Vini | PH Review

A Mini is fun to drive; ditto a V8 M3. Imagine what happens when they're smooshed together...

We’ve all had our dream engine swap ideas. If only this V6 could have made it to this car, if only this coupe had got that V8, why didn’t that V10 get more outings, and so on. Not many are seen through, for obvious reasons of cost and complexity, though that’s where Vini comes in. This little hatchback is the result of several years of graft, countless hours and thousands of pounds, all to get the 4.0-litre, 420hp V8 and seven-speed DCT from an E9x era BMW M3 into an R56 Mini. Just the idea of it is wonderfully daft. Seeing the completed thing is joyous.

You might be familiar with it already, thanks to an extensive Reader’s Cars thread that kicks off the story in 2017. This glorious Frankenstein is the brainchild of David Power, the man who founded Powerflex. Having tracked a Porsche 968 for a number of years, he wanted a new project; with some fond memories of racing a Mini, it seemed like the ideal candidate. Originally this was going to have the S54 3.2-litre straight-six from the E46 M3 in it; it was Iain Litchfield who suggested the later, lighter, similarly sized and more powerful 4.0-litre unit was used instead. And so that’s what you get in the front of this Mini, where a 1.6-litre four-cylinder once sat. It’s mad. Brilliantly, outrageously mad.

If you have a few hours to spare, the thread is well worth catching up on for some idea of the fabrication effort that’s gone in. Understandably given the clash of car cultures, there are a huge amount of custom elements to the build, from an ITG air filter like a pizza box that snugly fits under the bonnet to a giant 110-litre fuel cell from ATL out back. And that's before even thinking about getting power to the rear wheels in a Mini. There are lots of Impreza Spec C bits underneath (including subframes, wishbones and diffs), bespoke Alcon brakes, Bilstein suspension designed by the team in the UK, a Forge Motorsport rad, Goodridge hoses, and so on. Plus a whole lot of metalwork.

David founded something called the Performance Automotive Aftermarket PAAA a little while back, to get the UK automotive aftermarket better connected. As well as being awesome, this little car serves as a demonstration of just what can be achieved in this country. David is keen to stress on our drive at Brands Hatch that he paid for all the bits on the car, but wanted the very best that every company could do to show off to the world the expertise we have on our doorsteps.

Once over the initial shock of a Mini that snarls and blares like a GT3 car, it’s the attention to detail that really stands out about Vini. Far from being a cobbled-together engine swap (one page of the thread would suggest that was never going to be the case), it’s a beautifully assembled little car. The wiring, the upholstery, the bulkheads, the carbon fibre, the bodywork where it’s been extended to accommodate uprated hardware - it’s all perfect. Vini is an enormous credit to Eliot Dunmore, who’s been responsible for a lot of the work. A Mini has no real right to accommodate an engine of this size, and absolutely none at all to look this good doing it. If anything, the execution trumps the original idea for wow factor. The paint, in case you were wondering, is a match to David’s Land Rover Discovery. Would if you could, right?

Vini also looks, to be frank, cool as anything. David didn’t want a car that visually shouted too loud about its potential - the exhaust and the speed would do enough of that. So it’s modest but menacing as far as fast Minis go, ride height just so, Braid wheels (also one-offs) perfectly cambered, just a little more attitude to let you know it’s not just another Cooper S. And the monster cage lurking in the back. Again, Vini seems much more like a show car than mad track toy project. It’s exquisite.

It’s intimidating, too. After all, this is one person’s dream track car, the result of years of work and expense, with a wealth of unique parts. Brands Hatch Indy is busy at the best of times, and especially when the track day is full. David’s car has the driving position fixed to David, understandably enough, and it’s a bit of a tight squeeze. The DCT works, but still requires a bit of fine-tuning (after two years of head-scratching), so that plays on the mind as well. Nobody’s ever been so scared to drive a Mini before.

