Car Review: Twin Cam Mini

This week's car review is on a Mini with a little surprise under the bonnet. Gone is the old pushrod A series motor and in it's place is a G13B 1.3 litre Twin Cam engine out of a MK1 Suzuki Swift GTi!

This car is owned and built by Matt Hendra. The build came about because the turbocharged A series motor that was previously in the car blew up and Matt had a crashed Suzuki Swift GTi lying around. It took five years for the car to be built to it's current stage and the Swift motor is said to have been a pretty straight forward conversion.

This awesome little motor puts out 132 BHP and 95 LB/FT at the wheels. This is a strong amount of power for the 1.3 litre engine. Also fitted are some cool looking individual throttle bodies, a custom made aluminium flywheel, a Link G4 Storm ECU and a block girdle. The engine is backed up to the factory five speed GTi gearbox with a Gripper LSD. The engine is fed via twin fuel pumps, one for low pressure and one for high pressure with a Davies Craig electric water pump to help keep the engine cool.

The Mini sports appropriate "TWIN CAM 16 VALVE" stickers on both sides which are a neat addition that announce what's lurking under the hood.

The interior is a good mix of old and new, with the period style steering wheel, fancy Koso tachometer, Autometer Phantom oil pressure gauge, Davies Craig electric water pump and fan controller and a flash push button start system. This is all mounted on a custom made dashboard and looks race ready.

Seats are Racetech 100's and a full roll cage is also fitted. A fire extinguisher is mounted to the floor as a mandatory requirement for racing.

Mounted in the boot is a foam filled safety fuel tank which is linked up to the twin fuel pumps. The pan around the filler is actually a frying pan and stops fuel from spilling when you refuel.

The wheels are 13 X 7 Performance Superlites that are shod with 175/50R13 Yokohama Advan's. This wheel setup looks great with the red and black colour combination of the body.

The colour scheme is reminiscent of the works rally cars that raced back in the 60's and 70's. However, this car's colour scheme has a couple of extra details such as these carbon fibre styled roundels on the door and the carbon fibre wrapped bonnet.

Here is a video of the engine running. It sounds sweet with a single motorbike muffler.

Overall, this Mini is immaculately built and looks spectacular. I would like to thank Matt Hendra for allowing me to review his awesome little Mini.

What's your verdict on this excellent Mini? Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page. Thanks for reading!!!