Mine are on the car, took it to WGI last week for 2 days with Trackmasters. All excited, get it on track and 5 laps in I'm going through the b/s when I get a CEL knocking the engine to half-power and the most horrible grinding noise I've ever heard from a car...4th gear decided to take a powder (literally, the oil was all sparkly) on my recycled transmission. It was inevitable, I managed to get 2 years out of it almost to the day--about 60 track days and 30k miles so I can't complain. I also amazingly managed to drive the car home w/o using the dead 4th gear, the tranny just grinding away. This was on the first day of the two-day event, so once home I took the wheels and pads off the black car, threw them on the white one and drove back to the Glen for Day 2. Got there late afternoon so had to to recharge (and sleep)......

Ordered a new tranny from BMW (they actually had them this time) and that is now in the car, so I get to break it in (and not break it I hope) and test out the camber this weekend in the forecasted rain at WGI with NASA. Should be interesting

 

Ugh - that sucks…. good you were able to get a replacement tranny. I wonder how long those will be available for from BMW? Be kind this new one…

So, finally, camber plates. The car must have felt amazing for those 5 laps. Any idea what amount of camber you got with them?

At any rate - Enjoy the weekend. Maybe dry-ish on Sunday morning, but really cool.

 

The original tranny went 80k HARD miles so I'm confident this will last for a while. The new one did come from Germany as none were in N. Am.

We were able to get a shade over -2 in front (between -2.01 and -2.04) and adjusted the rear to -2 though there was a bit more available back there. Was shooting for like -2.5 in front but the plates are full inboard at the shock tower and the small bracket on the strut holding the sway bar link is up against the inner fender liner so that's all that's there. I questioned Jason from Vorshlag about it and he said I should be able to get -3 max so either something was bent to start with, I had a bad bushing (all of which seemed OK) or the rack itself is not accurate. I lean this way as Anthony had a hard time getting the rack to settle and the sensors that clamp to the wheels kept coming loose so I wonder...the guy who did the tranny whom I've known forever said at some point he can put it back on the rack to verify the reading. I had that car aligned when I bought it and never again so I may have been running +1 camber in front which if -3 is added would give -2; the way I was killing tires I think it's entirely possible

Anyway, it's really not about the number as much as how the car handles in dry and especially the wet, as well as what it does for tire wear which is the main reason I put them in. On the drive to the track and on the few laps I put in the car was much more responsive, it turned in RIGHT NOW and definitely felt like more tread was in contact with the road...I have 5 track days left to learn it so we'll see.

 

Well, at least you found the problem before hitting the track again. Who makes the plates? If I can get my P2188 fault code resolved by the 21st, I'll see you there.

 

If you look though NAM you will see that with the stock springs and stock style shocks the most camber that you can get on a MINI is -2.0 to -2.2. At that point the stock springs will keep it from going any further. I have also read about people trimming that tab to allow more camber. On my R56 with the IE Fixed camber plates I was at -1.5 and at that setting the tab for the sway bar link was almost hitting the liner. So, I doubt I could have gotten much more than -2 deg.

I will, however, reiterate what I said about the shocks. The MINI shock are crap and they don’t have to be leaking to be crap. The stem get loose in the housing and that can screw up alignments and that could be why the alignment was so hard to do (get the machine to settle out). Also, unless the car was wrecked at some point since you originally had it aligned, it is doubtful that you were at +1 at this point in time. My R56 has 70-ish k-miles on it and a lot of track days, and it still aligns to spec.

That said, I think there is nothing wrong with your car. You are just limited by the stock springs and shocks as to how much camber you can get.

BTW - The K-Mac plates I am using come with offset spring peach that compensates for the size of the stock spring and allows for a full -3 deg camber.

It would be great if you could make it…

K-Mac made the camber plates. However, I will not blame them for the urethane coming detached…. They did however, mess up the orientation of the bearing in it and it was such that camber could not be adjusted properly. I reconfigured them to work right. Part of that was to braze in some steel pieces and I think I overheated the urethane in doing that. Their screw-up, my screw-up. Why didn’t I return them? I sat on them for over a year before doing anything with them and they were “scratch and dent” buy as-is. Likely some one bought them, couldn’t get them to work and returned them just saying they didn’t work for them with no other explanation. Then they were sold as scratch and dent (open stock as Best Buy would say). With respect to K-Mac, I know others who use them and have had no issues. I may give them a second shot as they are they only ones that will allow -3 of camber with stock springs and shocks.

 

I've heard that elsewhere so it's probably true, I have a feeling I can live with it. I would have loved to have tried it Fri and Sat at WGI as it rained most of the time but right now it's all moot as I got in the black car to go Thursday morning, pushed the start button and was greeted by the starter grinding with no engagement So another quick conversion over to the white car and off we went....the black car will be towed to the dealer tomorrow morning for repairs. When it rains.....it pours tears

BTW I did renew the shocks with shiny new Sachs OEMs front and rear complete with factory MINI stickers on them

 

I’ll get off of that horse…

Starter issues…. Ugh! I was hopeful to get some feedback about the camberplates. It seems that both of us will need to wait a while longer for a good test of them…. On the flip side, it is nice to have 2 cars in the stable that are track worthy.

 

Well, you certainly do and so did I until recently, with the $$$ I've just put into the black car I'll be married to it for a while, at least until the engine goes I just hope I didn't wreck the flywheel too if that is indeed the case.

