Not a real wall BTW! To backtrack, I'm by no means any good at autox - I've been on and off (3-5 events/yr) over about 5 years, and I finally took the time and made it to about 9, 10 events in one year. I kind of consider it my first real year of autocrossing, and it's my first season autoxing the Mini, and I loved it so much I ordered a last gen 2013 Mini spec'd exactly the way I wanted.

Like I've eluded to, my driving needs a lot of work. And what's worse, I think I've hit a wall as far as how fast I am in the car. I can't get any further than I am now without professional help, lol. I'm posting 4 of the 6 runs from my last event (1 was DNF, spun out or something, and 2 was just a bad run). 3 of the 4 are separated by less than a tenth of a second, and my fastest was 0.250s faster than my next fastest - ironically this is when I had a ride along in the car.

The ride along, a nationals level driver, basically told me this - I have no "major" issues I need to fix. The one big issue I need to work on the most is setting up my lines better so I can optimize certain portions of the course. I can see that a little, watching the videos, but I'm not sure if I'm missing something else, something a Mini driver would be able to point out - so please critique away - how do I go faster/what am I doing wrong?? I know the car can go much faster than what I'm doing with it.

FYI: Car was an '08 Mini Cooper Base, Sport Package, Sunroof, Sport Suspension, 195/55-15 Z2 tires on Holies





Help! What do I need to fix?

 

Why not get professional help?

That's what I'm doing next, we're signed up for an Evo School in November: http://evoschool.com I hear good things about the Evo Schools.

 

Yep do an evo school. One of the best things you can do to get faster. Also, this course is very basic. I would suggest making some longer drives to find some clubs that do more complex courses. This is basically slalom out, turn around, slalom back.

Also, I've found that driving slower cars doesn't tend to help your auto-x driving development. A base mini on street tires doesn't really go, turn, or stop so if you nail a corner you might be coming out of it 2mph faster than you are if you don't. Not a huge difference really. See if you can get some co-drives in faster cars. I think it makes your mistakes more obvious.

As for your videos...
1. You seem unsure with your steering inputs. Like you snap the wheel in to the turn then straighten a little then turn in more to finish the turn. Smooth is fast.
2. Get closer to the cones
3. You're hella late on all your slaloms heading out to the big turnaround. Coming back is better.
4. Your turnaround was a little meh. You're pinching off the entrance and losing all your time on the exit where you should have a lot of time to accelerate. Get your turning done earlier so you don't have to drive "back" so far to get into the slalom. Data acquisition would help a lot here. Perhaps invest in SoloStorm (or equivalent) so you can compare your runs.
5. It's a little light FWD car. Grow a pair and chuck it into some of those corners. See what happens. Use that on the corners you can.

Charlie needs to get in here and offer some input. I drive a STX JCW so my driving style is a little different

 

I've actually done Phase I, and my ride along is an Evo School Instructor (lucky enough to have a couple evo school instructors regularly in my area). I am for sure doing Phase II this spring.

Just thought maybe some of you Mini drivers could spot anything in particular, i.e. get closer to cones, apexing too early, etc. It's like when I drive my Evo, there's always something I have too "fix" (usually braking too late, then understeering/turning too much, or too much throttle out), but I'm struggling to find what exactly it is to fix now for the mini

 

LOL thanks for the tips. I think probably the one place the Mini has helped in overall driving is just from getting used to the balance of the car - it has the full range of behavior and I feel like it rewards (however small) good input.

I'll work on that stuff you mentioned - when you say slaloms are late do you mean on turn in?

 

Yep you get late on the slalom and it looks like the car gets really outta shape. Just remember with slaloms its all about running over the backside of the cones.

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I agreed with almost everything. Except this. A momentum car absolutely, positively, unequivocally MUST be driven picture perfect if you are to get good times (both raw and PAX). You don't have the HP or "torques" (gotta love Clarkson) to power you out of an error. Lose 2mph, 200rpm, or miss your apex or turn-in point by 2 yards and you might as well nurse the car to the finish line and avoid cooking the tires. Try again on the next run.

