The engine can therefore run hotter than intended ... The rest is much the same as the Cooper S. The R53 Mini won as many fans for its funky design and squat stance as it did for excitable handling.

known by their chassis code R53, but never quite been in the right place at the right time to scoop one up. That changed weeks ago, when I stumbled on a cleanish manual early build Cooper S street ...

The R53 Mini Cooper S is a machine that stirs the emotions ... The Cooper S arrived in 2002 with a supercharged 1.6L four-cylinder engine making 163hp and 155lb-ft of torque.

At its North American debut, the Mini came as a Cooper (R50) with 115 hp and 110 lb-ft of torque, and a Cooper S (R53) making 163 hp with 155 lb-ft. Both used a 1.6L four-cylinder engine.

Those were impressions I gained when I first visited M7 in 2007 to drive the Los Angeles-based MINI tuner's fully tricked-out R53 Cooper S ... helped boost the R53's engine to well over 200 ...

I’m currently rebuilding an R53 Mini Cooper S. It’s getting an aftermarket exhaust and a comprehensive suspension and brake refresh to take it from neglected near-classic to road-ready hot hatch.

Where the R53 Mini Cooper S gets most interesting is under the scooped bonnet. The addition of an Eaton supercharger and stronger Getrag six-speed manual gearbox to the 1.6-liter Tritec engine ...

In a video posted on TikTok, user mojo2022 spotted what appears to be an R53 generation Mini Cooper rocking triangle ... As for the engine, this Mini should be powered by a 1.6-liter supercharged ...

The engine can therefore run hotter than intended ... The rest is much the same as the Cooper S. The R53 Mini won as many fans for its funky design and squat stance as it did for excitable handling.