I'm just wondering how many Classic Mini owners here have taken their Minis to a race track. My goal this next year is to get into the HPDE courses at our local tracks and get some seat time in my 1973 Mini. Not sure how extreme I will get ... I just want to find out if it's something I want to do with my Classic. I had Heritage Garage build up my 1275 with the expectation of light racing, so I'm not worried whether the power unit will up to the challange.

BTW, I'm not talking about vintage racing, just track time.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

I'm an old guy now, but back in the late '70s and '80s most of us in the San Francisco Mini Owners of America organization set up our Minis for track-ready performance, whether we tracked them or not. Although a stock Classic is nimble, it is painfully slow by modern standards. Performance tires, lowered suspension, better brakes and, of course, engine upgrades can really make the car perform on the street/track. I'm not too familiar with a '73 (1968 was the last legal import for Cali), and you did not give any specifics regarding your Heritage rebuild. If it is generally stock, you certainly could run your car on a track day as is, but your enjoyment would increase geometrically if you made the mods I mentioned above.

 

Although my Mini is a 1973, it's far from stock (but it's no VTEC Mini either). It's got hi-lo suspension, fully adjustable front suspension, upgraded brakes, performance tires, a LSD, and of course a slew of 1275 engine performance tweaks.

I'm not interested in competing against anyone other than myself. My plan is to take it to the local tracks and get some seat time during club days.

Once I get it on the track a few times, I'll have a better idea whether to spend the time and $$ to build a full roll cage, better seats, and 4 point harnesses.

Thanks for the reply BTW,
Jeff

 

Do it!

Just be aware of the limitations of the car's equipment, brakes, tires, seatbelts etc.

It'll be tons o fun, but you will probably be the slowest car on the track. But so what, you'll still have a blast!

The only thing I don't know is whether they'll let you run at all, again due to the complete and utter lack of crash safety.

Dimini is planning to get some track time this summer in his Vtec pickup if they'll let him on the track, and with 140 or so HP, his is a lot faster than any 1275. I hope they let him run..........