I'm curious...

Just bought my '03 Cooper S (stock at this point) and I haven't... "competed" with any other cars on the road/highway.

And I'm wondering:

What cars have you added to your kill list? What cars have you won against? Any surprising wins?

 

You mean on the Track don't you.

 

I don't think that's what he meant.

 

On the track or "elsewhere".

I don't really care if it's on a track or not- what can a Cooper S keep up with?

 

^ +1

Right now, discussions about street racing or excessive speed on public roads are forbidden by the site guidelines. There's been an indication from the site admin that this will likely change in the future, but even so, a lot of the posters here don't look favourably on those kinds of posts.

But, at my last autocross event, I finished ahead of a couple of S2000s, a few WRXs, a BMW 325i, an Acura RSX-S and an '07 VW GTI, among others. The time before that, notable "kills" were an 89 Vette, Porsche 911SC, a '96 Integra and quite a few Miatas.

Granted, half of those cars would have walked away from me in a straight line, but when you're driving a MINI, you pick your battlefields.

 

Ahh! Okay didn't realize those guidelines! I'm fairly new to this site... and coming from Honda sites, I'm used to that kind of thing being discussed! Sorry to anyone I offended!

Anyways, interesting wins! How modified is your car to be doing AutoX?

 

 

Love it!

 

For the class I compete in (STX), I'm limited largely to suspension mods, so the only drivetrain mods I have are a CAI and a cat-back exhaust. For suspension, I have 15" lightweight wheels with semi-sticky street tires, coilover shocks with linear springs, front camber plates, adjustable lower control arms in the rear, and a 25.5mm hollow rear swaybar.

 

I also have an '03 MCS stock at the moment, what are some 'required' mods to put on if i'm not doing any racing. Mods that just make the car easier to use, better for some 'spirited' sunday drives. And likewise, what are some mods that are 'required' for track racing.

 

I have ricer fly-by'd a friend in his GTO on occasion.

 

You know he wasn't referring to autocross kills.

 

Brakes
Brakes
Brakes
Breake fluid.

For the track helment, fresh fluids all around,tires.

 

Well, for non-competitive driving, the MINI is actually pretty well-sorted right out of the box. Depending on what wheels you have now, lightweight ones never hurt, and most people go with an 18-19mm rear sway bar if they're not doing any other suspension mods.

It also wouldn't hurt to take your car to an alignment shop to make sure everything's in spec. You don't have any camber adjustability in your '03, but if you set up the front wheels for zero toe-in, or even just a little bit of toe-out, it will make the car more-eager to turn.

For everyday usability, I highly recommend Ian's "auto-up" window circuit (Lets you raise the windows without having to hold the switch up), the "LightInsight" windshield fresnel lens (lets you see traffic lights that would otherwise be blocked by the top of the windshield, the Whalen shift **** (much heavier than stock, so it gives you a more positive feel when shifting gears, plus it's a great way to customize your interior).

Plus, there's the Euro Parcel Shelf that replaces the knee bolster underneath the steering wheel with a very handy shelf.

I don't do full-blown track racing, and the mods for autocross depend on what class you want to compete in, so I'll defer to the members with more track experience for the second part of your question.

 

True enough, but if he's looking for stories of MINIs winning flat-out acceleration contests, the list of "kills" is going to be rather short and boring...

 

Not mine. j/k

 

Not that I was exceeding the speed limit nor was I engaged in a street race, but I did make a youngster in a Mustang GT look pretty silly a few weeks ago.

 

I have beaten an older mustang gt, SS silverado, and a pontiac solstice. I've only been to the track once in my life, and thats all the runs I got in that night. I haven't street raced the MINI, Its dumb....both for safety reasons and the fact that I only have 4pts left on my license. :(

 

He wasn't asking about hand brake turns Cooper.