Just wondering how competitive the slightly modded MCSs running in STX have been...are you getting trashed by the Subarus, or can you hold your own? I'm thinking about holding off on pulleys and ECUs for a while while considering trying out some AutoX next season. But if you get pretty well thrashed, then I might as well go whole hog and just have fun...

 

MINIs in STX were well represented at Nationals this year (2003). Courtney Cormier came in 2nd overall just behind Keith Casey in his WRX wagon. As a whole the majority of cars were WRXs and MCS. Locally (Rocky Mountain Region) I came in 2nd overall for the season while my codriver came in 3rd (we typically hade 8-10 entries in STX here). With season driver standings we came in 15th and 19th. Not to bad considering we have over 200 drivers per event here and of the top 20 drivers there are around a half dozen current or former national champions/trophy winners.

Personally were I to do it again I would run in G Stock. We spent a tremendous amount of time experimenting with set ups which took away from the focus of driving. That said we learned an aweful lot of how the MINI is put together.

Hope this helps

Mark

 

Cool, Mark. That helps a lot. Good to know that MINIs can compete well in STX. Just wondering: is there a sort of "standard" list of mods that people are making for MCSs in STX? I would assume CAI, catback, wheels, tires, swaybar, coilovers...control arms and camber plates?

Interesting stuff...

 

ECU

 

Its best to spend some time on the www.sccaforums.com to find out what will be allowed next year. There was a fair amount of controversy about what will happen with STX and other street touring classes next year. What was allowed in 2003 may change for 2004. For 2003 we did the following:

- Quaife LSD
- Madness intake
- Evotech ECU software
- cat back exhaust (you can do header back as long as you have a cat near where the factory unit is) (SuperSprint)
- H-Sport springs with Koni single adjustables (i would recommend doing coilovers going forward)
- camber plates (H-Sport)
- rear lower camber links (H-Sport)
- front and rear adjustable sway bars (H-Sport)
- lightweight seats (Corbeau TRS from Soloracer.com)
- 15 x 7 (ET 38) Enkei RPF-1 wheels with Kumho Ecsta MX tires (this is good for a two driver car because they tolerate heat better...For single driver another option is Falken Azenis)

Spend a lot of time with the rules (you may also want to look at Street Touring.com for rule info. We found some of the rules to be pretty vague so if we had a question if something was legal if we couldn't find explict OK for it in the rules we didn't do it.

Hope this helps!

Mark

 

If you haven't autocrossed before, you probably won't be super competitive with any amount of mods. However, I think the following would be a pretty good starting point (without breaking the bank.) There are always people who will do more, spend more, etc, but I tend to think about the law of diminishing returns. Also, I don't know where you live, but your region may not have too many national level drivers in STX.

Step one: Reduce Understeer.
Rear Sway bar (Adjustable): Many to choose from. Under $200.
Springs: I like the H sport. Right around $200.

Step Two: Improve traction.
Lightweight wheels and tires. Too many choices here, but a good 16" setup should only run you around $800. Mayby $1000 if you go for 17".

That is where I would stop for the first year, personally, although putting in a harness will help you concentrate on driving.

Step Two, part two:
Limited Slip Diff. To be competitive in STX at a high level, I'm afraid this will be a requirement. It is, however, very expensive, and more difficult to install than most other autocross type modifications. I wouldn't do it until I was sure I was very serious about winning autocrosses. And even then, it is a LOT of money.

The rest:
After the handling is where you want it, then start thinking aboug power mods, like intake, ECU, and exhaust. But it seems to me, in my car, that any more power will be wasted without the LSD. And I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money on autocrossing. I mean, add up all of these mods, and you could buy a shifter kart and go racing for real.

Also, I personally think that at the local level a lot of people cheat, and in STX that can be a big deal if people are running higher boost. And there's really no civil way to protest it without looking like a whiner. So I just keep the "go out and have fun" attitude, and I only do mods to the car that I want to do for daily driving sake, like the wheels, tires, springs, and sways (which I'm in the process of doing right now.)

Big disclaimer. All of this is just my opinion, and I'm certainly not a national level autocrosser. Although I did finish second in STS last year in my bone stock 325Ci, which just illustrates how you really don't need to do a lot of mods to be competitive locally in some regions.

Travis

 

I agree with most of the comments above. In most regions, a Cooper S on 215/45-16 Azenis can be pretty darn competitive in STX, or GS for that matter. The driver really is a bigger part of the equation, though the relatively flat cornering, quick steering and good feedback, not to mention the exterior dimensions of the car, go a long way to making you look good.

I drive my car 95+ miles a day (it has 31,000 miles on it now) and run every event in two regions (CSCC and Indy), though with a couple young kids and positions in both regions I didn't make it to any National or Divisional events this year. The changes I made were done with both Solo and daily driver in mind, and work well for both.
SPAX coilovers (adj damping and height)
K-mac camber plates (also used P&D for much of the year)
Upper and lower H-Sport rear camber links
RDR rear sway bar (adj)
16x7.5 Kosei wheels (15lbs) and 215/45-16 Azenis
Simpson harness
Magnaflow exhaust
BMP intake

If you've already done some of the above (including different suppliers) that's fine. Just doing springs would be okay to, especially locally. If you haven't replaced the springs or shocks, get coilovers when you do. No rush in your first year. The intake and exhaust are fun but aren't going to get you any trophies on their own. The camber plates and rear links will really help though. The MINI is camber challenged in the extreme and being able to dial some in really helps grip and tire wear. I ended up at -2.3degrees in front and -1.8degrees in the rear. Zero toe on each end, though you can go to a touch of toe out to suit the courses and your driving style once you get some experience. Getting an adjustable rear sway bar will be worth every penny and they don't cost much or take that long to install. The 215 Azenis are just perfect for our cars. A harness is worth the money, as it lets you drive instead of hanging on. You would be hanging on, as I've hit 1.1g braking and 1.3g cornering on the great surface at Peru, IN.

The one significant thing that I have not done yet, and I will, is installing a Quaife limited slip. Traction out of the corners and in sweepers is the only real shortcoming of the Mini. All of my suspension mods were done to improve power application in and out of corners, though they also had other benefits.

To sum up the novel above.
Good tires (the 215 Azenis work fine with stock 16" wheels)
Stiffer rear sway bar
Harness

That is plenty to set very good times regionally. If you are serious, the Quaife will knock some real time off your runs. However, even without it I've set FTD at a couple events and am nearly always in the top handfull (which includes a Formula Ford) overall and very high on PAX overall.

Just go out there, have fun and get some seat time. Autocrossing is nothing like track days and road racing so don't worry if you don't set the world on fire your first run. It takes a little time but you have a great car to work with.

Scott
90STX