Mini Smart Car
Discussion
Strangely enough, I recently read of a guy putting a 1275 Mini/metro engine & box into a Smart car. Don't ask me why though, as the guy seems to be a bit of a tw@t.
Anyway, you likely could fit Smart car engines into a Mini. Smart car engines with gearboxes are amazingly compact so im sure they would fit (front or back). I would think the problem might be that you would be little better off. Its reasonably straightforward to get 100bhp+ from a 1275 or bigger A series engine. Smart car engines are much smaller of course (around half the capacity). Once you get much over 100bhp, they can become quite fragile, so this is largely the limit of their tuning. Even as standard, they are not known for their robustness.
You would get a 6 speed gearbox of course though, but its a semi auto. And a slightly hesitant one at that. So it wont be an especially sporty drive. Then you have electronics to think about. Smart cars are actually quite sophisticated in this department, and there is no Haynes manual for them, so you are on your own when it comes to wiring. I expect it would be best to transplant as much of the smart cars wiring and electronics into the mini as possible.
Smart car parts are also generally quite costly, as Mercedes still have a firm grip on them, unlike Mini parts.
I really think its doable, but I don't think its a conversion I would consider. And thats coming from someone whos had all kinds of Mini's (and still has 2) and currently has a tuned Smart car also.
I think I would prefer the Honda option for a mini. And you don't have to go for the bonkers vtec stuff either.
P,
Anyway, you likely could fit Smart car engines into a Mini. Smart car engines with gearboxes are amazingly compact so im sure they would fit (front or back). I would think the problem might be that you would be little better off. Its reasonably straightforward to get 100bhp+ from a 1275 or bigger A series engine. Smart car engines are much smaller of course (around half the capacity). Once you get much over 100bhp, they can become quite fragile, so this is largely the limit of their tuning. Even as standard, they are not known for their robustness.
You would get a 6 speed gearbox of course though, but its a semi auto. And a slightly hesitant one at that. So it wont be an especially sporty drive. Then you have electronics to think about. Smart cars are actually quite sophisticated in this department, and there is no Haynes manual for them, so you are on your own when it comes to wiring. I expect it would be best to transplant as much of the smart cars wiring and electronics into the mini as possible.
Smart car parts are also generally quite costly, as Mercedes still have a firm grip on them, unlike Mini parts.
I really think its doable, but I don't think its a conversion I would consider. And thats coming from someone whos had all kinds of Mini's (and still has 2) and currently has a tuned Smart car also.
I think I would prefer the Honda option for a mini. And you don't have to go for the bonkers vtec stuff either.
P,
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