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Comment by lukevp | Hacker News Reader

80kw is 107 horsepower. It has a peak of 120kw which is 161 hp. For comparison, the engine in a classic mini is 40hp or less.

I’m not super involved in the mini scene, but own a classic Beetle. These old cars are super lightweight, so 40-60hp is pretty peppy as it is (although top speed is limited due to the 4 speed transmissions). 107 hp is gonna be crazy in a mini.

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I've got over 90hp in my modified 1275 S road engine and Swiftune can build you one around 125hp (https://swiftune.com/engine-building/competition-engines-his...). A highly modified classic mini is a visceral experience, even when operating within the speed limit and especially on 10 inch wheels. Excuse me I have to go for a drive..... I also have a clubman shell I want to do something with, vtec, motorcycle or electric? hmmmmm

> A highly modified classic mini is a visceral experience, even when operating within the speed limit and especially on 10 inch wheels.

A stock 1000cc with nothing more than a tweaked cam profile plus LCB exhaust was equally exhilarating when I had it 20+ years ago. Loved that car. Didn't love the drum brakes and scary-fade-going-downhill as much though!

Properly envious that you still have a functioning 1275 - expecially an S (if you mean Cooper S?) and not just the GT.

Yeah its an Australian Cooper S, I got it in 96. To be honest the tech really hasn't changed that much since. I suppose the electronic ignition is the biggest change and I changed to an HIF carb - modded to vizard spec of course. The clubman 998 I have is drum all around, and I agree! The only saving grace is due to their narrow width you can hopefully squeeze between cars waiting at the intersection when they inevitably fail.

I learned to drive in a Mini Mark IV. After passing my test I had all sorts of near misses with it. One particularly hairy one was coming round a bend to find traffic queuing at a junction, I locked the wheels and hit the curb, spinning 180 and finishing inches from a wall, no damage.

That's a neat little machine you have there!

90 hp in a mini that weighs just over 600 kg is going to move like a rocket. Make sure you upgrade the brakes as well! You can fit double caliper ones they have a lot more bite to them.

180HP Honda engine swap will cost less than this conversion kit alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN7tl7nhV0s&list=PLp0KnUFYB-...

http://superfastminis.com/store

> These old cars are super lightweight, so 40-60hp is pretty peppy as it is (although top speed is limited due to the 4 speed transmissions). 107 hp is gonna be crazy in a mini.

Yes! Also, if you've ever driven one of these things you will know how low to the ground they are... it's not the same as some silly lowered hatchback, the whole thing is _tiny_ compared to modern cars, so 60mph feels you are breaking some kind of ground speed record.

This will be a crazy fun car... I will kinda miss the manual transmission - I guess i'm getting old.

Haha you beat me to it by a minute. I assume the battery etc. will add some weight and that will partially offset, but still a 107hp classic mini sounds pretty fun!

That’s true about the battery, but being such a light car I bet you’d only need a ~20kwh battery pack like in a Volt and still get usable range. That battery gives the Volt 53 mi of range, and that car’s much heavier. It’s under 500 lbs, and is pretty common to use in these EV conversions.

Classic Mini engines were available from the factory in substantially higher power ranges:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMC_A-series_engine

Is it possible to get a rough idea of the new top speed of it, from the horsepower?

I'll make a wild bet... 90 mph, gearing-limited.

It's still an aerodynamic disaster, and whilst you could put a higher gear ratio in, why would you?

But maybe less fun because of the weight.

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