I have been looking at the results from Topeka. ASP Vette won with 110.xxx overall time Mini Cooper S in GS ran 115.xxx overall and took 4th? The winner of HS had an overall time of 114.xxx in a MC. I think I dont have the results in front of me.

A stock MCS ran 5 seconds slower. So if I go nuts, full suspension dialed in, Full exhaust, Intake, and a good LSD, upgraded brake pads, not to mention some fat tires. (ASP rules clearly state wheels of any diameter offset or width can be used. I am thinking some nice light 16x10 rims with DOT hoosiers for the Nationals.

I can also replace the front seats with lightweight racing seats. It seems I can take out the rear seats. I have a 10lb. Battery form my RX-7 I can use in the Mini. I bet I can take a decent amount of weight out of this car. The 16x10 rims I am looing at weigh about 12 lbs each the hoosiers are very light too. Lightening this car as much as possible within rules will be the key.

Of course coming from a high powered RWD car to a FWD moderately powered car will take some adjusting. So I think some Evolution Schools are in order this winter.

I think I could give the Corvettes a good run. I ordered a set of 16x7.5 lightweight rims and 205/45/16 V-700's from tire rack. The first test will be to see what I can do to the local corvettes at the next Autocross with nothing more than the tires.

What do you think? Anything I missed any suggestions?

_________________
2003 Mini Cooper S - Future AutoX car ---
1987 Mazda RX-7 320RWHP - 2600 lbs

 

Very ambitious!! However unless there is a rule change in 2004, you can not remove the rear seat in SP, not that it would really help anyway since the rear seats on the Mini are not that heavy. You can only do that in SM.

Another way to lose some weight would be to get rid of the stock exhaust. I would recommend an exhaust like the one made by Quicksilver. It only has one muffler and weighs about 20 lbs less than stock and is the lightest aftermarket exhaust I have seen for the MCS. Also, I would recommend a coil oiver suspension with adjustable shocks. That way you can corner balance the car the make up for some of the weight you are getting rid of.

Another thing you have to keep in mind when you look at the results from Topeka is that it rained for some classes. The ASP vette may have had one wet day while that MCS that took 4th in GS may have had two dry days to run. Although I am not knocking the MCS (hell I just bought one and love it!!), but I find it hard to believe that a stock MCS ran the same time as an ASP vette. To give you an example, I auto-x a BSP M3. I race locally against the guy who took 2nd in STX in a heavily modified MCS. On a 50 second course he usually beats me by .5 seconds or so (not because his car is faster, but he is a better more experienced driver than I am).

 

Good points. I made a mistake in my thread and edited it. The Vette in ASP ran 110.xxx not 115.xxx it was 4 seconds faster than the fastest MC.

I know it rained but I think all the stock cars ran early on in the week when it was not raining. I could be wrong.

I like the exhaust idea. I need to come up with a budget and see what it will cost to set up this mini.

I have 2 choices wine like a little girl. Or keep my chin up and try to make the best of this.

 

GS and ASP both ran in the rain on thursday. They also ran on different courses. But the GS cars handle the rain differently than the ASP cars. It's very hard to make comparisons.

If you look at the Peru NT the ASP winner was 14 seconds faster than the best MCS.

 

I will not be discouraged I will not be discouraged.

Ouch!! 14 Seconds!!

 

Big fat tires will help. But you need to get some camber in that car. Camber plates aren't too spendy and they really let you use the whole tire.

 

If you already have the JCW kit, the next place to spend your money is on tires/wheels (as fat and as light as possible) and suspension to inlcude sway bars and camber adjustment. You will see your biggest improvment there. After that is done, then start taking some weight out of the car.

BTW, did you get your MCS base or with a lot of options? A fully loaded MCS weighs in at 2678 (according to the 04 manual). I wonder what mine weighs since I have no options :smile: ?!?!

 

I have 2 options the sport package and the trip computer that is it. No sunroof especially.

I planned on camber plates and coil overs. I can corner weigh it too. I have acces to scales.

First I am going to go out and race it stock except for the wheels tires I ordered from Tire Rack. I want to see what the gap will be locally. Sometimes Danny Shields shows up at our events so maybe I will get lucky and compare to him.