Should mention that through all of this the white car has performed flawlessly and I'm sure glad of that!

 

The end of an era. My MINI has been sold and is off to a new life in MA. Found the ideal buyer, a young guy who says MINI is his "spirit car" and was looking for a daily driver that he can also use to get into track days. He took the car, extra wheels w/ used Bridgestones, extra set of pads and rotors, and more. I gave him information on SCDA so maybe I'll see him down the road at Palmer or LRP. As for me, on to something completely different — America's Muscle Car for the Elderly.

Bye, bye, MINI.

 

The end of an era, but it sounds like you found it an excellent home. The timing may be perfect, as this just came up for bid on bring a trailer...

 

Sad to see the old MINI go.

So, an old man’s car for the track? That would mean that it will be slower than my MINI….

 

Can you imagine me in that? I'd be lucky to get around Big Bend on my first lap.

 

"America's Muscle Car for the Elderly"

Sounds like a Cadillac, I've seen many very fast ones at the track.....I really enjoy the Minis but won't be buying a new one when mine finally give it up (no more manual trannys), have been looking at Mustang GTs just in case (and just for fun), among others

 

Slower? We'll see.

 

Haha, I had a fillin'

Beautiful car, enjoy!

 

Hmmm - I’ll have to get a spec Miata to take that on….

Really - Very Nice

It is all most too nice for the track.

Maybe I’ll have to get a tune and wider tires for my MINI to keep up with that. First, fix the camber plates…

 

My new to me winter ride


2021 turbo 4, Wrangler w/10k miles

 

Nice, I'm sure those are worlds better than they used to be...years ago my friend got an old mail truck somehow, the ride was so stiff it would leave the ground when hitting a bump. His back made him sell it before long.

 

You got it! Cadillac ATS-V (not the CTS-V). Before my driving days are over, I wanted a chance to putz around with another powerful RWD car. I've been a fan of the V-series for a long time. You don't see many in New England because most of them are in Florida, Texas and Arizona, the retirement states. That's why I started calling it America's Muscle Car for the Elderly. I'll be doing one or two car control clinics before I take it on the big track.

Also, except for a short time when I drove an automatic Prelude, it's the first automatic I have had since I was 17. My old legs thank me, especially in traffic.

 

I'm with gbuff — my sister had one years ago and it drove as stiff as my classic Mini! That's saying something because when I go over railroad tracks in the classic, I open my mouth wide to avoid chipping my teeth. I'm sure the newer Jeeps can't be as draconian or I wouldn't see so many on the road. Good luck with it!

 

ATS-V? Don’t know that one.

But looking forward to seeing this one.

As for the Wragler, I had a Wrangler, the generation or 2 before this one. It was pretty good, except for the defrost and headlights. On a really cold day the defrost would only clear the center of the windshield. Headlights were useless. Ride was ok. The surprise of it was that it was pretty nimble. The new one takes the creature comforts up several notches. Heated seats and steering wheels. Automatic, climate control AC and heat, etc. But the ride is still pretty stiff and some of the nimbleness is gone. And it is taller and overall larger.. It is kind of like going from a Gen 1 MINI to a Gen III MINI.

 

I don't know what you're planning to do with it prep-wise, if anything, but I have a friend that drives in Chin's Red (advanced) group with me at WGI who has a similar car. I think the motor's basically stock (maybe some added cooling?) but he's done the suspension and brakes and the car is on slicks--it GOES. It's trailered as he's coming from Philly....point being that you can set it up as you please, the stuff is out there. And we'd all better get used to autoboxes b/c at some point sooner than later they'll be the only option. Most of the Porsche drivers I know with newer cars have PDKs and they are amazing....until they break, and they do $$$

 

I met a guy on my speaker build blog who is the head instructor for Chin. He was highly encouraging of me doing the Advanced group. He did acknowledge that going up through the esses and having to deal with passing is a bit sketchy but thought it could be dealt with resonably. He said he gets up to WGI at least once a year. Looked like he might have a new Porsche now. I may have to try it.

 

Would that be Todd? Good guy if so. I'm usually (ok, pretty much always) the car being passed so I just keep my right foot down and go completely track left from T2 all the way up. In that group rarely have I seen anybody hesitate, it has happened but not very often.

Their advanced group is pretty strict about passing, they say it is mandatory anywhere on the lap with a point as opposed to Intermediate (Blue) which is passing anywhere on the lap where you are comfortable, you don't have to give/take the pass if you don't want to. Their advanced group mantra is if someone is on your bumper you've #$&@ed up. So in your car, like mine, you'll be driving your mirrors and giving point-bys early. Remember they do allow use of turn signals now which makes it easier at times when there is a flood of rocketships coming at you You will see some of the fastest cars and drivers you've ever seen in Red, lots of pros turn up with some serious machinery. I find it very rewarding making it through one of their events, I feel like I've accomplished something (mainly getting some good laps in while managing traffic)

 

His screen name on Audio Circle is “jmimac351, Chief instructor ChinTrackDays.com”…. Jimmy Mac**** maybe? Could be anything, like my screen name here.

He wrote this…
Sounds like he is a bit sympathetic to my concerns of doing passes in the esses (he called them the uphill). It might be fun to go just to see if I get signed off….

And I think he knows of you … with the MINI.