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#1
10-30-2011, 05:57 PM
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Martijn's JustaCooper
At the age of 29 I thought it was time to get my first set of wheels. I'd been a student for way to long, and thus did most travel by bicycle or public transportation. I've been a hobby photographer for 5 years or so, mainly shooting cars, so I've been in (and driven) my fair share of nice cars. Last year I started doing more and more freelance work, mainly video (using Canon HDSLR's) for some fitness companies. This year I also started making videos for Autoblog (the Dutch version), so now I'm able to make a living of it...
 I was looking for a car that was still quite reasonable in terms of running costs, but was still fun to drive and had potential to be modified. Thus in May I ended up with my 2002 Mini Cooper:  No 'S', as that was a lot more expensive (both to buy and run), and I figured I'd get more fun from good handling than more power. Due to my work I get to be in a lot of fast cars and I've learned that power isn't everything (though it can be fun of course!  ). It has Seven-badges on it, but being a 2002-model it's no real Seven of course.Of course I started modding straight away, nothing special, a black grill, Honda S2000-antenna, aFe CAI and a set of KW V1 coilovers, Dr Krumm camber plates and 15mm-spacers all around. I read my g/f scary stories about upset bears attacking cars with to much wheelgap, so she convinced me to lower it. This is how it sits as of now:   This is the lowest I can go while still being able to scrape out of my parking structure. The front jack point on the right hits the floor on the way in though. Already lost the front left one on a high speedbump... Got some red/white-taillights:  For a little more noise I installed an aFe-intake and a PlayMini-catback:   Video with just the intake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPbGjqNXnrQ Video just after having the exhaust installed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qMQZ29FAdc Made the interior a little less stock by installing a carbon JCW dash:   Here's some recent shots I took (all clickable for 1600px):      And here's me cornering:  I'm getting it chipped next weekend (mainly for improved 'feel') and have some 'Pepperpots' with winter tires to go on soon...   Obligatory mod list: Engine
Interior
Exterior
Suspension
Over winter I want to collect some goodies to have the car shine in spring. Some more JCW-interior-goodies (shifter/handbrake + steering wheel), Cooper S bumpers + skirts (no Aero) and some nice wheels. I also have some SPC/Eibach camber arms and new rear end links that I didn't install yet, think I'll throw those on together with a thicker rear sway bar.
Last edited by MartijnGizmo; 05-06-2012 at 03:56 PM.. 
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#2
10-30-2011, 07:11 PM
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You use (a lot of) parentheses.
 Nice car! I love the Se7en.
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#3
10-30-2011, 08:34 PM
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'Story' of my life...
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#7
10-31-2011, 11:50 AM
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Thanks, I'll try to get a decent capture of the exhaust after it has burned in a little more!
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#8
10-31-2011, 04:22 PM
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Quote:
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#9
10-31-2011, 07:11 PM
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Yeah, I work my ass of and the hours are crazy, but for me it's really rewarding and I love doing it!
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#11
11-01-2011, 08:14 AM
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love it
__________________
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#12
11-05-2011, 08:54 PM
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Had the car chipped today on a local (the Netherlands is small enough for everything to be local
 ) meeting: Didn't expect to gain match apart from a little improved throttle response and it did indeed feel better. Also got a little more pops from the exhaust, but that might be due to having burned in a little more on the long(ish) drive over there. The real suprise came on the way home, 100-120km/h (60-80mph) in 5th gear feels quite a lot stronger, and that's a range that I use often on our crowded highways. Fuel economy also seems to have improved by almost 10%, nice side-effect!
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#14
11-12-2011, 09:14 PM
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Yeah, did some more driving, and I went from 8.6l/100km to 8l/100km on average, both without a lot of spirited driving. Also runs much better when cold, but that's probably due to it being much newer software...
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and welcome to MU.
