Only the first run was cold. The rest of the day was gorgeous with a high of 60-ish. I signed up Friday after seeing the weather report. I work from home, so I have been getting house crazy!

 

Not bad for the first day out.

I'm looking forward to my WGI event the first of May and trying out my new LSD and suspension mods...wooo hooo

 

I wrote a long post last night and thought it went up, but I don't see it. Not sure what happened. So I'll try again.

Anyhow, I'm still trying to keep this thread alive in honor of its founder, Slinger688, who is retired somewhere in Hawaii driving at the 40MPH island limit. Or not. Greetings, Slinger, wherever you are!

I wanted to let y'all know that I did the SCDA at Palmer on Thursday. Here are my first impressions:

To say the facility is a work in progress would be an understatement. The track surface is complete, but there is no curbing yet. And right now rocks are surrounding the track. Not dirt, not grass, not gravel ... rocks. Big metal-denting, windshield-cracking chunks of granite. And when wheels go off the track, those rocks go flying every which way. My son saw it firsthand when a BMW in front of him put a wheel off. Ian and Elivan were begging everyone to stay on track. (NOTE: They ran a great day given what they had to work with).

The site is still a construction zone with bulldozers and other heavy equipment. The paddock area isn't paved yet. There's no gas, no food, no buildings, no shelter (other than a trailer where classes were held). I would not want to do a rainy track day there. Guys would be crowding into the porta-potties to stay dry.

As for the layout — it's very cool, very challenging and very hard to learn, even if you did your homework before arriving. There are a number of blind turns that take some getting used to. After the first run, both my son and I recalled the feeling we had the first time we did laps at Monticello — Something like, "Holy smokes! Where was I and what just happened??"

What you can't appreciate from the YouTube videos are the incredible elevation changes. It's 200 feet from the lowest point to the highest. Coming down the main "straight" (look at the track map — it ain't straight) is like skiing a downhill. Then you go uphill into a BLIND Turn One. Waaaa-hoooooo!

You'll also note there are a number of turns that are 180 degrees or more. For FWD and even AWD drive cars that leads to some serious understeer. The constant theme of the day for me was: What is the best way to avoid understeering and scrubbing speed? Different line or just go slower? In general, the answer seemed to be 'go slower'.

One thing I didn't like at all is that there is no place you can go to watch cars on the track. From the paddock you can see cars about a quarter-mile away coming out of the last turn onto the front straight. But then they disappear behind the concrete wall that lines the left side of the straight. There is a small open area at Turn Two where you can watch. But that's about it. The rest of the track (where the most interesting turns are) is carved up and down the side of a granite mountain with no access. I don't see how this track can be made spectator friendly, but maybe I'm missing something.

Give this place a year or two to finish development and work out the bugs and it should be an incredible venue for track days.

 

Nice review. However it sounds like not much has changed in 2 year when I saw teaser video. Rock walls and rocks at the edges. Tough to consider going there from here with those conditions as it is more than a day trip and the overnight expense hardly seems worth it.

 

Yeah - my nieghbor has been and of course I went for the open house last fall. Even if my car was ready, or near ready, I'd wait until the infrastructure is further along. So that may be a while...

Nice write up Glen!

 

The granite walls aren't going anywhere (see photo) but there are protective retaining walls. The GM of the track said they will be working on fixing up the ground around the track this summer but we'll see. There's a ton of potential there. I just hope they don't run out of money. It's an overnight trip for me, too, but I think it was worth it. Of course, you have WGI close to you so....

 

Palmer is 2hrs tops - WGI 4hrs.

Why do you say Palmer is an overnight trip? Just an early start and a leisurely ride back..����

 

I meant that Eddie07S is close to WGI. It was overnight for me because we made a family outing of it. With no traffic it's about 90 minutes. However, two of the most feared words for CT drivers could turn it into a longer drive: Waterbury and Hartford.

BTW, S-Driver, what is the status of the beast you are building? Any pix to share?

 

Greetings track buddies from hawaii. Glad to hear that you guys are still active trackies. Sad to say i have not been. It is a lot of effort to dodge tourists and locals on the roads here and they do make things challenging.

I am hoping to make a trip to the NE sometime late this summer or early fall.

 

"Waterbury and Hartford" just be earlier than "they" are....

LRP is about 90 min for me and WGI is about 3-1/2. By Google, Palmer is 2 hrs from here. I guess I could do it as a day trip. Leave at 6 get there by 8 and run on street tires. BTW - the street tires I am running a better than the R888s that I have...go figure. So, maybe something to think about.

Speaking of LRP...think about later this year getting together? Late July or August? I am looking forward to trying out my new suspension mods there...

 

Oh no, what did he go and do Could he have done the unthinkable in a MINI Cooper and expect to do nothing more than to push himself straight off the track at every turn he comes to????

Well, yes and no.

How does a 27mm FRONT SWAY Bar sound? Can you say plow, push, understeer? Well, noooo...

Not when you pair it with a 25.5mm hollow rear sway bar, a set of PowerFlex lower control arm bushings and a Quaife LSD...

