Hamann Motorsport Mini CoopersThe Tuning Program's First StepThe new MINI has just been launched in the U.S. and is going down a storm, with long waiting lists and some apparently willing to pay thousands of dollars over list to have a car immediately. In fact, in every other market where it has been launched, the MINI has been a bigger success than BMW could have hoped for.
In the meantime, the aftermarket tuning industry all over the world has been working overtime to get their wares out to expectant customers. This is only the beginning, but both supply and demand look set to repeat the tuning phenomenon the classic Mini enjoyed during its eventful life.
Although BMW sees the new MINI as a stand-alone brand, it is no surprise to find many of the BMW tuners lining up to tune it. Hamann Motorsport was one of the first tuners out of the starting blocks, and I recently drove its two MINI Cooper demonstrators.
The red and white car debuted at Frankfurt last year, where it showed off the lowering spring set and 7.5Jx17-in. five-spoke alloys with 215/40R17 Continental Sport Contact tires.
"We were very conscious of the harsh ride of the factory Chili Pack cars," Richard Hamann explained, "but because the MINI is a relatively cheap car, most customers will not want to spend a lot of money on a complete spring and damper kit. In any case, our tests revealed that the factory sport dampers were fine, so we elected to work on springs that would drop the car about 25mm while retaining a comfortable ride. It was very difficult to do, but after rejecting half a dozen prototypes we found the right rating. The lower ride height helps to resist roll, and the bigger tires give more grip, so we could afford to go with relatively soft springs."
The lower and wider stance gives the MINI a tougher, more purposeful demeanor straight away. The front spoiler is unchanged, but subtle side skirts with a fake intake at the rear give more visual interest to the rather bland side sills. The new sills can be color-coded or not as the customer wants, but Richard reported that the black plastic wheel-arch fairings are very hard to paint. "Even with a elasticized undercoat meant for painting plastic parts, the paint has a hard time adhering to the grained finish. Sanding the grain off would be a very labor intensive (read: expensive) process."
The business end of the car is beefed up visually with a twin central exhaust-pipe arrangement. The sports silencer box replaces the standard one and has a large single pipe branching out into two as it appears through the new plastic center section of the rear valance.
Given my observations on the poor seats of the standard car, I was really interested to try the seats in the Hamann car. These are made by German seat manufacturer Konig, which also supplies Porsche tuner Ruf, located down the road from Hamann. You can have them in cloth, leather or the imitation leather used here. "We normally have leather in our BMW demo cars," Richard explained, "but once again the cost versus benefit factor applies with the MINI."
The seats are finished in black with red centers, perfectly matching the stock red, black and silver interior of the car. The moment I sank into these deep buckets, I knew they were the perfect solution. Providing excellent support in all the right places, they hug you to the point where you start taking corners faster than ever, because lateral g forces are no longer trying to fling you across the car. You lose the side airbags, but the deep bolsters offer far more side-impact protection than the flat standard seats. And think of the osteopath bills saved!