R53 Checkmate - From standard to modified
Discussion
Though I would share my experience with my R53 Cooper S and hopefully help any of those who might be looking to modify their own.
So in 2017 I currently owned a grey 2002 Cooper S that I had used for commuting to work and considered modifying, however, due to the mileage the car now had I thought best to find a lower mileage car to begin the project. Having changed jobs and now getting the train to work the car did not have to be a daily but more focused towards fun. So having looked through the classifieds, I came across this 2006 on a 55 Checkmate with 23,000 miles on, which at first I thought was a typo but checked out to be genuine so I went to view the car and got it that day.
This is what it looked like when I first got it:
So the first mods I wanted to do were cooling as I was looking to install a reduced supercharger pulley, so having looked all over the forums the top mount intercooler was replaced by a Airtec unit and a cold air intake, which were both supplied by orranje.co.uk:
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/2CfjDKE3.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/uAME73tF" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/uAME73tF.jpg)
Following this, a 17% Kavs reduced supercharger pulley was installed. This and the induction kit made the sound of the supercharger whine so much louder when on the loud pedal, which as a result means my fuel economy dropped considerably but ho-hum. To finish this off and due to limited funds I purchased a used non-resonated Scorpion cat-back exhaust.
At this point I had owned the car just over a year and other than going down to Portsmouth to see the other half whilst at uni (great fun going through the hindhead tunnel) the car had not been used as much as I had hoped but I was still enjoying it and every drive was a good laugh.
Fast forward around 6 months and I had found a set of Rota Blitz which seem to be quite popular in the Mini scene. Two things stood out once I up the wheels on 1) The arch gap had to go 2) They were going to rub on the arches once it did:
Following up on the wheels I was now on the hunt for a set of coilovers, at first I looked at AP coilovers due to having them on my MK2f Polo, however, having looked through the forums there were a lot of recommendations for KW V1 and ST Coilovers, and ultimately ended up with ST XA coilovers which were discounted through euro car parts (who would have thought) and also had the adjustable dampers which the KW V1's didn't.
So once fitted, the car handled very nicely and with the car being polybushed everything felt a bit tighter and they were surprisingly comfortable, no less than a mini on run flats. However my initial fears about the wheels rubbing were a reality and were slowly destroying the arches and damaging the tyres, so a hunt for new wheels began.
Having looked at various wheels and an order that Demon Tweeks messed up, I settled for a set of OZ Leggenda's which were 7j et42 as opposed to 7.5j et35 that were the Rota's:
With the rubbing issues now solved and the handling on point, I was on the hunt for the JCW body kit excluding the rear bumper due to not liking the styling, however, finding this in checkmate colours was near impossible so I purchased black examples and had them painted. Whilst this was happening I also purchased an Orranje G-Wing, essentially a copy of the GP rear wing without having to have the GP rear window:
Shortly after all of this, me and a few mates decided to have our first trip to Le Mans which was our first group road trip and it did not disappoint. The range of cars on the trip down and the ability to chat to petrolheads for 4 days was just incredible with our neighbours having a Delta Integrale Evo and a (loud) Range Rover SVR. And to top it off seeing Alonso win it for the second time was great, even if the LMP1 field isn't what it once was.
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Since Le Mans, I have now fitted a Milltek exhaust due to the Scorpion cracking and the car now has a rear diffuser made by LEAP WORKS and supplied by Oli at Orranje which I will get a photo of as soon as possible.
To sum up ownership so far then, one thing I will say is that spare parts for these are not the cheapest, however, it has been very reliable in my ownership with it never leaving me stranded anywhere. Fuel consumption I average around 30 MPG which is a mixture of spirited driving and normal around town stuff but it does seem to get through fuel very quickly. JCW parts seem to have gone through the roof for these now, especially the JCW seats, however I am now at the stage now of do I continue to modify it further or look at moving in to something else. Due to the situation we are all in at the moment this will not be for another year, but options would be a GT86/BRZ as I would love to get into something rear wheel drive, also an S2000 is tempting although part of me wants to move into something a bit more modern spending that kind of money. It would be great to hear what people have moved into or own alongside a Mini.
I hope you have enjoyed the thread, as I have said I will upload some photos with the new diffuser and exhaust shortly, but if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask and I will update this as and when anything new happens.
Also if you are interested, there are further images of the car on my Instagram which is benkavs.
So in 2017 I currently owned a grey 2002 Cooper S that I had used for commuting to work and considered modifying, however, due to the mileage the car now had I thought best to find a lower mileage car to begin the project. Having changed jobs and now getting the train to work the car did not have to be a daily but more focused towards fun. So having looked through the classifieds, I came across this 2006 on a 55 Checkmate with 23,000 miles on, which at first I thought was a typo but checked out to be genuine so I went to view the car and got it that day.
This is what it looked like when I first got it:
So the first mods I wanted to do were cooling as I was looking to install a reduced supercharger pulley, so having looked all over the forums the top mount intercooler was replaced by a Airtec unit and a cold air intake, which were both supplied by orranje.co.uk:
Following this, a 17% Kavs reduced supercharger pulley was installed. This and the induction kit made the sound of the supercharger whine so much louder when on the loud pedal, which as a result means my fuel economy dropped considerably but ho-hum. To finish this off and due to limited funds I purchased a used non-resonated Scorpion cat-back exhaust.
At this point I had owned the car just over a year and other than going down to Portsmouth to see the other half whilst at uni (great fun going through the hindhead tunnel) the car had not been used as much as I had hoped but I was still enjoying it and every drive was a good laugh.
