For those that have never done a trackday...do it!! I took my MCS out to Shannonville Race Track yesterday and enjoyed it as much as my past experiences on my sportbikes on a track! The track was just over 4 Km (2.5 miles) long with chicanes, hairpin turns and 2 long straights.

The experience was well worth it, tho it was hard on my stock brake pads and tires. Brake fade would kick in after 3 or 4 laps and my tires were looking like marbles at the end of the day. I now realize how important a good set of brakes will be for the track, especially if u want to brake as late as possible on the last marker and my OEM suspension is not sufficient as I do experience abit of body roll. I do have a 22mm solid swaybar and M7 front strut bar and I am certain they helped.

Alot of guys talk about the 22mm sway bar being too big for the MCS and cause oversteer. I'd have to say it did to a small degree, but it wasn't that bad. In fact, it made it more fun for I was able to oversteer the rear end out in the chicane ("S" curves). When my rear would slide out and I can easily correct it by stepping on the gas. It takes a few laps to get use to it, but it's alot of fun! I'd have some understeer as well, but the other guys at the track said it's cause I am running on all season street rubber. Some guys with their EVO's, STi's and RSX's were putting on track rubber for the event. Then again it could be cuz I am running on 40 PSI (possibly too high for track).

The big thing to learn to do correctly is "Heel-to-Toe" braking/downshifting which I just learned how to do properly. Otherwise, don't even do the trackday IMO. And do all ur braking first, then downshifts b4 entering the corners. Braking into the corners is called trail braking and I had found it can cause the weight balancing of the car to throw the rear end out a tad.

My top speed on the straights was 150Kmh in 4th gear (redlined at 7,000 rpm). Compare this to the Lotus Elise I had sat in with a race driver behind it and he did 210Kmh. The new BMW M5 with SMG I had sat in did 220Kmh in the same back straight. I thank those 2 guys for giving me the experience of how other cars compared to the my MCS. Summary...the Lotus was the fastest and best handling car there and the M5 was the most powerful. There were about 30 cars there. Cars like the new Civic Si's, A few late model Bimmer M3's all modded, Lexus IS250, and a new Mazda Speed 3, etc. Heck, there was even some dude that showed up in his all stock Toyota Corolla with skinny tires! Anything goes for trackday I suppose.

Both of the Lotus and M5 killed my MCS and handled better. Well, the $70K Lotus was no surprise, but I expected my MCS to at least out corner the $110K BMW M5. Keep in mind I am comparing my stock suspension setup to those other cars which were all stock setup as well. I now see why some guys were running coil-overs.

I'd have to summarize this up by suggesting if any of u plan on doing trackdays frequently, do invest in a complete suspension and brake upgrade, on top of the exhaust, intake, pulley. And of course a set of track rubber on separate wheels. Every little bit seems to help when running at redline 75% of the time on the track.

Check out my gallery for 2 pics of my MCS in the pit lanes of Shannonville.

 

you're making me all excited going to the track this July haven't been on a track since February.

i agree on the brake and tire mods. any plans on your suspension? i'm aiming for the most aggressive street setup that i can use on my Mini. coilovers are just too hardcore for me since i only go to the track at most 4 times a year.

 

Not sure what I am going to do with the suspension just yet? Thinking of going with the JCW suspension for $750 CAD brand new at dealers. The reason is that it's only a 10mm drop which I like. I hate the look of 1.5" to 2" drops, tho it's functional for trackdays. All the coil-overs I have read including the SPAX system, drop the car at least 20mm from stock height at it's highest setting. SPAX advertise zero drop, but I heard from others that's not true.

The problem with lowering a car too much is the aggressive negative camber and uneven wear on tires. For the streets, you need suspension travel for the bumps, potholes that u don't experience on a track. Since my MCS is primarily my street vehicle apart from my SUV, I need a setup that works for both trackdays and street.

 

but a little bit more negative camber helps handling right? then again, fully adjustable camber plates and rear lower control arms will set you back another $600 or so.

as for having a suspention setup that works for the track and street, i'm leaning towards getting Koni Yellows then just dial in the setting i want when cruising around town or hitting the twisties

 

oh btw...fellow electric blue owner here

 

I really want to do a track day. Sounds like you had fun. My practice area for heel-toe and controlling/inducing oversteer are the public roads of the fair city of Lincoln, heh heh. I wish I had some twisties, or a track for that matter - one that didn't require special licenses or a race-preped car.

