Just got back from a day at Phil Wick's driving school here at Nashville Superspeedway. Let me just say before I went, my MINI dreams were filled with which pulley to get and how much HP I can gain by adding this and that. Man was I on some serious crack!!! Now I realize by far the best MOD you can do is track time/driver instruction!!

In America we think it's cool to be able to push the throttle down and go WOOOOOSH, and then stop at the next stoplight. You know teenage kids, the Muscle car guys, whomever, it's always the question, how fast can your car go in a straight line. How big and bad does your car sound.

Now let's go to the track where the real character and usefullness of a car is revealed, and all of a sudden to the shock of Mustang owners, and American Muscle cars as we call them, all of that power doesn't translate to the biggest, baddest car anymore as a "CUTE" ,as they call them, MINI Cooper or S' is leaving them in the dust and posting way better lap times.

I was amazed at how well our cars really perform on the track. And if you know how to utilize our 170 stock horses, you will realize that you truely can be a GIANT killer!! Not only a Mustang, Camaro, etc., but a pullied, or JCW killer!!

The truth is on a lot of tracks utilizing that extra HP is not really possible as our cars can't even put down the full 170 horses they come with, without being limited by wheelspin, etc. first. Driver skill has 100% to do with how fast and "BAD" your MINI is. Not a pulley or cool sounding exhaust.

I was absolutely tearing up modded Mustangs and JCW MINI's. Not that I'm some great driver, but with learned skills, especially through the twisty parts of the track our MINI's can hang with and blow away a lot of cars that people look at on the street as "The Big Bad, if I only had one of those cars." And even in the banked front stretch at the speedway where our MINI's reach around 110MPH before having to slam down into this sweeping left, those big V8 cars could not pull away from me at all. And in the turns it is absolutely embarrasing for those cars as they fight to maintain some type of dignity.

I'm not writing this post to put down the BIG V-8's and all that everybody glamourizes such as the JCW kits, etc., because they are nice, and have there place I presume. I'm writing this post because everything I and our society has been taught to believe about needing and having to have 8,000 more HP to be satisfied and to be the fastest, in a real TRACK situation, is absolutely NOT true, infact it was the opposite today in many instances.

So....to make a long, probably boring story short, if you want a faster MINI, and I mean way faster, please make yourself go to a driving school/track day!! Because if you think the feeling people get from installing that new pulley that we hear so much about on this forum is cool, you ought to experience the feeling of smoking the guy with that pulley in your lowly 170HP stock car. Now that's a feeling to grin ear to ear about!

I was like everbody else, and will probably do a pulley some day, but as for now all I've done is lighter wheels and sticky non-runflat tires, and some Driver insruction/Track time. And surprise, surprise, my next mod will probably be some brake help and that all too famous REAR SWAY!! Now those are some worth while MODS. That is to say if you want to have a faster MINI!!

 

well said, but added preformance always helps. Granted, the mini i will be taking delivery on in a couple months (250 hp) will peel out in most of the gears. The trick is to hearness all that power.

 

Great post, been thinking along the same lines. My mini is crossing the pond at present. Was all set to do mods but have changed my mind and it will be a wait and see situation. Although some more torque in this hilly western PA terrain would be nice. I will be taking driving skill classes.

 

I agree that the skill of the driver makes a huge difference. Not as much skill is required when driving down a straght line IMO. Typical everyday driving for me is done on you average streets and highways which means mostly straights with some twisties here and there. Driver skill and the vehicle's abilitly to corner well are important but power is important as well. I myself still plan to someday go to one of these driving schools. When it comes to the car though: power, handling and looks (in no particular order) are important to me.

Story:
Today when driving around town there was a newer model Celica GTS that was modded (not sure how much) that came up to me and revved his engine a couple of times. I ignored him but then quickly sped up and went around him. He came up to me again and revved a couple of times. He went straight and i turned right, though I wasn't thinking of doing anything on a busy street anyway.

Could I have beaten him if I raced him? Quite possibly. Could I beat him on a dragstrip? Quite possibly. Could I beat him on some twisty backroads or on the track? More than likely!

My Mini doesn't have gobs of power, it's not the best handling, nor is it the best looking, but I think it has a great combination of all of three, and there always is aftermarket modding

 

could not agree more. that is why my mods bring out the driver more, at least for now. i have a cg-lock and it really keeps you in place during some hard cornering. very essential.

Where can i find some driving schools? do they have to be specific for the mini?

 

You guys are hitting on some essential truths here. Time & money invested in making the driver faster is the way to go. You'll be a faster (and safer ) driver in every car you drive from now on. Time & money spent on the car will make the car faster, but when you sit in a different car, you'll slow back down .

In response to "The fable of the MCS and the Hemi", one of my friends reminded me to point out that driver skill is often more important than what we're driving. He correctly stated that the driver of the Hemi would not have failed to make the corner if he had acquired enough training to really know the limits of the vehicle. Driving is a skill not developed simply by practicing. Take your drivng to the next level.

