Beautiful car !!

 

I knocked over 2 sec of my time at Laguna and over 4 sec of my time at Infineon, it was a good couple of days.

Here's some video, Laguna: http://btwyx.com/Movies/LagunaNov11Besti.mov

Infineon: http://btwyx.com/Movies/InfineonDec11Besti.mov

 

Nice. Best color, I reckon. They stopped making it before I bought my red one, then afterwards started making it again. Now I gather they've stopped again?!

 

The more I look at the color, the more I love it. It started with my daughter saying, Dad, buy a blue mini with stripes. Then I found this one. I see a few members have recently bought 2012 Lightning blue Minis, so it appears it is around for now. I'll have to replace this with a Clubman over the next year or so, My son is getting big, he won't willingly sit behind my seat for much longer. My wife wants gray next. I think this Lightning Blue is one of the most beautiful blues around. Thank you.

 

My JustaCooper chasing a Lotus Elise around Roebling Road Raceway last weekend!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41540337@N07/6937778202/http://www.flickr.com/photos/41540337@N07/6937778202/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/41540337@N07/, on Flickr

 

Cool. And it will be Team Justacooper running in the B-Spec series.

 

Yep... starting next weekend!

 

jamesday24,

What are your impressions of your JCW Coupe? That looks like a smokin' ride!

 

I like the looks of it a lot, of course. It sounds great, especially when in Sport mode. And being a JCW it's very quick. Reviewers have said the ride is harsh, but I don't find it too firm. In fact, I wish it had the JCW Suspension which is not yet available. But it is still a second-generation MINI and feels a bit too heavy. I much prefer the steering and lightness of my 2004 Cooper. I bought the Coupe to be my daily driver and put away the Cooper, but I drove the Cooper all this week to work and I'm thinking of making the Coupe my weekend car instead.

So my ideal MINI would be a Coupe based on the original R50 with JCW Tuning Kit.

 

jamesday,

I appreciate your quick response to my question. Based on many comments, the 1st-Gen (2002-2006) models do seem to have a "quicker response" in the handling arena.

I envy your daily choice of rides decision!

 

A camber kit can help that. I run about 2.5 degree negative camber on my Cooper. Works best when braking for corners, to put the weight onto the front wheels. But then it turns in really quickly and you can get on the power right through the curve. Great for keeping up with Ss that have to wait until they're out of the corner (and away from understeer) to get the power down.

Interestingly the camber seems to wear out most tyres faster but the Pirelli P-Zero Neros don't seem to mind it at all.

 

Proud Cooper owner. Call me crazy but ive driven r53s, an R56s JCW tune and did not enjoy any of them as much as my justa.



Armed forces plaza by Batson Photography, on Flickr

 

Nice picture!

 

Thanks!!

 

My car will never see a track, course, or strip. But I put about 400 miles per week on it, and wouldn't trade it for any other MINI. Well I would like R56 Cooper mileage, but can't justa-fy a $5k upgrade to save $15.00 a week.

 

Thought I would introduce my self here. My name is Josh and I currently have a 2004 R50 that we are building for SCCA's STF class here in Arizona. I must confess I am the Director of the SCCA club here in AZ, so I have a a few years of autox'n under my belt. But on a 50-60 second course I usually RAW TIME most Mini S's and JCW's that come out (stock and mod'd), and have never been beaten by one by more than 0.5 seconds.

I have driven numerous S's and JCW's, both on and off the track. And to be honest I just plain prefer the base's over the S's, they are just plain more fun. Like everyone states there is no doubt I can feel the almost 200lb difference (300lb difference with our car) when taking the turns (the weight of our STF Mini is currently 2,340lbs, and I still think we can loose a little more), turbo/sc lag annoys me , and while I am sure the S is technically faster, when I drive a stock S and my STF Mini back to back I definitely don't feel any faster in either one (we have clocked our Mini at a 7.9 second 0-60 so far).

And then of course there are all the little benefits of the base, like MPG (I average 36mpg driving around town in mine), increased reliability, and actually having a spare tire

 

I've got a 2012 non-S Countryman. Does that count? Before this, I had a 2010 R56 (non-S) and before that a 2006 R50 Checkmate. I love the non-S cars. All the fun of the S without the reliability issues that plague them.

 

We've been autocrossing the JustaCooper recently. We're doing better than I expected, I'm currently second and Cathy is third in the SCCA's novice championship here. The JustaCooper has one very big advantage at this, a good PAX.

We've also been running with the BMW club, I haven't seen results for our first competitive event yet (from Saturday), but at the practice event a few weeks ago I think I was leading most of the other MINIs (but the results weren't recorded).

 

Hope I'm not to late to join, I have had my Chili Red MCA for about a year and I love it. Bone stock for now just Union Jacked out. Thanks all!!

 

Count me in as a new member. I can't wait to really learn how to drive it

 

It's never too late.

 

Is this still active?

 

It can b if you like

 

Add something to get it going again. The are alot of Justas out there!

 

Count me in for this group. I get a lot of crap from my sister for not opting to buy an S. Its nice to be around like minded people.