Fast forward around 6 months and I had found a set of Rota Blitz which seem to be quite popular in the Mini scene. Two things stood out once I up the wheels on 1) The arch gap had to go 2) They were going to rub on the arches once it did:
Following up on the wheels I was now on the hunt for a set of coilovers, at first I looked at AP coilovers due to having them on my MK2f Polo, however, having looked through the forums there were a lot of recommendations for KW V1 and ST Coilovers, and ultimately ended up with ST XA coilovers which were discounted through euro car parts (who would have thought) and also had the adjustable dampers which the KW V1's didn't.
So once fitted, the car handled very nicely and with the car being polybushed everything felt a bit tighter and they were surprisingly comfortable, no less than a mini on run flats. However my initial fears about the wheels rubbing were a reality and were slowly destroying the arches and damaging the tyres, so a hunt for new wheels began.
Having looked at various wheels and an order that Demon Tweeks messed up, I settled for a set of OZ Leggenda's which were 7j et42 as opposed to 7.5j et35 that were the Rota's:
With the rubbing issues now solved and the handling on point, I was on the hunt for the JCW body kit excluding the rear bumper due to not liking the styling, however, finding this in checkmate colours was near impossible so I purchased black examples and had them painted. Whilst this was happening I also purchased an Orranje G-Wing, essentially a copy of the GP rear wing without having to have the GP rear window:
Shortly after all of this, me and a few mates decided to have our first trip to Le Mans which was our first group road trip and it did not disappoint. The range of cars on the trip down and the ability to chat to petrolheads for 4 days was just incredible with our neighbours having a Delta Integrale Evo and a (loud) Range Rover SVR. And to top it off seeing Alonso win it for the second time was great, even if the LMP1 field isn't what it once was.
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/6BCUAcj4[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/xeAjcULO[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/QmImMOhm[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/GoJPK6sb[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/VaqxPaGL[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/MbKNSaol[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/PZibOOAT[/url]Since Le Mans, I have now fitted a Milltek exhaust due to the Scorpion cracking and the car now has a rear diffuser made by LEAP WORKS and supplied by Oli at Orranje which I will get a photo of as soon as possible.
To sum up ownership so far then, one thing I will say is that spare parts for these are not the cheapest, however, it has been very reliable in my ownership with it never leaving me stranded anywhere. Fuel consumption I average around 30 MPG which is a mixture of spirited driving and normal around town stuff but it does seem to get through fuel very quickly. JCW parts seem to have gone through the roof for these now, especially the JCW seats, however I am now at the stage now of do I continue to modify it further or look at moving in to something else. Due to the situation we are all in at the moment this will not be for another year, but options would be a GT86/BRZ as I would love to get into something rear wheel drive, also an S2000 is tempting although part of me wants to move into something a bit more modern spending that kind of money. It would be great to hear what people have moved into or own alongside a Mini.
I hope you have enjoyed the thread, as I have said I will upload some photos with the new diffuser and exhaust shortly, but if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask and I will update this as and when anything new happens.
Also if you are interested, there are further images of the car on my Instagram which is benkavs.
Nice post, nice R53.
Are you on the R53 Owners Club? Hope so - see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
Are you on the R53 Owners Club? Hope so - see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
Looks a cracking car and well modified. What do you think of the interior on these? I like the exterior colour, but the interior just seems a bit much the blue/cream mix.
Loved my R53 when I had a grey one a few years ago. Keeping thinking could we get another one as a second car, but with two dogs it might be a it unpractical.
Loved my R53 when I had a grey one a few years ago. Keeping thinking could we get another one as a second car, but with two dogs it might be a it unpractical.
R53rider said:
Nice post, nice R53.
Are you on the R53 Owners Club? Hope so - see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
Yeah I'm on there, tend to use it for advice rather than posting build threads. I was on their stand at brooklands last year and supposed to be this year.Are you on the R53 Owners Club? Hope so - see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
Challo said:
Looks a cracking car and well modified. What do you think of the interior on these? I like the exterior colour, but the interior just seems a bit much the blue/cream mix.
Loved my R53 when I had a grey one a few years ago. Keeping thinking could we get another one as a second car, but with two dogs it might be a it unpractical.
Thanks mate, appreciate the comment. The blue dash trim I think is really nice but I agree the seats are a bit questionable and a pain in the ass to keep clean. I'm looking at getting some Corbeau seats with custom cushions in keeping blue and silver. I would say go for it as they still seem to be a rock bottom prices which surprises me so I guess you won't lose any money in it. Loved my R53 when I had a grey one a few years ago. Keeping thinking could we get another one as a second car, but with two dogs it might be a it unpractical.
Kavsie said:
Thanks mate, appreciate the comment. The blue dash trim I think is really nice but I agree the seats are a bit questionable and a pain in the ass to keep clean. I'm looking at getting some Corbeau seats with custom cushions in keeping blue and silver. I would say go for it as they still seem to be a rock bottom prices which surprises me so I guess you won't lose any money in it.
Yeah they do seem to be sticking at the bottom end of the market, and good examples between 2-3k. How have you found the ride on the new wheels and coilovers? One thing I struggled with was the ride and 17's on mine. Was jarring at times. Kavsie said:
R53rider said:
Nice post, nice R53.
Are you on the R53 Owners Club? Hope so - see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
Yeah I'm on there, tend to use it for advice rather than posting build threads. I was on their stand at brooklands last year and supposed to be this year.Are you on the R53 Owners Club? Hope so - see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/154538898666141/
A friend of mine has just bought a JCW Checkmate, more miles than yours but a ral 'keeper'. They only did 22 JCWs and his is one of the 19 left on the road. Love the Checkmate blue.
I had APs and then saw that (mistake??) Euros deal on the ST XAs (so KW V2 without the INOX) and had to buy them. Found a voucher so cost me £548.99. I loved the APs and love the ST XAs. And with light wheels, TD 1.2s, the ride and handling are great.
Similar mods to yours, BRG effort.
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