along with the fact that is one of the least practical/comfortable cars on the market.

[V_Max]

An MX-5 beat an Elise on the track? Well, maybe if it's a fairly severely modified MX-5 and a standard Elise, I suppose, but having driven an original (115-odd bhp?) Elise and my Dad's MX-5 SP which should be about the quickest standard MX-5 version available, it certainly feels like the MX-5 has no chance :)

An Elise is underpowered in the sense that it can handle a lot more power than the standard motor supplies, but in terms of laptimes the weight and handling more than make up for it IMO. Besides - speed != fun, just ask tavern :)

As for practicality, well there's not a lot of bootspace, but I already have more than enough in the AW11 and it's only maybe half of that. Comfort isn't an issue - once you're in, it all just feels right :)
That said, it's certainly not for everyone, particularly if you have recurring dreams involving being squashed by trucks or something :p

[Eds]

Chrysler Valiant VJ, 245 Hemi.
Now THAT'S a Super Charger. :D

[Eds]

Whoops

[still life]

Originally posted by Lurgen
It's going to be tough this year - I really have to think about upgrading and I just can't find the right machine for me. Anybody want to offer any suggestions? $45-55k is about the right mark, I have to have a nice fast car though, and I'm fussy about quality (no falling apart allowed!).

Subaru Liberty GT (206kw / turbo) due in a few months for around 55k

[still life]

got nissan?

http://intercoo.la/photos/DSC01401.JPG

[DrDivad]

i heard a rumor that there's going to be a twin turbo liberty aswell!

[royale]

This is mine as of this Wednesday (so no, its not actually mine, its a publicity photo, but right colour and shape....)
http://drive.com.au/PHOTOS/PHOTO400/SSCAUS/SUBARU/IMPREZA/2003/5HA-4%20WRX.JPG

[C0V3R]

Originally posted by DrDivad
i heard a rumor that there's going to be a twin turbo liberty aswell!

Sequential or parallel?

[still life]

Originally posted by C0V3R
Sequential or parallel?

The current one (B4) is a badly tuned sequential, 190kw

The next one (due late this year, called the GT) will be single turbo, 206kw

[DrDivad]

ja sequential but you could make more betterer

[Salted_Chipmunk]

Originally posted by V_Max
Used Elise for mid-50s?

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Salted_Chipmunk]

Me!

http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~puddin23/Car%20Pics/100-0031_IMG_2.JPG

Tavern, where abouts in brisbane are ya? i think i've seen you pass a couple of times.