After 4 DE events, and passing my SCCA License test, I want to road race.
I have a set of track day tools and dedicated race rims and tires.

But here are is the BIG constraint:
I want to drive my car daily and to the tracks.




The only 3 mods I need to be BMWCCA J Prepared are
Clutch, flywheel, LSD and Rollcage, and "Seats"

Questions:
Is anybody else racing their daily driver?
What do I do about airbags?
What cage is the best? (i am guessing autopower)
What seats are you running? It appears that I can run a non-homalegated seat if I have a brace running to the seat.

Thanks in advance for your help
Ben

 

You sure you want to race your daily driver?

Lots of racers say to never race a car you can't afford to push off a cliff.

Insurance companies may cover your car during driver schools but they sure as heck won't cover an actual competition.

 

Yup, that is the huge risk.
That is why I want to do PBOC, NASA or BMW CCA.
With the 13, 13 rule I have a margin of security and I really want to race.

I won't be super competitive, but I just can't afford the tow vehicle, the trailer, and the race car.

Besides, the Mini is actually a pretty cheap race car.

But you do have a good point, and every body says:
"Don't build your own car, buy one"

But all my connections for parts, and getting work done on the car are with the mini crew.

All the work done on my car is free, as long as it is a mini.

I may end up owning 2 minis, a convertible for the street and an S for the track.

Ben

 

amanda

 

You want to talk to a friend who threw a belt, lunched a tensioner and fired an SC valve at the Glen last weekend? Forget being able to let it all hang out cause you have a trailer and a way to get home. That tow to Helix would have made the downpayment on a nice trailer. I can't wait till I get one. Let your track car remain licensed but don't make it your daily driver.

 

Was this at a track day or have taken it up a notch to door to door racing?

Not that the tow is any cheaper

I am just curious about roll cages, seats, and vulnerabilities of the motor/chassis.

Nuzzo has proven electrical gremlins abound, so the coil pack is probably gonna get replaced with something from MSD.

I will now double check the torque on the rear swaybar droplinks.

But I am really just open to all input from the experienced.

ps Daisy, think I can tow a Mini with a Mini?

 

if you do- you KNOW I'll be there with my camera!

amanda

 

Track Day.

Have you ever seen Nuzzo's cars? Doubt whether there is a stock wire in there. Electrical remlins are of his own making.

 

I was going to say that if you strip the car entirely, the only thing to make sure of is that you don't unknowingly ground a wire or something... if you leave the factory harness intact, you should be fine. The only thing I'm not sure about is what disconnecting all the airbags will do to the car when you remove them...

In any event, let us know how it goes if you move forward. These cars are solidly built, the motors are reliable, etc., so I can't see problems with making it a reliable club race car. But, most of the club racers I know don't drive their cars to and from the track...

BTW, I second the need for a tow vehicle and a trailer if you build a club racer... you just never know!

 

I knew a guy that was clubracing his "daily" driver (I think he had another car available "just in case"). It was a neon ACR running in show room stock back when they were the hot ticket in SSB (i think they ran SSB, I'm not a road racer).

He gave it up after a while. Some guy drove into his rear wheel, leaving the car undriveable. He had to have it towed away from the track, catch a ride with someone, and this little incident essentially totalled the car. He couldn't get the rear end aligned right, so he had to fabricate longer control arms just to get the thing to be "driveable".

He decided to autocross until such time as he could afford a tow vehicle, etc. Don't know what's he doing now, last I knew, he was still autocrossing, but that was a couple years ago.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

I also road raced a Neon ACR in SCCA (class SSC), and a VW GTI in SSC and IT. I don't advise using a daily driver for this sort of competition. Even if you are careful, some of your competitors will not be.

Buy an inexpensive used race car and trailer/pickup. A 2002-or newer MINI is just too expensive and difficult to repair, and you WILL need a ride/tow home at times. Keep the MINI as a street + autocross car and road race it in 3-5 years or so after you have learned with an inexpensive car.

Good luck,
Dave

 

Hello Ben,
You may have seen my posts every now & then...I race the '03 #53 Cooper S locally in the "Grand Bayou Series" at NPR (No Problem Raceway), Bellrose, Louisiana which is between New Orleans & Baton Rouge.
I also race with the BMWCCA in JP class & have raced two events with SCCA in SPO class (Not a great class to be in).
The first six months I drove to the track but after adding all the graphics & numbers it ceased to be a daily driver besides I would be pushing my luck if something broke while at the track.
Even though my Mini is still street legal, I always trailer it to the track. A few weeks ago I attended a BMWCCA DE and drove to the track....Guess what happened? After four hot laps, the sepentine belt went & the tensioner messed up one of the pulleys. Had to call for one of my employees to bring my trailer out to get me.
Good thing this happened, the following weekend was the 90 min. enduro.
Check out www.mini-madness.com for story on race. We won 1st in class & 1st overall!
Feel free to e-mail me with questions at: paulosdiniz@aol.com
Good luck,
Paulo

 

Thanks everybody for the great experience based advice.
I think I will just keep going with the DE days and figure out how to get some wheel to wheel fun later.

PS I will be at the Barber Event 21-22 November, so I look forward to seeing how the Mini's do.