Today was my 1st event in my 2011 Horizon Blue Metallic Cooper Justa. This event was with the local BMW club which does not use SCCA rules.

Currently on the car are some Sparco Asseta Gara 15x6 in dead 205 50 RE71R. These wheels are not HS legal. My HS legal wheels are on order and will be arriving soon.

Wants:
Custom Catback Exhaust

Currently on order:
15x6.5 et45mm Rota Slipstreams
JCW Front Sway Bar
JCW Springs,
HSport Rear Sway Bar
Bridgestone RE-71R (Backordered from Tire Rack)

Currently Waiting to install:
Koni Yellow Double Adjustable valved by Koni in Lincoln last year

Here's a picture for attention.




Here's my fastest scratch time. It was a 68-80 second course depending on car setup and tires. I made it in with a 77.788 clean. I need to be more aggressive with the throttle and I need to get closer to the cones.

 

Congratulations on the event, loved the video. Since you don't have to follow SCCA rules, can you install the Sprint Booster? It makes a HUGE difference regarding throttle lag.

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Resu...%20booster/All

 

nice work! ambitions?? will you be going out to Lincoln any time this year?

 

I think I'll pass on this. For the price, it's not worth it and it makes throttle control a lot more difficult.

My driving needs to get better. I'll be at Lincoln this year for nationals. I'm not sure what I'm driving yet. I haven't gotten this mini set up yet. I'm planning on running my friend's CRX in STS. I'm not sure if I'll have this mini set up in time for nationals too. I did score the koni adjustables. I'm waiting for JCW Springs and front bar. I also ordered the H sport rear bar and they're backordered. My wheels came in and am waiting for a another set of the backordered RE-71Rs in 15". After all that, I need to get it aligned and and then test it out.

 

very cool - look forward to seeing you out there.

 

Yeah you too man. On a side note, results are up for the last event and apparently I was the fastest Mini in raw time. lol

http://www.boston-bmwcca.org/Autocro...=856&year=2016

 

Found some pictures. So much roll in the stock suspension lol. Pictures by Andrew

 

Very interesting, thanks for sharing! In what way does it make throttle control more difficult? Our customers send us rave reviews, so really interested.

Here's what they say:

http://new.minimania.com/Sprint_Boos...eviews_Part_II

http://new.minimania.com/Sprint_Boos...tomer_Feedback

http://new.minimania.com/Sprint_Booster___User_feedback

 

My right foot is very good at picking how much throttle it needs via gas pedal angle. Since a sprint booster increases throttle at the softest touch, my right foot will have to be more sensitive to the throttle change. I would rather not have that. This is more of a driver preference but I wouldn't mind having it street driving.

In other news, I bought a junkyard set sport suspension and going to reuse the hardware for my Koni Yellow/JCW Spring setup. Upon test fitting, the top nut is not big enough to fit over the Konis. So I have to order it from Koni NA. Sigh. Another obstacle to overcome. But here is a picture of the Sport Spring vs. the JCW Spring.

 

Good enough for 3rd place. I forgot to turn off the Go Pro at the end and got lazy about cutting it out.

 

Here's from last sunday. I was coning everything all day.

 

added the 25mm hotchkis yesterday. not bad. now my rear end clunks.

 

my rear also clunks with my RSB - I may consider aftermarket endlinks later

 

So the DS mini that Craig Wilcox had sold to my friend has Alta endlinks. I'm wondering if I should get a pair of those heim ones or go for ball and socket.

These bridgestones finally arrived last wednesday. I'm not putting them on yet. They're going to go on the STS CRX first to scrub in for nationals. I don't think i can fully prep this MINI in time for nationals.





Here's from Sunday. Good enough for 3rd place. Since adding the bar, I'm on pace with the top 3. We are all tenths off of each other. Highlight of the video around 58 seconds, I take that Chicago Box like a Boss! lol

 

The stock end links on my MINI couldn't handle the 25 mm bar and clunked like crazy. I went with the Way Motors end link. Another option is the M7 end links. Both are sealed which is nice for the road and bad weather.

Good luck with the car

 

interesting - yea I get these very hollow-sounding thunk/clunks from the rear over bumps, I never thought much of it, but now that I do - it shouldn't make that noise lol. may be something I need to look at doing for this off season.

 

So we had a really fun course today. I hit fuel cut 3 times and had to shift to 3rd. This car at the limits does not like fast inputs. It just upsets it too much. So turning early is key. It is weird to hear the fuel cut. I'm so used to hearing rev limiter. It's so quiet at the top of 2nd going 65mph. lol. It honestly feels faster than it looks on video.

 

Other than the cone-age how did you like that run? It seemed pretty smooth and quick.

Have you looked into new/stronger end links to fix that sway bar clunk you say you have?

 

The end links that Craig Wilcox used on his DS mini were Alta's. I've been reading up on the differences between the ball vs the heim style end links. I'm really torn between the two. I don't daily my mini as I have my c30 and that makes more suspension noises. So for now the end links are on hold. My top choice would be Alta but I am considering white line and anyone else.

 

Just did a BMW club here and my Bridgestones haven't corded yet. These tires seem to heat up quicker after 1 run without tread. I had to spray them down after every run. This was my fastest run raw but I drove better in the afternoon but the tires couldn't keep up.

 

So update on the Koni's! The hardware came in. I had to go out and buy a 5/8th's drill bit so i could make the holes bigger on the shock mount and washer. The rears are put together. I ran into a snag with the front spring pads. Apparently the indents are too in and won't fit over the shock body. Anyone have tips on how to push the indents out?

 

So Friday, installed some LEDs in the DRLS. I had a bulb out warning and it looks like one of them burnt out. I bought a pair of the Sirius T10 with Canbus on amazon. It looks pretty good.




Update on the Koni Yellow Fronts. So the spring perch is too tight. I am going to have to dremel it. I haven't picked a day to go over a friend's place yet. But I probably will right before nationals.

So this happened today. This is the right front tire. I guess I understeered a lot getting out of the chicago box. If i didn't cone away my 2nd to last run, I would've won HS. Oh well. Even with no tread, these bridgestones managed 2nd place and 3rd was .021s behind!

 

Tried to fit 15x7.5 TR Motorsport wheels and the rears rubbed. i thought something was wrong with my e brake! LOL. turns out it rubbed on the rear trailing arm. Luckily i had spacers with me.






And now I have a CEL. Checked it at autozone and there's a cylinder 2 misfire. Where's the best place to get spark plugs and at what gap?

 

The proper plugs come pre-gapped. There are a number of posts about spark plugs and gaps. You might also want to check the spark coil.

 

Here's a handy spark plug application guide that should help:

http://new.minimania.com/Mini_Cooper...lication_Guide

Also, a good overview and some troubleshooting from NGK:

http://new.minimania.com/Spark_Plugs_Overview_by_NGK

Hope this helps!

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.