I had not planned on Modding this car but now I am hell bent on trying to beat the SCCA's decision to place this car in ASP. Plus I hate corvettes (even though my dad has one and they are amazing to drive) nothing made me happier than to beat them with my RX-7. Here we go again.

 

Jim have you considered the subway diet?

Jk! Good luck against the vetts.
:smile:

 

Thats pretty funny. Yeah! Most vette owners have the required pot belly so they probably weigh 250-300 lbs. I am a small guy. right now I am fat and weigh 170 lbs. In my prime I weigh 155. Nationals ? I will see 150 for sure.

LOL! This should be a blast. My RX-7 weighed 2700 lbs and had 220RWHP when I was in ASP that would be about 250HP at the flywheel. If I can get the Mini's weight down and with the exhaust and intake get the HP up to about 225HP I think I might have a snowballs chance.

Pipe Dream I know.

 

>>Thats pretty funny. Yeah! Most vette owners have the required pot belly so they probably weigh 250-300 lbs. I am a small guy. right now I am fat and weigh 170 lbs. In my prime I weigh 155. Nationals ? I will see 150 for sure.
>>

LOL, Don't knock vette owners, some of us are younger and skinny, I agree most are over weight 50 yr olds. I'm 33, 6 feet tall and weigh 170 and Auto X my Z06 Corvette in SS.

I also love my MCS, just got it a month ago so I only Auto X it once. I do prefer to Auto X the Z06 over the MCS since the MCS doesn't have a limited slip and it'skind of fun to control the 405 Hp in the Z06.

Acutally being in ASP I think most of your competion will come from modified E46 M3's (used to auto x one of those) Prior to that I was in BSP with my modified 95 vette.

Good Luck!!!

RaceCarDriver

 

I Autocrossed my Dads C-5. They are amazing cars. I would dare say you can do no wrong in them. Like I said before in my RX-7 at 250HP I could hold my own against the Vettes and Viper we have locally. My JCW is rated at 200 now I am not sure what a full exhaust and intake will do to it HP wise but if I can get to 230HP I think this car will be pretty fast.

6' and 170 lbs huh? Now I feel really fat I am 5'7" 170 probably I really dont know I am afraid to step on a scale.

My first big test will be at the next Autocross when I run race tires on my otherwise stock JCW. If I am within striking distance or neck and neck with the other cars I will continue on this journey.

I do need to drop a LSD into this car. Time to look around.

 

Jim, It's good to see you're not giving up on the autox. It's going to be difficult to keep up with the cubic inches, but someone needs to carry the banner.

My personal feeling is that the SCCA will eventually reclassify the JCW, and by you running yours, it will show them that you're serious about participating. My guess is that it will be STX legal for 2005.

If you want to lose another 15 pounds, let me drive. I only weigh 155.

 

Welp, Got an e-mail from Paul Cooper. I am trying to purchase actual JCW upgrades to keep the integrity of the car as a JCW car. It might be more money and more of a hastle but I really dont want to ruing this cars value.


I also got my V-700's and Kosei racing rims. These are for now. After a few events if I feel the car is competative I will start shooping for some wider rims.

 

I don't have my rule book in front of me, but if you can do it... There's probably a good 200 pounds of padding/sound absorbing material behind all the interior body panels....

Jims5543... you are gonna love those V700's!


David
-V--V-

 

Jims5543,
I love your plan to beat the Vette's time. Getting the MINI as light as you can should make a huge difference. I also like the fact that you're planning on keeping the "JCWness" of the car intact. Very cool! The November 2003 issue of Grassroots Motorsports had an interesting article on reducing the weight of a 5 liter Mustang. The MINI has no where near the fat that a Mustang does, but even after installing a roll cage, they were able to drop 808 lbs to get the weight down to 2475 lbs and a near 50/50 distribution. Check out the chart on page 146.

I haven't gotten my (2 option) MINI yet, but I would also like to shave a few pounds off of it. My first step will be a set of wheels and tires, probably the 16" SSR comps and Toyo T1s tires. Any thoughts on this for a lightweight street MINI? Keep us informed on your progress, and go kick some Vette @$$.

DesignIt