I've driven a ton of cars (both low and high HP) as an instructor both local SCCA regions and marquee events like Imagine Lifestyles (Ferraris and Lamborghinis) and Evo Schools, and I come away with this... Owning my 2012 MINI Cooper (HS) - and to a lesser extent - my old 2006 Civic LX (HS) made me a better autocrosser. Running RTF HS since 2012 has also improved my game significantly because you cannot simply rely on tires (R-Comps) or the aftermarket (via STF for Justas or STX for MCS and JCW cars) to produce a good time... You must drive it spot-on each and every time you break the starting beam of the timer.

Frankly, after 20 years, I feel I am at the top of my game now because driving skill is more paramount than it has been at any other time, and therefore purer, than I have ever experienced. That in turn allows me to hop into cars with 4 or 5 times the power of the MINI and drive them as if I've been in the car all season.

Stick with the MINI. Learn with the MINI. Improve with the MINI.

 

Best thing I've done for getting closer to the cones is to install the "cone cams". I have two extra GoPros, one for each side, I can see exactly how close I'm getting. Before that I didn't know how close I was getting until I hit some.

 

I think I definitely agree with this. While I'm not up there skill-wise, I think it really helped me when I codrove my friend's rx8 (not the best driver, but beat him by 2s on my second run before I had to go). I was able to handle the balance of the car etc. I could have gone much faster of course, but I do think driving the Mini helped.

Good call - I don't have extra gopros but I may definitely give that a shot.

 

Not the greatest driver myself and I run DS-street tire so take my comment with a grain of salt.

As I watch and listen, in addition to what has been said above, I think I hear your throttle being applied a bit late. Since it is what I am working on I will tell you what I experience.

As I approach an element, I usually push the speed coming in too far to eek out the most time going fast. This then sets up the problem. I then brake or engine brake into the element which not only unsettles the car, but also does not allow me to power out. SLOW IN - FAST OUT. I know this, but have trouble following it.

When I do get this right, it is amazing how much better the car behaves through a turn.

Your results aren't bad. Keep up the pursuit of perfection. If you get there, let me know how it feels.

 

thanks - I appreciate your response, definitely something I need to work on - like the turn around element in the last event. I think it's hard for me especially just trying to figure out the right balance of - it's a momentum car, don't brake too much, and also slow in fast out. It's so different from my evo which was ALL about slow in fast out.

It's kind of like right now I don't respect the base Mini's power enough to trust slow in fast out, but I definitely do need to implement more of it. It'll also help with setting up lines, and like you said keeping the car settled.

 

A couple things:

You're late! I thought the second video was where you were best with it, but you gotta consistently start your turn before you get to your key cones.

I think overall you are driving the nose too hard. Your steering inputs are a bit jerky which gives you that momentary tire squeal on turn in, which is the sound of speed/momentum being scrubbed away. Gentle inputs! Dance with the car, especially on asphalt. I can't see your wheel position, but for me if I ever have the wheel past about 4 o'clock, I'm probably doing something wrong.

I too think you are pinching the turnaround, which is murdering your exit.

Finally, we all have bad events. Don't let it get to you. Its relatively easy to become a 70-80th percentile driver if you care about getting better. Its really hard to get that last 20-30% and its insanely hard to get the final 10%. It can be frustrating. I was a decent driver when I got the green mini, but it took me another year and a half doing an event nearly every weekend to "get over the hump" and get above that 80th percentile.

Like honda93 said, small mistakes in a momentum car reverberate through the run and what seems small can have a big impact. An extra mph somewhere can yield huge dividends or crush an otherwise good run. Focus on staying on the right line and the speed will come. In a mini, its even more important than ever to get back on the gas ASAP so you have as much time to make use of your meager power as possible.

 

Thanks. Sounds like I really need to learn where the car is to get the slaloms right. I definitely get what everyone is saying about smooth steering. I think somehow I have this mindset that that "throws" the car into the corner, when really it just scrubs off speed - so I will work on that. I'll also work on getting on the right line / getting on the gas sooner for the appropriate bits.

Your statement about percentiles is so true. Right now I'm at a place where I feel like just about anyone can do what I do, and that I don't have a particularly good technique etc. Will keep working on it. Sadly I think this was one of my better events