I have an ’08 MCS that I bought new and put about 65K miles on it. I’ll be ready to retire it as a daily driver in the next year or two, and I’m considering turning it into a dedicated HPDE track car. If I do, I’d like to go hard core with it – completely stripped interior, caged, racing seats and harnesses, track suspension, brakes and whatever else it needs to make it reliable for 15-20 DE days per years (typically five 20-30 minute track sessions per DE day). I realize the engine may need to be refreshed for track duty after logging >80K street miles.

In poking around this site and elsewhere on the net, I don’t see a lot of information on the life expectancy of the R56 turbo motor for HPDE usage. Specifically:

1.Will the R56 turbo motor hold up to 3-4 years of 15-20 DE days per year before it goes boom? I live in the southern US, and it gets pretty hot in the summer time.

2.What are the typical mods an R56 needs to prep it for this type of use?

3.Who are the companies providing track-focused parts and services for the turbo MCS? I’ve poked around the websites for waymotorworks and minimania, but are there any shops or websites specializing in track prepping the R56?

Any guidance from someone tracking a turbo MCS in HPDE’s would be most appreciated. I see lots of folks on here auto crossing the R56, but I think the requirements for DE usage will be more stringent.

 

Your car could totally be a track car reliably. I actually have an R56 that I'm building to replace my R53. We can build the car for you, but you may want to consider finding a car that has already been build as a track car as you can usually by them cheaper than you can build your current car.
But if you want to build your car I can respect that too.
1. Safety, seat belts, cage, seats
2. Brakes, you need good pads and Motul brake fluid, stainless lines
3. Handling, we need to put together a suspension package that will not only make you fast, but make your tires last as they will save $$ over time
4. Power, the above things will make you faster than HP will.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Your website has more performance parts for the R56 than any other I've come across. In addition to the things on your list, what about oil coolers, baffled pans, brake ducts, bigger intercooler, bigger radiator, etc.? Basically all the heat shedding stuff, which is where street cars typically fall down in track usage, particularly street cars with forced induction. If my usage is limited to five 30-minute DE sessions per day, are any of those types mods necessary?

I did some searches here looking for R56 track car build threads but didn't find any. If you guys build up an R56 HPDE car, it would be great if you could document it in a build thread so others considering the same thing can see it step-by-step.

I hear what you're saying about buying an already-built track car, and you're correct that it is almost always cheaper than building your own. However, it's not always clear how much life is left in key components of a car that's been tracked, and if a decent and reliable car can truly be built with nothing more than the items on your list, the sum of those parts should be fairly reasonable ($7K-ish??, w/o labor), especially given the donor car is free.

-Felix

 

You will need the oil cooler, brake fluid and pads minimum. Turbo and engine life is much longer with the oil cooler. We make and sell the track ready one. http://http://www.sneed4speed.com/mi...y-sneed4speed/
As you get faster you can add HP, BBK and IC but to start you just need the things above.

 

Thanks for the feedback Chris. I'm actually taking it to a DE this weekend. I have a RWD car I usually track, but light rain is forecast this weekend, so speeds will be slower and I figure it'll be a good time to see how I like tracking the Mini. Temps will be cool this weekend as well (low 60's), so hopefully not too hard on the oil for four 20-min sessions. BTW, I had trouble with the link you posted.

 

fbirch - For a stock MINI S, you should not have any issues with oil temperature. For 2011+ MINI reads oil temp, which can be read on a ScanGageII, and I have not seen anything that would be of a concern. The biggest problem that I have had with a stock MINI S on the track has been with the stock S brakes. With race pads the calipers soak up heat and they loose their effectiveness. My experience is with a bone stock MINI S on street tires. I would expect the brake issues to be exacerbated by the mods you plan for more power and higher grip, all of which will mean more speed and more energy for the brakes to handle. If it not already on your build list, the first investment I would make is a Wilwood 12.2 or 13" BBK.

Let us know how the you like the MINI on the track and what track?

 

Will definitely be keeping an eye on your build thread here. Can't wait to see what mods you end up with and which are your favorites.

 

My home track is NOLA Motorsports, just outside New Orleans. I only ran the MINI for one day, and it did very nicely considering it’s a completely stock car on street tires (Michelin PSS). The two big weaknesses I can see are brake pad longevity and not enough front camber.

NOLA has a long front straight, and although I never felt any fade, the front pads (OEM MINI) wore down very rapidly. The rear pads not only wore down rapidly, they also wedged noticeably – i.e., wore themselves into an angular wedge shape as the solid rear disk distorts into a cone after it heats up. At the high rate of pad wear, I wouldn’t have made it through the 2nd day, so I brought my other car for day the 2nd day. In fairness, my OEM pads were about half gone before the start of the 1st day. So I think 3-4 DE track days would be the most I could get out of a brand new set of OEM pads.