Having said that, there are some mods that are still no-brainers. Tires & brakes come to mind right away. MINI handling is top-notch out of the box, but these two systems are still worth some attention. [BTW, you can go a long way toward better braking by just swapping out the pads for a more performance oriented pad. BBK not required.]

The attached link will be helpful to some depending upon where you live and how far you're willing to travel. You can use it as astarting point for surfing and I'm sure you'll find clubs/events in your area.

 

Thank you for this post! I am dying to go to driver school, and you just solidified how valuable it is!

 

Have fun! Let us know how it goes.

 

Yes, I heard about the track day in Nashville too late, else I would have gone. I'll have to make the next Memphis day instead, or make a weekend of it.

gavin7777, if an experienced forum veteran may make a suggestion, line breaks are your and everyone else's friends. They make posts much more readable. Glad you had fun though.

 

 

gavin7777, if an experienced forum veteran may make a suggestion, line breaks are your and everyone else's friends. They make posts much more readable. Glad you had fun though. [/QUOTE]

Ha...that is so true, I've never noticed that I do that!! I will definately work on this skill!!

JCkoopaS, do a Google search for Phil Wicks Driving Academy, he does MINI schools all over the country.

I like this line break thing, and by the way Phil himself, who drove the RED MINI in the original ITalian Job, and raced to several championships in the 60's and 70's in the MINI's, had this to say:

On our MINI's the most important changes that need to be made are:
Brakes:
1)Racing brake fluid
2)new Green Stuff pads
3)stainless lines

Suspension:
1)Stiffer Rear Sway
2)Non-runflat performance tires

And then engine upgrades! Peace, and I hope this post is much more readable!!

 

Hey I worked on the original post to make it more readable, and it is actually easier to read now!! Thanks for the wisdom, and I hope more of you guys will make yourselves do some instruction/track time!

Although I know a lot of you, like myself before I actually took the plunge, are saying, "Ya..maybe some day after I get my pulley, exhaust, intake, ECU, etc., etc.

Do it now so that when you get your upgrades, you will be able to utilize and handle them!!

 

Definitely, I plan on getting some track time. No matter how hard I push my car, I can feel that it has much more to offer, more than I can safely control on the street. These are amazing little cars!

Plus, can't you get discounts on insurance after going through "driving school"?

 

thanks gavin7777! what kind of brake fluid? any specifics? as for teh sway bar, what size is recommended?

 

Don't forget autocross schools as well. And the SCCA and NASA has de schools as well.

 

Yes, driver education events are definitely the best mod ever.

Improving the performance of the driver will never void your warranty and the mod works on any and every vehicle you will ever drive.

 

The most improtant thing about brake fluid is to change it before each track day. I have tried Motul, ATE Blue, and Valvoline (Tip by Ryephile) and all three work equally well. The Valvoline is way cheaper than the motul or ATE, and I ran two consecutive 25 minutes sessions at Infineon with Valvoline with no brake fade.:smile:

 

Yes After going through Phil Wick's myself my insurance agent gave me a little cut. Small, but still .....

 

Great to hear some of you guys are actually taking my humble advice about this, you won't regret it!! I think there is another track day here in Nashville with Phil Wicks at the end of May. Peace!!

 

hey guys, what size of rear sway bar does phil wick recommend? are the stainless steel lines hard to install? feedbackkk!

 

Any of the good sways out there!! The Alta, H-sport, or the R-speed bar. Dinan also has one that is adjustable, but I think it's only a 19mm bar, the others are the equivalent of a 22mm bar. They would all do great though I'm sure, although on the S models going with the 22mm probably makes more sense.

 

Anyone know of any other schools in the Northern California area? I checked the Phil Wicks one and it's not until December and I think it's on a Wednesday...work day for me.

 

I don't want to sound like a smart-aleck but... you could always take a vacation day... It's like 8 months away, ya know?

 

Indeed, CG-Lock is an essential item for any "sporty" driving. Sports seats are nice, but those of us (skinny-butt) drivers still find ourselves slip-sliding around ; the CG-Lock keeps me in place and centered on the wheel. I also notice I no longer have that death grip on the wheel when cornering briskly; because I don't have to grab it to keep myself planted.

 

Most of your post is correct, but I would caution you to keep every thing in perpestive, for begining drivers yes the handling ability of the MINI will help a great deal when running with big V8 powered cars because the other drivers in those big muscle cars are just as green as you are at this.

As soon as you move up in driving ability and sart playing with the big boys who have real HPD experience you will find your self wishing for lots more power to keep up. At tracks such as VIR, CMP, summit Point, and Watkins Glen there is no substitution for lots of horse power and torque.

So enjoy the rush now and take time to learn as much as you can about the handling abilities of your car so that when you start modding you can tell the difference and will be able to understand what needs to be improved for your car based on your driving skills, also remember that if you depend only on the handling ability of your MINI, and not the improvement of your driving skills you will not have learnt much in the long run.

What I am trying to say is one day of driving school is just a taste of what can be achieved, be prepared to become a track junkie, I am one.