Tuning the Mini Clubman

"Tuning guide to the greatest Mini Clubman modifications."

Offering a little more space than the Mini One, the Clubman improves much and even spawned a commercial Clubvan version.

The extra doors and size add a little weight but it still feels quite nippy and agile and with the right mods you can really transform the clubman.

The Clubman is a good car modification project to carry out. If you do your research then you can create an awesome Clubman but don't be fooled there are lots of performance kits out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are at the top of your mod list for the Clubman.

Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you Clubman dramatically benefitting your drive.

We suggest that you fit motorsport suspension and lower the car by 30mm - 39 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with uprated suspension.

Top end power should be your overall aim on the Clubman with a nice fat peak torque band.

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

Engine tuning mods.

Typically these performance kits are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you get going.

• 1.6L I4 (One/Cooper)
• 1.6L Petrol turbocharged i4 (Cooper S)
• 1.6 L Peugeot DV6 diesel i4 (Cooper D and One D)

Second generation

• 1.5L B38 I3 turbo (petrol; Cooper)
• 1.5L B37 I3 turbodiesel (Cooper D)
• 2.0L B48 I4 turbocharged (Cooper S, JCW)
• 2.0L B47 I4 turbodiesel (Cooper SD)

Getting the correct grade of uprated upgrade kits for your planned usage of the car is essential. Stage 3 motor sport parts just don't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

Please watch our introduction Video tutorial to car tuning. Be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.

Modifying to Stage 1:

 Alloy wheels, Suspension upgrade (drop 30mm - 39 mm.), Panel air filter, Remap, Lighter flywheel, Sports exhaust.

Modifying to Stage 2:

 fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injector, Fast road cam, Power/Sport clutch.

Modifying to Stage 3:

 Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Engine balancing, Competition cam.

Your goal when modding the engine should be a nice flat torque curve. You don't want all the torque to be at the top end of the rev range unless you are creating a motor sport car.

The whole point of our articles is to give a brief overview of customizing upgrades and point you in the right direction, our forum is where you can ask for more detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best modified kits and all aspects of modding cars.Fast road cams offer one of the biggest performance gains for your money as far as a single uprated parts goes on a NASP engine.

It improves the intake and exhaust flow and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a competition cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to ramp up the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Using higher octane fuel is another option if you find you are suffering from detonation or premature ignition on your Mini project after fitting other modifications. To get sufficient fuel you may need to improve the injectors on your engine.

If you are increasing your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust.  Contrary to popular belief there is generally a small power gain achieved by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you increase the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Derestricting the air feed into the engine is a primary goal of performance tuning so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not really increase power and actually rob you of power.

Sports exhausts can help equal out the flow of air through the engine. But if your exhaust is too big, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of your flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Head work including a polish and port and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. In nearly all cases of Clubman tuning your clutch will start to fail and this should be improved - read our tips on clutches for more information. The best mods we would do for your Clubman are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Remaps offer phenomenal power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a chipped ECU on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

We've also come across some owners playing with twin charging applications and making some very high power hikes.

Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NASP engine will give large power gains. Superchargers are often easier to add than turbos. With a turbo the boost curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it more challenging to map.

It is easier to map a supercharger because the boost is directly proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. Adding forced induction will generally require a lower compression ratio or water injection.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and better brake cooling. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tires) for your car, a good track legal slick tire can really enhance your cars handling. It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the Clubman big alloys will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Because of this endeavour to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the standard factory sizes. In all cases without going over 18 inches and we prefer the feel of 17's on the Clubman.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Clubman options in more detail with our Clubman owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Mini tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Mini. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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