i have three sets of wheels now. one for daily driving, one for track use and anther set for the wet track use. i drive to the track on my wet track tires(street legal DOT) but i want to take slicks with me. some of the events i go to (BMW, porsche) i see people with roof racks with their wheels on them. any MINI owners doing this? i know i could fit my extra wheels in the back if i had to but i wouldn't have room for my jack, tools, canopy, cooler or luggage. i've got a buddy here in town that has a thule rack that he said will hold 150lbs. i don't want to use the factory rack!

anyone doing this? any problems or issues?

 

why not just drive to the track on your race tires?

as long as you dont do it every day, no police would probably say anything.

we never change the drag slicks on any of our cars at the track, the car goes to the track with 14 inch wide slicks on back and 4 inch wide skinnys on the front.

 

sometimes it rains there. i want to have both sets of tires there so i can drive rain or shine. i see a lot cars brought in/on trailers that have to sit out in adverse condtions. i'm not a rich man and 300 bucks for a driving school is money i don't want to waste. on the wet track tires the MINI is great. not many of the cars in my group are street legal so they don't even bother with treaded tires. that means i get some very clean track time in the wet. the track i usually go to is 2.5 hours away so it's a good long drive. one i'm not willing to risk hitting a rain shower in. any roof rack users?

 

I know quite a few Mini drivers that arive at the track with a set of four wheels, jack, tools and cooler and other stuff all in the back of their mini. I was one before I got a trailer. The canopy it the tought one. Those alone are hard to fit in a Mini.

 

what does the MINI roof rack say it's rated to hold in lbs.?

 

If I tavel far, I put 4 track wheels in my back seat,

after removing it, of course

 

Great question----- I purchased a JCW 04 with a roof rack. I don't like the way a trailer is attached on a cooper. I think from the looks of my roof rack adding a cross member of alluminum or light weight metal would work great for adding wheels or what ever you might want to bring to the track. You of course would want to design this with easy on and easy off attachments. I am going to try to get a weight limit suggestion from the manufacturer of my roof rack and see what it is----I will pass this on when I receive the info.

 

I just checked the roof rack weight rating and it is 165 lbs. So how much weight would four tires be?

 

I would not take your buddies word for the rack capacity. Check with Thule or a Thule dealer. I have heard that the Thule racks are only rated for 75lbs. I was interested in them for myself but I carry 2 15' long kayaks that weight 55lbs each and the Thule or Yakima racks would not carry them. I ended up with the factory MINI racks and love them.

The limiting factor may not be the racks but the roof of the MINI. The roof panels are pretty thin and will collapse under too heavy a load. The MINI rack does not sit on the roof panel but on bolts attached to the frame of the roof. A very solid system. Check out my pictures here; http://www.mini2.com/galleries/showgallery.php/cat/704

I liked the MINI rack so much I just had another installed on my '06 MCS.

ssssammy,
"I just checked the roof rack weight rating and it is 165 lbs. So how much weight would four tires be?"

That is the correct load capacity for the factory rack.

If you have the factory 17" wheels that would be approximately 48lb(21.8kg) per wheel = 192lbs(87.3kg). 16" V-spokes about 41lb(18.5kg) per wheel = 164lb(74.5kg) Something light and aftermarket could have you down to 116lbs(53kg) total.

 

my track wheels are 36 lbs each so i'm less that 150lbs. i'll check with the thule dealer and see what they say. i'm putting this on the top of my christmas list.

 

Here's what I can fit in my Mini for autocross days:

4 15" wheels/tires
1 10 gal air tank
1 med size tool kit
1 race jack
1 large cooler
1 helmet
1 folding chair
1 gym bag with assorted goodies
1 extra large coffee cup

I'm planning a rear seat delete kit for even more room.