I just bought MINI COOPER S and I really want to try race my MINI, but I have doubt in my mind.

Will racing make the car used up faster? Does racing hurt the car?

I think there is no black and white answer for this, but what do you all give the reason to race? I want a strond backup reason to do race my car.
thanks

(sorry about my bad english)

 

okay well ill warn you ahead of time wach out for my bad spelling!

but seriousely i have a cooper s that i bought on september 20 of 02 and now have over 71,000 miles on it and i drive it so hard i dont know how it is still working i have the origanal clutch and the 4 or 5th set of tires ive really lost count i peg the rev limiter all the time and keep it their sometimes my freinds say "are you trying to break this thing" well all i can say that all ive ever really replaced on this car are windsheilds and air bags and thats about it, driving hard is what this car was made for, the engine is so over built that its like a mucle man picking up a chuwawa no prob!!!

then again im bias!!!:smile:

knock knock on wood or the key bored as it may be!!!!

 

as with anything in life, we have to abide by the laws of entropy (see http://www.2ndlaw.com/). trust me when i tell you, running a car in racing will cause it to be used up faster than running it around town like grandma does. trust me, the repetitive high levels of stress found in racing will cause your car to wear out quicker than if you did not race it. most everything on the car will be "used up faster" if raced.

am i saying you shouldn't race? no! racing is fun!

 

That's debateable. It depends on how you drive on the street. If you literally drive like the granny in your first sentence, then of course it's true. But if you are a lead foot, it may not be as true.

Idiotic street driving can be worse for a car than an occasional autocross. I mean, I see people tearing off full throttle from every single stop light/sign, running over potholes at full speed, driving at like 90mph for extended periods of time, whatever.

60 seconds on an autocross course doesn't sound too bad compared to things I've seen other people do.

But anyhow, some people think you're nuts to autocross your car, I think you're nuts NOT to autocross you car! It's too much fun. Why even bother to buy something like a mini if you don't want to drive it.

 

This sentence alone give a good reason to bring my car to race. Thanks all for answering.

 

especially if it becomes inverted.

Hi Ho Silver

 

I'll speak on behalf of myself in stating that I've got this one life to live and ~ within reason ~ I'm gonna have at it

 

Do you like to do anything fast? Do you like competition? If so then take your MCS to the track or autocross.

There is no reason to have doubt. Just go out and do it. Your MCS is already plenty good so just drive it.

If you are smooth and you are in control the MINI will handle just fine. The tires will be the most worn but only a little. If you brake hard then you'll wear the brake pads a little. Autocross is so short it doesn't really do much.

However if you don't drive smoothly and you loose control then you will have a much harder time not wearing out these same parts.

Most of us participate in autocross because it is fun to drive a MINI in a safe environment under controlled circumstances (not out on the street) over a challenging race course. It is a sport and it allows you to more fully appreciate what your MINI is capable of doing.

You can drive as hard as you want or not. I think you will wear out some things in the course of driving autocross but the better you drive the less you will wear out your car. The MINI is pretty tough. Give it a go.

 

We only live once. Our Mini's only live once. If you have any desire to drive it the way it was meant to be driven, by all means, drive it to your hearts content!!!!