Wow, That's really good.
Excellent work.
Got any videos?
74 second run? Nice.

We only get 29 second runs in my area.
It's over too fast. Gotta slow down.

 

Thanks. I wish I had video. Maybe later in the year I'll get a video camera and a camera mount.

29 seconds

Most of the courses in L.A. are in the 60-80 second range. Then when we go down to San Diego they are usually in the 75-100 second range.

I hear yeah. You get more seat time if you go slow.

 

In our last autocross site (a track) we had 60-70 second runs covering almost a mile.
Now we have a limited parking lot area with a course that runs about 0.4 miles.

Since there is less distance we have to design it so that all competitors will have a good run even if it does take less time. The fastest will do 30 seconds or less but many will do 35 to 37 seconds. Considering the shorter distance this means that top speeds are kept down to 50 or less and there are many turns and elements.

Last event I counted about 21 turnes in 29 seconds. In fact I drove it all in first gear. Later I tried running in second gear and could not improve my time. Then I just kept in first but tried to work on the high rpms and be smoother and got 1/2 second faster. That was with a passenger at the end of the day- my fastest and a clean run.

In cooper you'd have to use second gear. My MCS has a tall first gear. It would take too much time (skill) to try to down shift if I did make it to 2nd since some areas were very tight.

Wish we would see more Coopers at autocross but our representative from last season has been more busy and unable to resume. He sold his MC 5 speed and has a Cabrio MC but it is on lease for one more year then it will be returned and he'll get a Honda Fit Sport.

 

Marshall Cone runs a bone stock MC using 710's 15" holies with great effect. At the local DC events he usually runs on well worn R compounds and still kills the field. I have 16" wheels, but if I did not I might think twice about getting them for a Cooper after driving the my car and his car. I'm not saying that the 16s are not with out their good points. It is just seems that if you are starting out and already have the 15" holies, you might want to try putting 710s on them for a much smaller cash outlay.

Then again I'm in the club that needs to get way better also.

 

You make a very good point DaCrema...I had read that some of the top drivers were using 15" wheels. I guess the trade off there is lighter weight, lowered CG, gearing and prices compared to more rubber on the road for the 16"s. After thinking about it, I believe I will just put a set of V710s on the Holeys after the Hankooks wear down. I'm not experienced enough that I would be able to tell the difference between the two set ups. From what I've read 205/50 or 205/55 15s are the best tire sizes. I don't know whether Kumho makes both or not. Anyway thanks for the suggestion.

On another subject.....It would be cool to have a Team Justacooper windscreen banner! Aren't there any enterprizing young entrepreneurs out there in the Justacooper ranks that could produce one?
Ben

 

We are PROUD Owners of a 2003 MC. Would like to be a Member of this Group.
2003 MC. PW/B. CVT, DSC, Premium Pkg, Fog Lamps, After Mkt Rear Spoiler & After Mkt Center & Door Armrests.

 

on your third tranny why?

 

I'm running with team justacooper magnetics. I kind of like that solution better since I don't have to have the "racer" look on my car when I'm not at autocross.

 

What do the magnetics look like and where did you get them?
Ben

 

They look like this and I had them made at a local sign shop.

 

Any plans for a " Just a Cooper" Magnetic Badge??


2003 MC; PW/B. Fog Lamps,CVT, DSC, Premium Pkg, After Mkt Rear Spoiler & After Mkt Center & Door Armrests.

 

Autocross is alive and well in Southern California. At least with SCCA.

Results from yesterday.

SCCA CSCC Solo #1 - Opening Day Championship - 1/14/2007

• 5th out of 12 in H-stock
• PAX: 33 out of 213

H-stock had 12 registered, and it was the most competitive day of autocross I have ever been a part of. The first 6 places were within .988 seconds of first place and the gap from 2nd to 6th was .264 seconds.

I took 5th on the day in H-stock (0.901 seconds back from 1st) , and was glad to get away with that as on my fastest run I got out into the marbles and was glad just to get away without spinning the car at that point. While not my best day of driving, I was still glad to see that H-stock has a strong field this year. It also sounds like most of the field is going to be doing the entire season.



H-Stock RAW Results

H-Stock by PAX (213 Registered)

 

Good job Dave and the other stock MINI's. I wish we had longer courses here. The events that the two clubs that I run with put on here are only 1/2 to 3/4 as long as yours. First event of the season was yesterday. H stock field was 10 cars. MC's finished 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th. 2nd and 3rd were taken by a VW new beetle, for crying out loud, only .02 and .03 off. They don't publish any PAXed numbers probably because not all their classes conform to SCCA rules. I don't seem to be gaining on the more experienced drivers anymore. I need that Evolution school bad!

 

I'm going to one in two weeks.

The next one in Florida appears to be April 29th (it says in the calendar that Phase 1 will be run with the Teen school for that event, but the event description only mentions the teen school). Evo School Calendar

 

We finally had our awards banquet last night. I took first in class for the season, and first overall for the season (based on points for finishes, meeting attendance, event chairing, etc).

 

Congratulations on the class and overall season championships.

 

I want in please, I don't get to track my car since I am away at school. Maybe next year when I have more time. However I do challenge my neighbor who has a MCS to friendly races and he always scratchs his head as to why Im pulling away from him in the twisties, he obviously thinks HP is everything. My dad is a great testiment to how much fun coopers are, he has a '04 M3 and I regularly see him sneaking off with my keys. I know that I have thought about trading up a few times I always come back to the simple pleasures of the Cooper, I also have a hidden desire to stick it to the MCS guys, especially my neighbor

Here she is, I havent found a name yet

 

Congrats snid.
I went to a local graphics shop to see about getting a windscreen 'Team Justacooper' banner. They were going to do it till we realised that the wipers came up to almost the top of the glass and he figured that would be a problem. Bummer. I didn't want to put a magnetic on the doors since I already have the COOPER graphic along the bottom of the door. Maybe I'll have a magnetic made that just says Team Justa and on track days position it just above the COOPER decal . Think that will work? Give me some suggestions. I have no artistic talent or creativity to apply to this problem
Ben

 

Bruiser runs with a Team Justacooper magnetic on his hood.

 

I'm so jealous of your seemingly HUGE parking lots out there

Good to see bruiser ripping it up out there

 

We do have some nice venues around here. Hollywood Park and California Speedway (one of the parking lots) are both good size and permit for 60-75 second courses. Then there is Qualcomm in San Diego, the lot there is large enough that we have had courses there in the 80-100 second range (including a couple regular sections that are taken in 3rd gear).

FWIW, Qualcomm is the site for the upcoming SCCA National Tour in March (which I'll be running).

 

Junior Mint... Great shot!

I'm planning on Auto-Xing for the 1st time next Saturday and would like to know what it would take to get a TeamJustACooper decal or magnet?

Motor On Coopers!

 

I just went to a local sign shop, told them what I wanted and they made it for me. I took them a disc that had the MINI Type Fonts on it, so they could use that to cut the vinyl with, and then spec'd out the sizing (I can take some measurements tonight if you'd like, but I believe the letters are in the range of 3.5" tall). My magnetic is black with silver lettering except for the second "o" in cooper which is red (to match the style of the Piano Black dash).

 

I'll be going to Evolution Autocross School this weekend (EVO1 and EVO2).

 

That's a GREAT way to get real fast, real quick! Have fun!