NAMmers:

I've got about $4K to put into my car - and I want advice on how to spend it.

Here is the back story: I bought a dead stock 2002 MCS with 30K miles on it back in Oct. for $15K. Took it to the track 2 days later - I had not even had it on the interstate until on the way to the track! Some tool in a Pontiac G6 blew past me going about a buck ten on the interstate, and before I knew it, I was following him. Reality set back in moments later and I went back to highway speeds. I arrived at the track, Nashville Super Speedway, 15 minutes later, and found out that the racing school was being done by Phil Wicks. Since this was a charity event, and my brother in law is notoriously disorganized, he had not bothered to tell me about Phil Wicks or that he was a famous MINI Cooper [edit - "Stunt"] driver. Through the day, I learned that I had just purchased a wonderful performer in the MCS - even stock. Far better than I knew....

That said, my bro-in-law is awaiting the arrival of his custom, rebuilt, bought-new-in-1987 Mazda RX7 (we are both 41). It will be barely street-legal, but will be a twin-turbo-nearly-400hp beast. Now we all know that a 200 HP MINI can't keep up with 400 HP, right? Ah, well that depends on the Carbon Unit!

My ability to drive aside, I still want the car to be the best it can be - budget of $4k this year - when we hit the track again for our annual races.

So, here is where I stand. I have bought:
- ALTA CAI - used (Thanks OnaSled)
- ALTA Oil CC - on a whim, used, great price (thanks LOU)
- VOLT Exhaust - new, but used price (we'll see if that was money well spent or not)
- H Sport Rear Sway 19mm
- M7 Strut Tower Brace
- CF JCW Hood Scoop - Used, couldn't help myself. (Thanks 1FSTMINI)

Total thus far: around $1300. Only Volt Exhaust is installed thus far.

Still plan to get:
- ALTA V1 15% Pulley - $99
- New SC Belt $30
- Custom Body Stripes, Vinyl ($200-400)
- Cooler Spark Plugs ($50)
- Spark plus wires ($70)
- H Sport Springs ($275)

Thus I'll have about $2000 to spend (I'm cheating a little).

Should I do
Option 1:

• (I have the Dunlop SP5000 tires now on OEM 16" wheels)
• Wheels - prob 17" Koneg Feathers (black) $650 w/ shipping
• 17" Tires (which?) ~ $400
• ECU (whose to buy?) ~ $700

Option 2:

• ECU ~ $700
• Rear Control Arms ~ $300-400
• Front Control Arms ~ $300
• Hawk Brake Pads $100
• Stainless Brake Lines $150
• Better 16" Tires (than the Dunlop SP5000) What is good in a 16"? $400

or Other????

I'm new at this, but loving it. Soaking it up reading all the knowledge and experience that the NAM folks have written here.

I'm lucky enough to live in same town as Phil Wiecks. Money spent on improving the Carbon Unit via driving school is a given (and doesn't count towards my budget!).

So - help!! Steer me straight.

Scott

 

I'd do Pads, Brake Fluid, and a dedicated set of wheels with R-comp tires. Save the rest of the money for track days. Get seat time, and get yourself faster. Worry about the car later!

 

In regards to the cooler plugs, make sure you check them regularly. Since you have an early model their has been problems with the #2 plug coming loose and blowing out.(Do a search) I have an 03 and had this happen last year. Yeah it gave me an excuse to put a better head on, but still $2000 later it was a valuble lesson to learn. Having said that, go with the pulley and work on the suspension and brakes. (Morris is having a great sale on the JCW suspension kit for $650 I think) and a good rear sway bar. You may not be able to keep up with him on the straights but when it get's twisty you'll either be all over his A** or in front pulling away..And yes, it's fun running away from the rich Porsche owners on the track...One other thing I noticed was when I removed my S-lites(Heavies) how the car turned in much quicker. Good luck, it looks like you have a good plan and are being forward thinking in making sure you have a good foundation.

 

Phil Wicks is a famous Mini driver?

 

If you are going to track much, you would benefit from front camber plates. Your front tires will last longer. Ireland has some cheap fixed camber plates.

I can't see wasting money on stainless brake lines.

Search for brake pad info on the forums. I prefer Ferrodo DS2500 but there a million opinions on brake pads. With some air being directed to the front brakes, they are fine IMHO.

check out John Petrich's posts here:

http://www.bmwpugetsound.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?f=33

He stiffened stock rear sway bar just by drilling holes in the bar to reduce the lever arm. Smart and cheap.