The sound is the thing that hits you first, the V8 wail louder and closer than ever before, like you’ve moved from the rafters to front row of the best M3 concert ever. It’s more immediate and more exciting than the standard powertrain, too, thanks to the shorter final drive and what must be a quarter of a tonne less weight. Vini rips through gears like an M3 that’s always going downhill, fizzing and roaring around to 8,000rpm as if it’s going out of fashion. Sixth gear is needed on Brands’ short main straight where the BMW donor surely wouldn’t be out of fourth.

It’s such an expensive-sounding V8, too, motorsporty, smooth and sonorous rather than a wubba-wubba, thunderous V8. It’s a real head scrambler as well, hearing an M3, but peering through the upright windscreen of a Mini. And going faster than just about anything else around. The dual-clutch is as good as it ever was going up the gears, flashing the next ratio through like a sequential; David is the first to admit that downshifts could be better. But just let the revs drop a little lower than you normally would, pull the paddle and all is well: the next gear down explodes in with a wicked flurry of revs. There’s never been a bad use of the S65 engine, let’s be honest; there’s some guilty appeal in an E93 cabriolet even. Vini might be one of the best installations yet, rampant, raucous and pleasingly familiar in some respects - while completely incongruous in others.

Our time with the mad Mini was limited to probably eight laps of the Indy circuit, owing to red flags and rain that settled in towards lunch and never really went away. (David had never driven the car in the wet; we certainly weren't going to.) So it would be wrong to attempt a comprehensive assessment of what it’s like - but the Vini gives a damn fine first impression. If the fact that a V8 Mini even exists confounds a lot of expectations, that it feels as sorted as it does almost beggars belief.

It's impossible not to look for M3 or Mini traits to the way it drives. Yet the search is largely in vain, because this is understandably a less immediate car than a four-cylinder, front-drive Mini, while also urgent and responsive in a fashion that a heavier, larger BMW couldn't be. Somehow it doesn’t feel overawed by the engine, which is some achievement, never feeling nose heavy and never struggling for traction either. Maybe cohesive or homogenous is a stretch, because the sound and the speed so obviously dominate the experience, but this is a sorted little track car. David has had his wish fulfilled, and then some.

The brakes need a fair old stomp (the pads were pretty fresh, too), albeit with immense power and some nice finesse once into the meat of the travel; the expensive dampers do what expensive damper so often do and suppress any disturbance, however greedy you are with the kerb; if maybe the steering isn’t the most feelsome ever, you’re soon confident with pointing that little stubby nose where it needs to go. Understeer or oversteer feel a long way away at modest track day levels, grip and weight nicely spread around the car. It ought to feel like a hot rod hooligan, Vini, but the reality is anything but.

There will be techniques and approaches to learn to get the best from it, rather than having to accommodate a predetermined style to deal with having a huge engine in a Mini. It’s the very opposite of a point-and-squirt muscle car, despite everything. Given how much is custom-built for Vini, that it feels as sorted as it does is a huge credit to the team involved. Here’s a 4.0-litre Mini that doesn’t feel overengined, or under-engineered, or ever anything less than a whole heap of fun. Never has so much felt just right.

But perhaps the most important takeaway from the drive - as David hoped - is the idea of the aftermarket's rude health. Naturally, the engine is the main draw here, but the fact that this mad Mini is such a lovely object as well feels just as important. The Vini exceeds every possible expectation in its look, feel, drive and execution. Everybody involved should be immensely proud of what’s been achieved. It must also mean that your engine swap idea probably isn’t as silly as it sounds. The Vini is sumptuous proof that just about anything is possible.

SPECIFICATION | VINI

Engine: 3,999cc, V8
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 420@8,300rpm (standard)
Torque (lb ft): 295@3,900rpm (standard)
0-62mph: c. 4.0 secs
Top speed: c. 160mph
Weight: c. 1,300kg
MPG: 25.2 (standard M3)
CO2: 263g/km (standard M3)
Price: Don’t ask…

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