Mini with a Mid-engine Turbo B18
Minis have a long history of being amazing handling cars. A very popular modification to further their performance is swapping out the small factory engine for a bigger Honda engine. The owner of this 1970 Mini Cooper had a plan of building one with incredible handling and speed while still keeping a factory appearance. He would achieve his goal using a Honda engine but with a twist.
The owner started the project with a good friend. Together they established the direction for the project. To give the car the best weight distribution the engine would be placed behind the driver where the back seat used to be. They soon realized this project would reach beyond their skills so they turned it over to the professionals at Race Ready Technologies in Pennsylvania.
The team at Race Ready Technologies went to work installing a 1.8 L Honda B18C5 inline-four from a 1998 Acura Integra R into the back of the Mini. Custom mounts were fabricated to install the engine and Integra Type R five-speed manual transmission.
The Honda B-series is well known for being boost friendly. So they installed a single Garrett GT28R turbocharger and the engine now produces 300 horsepower to the rear wheels. That may not sound like a lot in the current horsepower wars but it’s a 545% increase over the factory 55 horsepower.
The empty engine bay was put to good use holding a fuel cell and relocated battery.
The owner didn’t stop at the engine. The Mini rides on a modified front subframe from ZCars and a double wishbone suspension with a cantilever pushrod and adjustable shocks. The rear suspension is modified from a Fiat X1/9.
With the car only weighing 1,800 lbs the brakes don’t need to do much but they were also upgraded. The front are from Wilwood while the ones in the back are taken from a Fiat X1/9.
Looking through all the photos you can see how well this car was built. The owner has spent a lot of effort making sure everything looks great and works properly. If the goal was to take a Mini and make it the best performing and dependable daily-driver than I believe he was very successful.
