Major MINI Upgrade – Manifold Ceramic Coating
It’s hard not to love a Mini Cooper, isn’t it. Our customer, Paul bought his 2004 Mini Cooper S after being trapped in a world of sensible, boring family cars for a long time… He finally had the opportunity to go for what he describes as ‘the last great analogue car from the dying breath of the once great British car industry’. Managing to get his hands on a rare example finished in Liquid Yellow. As many Mini enthusiasts find out, his R53 Cooper S has slowly but surely drawn Paul into the tuning game.
The Cooper S is equipped with a supercharger to increase power from the standard 115bhp to 163bhp, with the ability to get from stationary to 62mph in less than 8 seconds! The car truly awoke Paul’s inner petrol head, starting the journey of modifying his Liquid Yellow baby. So far, he’s fitted larger brakes, a custom exhaust and high flow Scorpion cat and manifold with our ceramic coating applied on it. To match the impressive exterior, he opted for our Performance Yellow Gold finish from our Performance Colours™ Range.
‘Even with stock power production, the R53 struggles to keep itself cool, and after an hour or so of driving, the supercharger was noticeably struggling and the engine losing its edge’, Paul describing the heat issues he has been having with the car.
‘Even with stock power production, the R53 struggles to keep itself cool, and after an hour or so of driving, the supercharger was noticeably struggling and the engine losing its edge’, Paul describing the heat issues he has been having with the car.
The Scorpion high flow 4-2-1 manifold and cat pipe ceramic coated in our Performance Yellow Gold™ can improve car performance by retaining the hot gas within the componentry, increasing gas flow. Our Performance Colours™ Range can:
- Reduce surface temperatures by up to 33%
- Withstand up to 900°C
- Lower engine bay temperatures
- Aid cooling of the exhaust when the engine is turned off
‘This (heat issue) appears to have been completely solved with the coated manifold by Zircotec, and the car remains sharp and responsive’ – Paul said, comparing its performance and drivability before and after applying our ceramic coating.
In addition to the excellent thermal performance, our coating offers the opportunity to upgrade the engine bay aesthetics. Check out these pictures of the exhaust alone:
The coating itself only approx. 0.3mm thick, therefore minimal weight is gained, this is one of the reasons why our coating is used by high-performance vehicle manufacturers and motorsport teams alike.
Paul opted for the Zircotec treatment as our solution is a ‘track proven technology’, he added, ‘ The curing process is complex, I don’t have an oven large enough to do it myself, and with no guarantee I’d done it correctly, this was definitely a job for the professionals and Zircotec have such a well-regarded name it was an obvious choice.’
Paul has also planned to fit a reduced supercharger pulley, bigger injectors, and some suspension upgrades in the future, looking forward to seeing his Mini standing out from the crowd. Contact us to find out more about our ceramic coatings that could be for your road car, or any other projects you might have ongoing!