Sensational 500bhp ‘Fireballed’ Mini

To celebrate 50 years of the Mini, Vijay Pattni looks at a modified Mini monster – the 500bhp ‘Fireballed’ version.

I bet Issigonis never saw this one coming – more power than the new Nissan GT-R?

Californian tuner ‘Fireballed Tim Racing’ is a custom Hollywood designer who creates bespoke beasts for movies. And petrolheads.

And the crazy Californian has built this black-bodied beast nicknamed the ‘Widow’.

The modified Mini Cooper S still uses its original 1.6-litre petrol engine but that’s probably where the comparison ends. Tuner Tim wanted to “understand the limits of the car and where we could push it”.

And boy has he pushed it.

In true tuner style Tim set about unplugging the ‘bottlenecks’ of the standard car’s 1.6-litre unit.

For those of you who understand, he fitted a higher flowing head, intake manifold and fuel system, to create a system to install a Garrett GT3071R turbocharger, while a 75mm throttle body was installed for better airflow, and a water-to-air intercooler to help reduce the charge temperatures.

In reality, this engineering hocus-pocus has resulted in a simply astonishing 478bhp – the same as the Nissan GT-R.

But because the ‘Widow’ would likely see a lot of action – or abuse – on the drag strip, Tim and his team installed a 75bhp shot of nitrous oxide. Which means this Mini monster pushes out more BHP than a BMW M5 and falls just shy of a Lamborghini Gallardo’s 560bhp.

A Mini – with the same power as a Lambo.

We’re already sold, despite how the raucous ‘daily-driver’ even begins to think about putting the power down. Apparently, Tim installed a race-spec Quaife limited slip differential together with a stronger clutch and flywheel to handle the faintly absurd power output.

Surely, that much power spinning the front wheels of a Mini would simply result in a big smile before a big bang?

Thankfully, Tim’s attended to the suspension too, fitting Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, a front anti-roll bar and lower front strut brace, among others. Ireland Engineering was called in to supply brakes big enough to stop the monster Mini, and the ‘Widow’ rolls on 18-inch tasty-looking rims.

No word on performance, but we wouldn’t want to end up in a tussle with this bad boy.

“It’s the last car you want to deal with on the street”, explains Tim. “It’ll ruin you.”