I'm almost glad that Dodge created the annoying "Hi" marketing campaign when it introduced the Neon in the '90s. If Dodge hadn't, I'm positive MINI would have come up with something similar when it introduced the new MINI in 2002. Instead, MINI was forced to develop a rather cool marketing campaign for its cute little cars--a campaign which, I dare say, almost makes me want to head out to a dealership and pick up a Cooper S for myself.
Ever since the new MINI hit the scene, everybody has been wondering how much staying power the little three-door hatchback has. The original MINI has been around for longer than many of us have been alive, but as far as the majority of America goes, the MINI name belongs to a tiny hatchback from the 1969 movie The Italian Job--a car you can't easily buy in the states. With its new marketing campaign (and the fact that the new fleet of MINIs are sold on these shores), MINI is hoping to create a U.S. base of enthusiasts that will keep the two-model series alive. Really, though, only an aftermarket that backs the car can do that.
Realizing this, MINI has been fervently handing cars out to anyone and everyone in the aftermarket automotive industry, trying to get the companies to build parts for its cars. At the '02 SEMA show, MINIs were in nearly every booth, and each MINI had so many trick parts on it that it seemed like the car would undoubtedly become the next ultimate tuner car. MINI isn't totally in the clear, though, as other manufacturers have had the same idea in the past and, well, let's just say we're not all driving Hyundai Tiberons, are we?
Even though we're going to have to wait a year or two to find out if the MINI will be the wild success that BMW is hoping for, right now the market is being flooded by company after company with items for both the Cooper and Cooper S. One of the cars that recently caught this magazine's eye was D.A.I. Motorsports' Zeemax widebody MINI Cooper S.
One of the largest contributing factors of a widebody kit not being successful is when the kit isn't designed to flow with the original lines of the car. A good widebody kit, or any body kit for that matter, takes the styling cues of the car and adds to them, with the finished product being one that is better than when the car rolled off the assembly line. At the same time, the kit should look as though the manufacturer produced the car that way. The fender flares should line up with the wheelwells, the side skirts should fit with the flow of the front and rear bumpers, and most importantly, the widebody kit should enable the wheels to be pushed out without fear of the tires rubbing against the kit.
Inspecting the Zeemax kit reveals that although the wheels on the car are only 18x8.5 inches and the tires are only 225mm wide (both of which will fit on a stock Cooper), D.A.I. spaced out the Moven wheels so the tires come to the edge of the body. Also, because of the way the kit installs, D.A.I. didn't need to worry about the tires hitting the kit when the suspension compressed. The widebody kit even left room for D.A.I. to convert the MINI to a dual-outlet exhaust design and run D.A.I. Motorsports' exhaust through the mesh.
Backing up the looks of this aggressive body kit are a handful of modifications designed specifically to juice some more power from the tiny supercharged 1.6L motor. Mini Mania was used for its intake, header, and, most notably, its supercharger pulley upgrade, while a Jim Conforti ECU upgrade milks the motor for whatever other power was hidden beneath all the Moss MINI engine dress-up parts. StopTech 328x28 front rotors and four-piston calipers help bring the car to a stop.
Inside the MINI, D.A.I. installed Sparco Milano 2 seats and a plethora of Mini Mania and Moss MINI items, then jumped straight into the electronics portion of the car. The factory head unit was replaced with an Alpine CDA-7802 unit, and a Sony PlayStation 2 was installed under the dashboard. The PS2 is wired into the head unit and connected to the roof-mounted 10.4-inch Exxcel flip-down monitor. All the audio runs through Rockford Fosgate wiring to the trunk-mounted JL Audio amp and 12w6 sub. The West Coast Auto Sound custom sub box and amp rack retain the rear seats for daily driving, but when the seats are dropped down, the box slides back to reveal the amp.
If you take a look around, you'll see the new MINI everywhere--it's commonplace now to find one at nearly every car show. Does the car have the staying power to become the next Golf, Jetta, or even the next classic MINI of the original The Italian Job fame? Possibly. Having had a project MINI in our eurotuner fleet, I know the car is a blast to drive on the streets and on the track. The car has the weight distribution, the power, and the aftermarket backing to become a significant presence in the tuner scene. The question is: Will people continue to buy the MINIs in a couple years once the next trendy car comes around, or are the Cooper and Cooper S as doomed to failure as some think the New Beetle is? From the looks of things, the MINI should do just fine, but I'll let you know for sure in a couple of years.