Thanks all... much appreciated. Yes, the car is fixable. The front end is demolished, the right door has damage and the right front suspension.

I'll get it fixed (does anyone remember where that bodyshop in Alabama was? LOL) but I'll put it back to stock and trade it back in for a new one probably.

We'll see. I've spent all night looking for Porsche 944's. With an LS2 engine swap, I think that will make for a good track car.

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes, my forehead has a bruise in the middle and my wrist took a beating. I can feel my body/neck/shoulders getting tight as we speak.

Ironic part is, I got back to the shop and my new coilovers were laying there, had they come in last week, I may not be in this position.

Oh well, as **** as I am about paint, I'll fix it and move on.... it's just a car. Things could have turned out a loooot worse.

Mark

 

Bruises and stiffness come with the wall. As noted, it could have been a loooot worse.

Stop thinking about those mucked up hybrid track cars.

Get rest, get well and put the coil overs on the next JCW.

Don

 

Glad you are ok after that accident. Hope you can return to the track soon.

Btw, the 944 is a hard car to drive with the ls3. Not for the people growing up on the FWDs. Very tricky with such a light back end and so much power.

 

Glad your ok....

I think we all want pictures of the car

 

you're going to have to update the image in your signature…

 

Ouch Mark. Glad you are ok though! Definitely monitor yourself over the next few days. Like you said...the car can be replaced/fixed. LS2 has become a very popular swap for numerous reasons but for some reason I still remain a purist of sorts.

Keep us posted and in the meantime stay well.

 

sorry to hear about your crash...just when you started figuring the tune out...anyways, I am more interested in what you felt about the power between the two tunes. Having the RMW tune, I have been fairly satisfied with its performance, however, if there is big differences low and mid range, where I like to have power, then maybe I consider throwing another $800 to the ALta product. As for customer service, certainly it would be nice if Jan at RMW would concentrate a bit more on the MIni community, however he is a much smaller business than ALta so that is somewhat understandable. I'm sure ALTA is going above and beyone the call of duty with you and your tune since you have a pretty big voice/following here on NAM and they have just introduced this new product and want it looking good and therefor are going the extra mile for you right now. May not always be like that though. So, back to my original question, do you feel significant differences in power between the two tunes or is just a question of Jan figuring out a smoother delivery of power. Thanks!

 

Ouch! What a bummer. 120mph and hitting a wall Hey all you guys that track R56's, as hot as my wifes car gets just driving around town, surface temps on the hood of 240deg. Underhood around the turbo at 270deg. How frikin hot are your cars getting?

 

Damn Mark! That sucks! Glad you're alright. I remember trying to relocate South Boston (VA) Speedway's 4th turn wall in my Legends car a couple of years ago. Really makes ya think twice about getting out of bed the next day!

Keep us informed of your progress.

 

"...As an added note, for those that are familiar with VIR, the patriot was opened up the second day. I call it the great equalizer, I can tell you this. A yellow mini spanked MANY a high dollar car in these turns and when you have to get a point by by a Mustang V8 on the straightaway, you know somethings going on...."

Ok, I have to ask, What is VIR/The Great Equalizer? Anything that helps show up a Mustang I gotta learn about.

 

I checked at various times on and off the track and never saw anything higher than 216 degrees. (engine temp) I never checked surfaces on or below the hood.


Power-wise, I feel (seat of your pants and two days track time) that the Alta is about 20% better. More importantly for me, I think it's smoother, at idle, at 3-4K rpms.

Let's put it this way... the extra power is nice but if the RMW tune didn't hiccup at 3200'ish rpms and it idled correctly when starting it up in the morning, I wouldn't change what I had. The extra power is nice but I wouldn't have switched had I not had those two glitches.

Absolutely, Jan is a fantastic guy and is willing to help when he has the time but his schedule is so ridiculously busy, it affects the end user, us....

This has been pointed out time and time again about leaving messages and voicemails and going days and/or weeks if you get an answer back. It's not Jan's fault, he's simply too busy. I'm super happy he's super busy, that's fantastic but as an end user when I want help or an update, I want to be able to get help fairly quickly.