I found that Falken Azeni 215-45x16 worked great on the factory xlites. With the long gearing of the early Minis, keeping to 16" wheels is good idea. xlites are only 17.6#

Top strut brace is bling IMHO. Texas speed works has nifty under car brace which would do a heck of a lot more. I have cheap OMP ($85) under strut brace just to stiffen front a bit. It works.

What do you need new front control arms for? Perhaps your bushings may be on the way out. If so, you might consider Bavauto delrin (or poly??) offset lower control arm bushings. I do not have them but they will give you more camber when you turn through additional caster.

Check out the mini pages of

dpcars.net

This guy has done nothing in the way of power but maximizes the performance by improving handling, braking and the nut behind the wheel.

Once you get pulley and air box installed, find out when and where Jan of RMW will be tuning ecu's. He will get max performance out of the car and it will drive so much better. It is REALLY WORTH IT!


Enjoy.

 

I wouldn't bother with the spark plugs or wires. (Or the strut tower brace, but if you've already bought it..) You'll want a set of control arms for the rear lower ones to fiddle with camber if you do lower the car. I am not sure I would bother with the uppers or any others, at first.

I would definitely advise front adjustable camber plates. More camber up front and the larger rear sway are the biggest (+ cheapest) handling upgrades. You might be better off going straight to coilovers, as some of the ~$1000 entries are very good buys. (Think Megan or BC, which include camber plates.)

None of the canned tunes will net you great improvements. Custom tuning is the way to go. (Jan at Revolution Mini.) After tune, intake, exhaust, and pulley, it's big money for head, etc.

The brakes could use upgrading for track duty. I would stay with 16" wheels as they are typically lighter. (Of course all of the OE wheels are pigs.)

etcetera.

 

a vote here for increasing front camber. cheaper to do this once, than to buy tires many times....my buddy, LgEnf, runs a stock brake setup with track only (HT-10) pads. he says no fade and great performance, even at daytona. adjustable lower rear control arms are also relatively inexpensive and contribute to being able to get a good alignment. save some of that $$$ for seat time.....that will get you lapping faster than any mod.
greg

 

Honestly, even during everyday driving you would probably see a huge improvement with an increase in front camber. As it is now even with slightly spirited driving I still get some heavy wear on the outside edges of my front tires.

 

so, is your budget $4k or $2k? $4k, get an RMW head, cam and tune. $2k, suspension and wheels and tires.

 

Put it in the bank!!!!!

-Cody

 

If you're looking for more power, I'd call Jan up and get one of his heads ($2500) and DEFINITELY a pulley. Have Jan tune your car and you sould be pretty close to 220-230 WHP. If you do anything to the engine you will need colder plugs. If you change the pulley you will need a new belt. It's best to do all of this stuff at once.

If you don't care about power, and just want handling, go with a set of Cross/JIC Magic Coilovers. They're great, and with a stiffer rear sway bar it'd really improve the handling a lot.

ECU is a waste, just go with a reflash tune. There's really nothing to tune with what you have now, putting an airbox on your car isn't going to change that much.

You originally said 4500, but now say 2000, So I'm not sure, new tires to replace the crappy runflats wouldn't hurt. Brakes, if you're going to track your car, look into Mintex Xtreme pads. Pretty quiet, hardly any dust, great stopping power, and no fade to speak of. I've never used Hawk pads, but i'm not really into putting pep boy brake pads on a track car

Tires: Depends on what size you want to run, I have 205/45/R16's on my Rims (Yokohama Parada Spec 2). They're a LOT better than the runflats, but i've been spoiled with R-Compounds, so to me, they seem pretty slick. You mentioned 16" tires but 17" rims, so not sure what's up there. Yokohama Parada Spec-2's are decent, Eagle F1's are great, Kumho MX is pretty much as sticky as it gets, Falken Azenis RT-615's are close too. With the stickier tires you're going to give up performance in the wet. BF Goodrich makes the KDW2's, which are great in the wet and dry (If you have wet weather).

Why do you need front and rear control arms? If you're talking about Camber Arms/Plates, go with the Helix rear camber arms, and the Ireland fixed front camber plates. They're inexpensive, and work great.

PM me if you have some specific requests, hard to focus on any one thing as you threw a lot of stuff out there. I've spent way too much money on my car, so I'm pretty in tune with what works and what doesn't .

