Gildred Racing swapped out the Cooper's base engine for a modern turbocharged three-cylinder.
Gildred Racing is a California-based company known for Honda and Acura engine swaps in classic Mini Coopers to create Super Coopers producing between 130 horsepower and 500 horsepower, but these engines are also larger and heavier than what the Coopers came from the factory with. What happens if something more similar yet equally modern was used in one of these swaps? To find out, Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine from the 2017-19 Ford Focus was used.
Check out the video below to see how it went.
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In 1975, Minis were available with a 1,000-cc engine rated at 40 horsepower and 52 lb-ft of torque, while Ford's advanced 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder is the same size yet produces far more power and torque thanks to the use of turbocharging and direct injection. In stock form, this engine is rated at 123 horsepower and 123 lb-ft of torque, but there's no telling if any upgrades were made to this engine.
Thanks to a digital readout, it's easy to see this car has no problem accelerating from 0-100 km/h while accelerating around Spain, and the little turbocharged engine sounds like a hoot to drive. In the video, the car's driver said that the advanced "really changed the driving characteristic" of the car to which his passenger agreed added "oh, 3,000 percent!"
It would appear that this was only a proof-of-concept build as Gildred Racing won't even be taking orders on these conversions until fall. No word yet as to how much the 1.0L EcoBoost will cost, but the company's Honda and Acura engine swaps currently cost $40,000 and $75,000, according to the Gildred Racing website.
