I've had my Mini about a month now. Just had it out at Blackhawk Farms last week. All stock except for the brake fluid. The Mini is lots of fun on the track.

I need help making a big decision. I've been tracking my NSX for about 5 years now. I can run with 911's, vettes, mustangs, M3's, etc. I'm thinking about retiring the NSX from track duty and building up the Mini. Maybe even selling the NSX. Bone stock, the Mini was on about the same pace as E36 M3's, IS300's, etc.

For a modest amount of money, say less than $5,000, can the Mini be built into something that will keep up with some of the faster cars? Maybe on the shorter tracks at least? I'd love to build a Mini that can lap faster than the mustangs (I know they would hate that). Can I match the lap times of my NSX, or am I just dreaming to think the Mini could compete?

 

You can make the Mini fun and pretty fast on the track for the $ your talking about. But cars with more power and good drivers will give you a run for your money..... And take it. You could also look at what it takes to make a Mini competitive by looking up some races where Mini's have run, and see what has been done to the car. But it's a front motor front driver, and that places a limit on what you can do.....

Here's something to ponder, it may not be faster, but it will probably be more fun to drive.

If you want to pass Mustangs with a Mini, make sure you have better suspension than stock, and the Mustang is running stock, and you'll do pretty well. But a Mustang that spends $5k, can have a Vortech, and some really wide wheels and sticky tires, and extra money to pay for the gas that over 400 hp needs! Or some pretty serrious suspension mods and Al heads on the motor!

Matt

 

Gobble,


I think you PMed me a while back. I ended up deleting it my mistake when cleaning up my full box. If this was you then I'm sorry about that.

On short track, like two that I run, the Mini is hard to beat. On long tracks like Watkins Glen, the Mini struggles. So much of it is the driver though.
I've struggled this season with wondering if I should drop the Mini and buy a more serious track prepared car. The Mini is hard to give up for me mostly because it's not respected by many others on the track, so passing them is that much more fun. If I passed these same people in an ex-race car, or a Radical, then it would not be near as rewarding.
I met a guy at the Glen in a somewhat prepared 350Z. It was a three day event and he was a very good driver and an instructor at other clubs. We became friends, but I had noticed that during the first day he was talking about the Minis as if they were nothing more then toys. I never said anything about it, figured at some point we would end up close enough on the track to deal with it there. Second day came up and in the third run, there he was, a few cars ahead of me. Took me about three laps to put him far behind. After the run, he stayed away, but at the end of the day he finally spoke up, but still could not accept that he was taken by a Mini.
The next day we were together on the track again, but this time we stayed close. He in front, then me, then him. At the end of that run he came over and gave me a hand shake and told me he had just done the best time ever around that track, and it was due to him not wanting a Mini to show him up,
So, see, the Mini is not only fun for the driver, but it will make others out there faster just trying to keep up ...

When I'm at Lime Rock and New Hampshire I am never passed, in fact have only been passed twice in ten sessions. But when I was at the Glen these same kind of cars were passing me quite a few times.

I will say that the Del-Val BMWCCA drivers are the best I have seen.

 

Onasled make some good points....I have a good friend, an older gentleman who's been tracking for many years. He drives an NSX and is not the fastest guy out there but he's by no means slow either. At Mosport earlier this year I was on his rear bumper virtually every lap out of Turn 5 and then he would blow me away down the back straight. Our lap times were almost identical and after the run he says to me "Boy, that S really goes!" You should have seen the look on his face when I told him "it's not an S....". :smile:

Point is, driving experience counts for alot, and you can make a Mini go real fast, but at the same time it's the same old story that there will always be someone faster thatn you (prolly 'cos they spent more $$$!).

Enjoy the car for what it is, which is a blast.

 

I totally agree with ONASLED's post.I have tracked my MCS 3 times now at Mosport which is a very fast track rewarding big horsepower. My track experience is 8 years of SCCA racing with a formula vee so I am very used to driving a low H.P. car and using momentum to get around. The Mini has not disappointed me and although I will often get blown by on the long backstrait I can usually catch back up at the hairpin. I can keep up with most Boxsters, WRX's and older Porsche's & M3's. Getting respect has not been an issue- in fact I have had many drivers with very expensive cars come over to check out and talk about the Mini. It's all in how you handle yourself. I think you can get respect hustling an Echo around if you know how to drive. The upgrades I made for tracking : pulley, CAI, ECU, Exhaust, rear sway bar, front camber plates, powerlot rotors & track pads, rear seat delete & most of all- 15" lightweight rims /w V700 R-Compounds.
Bang for buck I don't think you can beat the Mini.

 

.... I was at a track day with Paul Newman. He was driving his brand new Corvette GT1 car and things were not going well with it. He was a bit grumpy that day. I almost walked over and told him to take my Mini out for a run. Figured it would make him smile if he drove it , but I didn't have the nerve since he was not so happy that day ..

 

Handling needs some money.
Sticky tires, light wheels if the budget allows.
For sure front camber plates and rear bar.
Springs/shocks for better still (zillions to choose from).

Needs more power. How much is highly budget dependant!
Pully for sure.
As with Intake and exhaust.
ECU, as the tune aint focused on power from the factory!

And the brakes need work....

And put it on a diet! This is usually free if you just remove stuff, but gets expensive if you replace stuff!

That should get you as competative as the car allows for the money you want to spend. Each and every one has his or her favorite priorities.

I'm a relatively new to track driving, but I found front camber plates did a world of improvement for tread life. The rear bar helps tons too.

For power, my fav is bypass valve adjust (just in case you're wasting boost), HAI, pully, plugs and MTH, but other tuning product can give you more, maybe not more hp/$, but more hp.... Some sort of exhaust is good. I did a one-ball to start, but am going much more free flow shortly using an OBX header.

That adds up to about....
Tires ~$600
Wheels ~$800 (lots of range here)
Camber Plates ~$500
Rear Bar ~$200
Brakes cheap, fluid, bushings, pads & rotors ~$450
Brakes Expensive BBK ~$1500 (range here too!)
Pully ~$120
Plugs ~$50
HAI ~$40
Exhaust ~$500
MTH ~$100

That's $3300 or so with the cheap brakes, $4300 with the BBK, and no labor. With stock struts.... That should give you an idea of the costs...

One other thing I've seen is that the cost of HP on our cars is pretty steep. I try to fight that by knowing what I want, and waiting for it to come up used. I've saved about 35% that way, but I've also bought some parts that I sold at a bit off a loss as well. But I guess the fun makes it all worth it......

Matt

 

Matt,
Can you PM me with some details on this .
Thanks
Greg V

 

onasled, is your video from LRP in the rain still available?

 

Video