If you’re looking to save a bit of weight, you can fit the R56 Cooper S exhaust. For two builds from @r53budgetbuild and @R53Homebrew, the battery was relocated behind the passenger seat, so the rear battery tray can be removed (this is a requirement – or it can be made shallower, but you’ll need to look at alternative battery options).
Requirements
- R53 rubber hangers can be used
- R56 exhaust hangers are required
- Exhaust sleeve will be required for connection
- Battery tray must be removed or modified
Installation Photos – @r53budgetbuild
Exhaust Hangers
With the boot floor taken care of, you can then fit the R56 exhaust hangers. These can be picked up used fairly cheaply, although do look out for a set that aren’t rotten!
Sound Considerations
We fitted the R56 Cooper S exhaust to a car with a manifold that had a single cat. There are plenty of pops and it was fairly loud initially. A resonator was added which took the rasp out and made it much more acceptable noise-wise at lower RPMs.
Resonator specifications: 14″ × 4″ × 2.25″ (57mm)
Finished Results
The resonator – went with the sleeved one to make it super easy to weld on rather than use clamps
Current Setups
As of this post, here are the two cars running this setup:
@R53Homebrew
Precat → Cat → Resonator → Standard R56 rear section
@r53budgetbuild
Single standard cat → Resonator → R56 rear section (tips pulled in)
Without a precat, the car is slightly louder and pops a bit more than the one with the precat. Both seem acceptable noise-wise and are not excessively loud like some exhaust systems.
🔊 Listen to the sound here (manifold with no precat and no resonator)
Extra pictures around the boot floor removal from the R53