As flattering as that is, I don't think I'm getting any help above and beyond what anyone else has received when asked for. I do however, feel Alta is staying on top of customer satisfaction even more so just because of the crappy results/complaints about the unichip but I don't feel I'm getting special attention.... perhaps because of my super good looks but not because of any type of "following"



It's not that VIR itself is the great equalizer, VIR is composed of a half or so dozen tracks. Each track can be joined/linked to another to make a bigger course.

In one of these courses, the "Patriot" is a series of esses. That makes that mini country as far as I'm concerned, some high dollar, high powered cars got taken to school. The mini ate up porsches, ac cobras, m3's, mustangs, etc, etc, in the turns.

By the end of the second day, I had 3 different drivers come up to me and talk to me about the car and how they were shocked to be eaten up by a mini. The miatas were eating the turns as well as the mini was but as soon as the straightaway came, the mini would stroll on by.

I'm not saying the mini is/was better than any of those cars, I'm merely saying that a course with 30+ turns in it is conducive to minis... it was at home.

I tend to overdrive the mini and put it through it's paces. When I get behind someone in the turns, if they don't give me the point by, I switch from their left side to the right side to "push" them out of the way. (effectively forcing them to give me the point by)

I was all over my friends GT3 until he reluctantly gave me the point by. Of course, once we hit the straights, he blew by me so fast, I thought he pulled the paint off my car.

Bottom line, at the right track, it's hard to beat a mini.

 

Im glad that your ok mark and really amazed that the mini actually held up so well in that crash. I had a blast at the track with your crash being the only downpoint.

 

Thanks Brian

Thanks, I think....





Glad you had a good time. It's definitely addicting, that's for sure.


Mark

 

ouch mark! That really sucks about the wall but I'm glad you seem to be in one piece. Thank you for brutally testing the tune though.

The thing in your review that I liked was that it threw codes. Why would I like it throwing codes? Throwing a code is a LOT better than throwing a rod - which didn't happen. I had some concerns about the engine being able to handle hammering at the increased boost levels.

post pics of your mini!

 

Well, I certainly put it through it's paces. Running full open 30 minutes at a time 4 times a day for 4 days. (well, 2 in my case ) will definitely make it throw a code if it's going to do it.

It seems the last map was the key for the track. I coudn't really tell a difference in seat of your pants between the supposed track tune vs. the hyper street tune.

The only test left is on the dyno so we have numbers to look at but unfortunately, that will be delayed a bit.

Coming soon though....


Mark

 

20% is a big number in my opinion! This dosen't probably translate directly to 20% more hp and torque, otherwise that would be a really big difference. I am assuming you are taking all things into consideration - power, smoothness, rpm range, etc...

 

Well, actually since you mention it, I am also thinking it will be about 20'ish % difference.

Figuring 250HP/300TQ at the wheels, (ballparkish), based on the 220/250 I'm turning now, that is 20%.

Having said that... I think my RMW tune is putting out more than my signature.

We'll find out soon enough.


Mark

 

How in the world are you going to dyno your MINI, after it hit a wall at 120 mph???

Isn't it crashed up or worse???

 

Why yes, but whether I keep it or not, I still have to put it back together...

Mark

 

Ive done the grand course multiple times on my bikes, love it. i love the north course more though, turns 8 and 9 really have good points to pick up drive on folks.

Those grand straights are never ending though

 

OH NO ! Sorry to hear about your off. My wife broke her collar bone during a track day at VIR (motorcycle). Tough track for sure. If it helps I will buy those coilovers for 10 cents on the dollar! Be well.

 

What org.? i track often, probably have seen ya if you roll with nesba

 

Glad you're okay, Mark!

NO, NOT the body shop in Bama! LOL Well, unless you want to unleash some frustration. ...again, I'm glad you are okay.

 

First, sorry for your off and hope you & your R56 are ok...

I don't know you from Adam, but after reading your review of the RMW tune vs the Alta tune, you do not provide a shred of data or evidence to support your claims... It 'feels' faster, the 'seat of the pants feel', 'about 20% more power', yada yada yada... You didn't even post any track times comparing the various tunes...

Not much to go on for those of us who prefer facts over anecdotal experiences... Nice try, but no cigar...

 

Got any pictures of the damaged MINI?