Drove a 2007 yesterday and this thing is fast. I think we will see the mass exodus like we did in 2005 to the newer car. That my prediction...let's see if it plays out.

-Kelly

 

Kelly

Was there any turbo lag at all, I mean, if you blip off throttle and then back on again, is it instant? If not, it may prove to be more difficult to drive than the 05-06's. Thats one of my concerns with the 2007. Also, just because it is fast in a straight line doesn't mean it will be quicker than the 06 since handling is much more important than straight line acceleration. Either way, it will be very exciting indeed. We will get our first look at it next weekend at the Dixie Tour with Per at the Helm, I can't wait. With that said, you may be right. ;-)

Craig

 

Can't wait to see what happens at the Dixie Tour. Good luck Craig.

 

Thanks Way!! And, more importantly, THANKS A BUNCH for loaning me a ride in your Way Motorworks 2005 MCS in GS!!! Hopefully Matt and I can drive it to its potential!

How cool is that for a Vendor to step up and let a NAM member compete in his car when in need of a ride!

Craig

 

Well it won't be the best, as I'll be rushing on Wed to get it done. I still have to get it back to stock. It's got the heart of a GP with her red mirrors. So take good care of her.

 

Craig,

It definitely has "some" lag like any turbo, but I would say it has the least lag of any turbo I have driven. My gut feeling tells me it will be the top dog, especially on the usually wide open national type courses.

However, I have no really good gauge on the handling other than it felt fine and very similar to my 05 MINI. Not until it has been abused on an autocross course will we really know.

You should get behind the wheel of one, I'd like to hear your impressions.

Kelly

 

Still haven't taken posession of mine. My MA is expecting it to be tomorrow or wednesday. That doesn't give me much time to tweak the alignment..but I've got my Hoosiers mounted up. Weather forecast is looking decent too!

It'll be interesting, as I've now gotten used to a MINI w/a 27-turn motor and this one's got a 12-turn, hopefully I'll keep it off the boards...I mean cones. (my semi-obscure reference of the day)


Per

 

Sounds like someone has spent some time racing radio controlled cars. I'm guessing on carpet. (been there, done that......spent a fortune on it and decided I could afford to autocross a real car for the same money)

 

Yea...nerdy as charged.

And nothing like running against the current national champ to see how you stack up!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing your guys' results, keep us updated in case the National office doesn't keep results up to date.

Ron William's 07 MCS just hit our local Baron Mini, yesterday. He's supposed to pick it up on Saturday. So there's some more National caliber people in the new car. I'm hoping the 06 car can still hang. I kinda like mine, and don't want to get rid of it.

 

Greg

Will do! In fact, PM me your phone number(new phone, lost it with the old one) and I'll give you a first hand account since this is big news for GS. The only bad thing is, this is the first event of the season, and, I'm sure everyone will have a bit of rust to knock off(me definitely included):impatient.

I'm with you on the 06 MCS being able to hang. I put my stock suspension back onto my 06 JCW while I'm waiting on my KW suspension to be finished, and, I didn't remember how rough the stock ride was. I think that could be one drawback to the 07+ MCS, it may be a good bit too soft for its own good. I guess we will get an introductory peak this weekend, so, thats great. As far as Ron Williams jumping into an 07, he's a heckuva driver(2nd or 3rd in CSP in 2006)!!

Craig

Yeah, I do like posting little characters when I am bored at work with nothing to do.

 

There's another couple guys entered in the Toledo Prosolo in an 07, so, it looks like there are plenty of guys willing to give it a whirl.

 

Well, I test drove the R56 today. I let the salesman know I was going to punch it around some of the corners and he let me have at it. I gotta say that the lag is VERY noticeable at lower RPM. It almost felt Saab like . Once above 4.5-5000, the lag STARTS to go away, and you start to see the "virtually no lag" claim start to ring true. Mind you, lag is still there, it just isn't as much. So, I think you'll have to keep this thing in the high rev range to keep that power on tap, which means you might have to visit 1st gear more, where you were able to get away with staying in 2nd with the 05-06. This may end up behaving more like a VTEC power-band rather than the R53. The ride was much smoother and seemed to hug corners pretty well, but I wouldn't say as well as our current MCS. However, this didn't have the Sports Package obviously, so that could put it over the edge.

IMO, I don't think the power will be too much of an advantage, if not more of a problem, for the R56. So, it will come down to the Sports Package, and how much better will it be over the std suspension.

 

Matt

thanks for the input on the R56. I am going to go thrash one at my local dealer hopefully in the next couple days. lol

Craig

 

Thrash away ...I want to see what you think. I sold my '05 last year after Nationals (I still miss it) and ran the supercharged Miata regionally this year so maybe my perception has been skewed by the year hiatus from the MINI.

Overall that turbo feels good though.

Do we have exact comparisons between 05-06 and 07 suspensions (spring rates, etc.) or is it just known that MINI has softened the 07 a little? Suspension on the 07 Cooper S ( I am guessing sport suspension) that I drove felt very "MINI". (Sport button activated and DSC off)

BTW- I had no salesman in the car with me and it "hypothetically" felt very good at 110 mph.

I am also very positive it did not have the LSD...inside wheel was smoking for some reason...wierd?

 

lol, I'm going to thrash it with or without my salesman. Not sure if I'll hit 110 though, maybe 100 hypothetically.

Well, who knows, maybe it won't be as soft as I anticipated. I just keep having flashbacks of how several said the 06 Civic Si was going to be tough in GS only to not even see one of them show up at Nats(that I remember). I'm probably over-reacting to the softness, actually, that may help a bit anyway come September at Heartland Park on that oddball asphalt. :-)

 

I drove it tonight and this new car is seriously quick. The power to weight is right there with my RX-8 for sure (at least at altitude.) I almost thought the car was screaming D-Stock! There is some lag, but Mazda drivers are used to keeping the boil on all the time anyway. You guys might be in trouble with Ron Williams driving one this year. It will be interesting to see how things play out to say the least.

 

well, it seems everyone is very very impressed with power. It appears, If handling is on par with 05-06 then everyone that wants to be in the hunt will end up in an 07. Luckily Ron is in my region, so, I'll be able to see how Ron Williams(R56) vs Greg Reno(r53) goes on a weekly basis, they are both very capable National caliber drivers that can potentially win any National event. :-) My co-driver from last season, Joe Silva, is co-driving with Greg Reno, so, thats one more equally National caliber driver in the mix in my region. Heck, its like a National Tour every event in KC now!! lol

 

Our car is still not here, and probably won't make it for the Cecil Tour. There are a bunch of cars tied up at the VDC.

 

Per,

Bummer, man, sorry to hear that, I was looking forward to it. Well, I'm sure we will cross paths in GS down the road.

Craig

 

Sorry Per. I was looking forward to meeting you.

 

Yea, I'm pretty bummed. If someone can possibly drown their sorrow in a burrito, that's what today's lunch was.

I guess I'm going to run my Saaabaru at a local event this Sunday, not really worth the time/money to run it up in Cecil where it'll be mid-pack.

 

That's wierd. You need a better dealer.

Ron Williams ordered his almost a full month after you did, and his came in 2 full weeks ahead of schedule. Obviously Baron had some allocations ahead of yours. I think Ron's total wait time was about 5wks from date of order. Technically his came in this past Monday, but he couldn't make it to the dealer till this weekend to pick it up, otherwise he could've probably had it today.

 

Nah, I'm very happy with Downtown MINI here in Florida. The mess-up/delay was not their fault.

 

Ok, Larry at www.iwantamini.com says that it left the VDC last night at 10p. May be here today. (drumming fingers)