In the depth of winter the transformed racing MINI 'Casper' will travel over 5,000 miles to the Arctic Circle and back to raise money for Leukaemia Research. We will drive through France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland & Norway to Nordkapp at the top of Europe. Once in the Arctic Circle (approx 1st December) we will be subjected to 24 hour darkness, ice roads and temperatures as low as -25oC.

This thread follows the transformation of 'Casper' from track setup to winter beast...

Mod list:

15" pepper pot alloy wheels
Winter tyres
15" rocket alloy wheels - bought
Summer tyres - bought
Full roll cage - fitted
Roof Rack w/extra driving lamps
4-point TRS Harness - driver - fitted
4-point harness - passenger
Drivers bucket seat - fitted
Passenger bucket seat
Fire extinguisher - fitted
Raise suspension (higher than stock)
Defi Oil temperature gauge
Defi Water temperature gauge
Oil change - 0W 20
Coolant change
Battery change
Block heater
Radiator shield
Brake line flush
Extra driving lamps
Glass breaking safety hammer
Seatbelt cutter

Website coming soon...

 

Can't wait to see pictures of this beast. Maybe you should re-watch that Top Gear episode where they went to the North Pole in a Toyota truck.

You forgot to list the following items:
•*Chainsaw (to cut through ice chunks)
•*Rifle/ammo (to kill curious Polar bears who are hungry)
• -30 degree sleeping bags
• Roof rack with full-size spare(s), Gas cans

 

Good for you and what a trip !!

 

It should be quite the adventure.

Maybe take an ice-pick and some kind of air compressor/bike pump. If you need to deflate your tires for traction, you'd best have a way to inflate them again.


Edit: Just had to look into this, Pepper pot wheels... He means the 15" Hollies.

 

Hi!
This sounds like a great adventure. I really like the idea.
As I live in Norway, where Nordkapp is placed, I can give you some input on the environment and the way a Mini works in this country.
First of all, you need to beware of the fact that the effective cold temperature can drop lower than -25 degrees celsius in the north of Norway at this time of year. I am probably being stationed by the army in a place near Nordkapp, and the temperatures there can be as low as -40, but this is rather rare.
Second of all, you probably won't be needing an icepick, chainsaw and such. There are roads leading all the way up to Nordkapp, but as you are traveling in December, some of them might be filled with snow. Usually the norwegians do a good job removing the snow from the road, but this is no place for generalization. In winter, when crossing mountains and such, it sometimes blows up to a snowstorm. If this happens, you have to stop at signs of a convoi. You will be lead over the mountainroads by large trucks, because the road is almost impossible to see.
Also, studded tires are a big plus in Norway. When you are driving on a motorway (example "E6", which you will travel a lot on) this might be annoying in a poorly sound isolated Mini. But I assure you, as you get to hills and icy roads (which you will), this is a big plus.
If you don't want to run studded tires, I advise you to bring at least two studded tires on the roof or such, and ride with non-studded soft winter tires on the roads where it is not needed. If this is not an option, you will need to bring tire chains.

And for those who wondered, the Top Gear expedition was a bit more hardcore than this! Haha. But travelling all this way for a good cause is a great acievement nevertheless, and you will mos def run in to challening and tricky situations on the way, especially in Norway. If you have questions, I will be glad to answer.

 

Thanks for all the advice hansjqrg1, very helpful Do the fjord ferries run as normal in the winter months?

 

Yes, most of the ferries run in the winter as well summer. They might not run quite as often, but maybe once an hour or so. Where do you plan to take a ferry? In the most known places, like Lofoten and Sognefjorden, the ferries run in the winter for sure.

How's the progress on the Mini? Do you have any pictures?

 

Sorry for the delay in replying.. The ferries we are looking at using are the ones on the main north to south road in Norway - the road seems to stop at several fjords with no other route than by ferries.

The MINI is still on track setup as it takes part in it's last racing event at the start of October - then the real Arctic modifications can begin!

 

Interesting project. Questions for you: How do you plan to raise the suspension - spacers or a different spring/shock combination? Coilovers cranked up perhaps? I ask because I have a JCW Competition Edition I'd like to raise to use in the snow. We get a fair bit where I live, they don't plow my street and alley very often and ground clearance getting to the plowed streets will be an issue for me for sure. I was thinking about 205/50-17 snows on wheels I have for a bit of extra height, and a non works lower front valance for clearance too (I know everyone goes the other way to the Works body bits. Anyone have an Astro Black lower front for sale?). The gentleman I bought the wheels from had raised the rear of his S with spacers between the shock and the body. Any thoughts/advice here?

Will my car be Howard the JCW Plow or must I drive my truck all winter?

 

Good luck on the trip. You might enjoy reading about another MINI Arctic adventure... in a cabrio!

http://www.davidrose.us/DavidWebPage...l/HB2/HB2.html

 

You probably won't have any trouble regarding the ferries. But you should be able to drive all the way up there, even though the roads aren't the best.

That cabrio-trip looked dangerous! How can you breathe while underneath all that snow?

 

Sorry for not updating this thread - as you may of seen Casper was crashed on track The last few months have been chaos with organising the trip and also my sister having a baby.

MINI UK have lent us a Countryman for the Arctic trip, we depart on Saturday.

Here is a photo from the official handover by Jochen Goller - Director of MINI UK



Keep updated on the trip at baylissracing.com

 

Where/How did you mount it?

 

Awesome! Wonderful cause! I wish you all the best of luck!!!!

 

Good luck guys, and have fun! Wish I could come...

 

I breathed very well under the snow, but couldn't wait to get out! That was a GREAT trip.

So great, in fact, 4 of us from the east are taking the ALCAN this February from Seattle to the Beaufort Sea down to Valdez AK, back east.

Which brings me here... I need chain info. Are MINIS supposed to use Type S, or not. Don;t ask me what that means as the only reference I've ever seen is on the chain site. But apparently it is important.

BTW, last I checked there is still space for those that want to join us. There are actually three MINIs going, and other '*****' cars, but we need more MINIs! I think there were close to 20 on this Hudson Bay run shown above.

 

Good luck & safe travels!

 

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