36 June 2019 MiniWorld
[ Z C rs EcoBoost Mini ]
We have a more open-minded agency
governing our road vehicles in Britain
that petrolheads in other countries
envy. This gives us the opportunity to
drive vehicles otherwise prohibited in
the EU, Australia and other parts of the
world. We should embrace the SVA."
The rear suspension utilises a beam
axle, KAD radius arms and Gotenman
adjustable coil-over dampers have been
fitted all round. Mini Sport disc brakes
and alloy hubs have been fitted up front
and the rear brakes are KAD discs.
Styling-wise it was obvious to David
how it should look externally but
internally he was inspired by his Z Car
which we featured in 2015 as well as
the David Brown re-mastered luxury
Minis. “On the outside, it’s a tribute to the
blue car in The Italian Job but, for the
interior, the underside and in the engine
bay, it’s all the best that we can do – or
more modern. In a way, I’m grateful for
the David Brown Mini in terms of what
they have done making the interior a
have been retained, such as the turbo,
bespoke exhaust manifold and radiator.
There is a charge cooler system because
an air intercooler is completely useless
because there’s nowhere to put it.”
The Gotenman conversion includes
a bespoke subframe in which the Ford
EcoBoost engine sits. “Gotenman spent a
considerable sum on R&D [research and
development] to get it homologated in
Spain. They were able to do this because
they saw changing the engine as making
it better for the environment. There are
bespoke driveshafts because you’ve
got Ford on the inner and Mini on the
outer. There are so many mods but they
were not allowed to change anything
else on the car in Spain.” As yet David
has not gone down the UK SVA approval
route as he says that most of the car
remains the same as it would have been
originally. “If it had to have an SVA test
then it’s done by a points system. I’m
not actually put off by them as it is a
qualified second opinion on the build.
is reversible, as it bolts into the original
mountings of a Mini front subframe.”
The engine is a 1-litre EcoBoost unit
from a 2016 Ford Fiesta. “The advantage
is that, with the mapping technology,
you can either take the 99hp, the 125,
the 140 and then re-map them. This is
a 5-speed, 125hp engine that’s been
remapped to 140hp. The reason we
used the 5-speed gearbox is that it
is preferred over the 6-speed. With
these smaller 10” wheels lowering the
gearing, a 6-speed box with closer
ratios can’t take full advantage in terms
of acceleration, unlike a vehicle with
larger wheels. Therefore, spacing out
the ratios with the 5-speed box is a
better combination with the engine
power, smaller 10” wheels and lightness
of the Mini. So, for our purposes,
they’re perfect.” The Z Cars team is,
however, considering fitting larger
wheels for their future conversions
as the final drive ratio is 4.25:1.
Converting the kit to right-hand
drive for the UK market took a bit
of engineering. “You’ll notice that
where the master cylinders usually
sit is the inlet side of the engine, so
the conversion wasn’t practical for
the right-hand-drive market, so we’ve
adapted it for right-hand drive but most
of the modifications Gotenman made
“...we made it like a Mk1 and not
overstated. You wouldn’t know
until you lift the bonnet...”
The classic styling does not
give away the fact that this
Mini has ditched its A-series
for something more modern.