Sunday Feb 05

Mike Coman’s Mini 16-valve

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Modern engine in old shell.

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PPC contributor Mike Coman has been building this Mini, to try and beat PPC editor Will’s V8 Capri, for longer than any of us cares to remember. If he ever gets it finished it promises to be a quick car. Mikey reckons that Will would be worried but he doesn’t think it’ll be finished before his Capri rots away to nothing.

Mikey has made up aluminium panels for both the doors and boot lid and a special bonnet too in a bid to shed all excess weight. All trim is surplus to requirements as well. The power source is going to put out a few more horses than the factory ‘A’ series engines 34bhp too.

The fashion within the Mini scene is to stick a bike engine up the cars jacksy or to drop a Honda VTEC into a lengthened Mini engine bay (a Clubman front will swallow one with no mods).
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Not one to follow the open chequebook or pub braggers brigade and in true PPC style Mikey has decided to go with something a little different though. From the same stable as the VTEC and with a strong Rover connection, the D16/ZC twin cam is a cousin of the b16 VTEC’s but isn’t usually considered like its sibling.

This engine gives 130bhp in standard tune but Mikey’s should give some more as he plans to run bike throttle bodies and a mappable ECU, budget permitting. He’s going to have to fabricate his own exhaust and inlet manifolds too. All of this is going to live inside a heavily modified Mini front sub frame that is being designed to keep the original suspension and steering geometry, so as not to loose any of the legendary handling of the original car.

You can follow the Minis progress in PPC magazine every month.

Practical Performance Car (PPC) is a monthly magazine aimed at real car enthusiasts interested in affordable performance tuning. At PPC we pride ourselves in providing the most entertaining, informative and inspiring features for petrolheads everywhere. Each month we feature an eclectic mix of affordable performance cars, great driving adventures and world-class technical features for the DiY tuner. Our editorial team is headed up by well known Will Holman who has a deserved reputation for 'stick a V8 under the bonnet' attitude to life. His editorial team is stacked with experience including Dave Walker (speciality engine management), of the sadly missed Cars and Car Conversions (CCC) magazine, David Vizard, the legendary engine tuning guru, and Kevin Leaper - ex technical editor of Practical Classics.

Have a look at the online Staff Cars section to give you a flavour of PPC but for the real thing go to your local newsagent, WHSmiths, Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys - PPC is on sale the last Thursday of every month. Better still visit our subscriptions page for the latest offers and discounts to have PPC delivered direct to your door at a fraction of the cost.

Examples of magazine features: brakes uprating, suspension improvements, engine transplants, buyers guides, ECU management, kit car builds, car event coverage (including PPC's own show, PPC in the Park) and much more. Examples of some of the staff's cars: 27 litre Rover SD1, 5 litre Capri, track day Rolls Royce, MK1 Transit and more.