Just a quick note to all, that the suspension and aerodyanamics on the MINI fully support driving in excess your legal speed limit (Stateside). The MINI is very comfortable following behind (or in front of) the local Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, etc.

As the US rep for NAM in Sicily, have to tell you that I have had more than a few surprised faces at the OVERALL performance of our beloved beast. Can't tell you how many looks I have had while passing that "I paid more than $60k" car.

Not to provoke the MODERATORS, but on the Autostrade here in Sicily, I have sustained (I.E. Cruise) 110 mph without a whimper, shudder, or side slip from our beloved MINI. This car is extremely suited to hi-speed just like our bigger cousins on the Autobahn (BMW).

Cheers!

 

I'll just 2nd what you said, since elaborating on it will probably get my post edited :smile:

 

It even better when the speedo is kilometers,way bigger numbers

 

Yea what they said...

I got into it with a brand new Acrua RSX yesterday. My car is stock and I assumed the RSX was stock as it had remporary paper plates on it. I believe they have 200hp. We seemed guled to each other. Neither of could pull away from the other.

 

type s= 200 horsies

regular rsx (the one without the pretty red "-S" badge) = 160 ponies...

i will guess you were having fun with the latter, but stranger things have happened like the massively overrated power in the rx-8 (the 240 hp model, if i remember correctly, has been measured to have much much lower hp at the wheels, and i'm not talking about 145 ish at the wheels like the mcs often gets... i'm talking below 200 hp measured on dyno at the wheels for the rx-8).

err anyways, yeah... did it have a pretty red S badge on that rsx? either way, those are nice cars.

....aint no mini, yarr.

 

This thread is quite interesting...I am the proud, almost owner, of an 04 mcs...delivery in august...My every-other day commute is 94 miles from garage at home to work parking lot...80 of those miles are highway. My question to those in the know is, with upgrades that I plan on doing (intake, exhaust and possibly 17% pully, suspension, i.e. springs and sway bars) will the mini hold up? I have read about potential problems with the water pump at high rpms...any other potential problems for those of you who commute this far, this often? I can't wait to get my baby and love to motor at "slightly" above the posted limit...I-70 in Missouri is almost straight so the cruise to work will be sooooo much fun.

thanks in advance for answers and advice.

bcrx7

 

bcrx7,

I have a friend in Germany who drives it quite hard (between 120-130mph) between work and home with no problems.

 

My daily commute is 50 miles one way on the highway,I average about 600 miles a week
I cruise at 65 mph at 3k rpm,and get 37-38 miles per your smaller gallon :smile:

 

>> {snip} ... and possibly 17% pully [sic], suspension, i.e. springs and sway bars ... {snip} ... I have read about potential problems with the water pump at high rpms...{snip}
>>bcrx7

bcrx7 --

I have found that Randy Webb and the contributors on the Webb Motor Sports Forum have a wealth of "real world" information about these modifications. Of note is the conern about going to a pulley that increases the SC spin more than 15%. Before deciding about which pulley to get, read the engineering details and cases that are being made by Randy and crew. Personally, if I was going to risk warranty coverage by replacing the pulley (without going the JCW route), I'd certainly chose a compromise that balances reliability AND performance.

FWIW,

Theo

_________________

 

Thank you for the responses everyone...your answers ease my mind a bit...can't wait to get my mcs!!!

bc

 

04 MCS has been the best car i have ever owned!
I pushed mine to 130m/h in a local highway(yeah, yeah, i know i was crazy)
The car wass holding real good. better than most cars i have driven around 100m/h. My sister did not even notice how fast we were doing.

good luck!

 

The car is extremely stable at high speeds.

 

>>The car is extremely stable at high speeds.

 

The faster we go, the harder my "Frackmobile" grips the ground. With the Hamann splitter, Hamann rear diffuser and M7 wing on the roof, we have downforce^3. I heard a lot of great feedback on H-Sport's product line, but as soon as we installed the H-Sport springs, the car's stability seemed even better. Last week we were crusing towards Reno (above Sacramento, CA) at 105mph in 5th gear at 3800rpm up a 10% grade on the freeway<g>. The exhaust was music to my ears.