This is the BEST combination of mods for handling that I could have ever hoped for. The car is FLAT, flatter than the Salt Flats in Utah, going around corners. And it is totally neutral. No front end plowing when the car is pushed hard; no aggressive snap oversteer with just a large RSB which is what I got with the 20mm RSB I had in my last S that ended not well. Just turn the steering wheel and go. Step on the gas in a corner and the LSD just digs in until you over power the front wheels and it pushes.

I have always thought the overall roll stiffness of the MINI Cooper was not high enough for the track. This means that the roll stiffness of both the front and the rear needed to be increased. And the way to do that is larger front and rear sway bars. Now the car "turns" not just "rotates". Maybe "rotates" works for autocross, but on the track you want the car to turn and this baby now turns. And this is on the softest setting on the RSB.

The proof is in the "pudding"...3 sec improvement in lap time at WGI and I was told I wasn't driving well and was on street tires...the car is now more capable than I am..

 

Build status - no pics to share. Word is that work will be progressing in the near future!

 

Woooo Hoooo

Let us know when things start back up.

 

Slinger — Take a look at the pic from Palmer.

 

Looks interesting, the elevation change. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

 

Hey anyone interested in running at LRP next month?
SCDA has July 15th...maybe put 2 or 3 MINIs on the track?

 

Would love to but would not be able to make it.

 

Well, I'm happy to report that I FINALLY made it to Lime Rock...embarrassed to say that my first track date this year occurred in mid-July! Here's the wrap up. Lots of MINIs! From a JCW to a second generation GP, but the best MINI there was another Electric Blue R53 like mine, except with a stripped interior and added roll cage, not to mention the Jesus head. This car dynoed at 250hp, and Bill, the driver, was using every last one. He was tearing up the track in the INT2 group, passing me like I was standing still. My car felt very good, but I was only driving around 6/10 since this was my first day out in a while. Lime Rock has paved over all the grassy areas that we used to use to hang out on during the breaks, and my favorite shade tree is gone. There is no shade at all in the paddock, and the new macadam adds at least 10 degrees to the ambient temperature. Lime Rock still feels like a park, but less so now. They do have to keep up with progress, I guess. Back to the MINIs, all together there were 5 MINIs there, including a nice chap named Mark who owns Northeast Motor Werks in CT. He specializes in MINIs, and he was in the novice class with his basically stock R53 learning the line. All told, I picked a great day to go to the track, meeting two new MINI trackheads and reconnecting with some old buddies too. Speaking of which, although he's sold his MINI, Suss was there with his BMW, looking very good on the track. Eddie 07, it sounds like your car is perfectly set up for any track you want to take it to at this point. There was lots of talk about the new track at Palmer, with the consensus being that it is probably best to wait until they have really completed the entire project before subjecting your car to the sharp pieces of granite that are getting thrown up on the track at this point. Having said that, the track layout and elevation changes sound like it will make for a very technical track. I'll put it on my list for next year.

 

Darn! I almost signed up for yesterday but I am going back to Palmer in two weeks and need to spread out the track days. I could have gone either way on a return trip to Palmer but my son wanted to go back so I figured what the heck. I will be at LRP on 8/24.

Did the blue MINI have an orange stripe? I've seen that car in action.

 

No orange stripe on the car currently, but if it had one on previously, this guy would've removed it to shave weight! I'll see you August 24th @ Lime Rock. Bring plenty of tape to protect the front end of your MINI at Palmer...

 

WoooHooo Veggi, Glad you finally got out and had a grand time. You did have great weather for it. And 5 MINIs at an event is something these day. I'm lucky to seen one other. That other Electric Blue MINI sounds like a blast. I may have seen it but the one I remember seeing had an orange stripe, like GKP said. I had thought about going to that event but got talked into going to WGI, again, instead Going on next Monday and Tuesday for 2 days of open track. This will be the 3rd time this year. I went in June and had problems with over heated brakes and overheated engine oil. Boy is that track hard on cars. I met a guy who some affiliation with RedLine oils and he talked to me for about a half hour about oils. Simple answer is that I need to try a heavier weight oil...got 6 qts of RedLine 5-40 setting in the garage waiting to go in (had been using 5-30 MINI/Castrol oil). As for the brakes, I've improved the cooling which seemed to have made a difference when I bedded my new brake pads. As for the suspension - I am loving it.

Say, if people are interested in going to LRP on 8/24, I could maybe be talked into going. Are you guys signed up already. Maybe we could get the MPGs and the Pump Station owner to go and Get a real crowd of MINIs there...

 

Yes, WGI is a very different track, as we all know by now! I hope the changes work out for you. I am signed up for 8/24 @ LRP, and I think GKP is as well. Maybe mention it at the next MPG meeting; there should still be space available at that point. Let's think big and aim for a double digit MINI turnout! My caption for the pix is 'Seeing double @ the uphill'.

 

That is a great picture
Why does the second one look like a convertable? Black top or am I seeing something wrong?

I'll send a note to the MPGs about next month. OBTW they both have new MINIs; a roadster and a F56S.

 

Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you...black roof sans sunroof, so lighter than me upstairs as well...do you think those two new MINIs are too new to track?

 

Sorry for taking so long to get back...
One of the new MINIs is a convertible...not trackable. The other is, though. Maybe I can talk them into coming.

I have done a despicable thing...
I drove something other than a MINI on the track
Any guesses
https://www.tracktimephotos.com/larg...1_WGI_OPT_6247

Yup, that be me...