Great pic! And thank you for speaking to something I've believed for a long time: at our level (that is, recreational track drivers) horsepower is almost a negligible factor in track performance. You have 190 HP, and the car from Minicorsa has "305" or "250" or whatever, yet you're up there with the times. Good on you.

It's sort of funny how if you read all of these threads the reasoning from everyone goes back and forth. First you need power, then you need experience, then it's back to power. Which is it? Oh oh oh oh call on me, I know! It's driving skill!

You ran into slower cars because you're driving yours better than they are theirs, not because the MINI is a world-beater. And another thanks for being so generous with posting videos, pics, and honest appraisals of your performances; I love reading/watching/viewing them.

mb

 

Thanks for the clarification. That is a lot of track time for a weekend

I have seen Susan prove this point every time I go to the track with her. I know she can drive circles around most people on the track, and Bob and Jerry can attest to this, but imagine if you put her in a MINI that had a lot of power. I think she would have been pretty close to that 2:00.

 

Agreed - a good driver with more power will definitely go quicker. It's a combination. But this marketing jargon that anyone can tear up the track by purchasing his or her way to 250 hp is ridiculous. Selling parts by posting who's got the top lap times is, to me, absurd. But that's just me, and trust me, I've learned that my opinions are rarely shared by others.

I just appreciate vendors who actually go to the track to figure out what works for the MINI; that I have to respect, regardless of lap times. Because at the end of the day, my track experiences are never timed, and the only goals I go out there with are: 1. drive the car home, and 2. learn something new.

Shiny side up, all!

mb

 

paul: obviously your talking about bob's time why would you think I'm trying to get bob's time he's a pro driver, has been to that track prolly a million times, weighs at least 500 punds less then me I'm at 2600lbs has at least 100 horse more then me.
Remember I'm only running 10-11psi boost with 15% pulley (shows how well jans products flow instead of my usual 15 psi , on old used up Hoosiers and my first time on the track
If we wanted to compare drivers or cars it should be done at sow but we've posted our times and told others to show up but no one ever shows up

you can say X amount of power will get you Y time. its a combination

 

i get what your saying but look at what happened on friday my extra 60 or whatever horsepower and parts i have put on my car that mzero doesnt have on his compensated for the lack of experiance and skill compared to his higher level of skill and experiance.

im not argueing as i agree with you on what your saying things just get out of hand and misinterperted and people get mislead. i hope my exlanation of it was clear.

 

Danny it was meant to be in the same vain off me going from a 13.1 to a 11.7 with nitrous, the next time out I wont be able to run a 10 just hopefully small improvements, your small improvements will be a lot bigger tahn mine thats for sure, what do you think you could potentionally run ?

There's no way Bob runs at 2100lb, Hubie weighed 2200 at E - Town, Bob might be if he's lucky 100-200lb lighter than your 2600.

Horsepower wise I would guess at 50-80 more than you when he run it if we're talking at the wheels, I guess the hp rating they were saying were estimates of the flywheel?

As for tires, I always use the phrase "does David Beckham play soccer in slippers for England"

What tires were you going to run on the Sunday?

 

i don't know exact numbers as far as power nor weight between our cars but we'll see what i get next time. hopefully mzero will be there so i can steal his line hehe, i will be running my full power and fresh r-comps next time. i should see an improvement, i went from a 1:38 to a 1:29 on SOW and it is a much smaller and low speed track so we'll see i also thought i would never brake 1:32 at streets.

i was going to run the bridgestone re01r they took 3 seconds off susans time that weekend.

 

Whoa...lots of new posts. Experienced driving is everything. I've always been told its 70% driver, 20% tires, and 10% everything else. And no, the Mini is no world beater, but I do consider it a very good platform to start with. The chassis is very rigid and while it seems a more complicated multi-link suspension might be better, and that weight distribution could be better...the Mini just works. I don't know how else to say it, but it really is quite exceptional.

There also might be some confusion, this is only my 3rd track day with the Mini, and only my 2nd time tracking any car on Buttonwillow. However, I've been tracking cars for the past 5 years and AutoXing for the past 7 (since I got my license). I'd say I'm experienced, but I'm humble enough to not brag about my driving skills...I know there are MUCH better drivers out there than I.

In Danny's respect, he did mention to me at the track that he was shifting earlier than his redline, even with it detuned. In my respect my "190" hp is my guesstimate at the flywheel. I only have the 16%, JCW CAI, and Borla Exhuast...no tune, nothing else...so it could even be lower? But really, I know Danny was shifting early. On our 4th run he was ahead of me, I caught up, then I kept trying to keep up. It was a lot of fun, and I noticed improvement in Danny with each lap. The two of us kept catching up to other drivers and passing, but eventually I got stuck behind somebody. Anyway, once on the front straight we were both full on it, but Danny was barely pulling away. I was confused since I thought he would murder me there with more power...but thats when I found out he was shifting earlier. On one of the other straights I know he forgot to shift early at least once, cause he was GONE and I had barely exited the corner.

I know he's going to do better. It was his first time at Buttonwillow, and honestly its pretty intimidating the first time. Plus, Buttonwillow is a track where power can really make a differance. So coming back with the full revs will shave a few seconds off easily.

I'm not positive on when the next time I'll be there is, hopefully soon! But you can definitly follow my line or even ride with me if you like.

 

I get ya.

Isn't this the best!? I love these situations where you hook up with someone of similar pace and just have at it - not competitively (in HPDE), but just play and learn. Fun stuff. I'm happy to still be in the run groups where it doesn't get too heated and where egos are somewhat subdued.

All this track talk gets me pissed off that I can only do two events this year.

mb

 

I'm definetly looking forward to it we'll keep in touch

 

Don't forget about little old me!!!

I'm so ready for Buttonwillow again...