 

Glad to hear you had fun.

Twiddling the settings on the rear yellows may be tricky. You'll have to drop out the strut, or have large holes drilled out for access in car. Most folk fire and forget the settings for the rear yellows.

 

No local chapter of a car club that does auto-x or hpde's? Check out NASA or BMWCCA or SCCA for local events. having a track beater is not a bad idea. Rolling one's daily driver could be lots of sad.

 

I just added Koni yellows&Ireland fixed plates to my TSW springs and rear sway.The handling,ride,turn in ,feedback&tight wheel feel all point to an amazing street and occasional track setup.You wont be disppointed!

 

Hey Platform,

How much did ur TSW springs drop ur car down by? I want a mild drop. Nothing more than 0.75 - 1". I am considering H-Sport springs with Koni yellow struts or the JCW set.

 

Karateman,
You are on the right trail if you want minimal drop.I highly,highly recommend the TSW's.I doubt if the actual drop is even measurable!What is measurable is the feel!wow!add some ireland fixed plates while your there,then align.Post after you do it.I should see numerous
ps- I think MiniMania has their yellows on sale.

 

+1 on the fixed plates, esp for the street. grip through sweepers and turns is much better versus stock front camber. Currently running stock springs with Koni FSDs.

 

I just phoned the dealer and found out the JCW struts and springs together are $1,350 CAD. That's waay too much. Aftermarket is the way to go!

 

very happy with my bc's. auto cross in two weeks, track day in 4 weeks. watch the video of the mini at sebring....if watching a mini passing porsche's doesn't get your juices flowing, nothing will!! http://www.motoringfun.com/2007/06/1...-uss/#more-336

 

..and wait till they charge you their labor 700-800$(unless you work on your car or have a fair mechanic)
I started my journey by adding tsw's to the oem struts,then later added konis and plates.budget choice.There is great merit to coilover adjustabilty and track performance.I primarily terrorize the streets and canyons,so my setup is feeling great for me.-good luck deciding

 

koni yellow works, even though its rebound only, it is very strong and works very well, had it for over 2 years with eibach springs

TSW springs seems to be getting good press, it certainly doesnt hurt to try


my advice is TSW with koni yellows, yes the rears are a PITA to adjust, but i usually left the setting once i had it dailed out

 

Get adjustable camber plates as opposed to the fixed. You will want to be able to compensate for the innate discrepency in camber between sides.

 

I just had my first track experience as well at the Brainerd International Raceway (BIR) Performance driving school in Minnesota about two hours from Minneapolis/St. Paul.

It was a great track experience for a MINI.

I didn't really notice any brake fade, but there was a lot going on. I did notice that the lack of LSD really impacted my ability to accelerate coming out of turns, which in some ways was good, because it was all the more important that I took the correct line through the turns.

I was able to keep up with the bigger cars through the turns, but usually lost them in the straights, especially the Corvettes presented a problem.

All in all, I'll do it again.

 

I've done one track day before now, that was the "Big MINI Day" at Thunderhill (NorCal) in 06. It was great fun and I've been meaning to do it again sometime, but haven't quite managed it. I was all set to do a "Hooked On Driving" event at Buttonwillow (central CA) in May, but that go cancelled. They do lots of events in California and are doing a MINI day in August at Thunderhill, I'm planning on trying their October Buttonwillow event and one at Laguna Seca in December.

For the first timer, I'd say forget about heel and toe and other fancy stuff, you'll have enough to worry about just trying to get around the track. I'd only start to worry about that sort of thing when you get more used to things. Also you don't need any mods, a stock machine will allow you to have just as much fun. You may not go as fast as the modded machines, but you'll have as much fun. I took the Cooper-S to the last one, that just made me want to try it in JustaCooper and that's what I intend to take to the next one. At Laguna we may manage to bring both and compare and contrast.

I'd encourage anyone to try a day on the track, its a big rush.

 

I have gone to a few track days in my MSC at Hallett ( www.hallettracing.net ) and each time I get faster. They offer the first timers free instructors to ride with you. I can't image why anyone would not ask an instructor to ride with them. It really advances the learning curve. However, there are allot of people who's pride won't allow them to let someone help them. I am always looking to improve my game. I let an instructor drive my car for a few laps and that really helped me see how to put it all together. It is fun to outrun more powerful cars in my Mini. Last weekend I kept lapping two Shelby GT500's.