Well the break in miles are done so it was finally time to take the car out and scare some cones. The occasion was the Houston Region SCCA event #2 at Gulf Greyhound Park. It's interesting how expectations can fail to match reality. My expectation was that this would be a car that would tend to understeer. I also expected that the power would have to be modulated to avoid spinning a wheel coming off corners. Not. To my surprise the handling was pretty neutral. In fact I never felt a push. I did get the tail to wag a few times in some of the gravelly sections but it was easy to control. The handling was great. The disappointment was the severe hesitation that I experienced. Coming off most every turn there was an excruciating delay before the power came on. This was worse than any turbo lag I had ever experienced with the Talon. I assume this was the dreaded stumble. I have felt this on the street occasionally but always in first gear and usually with a cold engine. This was happening at speed, albeit in a transition from no throttle to full throttle. The only other possibility would be fuel starvation. The fuel light was on when I arrived at the event site, but others have reported that the car will run on fumes. Has anyone experienced this problem at an event?

My car is an October build 04 MCS so I do not have the V36 software. I'll be calling the dealer this week.

 

Two possibilities: did you leave traction control on? (ASC/DSC), I know its an obvious thing, but that is exactly what your symptoms sound like. The other is the need for the v36 upgrade, as it is supposed to fix the stumble (never had it myself, so can't swear to it)

 

Doh! I did leave the ASC on. It never occured to me. Well I'll try that Sunday at the PCA event. I have no time to get to the dealer before then anyway. Thanks.

edit ... that would also explain the lack of wheelspin in spite of all the gravel.

 

Leaving the traction control will easily cost you two seconds a run, and will feel like the engine is stumbling in some instances.

 

>>Leaving the traction control will easily cost you two seconds a run, and will feel like the engine is stumbling in some instances.

Except in the pooring rain...

Brian

 

but on a good note,the fastest way to see if your overdriving a MINI is to leave the asc on.If you speed up..well your pushing way to hard!
Dont ask me how i know this...

 

Sure glad am not the only er..moron...out there who left the ASC on. It was a good thing I was being baby sat through my first Autocross by a top national competitor here in Ohio, who upon my comment looked into my driving compartment and pointed to a switch "See that switch there........." The rest of the runs were a blast, but I was and still am a stone! will keep at it though.......
Question: Why not 17" wheels???? Weight only?

 

Mainly weight, but also tire size availability and overall diameter selection. It's a fine balance when nobody's sure what the best combo is, but it became obvious on the MINI with the 215/40R16 Hoosier.
There is one R compound option for the MINI in a 17", but you're really sacrificing unsprung weight to stick with a 17" while you're getting no extra contact patch out of it (205/40R17).
If you don't want to do Hoosiers $$$, the 205/45R16 is a fine option in the Kumho Ecsta V700, just make sure you get them shaved.

Brian

_________________
2002 SCCA Pro Solo H Stock Champion/ STX Cooper S in 2003/G Stock Cooper S in 2004. Moderator: PRO SOLO and G STOCK
garfield@northamericanmotoring.com

 

when you turn off the DSC, you will fry the tires coming out of the corners!!!!!

 

Some people even tape a post it note to the speedo to remind them to turn it off at the line!

I've tried the DSC in the rain before as well, 1st run off, 2nd run on and faster, 3rd run off and faster so couldn't say for sure but I prefer not to worry about the big stumble when I least expect it. I've never tried it in torrential rain though so it may prove useful then. I also had a terrible (dangerous) stumble with DSC before my recent flash to V36 and while there is still some, it's no where near what it used to be so I may retest this season if I get a chance....

Jeff

 

Interestingly enough, the wonderful wetness of Atlanta tempted me to turn the ASC on again (don't have DSC, mine's a stripper ).
So here's the results:
Ian being my co-driver, I told him to give it a shot on his first runs on Saturday. As we suspected, it was cutting in and out too abruptly. And he did run faster without it. But, it also wasn't REALLY deep like it got on Sunday's right side.

So, knowing my right side would never improve in the Sunday weather, I ran my first right without ASC on, attempting to climb the "river hill slalom" spinning my tires. I ran just over two seconds slower than Saturday. My second right side run, just as I got to the turn around and the water got DEEP, I flipped the ASC switch on and planted my foot to the floor. As I had experienced in the past, I couldn't even tell anything was happening, the car just wasn't quite as fast, BUT, I ran a full second faster than the previous run.

I've realized this before, and like Jeff led onto, the ASC (Traction Control) is useful when the water is actually deep. The ASC does it's work quietly and lets you concentrate on the course.
Even though there were many puddles and heavy rain on the Nationals North course for STX last year, it was still better with ASC off.

So, it's truly a deep water advantage, but none elsewhere, IMO.

Brian

 

The weekend after my ASC fiasco I ran a PCA event on the same course with the exception of one corner that was longer. The weather conditions were nearly identical (cloudy and cool) and I ran first heat both days. My fastest run was within a few thousandths of the previous weekend. To get a feel for the impact of the slightly longer course I compared the times of 20 drivers that I knew to be experienced and (hopefully) consistent. They averaged 1.8 seconds slower on the longer PCA course. So, for me on a nominal 60 second course the traction control on in dry conditions cost me about 1.8 seconds.

The idea of putting a reminder sticker on the dash is not a bad one at all. At the last BMWCCA event I started my fourth run and immediately realized that ASC was on. Fortunately I was able to quickly find the switch and kill it before murdering any cones due to the distraction.