I short shifted into 4th right before going into the S's

 

The plan is to take it to LRP next year. I'm installing a roll cage now ... just in case it behaves like that Caterham at the crest of the uphill!

 

I've done Palmer twice and I remember I spent the entire first day trying to figure out how to avoid having all my speed scrubbed by understeer. Overall, your experience is similar to what mine was — it takes a lot of experimenting to get things right. I also think instructors who drive FWD cars may have very different theories about Palmer than those who drive RWD cars since virtually every turn is an uphill or downhill.

What year MINI do you have, Tank? Do you know what gave up on the engine?

 

I have a 2003 MCS. I think something in the timing went wrong. Chain Broke/Chain Skipped a tooth/Chain Guide Broke/chain tensioner or C4 Leaned out and caused the timing to go out of timing.

I'm going to build the Spare JCW motor i have. When i pull the engine out Ill see what went wrong. I personally thing the C4 is done because i couldn't get the spark plug out and i was getting smoke from the intake which indicates intake valves are open. I still need the cams from the old motor If it survived and the Oil baffle and Crank pulley.

 

Anyone looking for race seats? I stopped by the Porsche shop today and he has some Sparco seats. If interested let me know and I will find out what he is looking for them.

 

I watched that video a bunch of times and the only thing i can conclude is that the Caterham was too far beyond the crest of the hill for it to have been the cause of his problem. I get light right at the crest and have gotten the traction control light when I have spun/slipped the front tires, but never that far down the track. My guess is that he hit the gas too hard on cold tires and spun the rear tires. You said that the driver said this was a big OH sh... moment; did he say what he thought caused it?

At any rate that was a really nice save he had. A couple of years ago I got a good picture of a brand new Vette that didn't fair too well when he lost it. Shortened the front by 2 feet...

 

No, he didn't say. It's possible he hit the gas before the rear settled. RWD cars behave very differently than our MINIs at that spot. The front wheels are well beyond the crest before the rear settles. I was behind him a few times and because his car is so light you can see the weight rise off the rear wheels.

 

what cage did you get?

I'm stuck trying to decide if I should quick fit harness & stock seats, or go to a cage/seat/harness setup

my car is street driven to events, HPDE & autocross

 

Well, as I noted earlier, at my last event I got a check engine light with a code that the electronic thermostat was failing (my summary). Because I have a ScanGageII and can read water temp, I wasn't too worried; water temps stayed normal but were a bit erratic. Had similar issues on the way home; erratic water temps but basically normal.

So it went to the dealer today (they've been good to me in the past ) to get the check engine light checked out and to get a state inspection. I also mentioned that I had high oil temps and couldn't figure it out. I asked if they could check the auxiliary water pump that pumps coolant to the turbo.

Well, guess what...the electronic thermostat did test out to be bad. Apparently this is common with BMWs and MINIs.

And they found stored codes related to the aux water pump that said it was failing or failed. Now these may have been "notes" something like a code that was stored in the computer. I am not clear on that because it won't throw a check engine light and it doesn't show up on the ScanGageII; unless I missed something. But the SA did say it was something they could see when they hooked it up to their computer. So, the car is getting new of both of these, but the price is also going to reflect about a day's worth of work...ouch

Now the question becomes, is the aux water pump the "smoking gun" that I have been looking for as to why I am getting high oil temps? It also may be why my fan is running like crazy lately when I shut the car off, even in the middle of the winter (last winter). I am hoping it is and that now the hot oil problem is also going to be fixed. I'll report back once I have had a chance to put a few miles on the car.

 

The cage I'm talking about here is for my non-MINI car that I hope to run at LRP next year. It's a very powerful and relatively light RWD car.

In the MINI I use the Schroth quick-fit harness and like it. I never considered putting a roll cage into the MINI because I think it's hard to get into serious trouble (spins, slides, rollovers). It's FWD and has only moderate power.

 

Keep us posted. My fan runs like crazy, too. But my temps seem steady and no codes. So I have never worried too much about it.

 

ohh I've spun both my MINIs autocrosing and I've drifted sweepers on the track, it's fun powering out of them thankfully I've always had enough pedal left to pull out of the slide

 

Me too. But in a MINI it's very unlikely you'll ever go into 360+ out-of-control spin like you sometimes see with 400+ HP RWD cars or super-light cars like the Elise. Good example — I once made a bonehead rookie move coming out of Big Bend at LRP, shot across the track and went off on the right side (but nowhere near the wall). Had I been in a RWD car I am pretty sure I would have been into the wall just like a friend of mine was in his BRZ a year or two ago. In some situations understeer is your best friend.

 

This has always been my worry going up through the esses at WGI. If the rear on a MINI lets loose, there is no catching it because you are flat out. I saw this happen to an instructor in his prepped E30 track car; it didn't fair too well.

From experience I can say that it is not that unlikely to spin a MINI. A stock MINI or S, ya, unlikely (reason they make for such a great beginner track car and are still fun). But a MINI with the sports or JCW suspension option can be made to rotate in a not so good fashion. Or take a MINI or S modded with a big rear sway bar, has shocks that are not quite up to the task, not enough camber in the rear and added camber in the front and the rear can slide unexpectedly in the middle of a curve. Once it approaches about 90 deg the tires will hook up and send you off the track.

I have an unconventional suspension setup for a reason; to keep that sort of thing from happening again. It is also a reason that I suggest against putting a big RSB in a MINI for street or track use if the person is not an expert track driver or racer and without some other major mods like stiffer front spring (or front sway bar), shocks, etc.

 

Picked it up today and after hooking the ScanGage back up I have driven it enough for the water temp to be normal, the oil temp is lower and the fan has not run (not sure if it didn't run because it wouldn't have anyway or because the "fix" fixed something). I will know better later on Sunday as I have a bit of a trip to go on and I should know from the oil temps I see there and whether the fan runs.

gkp - unfortunately the N14 MINIs didn't have oil temp. My water temps were always good too. So that part never worried me. It was my oil temps that were going out of sight that got my attention. Unfortunately you can't see those, but my guess is that is why your fan is running. I will let you know more later on Sunday.

 

An oil temp gauge has been on my list for a long time. Maybe it's time to do something about it.

 

The weather is looking pretty good for next Saturday. Anyone looking to go to LRP?

Veggi - are you going to make it one last outing for the season?

 

Was thinking on taking a run to LRP to watch for a while. Eddie07S want me to bring rear disks?

 

I can't make it. Have something else planned.

 

Eddie 07, I am on wait list for INT2 at this point. That is my plan to hedge the weather, hoping at least a couple of people change their minds at the last minute. Forecast at this point looks decent, but a chilly start. I hope a spot opens up, but if not, I won't be crushed. They're really pushing the season going out to November 12th…we'll see but I doubt I will sign up for that one. I'll be in Albany today, and going to see Psycho @ The Palace tonite @ 8 if you are free to meet up.

 

I might be interested in these if they are compatible for an R53 and my current harness set up.

 

veggivet, the shop has a set of OMP seats, pm me your email address and I can forward pictures.

 

Thanks, will do...

 

Hope you can make it. I'm planning to meet up with zre.

Have fun at Psycho

 

Fingers crossed that I'll make it off the waiting list onto the driver's list. Psycho was excellent. I think the director, a guy by the name of Alfred Hitchcock, may have a future in film.