I’d like to try again with a better set of pads and rotors. Looking at WayMotorWorks website, it looks as if the EBC yellow pads might be a good choice for a street pad I could take to the track occasionally and get better longevity than OEM pads. WMW has a lot of different rotor options, and I have no idea if any of them offer any real benefit in a DE environment (feedback on this would be appreciated).

The other issue is front camber (or lack thereof), which limits cornering ability. In reading other threads, it seems people are advocating anywhere from -2 deg to -1.2 up front. I’d like to try something mild at first, so perhaps some camber plates that provide -1.2 to -1.5 deg up front.

Still not sure I want to go all out with the MINI as a dedicated 2nd track car, but it could definitely be a competent occasional use track car with a few mild mods.

 

We have found the Carbotech 1521 work better than OEM for light track and street. Of course the XP10 front and XP8 rear are the best for track MINIs but they are very squeaky on the street. http://www.sneed4speed.com/mini-brake-pads-carbotech/
Use the OEM rotors, we have found they hold up the best.
Camber setting are really based on spring and swaybar rate but a good place to start is 1.0 neg. You'll have good tire wear and better turn in. If you want more track performance move towards 2.0 but not passed 2.5. Anything over that starts to reduce your straight traction.

 

I take my MINI to the track occasionally and do autoX with it. Here are my thoughts for a DD MINI used on the track, FWIW.

Interesting that in one outing your found the same two faults I have noted with the MINI. However, I have never had the rear brake issue you noted. As far as I know none of the MINI track people I know have had any issues either. Generally we run stock rotors and pads back there; although Carbotech XP8s are popular pads to use there.

As for the fronts, if you stay stock, stay with the stock rotors. They are high quality castings, wear well and work as well as any other rotor. Don't go to cross drilled for the track for a variety of reasons. For pads, go with a race pad, not a do-it-all pad like the yellow stuff. They are not high enough level for aggressive track use. I do know people who use them, but I didn't care for them. Again, I like the Carbotech pad, XP10s in front and I run them on the street without a lot of noise. Doing that way I get 4 - 5 tracks on them. You can get the Carbotechs from Way.

As for camber, there is a freebie that you can DIY. There is a plastic pin in the top of the front shock towers that you can pull then loosen the three nuts on each side and push the top of each shock inward for an additional -0.3 deg of camber for -0.6 total. This does help. The toe-in will also need resetting - half turn on each of the tie rod adjuster is a good approximation. If you want to keep the MINI as a DD and want more camber than that, go for a set of IE fixed camber plates. They will give about -1.6 deg of camber. These won't alter the ride quality like an adjustable set will.

Two other things:
Get a set of wheels or spacer to bring the offset to about 38 mm. This will help along with the camber change.

Also, look into getting a Quickfit 4 point harness. These are now available for the R56.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the feedback; it’s always great to get specific info from others with prior experience.

For the next 1-1.5 years while the MINI is still my DD, my track usage will be no more than 4-5 track days per year. I have another track car, so my track use of the MINI will mostly be to evaluate if I want to build it into a dedicated track car when I replace it as a DD. So whatever mods I make now I’d like to keep at a level that doesn’t significantly compromise it as a DD.

Chris’ email above recommends the 1521 Carbotech pads. Do you have any experience with those? Do all the Carbotech pads allow use of the stock MINI brake sensors? As you stated, I much prefer fixed camber plates for a DD. I assume there won’t be any drivability or tire wear issue at a relatively modest setting such as -1.6 deg camber. Also, I’m not clear on the reason for using wheel spacers when increasing camber. Is it a clearance issue

-Felix

 

I might do 6 - 8 track days and have only made changes that don't affect the drive ability. -1.6 deg camber is a great setup for the street; no additional tire wear and a great turn-in feel.

As for the spacer, no it is not a clearance issue. It makes for a wider track which helps with keeping the tires flat in corners.

I have no experience with the Carbotech 1521 on the track as these are a street pad and given my poor experience with street pad on the track, I jumped right to track pads. I just tie the sensor up and away. I don't want wear them out in 5 track days and have to replace them.

 

Thanks Eddie. I ordered the IE camber plates, stock rotors and sensors. I'm going to try the CT 1521 pads and see how they do. If I burn them up on the next track outing I'll switch to the XP10's & 8's. Thanks for your suggestions. Below is a pic of the MINI on track at NOLA.

 

Nice!

Enjoy!

 

How is your Mini holding up after a year of events??

 

For mine...about 12 days last season and it is still great. No wear that I can detect at this point. The MINI is built really strong from what I can tell. There are a few bushings that will go after time but mine still seem firm.

 

surprised they let u put blue tape on the car lol