HWY: tsi - vs - mildly modded mini

[97Tsi]

My buddy and I were sitting at a stop light on a 5-lane highway and I hear small revving of an engine behind and to the left of my car. I look back and see some HID headlights and couldn't quite make out what car it was, but I knew it had intake because I could hear it gulping up the air when he revved the motor.

After hearing this, I decide to take off a little quicker than I normally do when the light turns green. And, as I expected, the car that revved switched lanes real fast and then gunned it and switched lanes again to get around me! As he passes I saw that it was a Mini Cooper (didn't see if it was an "S" model or not 'cause it was dark out) with exhaust to go along with the intake.

So I take his sudden burst of speed as an invitation and I accelerate up to catch up to him. He starts to slow down a little bit, and so do I. I look over at the guy and see that he's like 45yrs old (estimate). At this point I know we're going to go from a roll. There was no honking or anything, I just drop it to 3rd and gun it! He immediately does the same after he sees that I'm goin. Because I dropped first, I obviously had the lead. But as we went, I not only maintained my lead, but added at least two cars before we both shut down.

I slow down again and see if maybe he'd want to go for another run. As he catches up, I am greeted with a big "thumbs up". He then turned down the next street and went his way.

The guy had a nice car, especially if it was a type-S. But I'm sure he was either playing with me, or just not giving his all if he indeed does have the S model. Either way, my friend and I enjoyed it, and judging by the look on the man's face, he had fun too!

[98gtstang]

nice run, how fast did you get up to?

[97Tsi]

It was about 95mph, but that's only an estimate

[tha_new_guy]

I think it must have been the Cooper S, as that is the only model that comes with Xenon headlights if you add the premium kit. Also, I doubt that an NA Mini would've even kept up with your TSi from a roll, so I'm guessing it was supercharged/intercooled. You said you don't think he gave his all? Yea, it was an S IMO.

Good race, the Cooper S has some potential, with upgrades like the John Cooper Works, which is dealer installed, i believe?

Those things look like fun.

[-The Stig-]

Easiest way to tell is look at the hood, if it's got the scoop it's an S.

And look at the exhaust, if it's center mounted it's an S.

[landyacht]

Nice run of it! It's great to see nice folks out on the road after all the complaints about jerks lately.

Good kill!

[97Tsi]

I was looking at the specs of the S and they're pushing 16hp 155lbs of tq so maybe I overestimated the S model.

Either way, the guy had a nice car, type-S or not.

[97Tsi]

lol...oops, I meant to type 163hp. They may be the size of a lawnmower, but they def. have more hp than one

[HighRev87]

Originally Posted by 97Tsi

They may be the size of a lawnmower, but they def. have more hp than one

The best way to describe pocket rocket rides

[209 neon]

good kill on the mini those things are nice

[97Tsi]

Originally Posted by 209 neon

good kill on the mini those things are nice

Thanks man! But yea, you're right, they're nice little cars. It's one of those cars you see drive by and you say "I'd drive one of those!"

[cndctrdj]

i havn't had the chance to race one of the minis yet. nice kill

[PWRDbyUNCLEbens]

It was definantley an S or you would have walked him. Good kill on your patr.

[97Tsi]

Originally Posted by PWRDbyUNCLEbens

It was definantley an S or you would have walked him. Good kill on your patr.

Thanks man. Yea, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it had to be an S.

[xAUTOxRACERx]

Pretty good run It could have been possible it was an S!