 

#2 Plug: Valuable - never heard this!!!

JCW suspension - anyone with this mod think it is good? I'll research it more....

Thanks Mark!

 

Mmm - I've read your posts before. Methinks you are messing with me.

Other members: Warning! Read here before responding to this person. Extreme wit may ensue:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=90821

(There are still people waiting for one of those hood scoops goalJnky)

 

$4k, but I've spent some on mods mentioned in the post.

What about the RMW Cam by itself, prior to tune?

 

Cam without the head is pointless. If you're going to spend 2k, focus on making the car handle better, if you're going to spend 4k, focus on making it faster. The car needs to work as a system anyway, kinda hard to pick just one area to work on.

If I had 4k and only 4k to work on my car, I'd get the RMW Head, a 15% Pulley, JCW Airbox, RMW Tune, Rear Sway Bar, and the TSW Springs. You should be good for 215-220 whp with the above mods.

If you have a bit of cash left over, get an OBX Header and weld the stock cat to it, then one-ball your exhaust, throw a set of Mintex Xtreme pads in the mix with some ATE Superblue and call it a day. SS lines are overkill unless you plan on tracking your car regularly.

 

Budget is being depleted by purchases listed....

No, no, stock 16" wheels and tires are on car now. Thinking about going to 17" (prior to your input) based on what I've seen at this site.

Question: what about going to 15" wheels? Pros/Cons?

Hell if I know, that's why I'm asking! I'm not even sure I could point them out at the moment.

Ahh. How much camber do they add (did I ask that right?)?

Thanks, will do! Appreciate the time to write, along with everyone else!

Gnite all - more Friday.

Scott

 

Engine

1) clearly add a pulley
2) after that - engine wise everything rotates around a bigger head. You need to get a grasp about this and understand all that could go w/ it cam, header, ect........
3) if you are not gong to add a header then look at https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=59341

Suspension

1) Coilovers are the way to go and can be bought relatively cheaply - BC coilovers (megans) w/ camber plates 1,100 at minspeed.net
2) rear sway = yes.
3) non-runflats = yes (Falken avenis are sticky, streetable and relatively cheap).
4) light rims = yes (see kosie at 14 lbs. and are relatively cheap).

brakes

1) fuid=yes
2) pads = yes
3) rotors - destroy stockers first


I would first and foremost suggest doubling budget

 

If you are tracking in Nashville, are you in the SE? If so you should talk to Wayland at WayMotorWorks, sponsor and great guy. He will be doing an open house at his shop in Atlanta on Sunday March 9th.
He can get you set up with everything you need and make sure all of the parts work together.
With your budget get the items you listed and a tune and you will be in a very good place.

 

Yes, I'm in Nashville and go to Atlanta for business from time to time (I own some Moe's Southwest Grill franchises here, and HQ is in ATL.)

Thanks for the info.

 

I love Moe's. I visit the one here in Chattanooga often.
Send me a PM when you are going to come through and maybe we can meet up. I plan on getting a Wayland tune in the very near future.

 

Is your salsa fresh, or out of the jar? One is awfully close to Newman's Own, the other two seem to be Frontera Tomatillo and Chipotle

 

LOL, this is totally off thread, but hey, I'll pimp Moe's any chance I get.

We make the Tomatillo, "Hard Rock" and "Rock & Roll" salsas in house. The "Who is Kaiser?" and the "El Guapo" are both made for Moe's by a sauce company. They come in pouches, but there are no preservatives. Stuff is darn expensive (especially to be given away for free) and flies out of the bowl, so to speak.

They are both our recipes - sorry, Paul Newman, while a car enthusiast, does not get to send my profits to charity!

Where do you know Moe's from?

 

Across the street. I can almost smell it from here (Leesburg, VA).

To be honest, you guys should make the 'baja salsa' that Baja Fresh does....it's better than anything I've had at Moe's.

 

That dark salsa? Man I LOOOOOVE that stuff. I keep pushing them to make something like that. I'm actually on a franchise advisory council that works on new food, etc. You had the Chicken Club Quesadilla, yummm.

PM me and tell me what else you like, don't like. Always want to hear honest customer feedback.

Ok and back to the MINI...

 

If you're limited to about $4k right now, I wouldn't go and blow half of it on a head. The money can be spent better elsewhere if you're looking to have a track car.