Been a member for 3 years after buying my 2012 base R56 for the wife and I to autocross in SCCA H Street class. Probably the best handling stock car I have owned, not the fastest but the most neutral. Getting that neutral usually takes coilovers and custom spring rates. After running the car 2 years with good success (3rd and 7th for me and 1st and 2nd National title for the wife) we did decide to join the HP side of the class and bought a new car last year . For some reason I just love driving that little red box so after determining what it's worth we decided to keep it as a daily driver to keep the miles off the new car mostly. This has allowed me the opportunity to do whatever I want and not have to work around scca's stock class rules. First on my list was get off the JCW springs and dbl adjustable Koni shocks for a better ride but keeping the ride hight or may a tad lower. I'm a 1/4 inch lower then the JCW springs but did not improve harshness as much as I wanted. Next was change the look without spending much money, I already had 17x8 Avanti Storms for the street so it was all about getting rid of all the chrome, successful. The wife really has enjoyed autocrossing and wants the experience of being on the track so the Mini will do an event or 2 of hpde or track night. In all the years of my different types of racing (improved touring, 125 Shifterkarts and even a few dirt track events) I'm good with just cone racing. I hope she does not want to go road racing for real or I might have to turn the mini into an SCCA Spec-B car and that with entry fee's gets very costly.

 

Cone racing and autocross with a lower powered MINI can be just as fun as you are always in the higher rev game. I auto-crossed my Cooper and its just as fun as my JCW. I can control the power easier in the non turbo.

 

My goal was to autocross mine this summer but trump took my social security away then the covidcrap put a complete stall on any plans I had to better mod the car and race.
I'm taking this seclusion time to completely go through my car. I just changed out every fluid and inspected all my bushing and stuff and cleaned up any grime underneath. Lol spent 5 hours today doing it...I wish I could afford to have my mini be strictly a track car or occasional cruiser buuuut money life doesn't allow it as of now.
hey thebmwnut , what new car did you get to race?

 

The wife and I only compete in autocross and in street (stock) class because it's the most economical way for us to do competition. Tires are one of the biggest expense and we have been lucky both of us have done well enough to get free tires because of contingency. We do spend a fare amount on travel but we try to budget ourselves. After years of me doing various types of racing before we got married, shortly after that I just kind of burned out and wanted something different in life. A few years after we got married we bought a small pull behind camper and enjoyed the lakes and outdoors for about 7 or 8 years. Then in autocross the rules changed with tires in street class and I told the wife I was thinking about buying an older sport car and playing in autocross locally events every now and then. To my surprise she said "teach me how to race". I bought a $2500 1995 BMW Ti and we spent all summer at local events working on lines, breaking points, where to accelerate and left foot braking. To my surprise she loves it more then me and has a real nact for it. Year 2 we stept up and bought a e46 M3 and started to do well but cost of tires was painful. At nationals the front sway bar started to rip out of the mount and the car was not good. Lucky I figured it out before her second day runs and she moved up to 2nd place at her first Nationals. Think I ended up mid pack with a wounded car. I also observed our car was not competitive in the class so the search was on for some more economical. MINI paid contingency and one of my best friends had owned a few and won in a couple different National classes so set up was going to be easy knowing just what to buy. Base Mini was the cheapest and most competitive in its class. So we found a 2012 base with no options but sport seats and added the optional JCW springs and front bar. Had another friend who had double adjustable Koni shocks from a past national champion and bought them along with a 25mm rear bar and some lighter wheels we were ready. We both did well she had to adjust to fwd and low HP but both did very well all year long. At Nationals I ended up 3rd and my wife won her class and her 1st National title. The next year we started to see the courses get faster and the larger HP cars got harder to beat or beat at all. We still did well through the year and at Nationals I ended up 7th in the trophies and the wife won her second National title. We talked about changing cars and a year ago went and test drove the Civic Si and the Civic Sport hatchback. We bought the Hatchback Sport. Ran it all season 100 percent on factory everything but a rear sway bar. She really took to the new car and started to win a couple of pro solos and I did well also . Nationals came and I ended up 6th should have been 4th but hit a cone on my fast run on day 2. My wife really put some time on her competition and again won her 3rd straight National championship. This year has been crazy. We had all the intentions of custom valved shocks to make the car handle a little better but still nothing out there that we can make custom. We bought an exhaust and the car woke up on the top end. Feel real stupid I did not do it last year. I never felt cat back exhausts ever did much for power but this is the first turbo car I have owned. Then we got the call New years eve that I was to receive the kidney transplant that I have been on the waiting list for. So we were off to KC and January 1st about 4am I went under the knife. Been home recovering and feel great but now its coronavirus, talk about bad timing for me being on immune suppressant. Stuck at home looking at my Mini that I still enjoy driving daily and decided to give it a more aggressive look, so all the chrome had to go or get covered up . It's been great having energy to want to get out and work on cars again. Now it's just a matter of time for the doctor to release me so I can autocross again but with all the canceled events I'm not missing anything yet. Keep up with your hope's of going autocrossing this year and just have fun. Keep a budget and stick to it. I still remember being young and not much money but kept within my very small budget and had a blast hanging with my friends and competing in autocross because that was all I could afford. I'm sure once I'm ready to retire I will have to lower my budget tremendously but I will still autocross and enjoy it every time, it really is the cheapest motorsports competition out there.

 

Awesome

Awesome to hear you got that transplant , I hope all is better from here on out for you !
My buddy I met a few months back autos his r56 in stock class also. He runs 225/50r16s on the mini xlite rims ,I'm going to try them on my car and see how it handles. I forget what tire brand but it's a sticky track type tire.
if it went for loosing my ssi my mini would be almost done . I have a 15% pulley , jcw injectors , bigger intercooler , intake , and coil n wires n step colder ngk's , header and catless pacesetter exhaust , throttle controller , custom tune , lsd and knock off rpf1, alta tensioner and boots (15x8s 205/60s but on snow tires unfortunately)..I just put on a new crank pulley as old one broke and then changed ALL the fluids.
my future plans are to install the convertible cooper front braces , adjustable rear sway bar and r56 brakes with drilled n slotted on all 4 corners . Then she should be ready to do some damage on the track...BUT that's if I can slowly save up and get the parts and IF racing will even be allowed this season..

 

Sounds like a great start on a D Street Prepared car.