 

Took PKT RKT out to Mid Ohio this weekend....what a blast!! and from the looks of it, a lot of people agree. while I participated in the race proper, there were at least 10 MINI's either with students or instructors at the huge driver school. short of living in Europe the very best way to enjoy your MINI is to take it to a race track near you.

 

On a looong prairie highway in the middle of nowhere, I tested the governor on my mini. It maxed out at around 210-212 kilometers per hour. I wouldn't want to drive a lesser handling car at that speed that's for sure.

Cruising back from the lake in the spring we (me & another MCS ) averaged about 140-160 kmh - the speed it seemed to love. Easily able to downshift for extra bursts. Smooth as glass.

The nice thing about spring is the RCMP don't radar as much as there's no lake-traffic. Wouldn't try it now

 

How does the RCMP power their radar guns from their horsies? Methane?

 

Take a look at these...

http://members.fortunecity.com/pdcar4/rcmp.html

There's even an Audi and a Jagaur S Class amongst them!

 

:smile: .



_________________

 

>>Just a quick note to all, that the suspension and aerodyanamics on the MINI fully support driving in excess your legal speed limit (Stateside). The MINI is very comfortable following behind (or in front of) the local Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, etc.
>>
>>As the US rep for NAM in Sicily, have to tell you that I have had more than a few surprised faces at the OVERALL performance of our beloved beast. Can't tell you how many looks I have had while passing that "I paid more than $60k" car.
>>
>>Not to provoke the MODERATORS, but on the Autostrade here in Sicily, I have sustained (I.E. Cruise) 110 mph without a whimper, shudder, or side slip from our beloved MINI. This car is extremely suited to hi-speed just like our bigger cousins on the Autobahn (BMW).
>>
>>Cheers!


Totally true, unfortunately we live in a country with low speed limits in highways (70 MPH for interstates) so unless you are in a racing track, you'll never get to experience the high speed demeanor of this car legally.
>>

 

>>
>>Totally true, unfortunately we live in a country with low speed limits in highways (70 MPH for interstates) so unless you are in a racing track, you'll never get to experience the high speed demeanor of this car legally.
>>>>
>>

there are a few special events where you CAN do it legally, such as the Texas Gumball race (roads closed for racing only, a high speed TSD event), and a few select others. Or you could head down to Mexico for the Carrera Panamericana...

_________________

 

>>>>
>>>>Totally true, unfortunately we live in a country with low speed limits in highways (70 MPH for interstates) so unless you are in a racing track, you'll never get to experience the high speed demeanor of this car legally.
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>there are a few special events where you CAN do it legally, such as the Texas Gumball race (roads closed for racing only, a high speed TSD event), and a few select others. Or you could head down to Mexico for the Carrera Panamericana...
>>
>>_________________
>>

 

>>:smile: .
>>
>>
>>
>>_________________
>>


Can you describe for us, how the car felt at that speed?

 

Can you describe for us, how the car felt at that speed?

Bascially rock solid, and 130 felt no different than 110 or 95.
However, I only did this on straightaways, and didn't do any curves at that speed, because of visibility concerns, etc... The fastest curves I took were probably around about 110, and were very wide sweeping curves. There too, the car felt very solid. No hint of nervousness (in the car, I was a wee bit nervous), even with the very direct steering of the MCS. No hint of lightness (or lifting) front or rear. I would guess however that the stock 195/55-16 Dunlop SP5000 runflats had ever so slightly better directional stability than wider Eagle F1 205/55-16s, but even with the F1s directional stability at speed is still exceptional. The roads I ran were not the flattest and smoothest I have been on, so the car did go up and down over undulations in the road (other than these undulations, and the coarse macadam, the roads were very good). Even with these up and downs there was no lateral yaw as you might experience in less stable cars that are not well balanced.
Basically, an amazing performance for such a small car with such short wheelbase, also considering I am running the lightest of the stock rims (V-spokes).

 

You're just a scoff law and a danger to humanity. Have you any idea how much less oil is in this world cuz of your antics....???? I am guessing you are some sort of Texas scofflaw......and of a liberal mind as well........

PS.....hopefully that was not you taking the picture........