Hi Countryfolk,

I just recently had the opportunity to spend a day at Virginia International Raceway with my R60 S ALL4, Kowalski, at the Phil Wicks Driving Experience. We had a blast out there and the Countryman was passing cars left and right (quite literally). With only suspension mods and a few little engine bolt ons (we unfortunately weren't tuned for this event... Thanks to MINI for re-flashing the ECU LOL) the Countryman held its own out there. Even kept up with a Phil Wicks fully prepped R53 cup car. I hope you have a chance to check out some of our highlight videos!

Shiny side up!
Kyle

Here's the first video which is the longest at 9min... This has all of the highlights (including the next two videos)


The second is the R53 cup car battle:
And the last is a short 10 second little ALL4 drift I thought some might enjoy seeing.

 

Thanks for sharing! Looks like you had a great time. I can't wait to get my Countryman on a track.

 

It was a blast out there!

Kyle

 

great vids. Thanks for posting them....and nice driving. That's what I call a good day.

 

VIR is a great track. Great variety of corners and elevation changes

 

Thanks for sharing. You have a very steady hand on the wheel.

 

Fun, fun, fun! Thanks for sharing Kyle!

 

Great vid!! I'd love to do that!! My stomach tightened up watching you zip around the track - like i was there!!

 

And no oak tree in the hairpin. RIP to the best known tree in motorsports. I think they should plant another one right there.

 

I agree... It'll never be the original but that tree defined the track. A new one would be a great tribute.

Kyle

 

Thanks for the Vid, it looked awesome and looks like Kowalski is handling great.

 

Thanks!

 

if you don't mind, what are your bolt-ons and what re-flash did/could mini do. ive been looking for something to do to my countryman that wont effect reliability.

 

at 1:54 am I seeing a Prius ?? wahaha

 

Nice vids Kyle! I have had my Z06 there 9 or 10 times and it's by far my favorite weekend track time location.

The climbing esses....oh man, is that a rush at speed. Like I imagine a ballet might be. You have to definintely dance with that track to keep momentum and exit speeds high.

Oak Tree, RIP.........

Jeff

 

Nice driving Kyle, you were hitting the apexes quite a bit better than the red R53 driver.

 

Nice job, how can a Countryman be so fast? A JCW Countryman could be even better! Is it the AWD helping?

 

Very nice Kyle! Thanks for sharing. Keep flying the R60 flag for us.

 

Hey Kyle, is there a link you can share that shows your mods?
Please do share.

 

Very nice. What's with all the Fiats? Must be tough times for folks down that way.