What are the offroad/rallye capabilities of the current Cooper, Cooper S?
Any experiences/pics?
Curious,
H

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t=newfoundland

 

http://www.dtrally.com/

Cheers,

 

What are the MINI's offroad capabilities?


ABSOLUTELY NONE!!!!!!!!!!

The first weekend I had mine, I took it into the backyard so I could wash it in the shade of my maple tree (like I have done with every car I've ever owned) and it became so mired in mud that I had to get a buddy with a Chevy Blazer to tow it out!

MINI's will go on a dirt road (if it's smooth), but they absolutely HATE grass. Since there's virtually no ground clearance, I'll stay on smooth surfaces from now on.

Rawhyde

 

well its a road car! you would have to seriously mod it to be a rally car with any offroad capabilities....

-Josh

 

Its off road capabilities straight from the factory aren't too bad you can even ask lot15. I believe he took his MC on gravel roads many times.

 

As long as there is enough clearence on the underside, its just like any other passenger cars really. Its definitely not the best for off road mud trail kind of thing, only 4 inches or so of ground clearence, and pretty stiff and short springs (even with just the sports suspension)

 

Forgive me I don't mean to hyjack the thread...

Say MrsDiff and I are in Colorado Springs, Colorado and we want to take MIB up Pikes Peak. It starts out pavement and moves up to gravle/dirt.

They hold a race up this road every July 4th.

Or are we talking Rally Africa here?

 

I've done gravel roads, I've done dirt roads (both dry and wet), I've driven through ruts and washed-out roads in my MCS. It's been fine with everything so far, a little bottoming out sometimes (I'm lowered a bit), but other than that it's great

 

I have not abused mine on mud yet, do not have any intentios either. Mini is a road car, can it be transformed to a rally car? Absolutely yes. A lot of money and time. But as far as your question is concerned, dirt roads, gravel...etc. no problems. Off-roading, forget about it. BTW, did you guys know that it costs from $205K to half a million dollars for a true WRC car. Kinda crazy isn't it?

 

Not at all crazy when you consider the HUNDREDS of millions in the Formula one budgets.

Then there is the 2.0 liter standard of WRC. MINI (read BMW) is limiting itself to 1.6 liters. The Mitsu Lancer Evo X is will have over 300 hp on the street.

 

This MINI has offroad capabilities:

 

Is that a Cayenne?

H

 

thats awesome...

 

I would love to do that to my MINI

Yes, I go out on gravel backroads all the time. The roads here are graded regularly, so bottoming out has never been a problem. I drive the car hard on them, keeping the 60 mph limit always within +- 10% .

The car holds a straight line on loose stuff no problem, and is wonderful on slick wet stuff. It handles corners and tight twisties like nothing I have driven.

There is no traffic on these roads, so rock chips are not an issue, I get hit by more stuff on the paved highways.

Yes the car gets dirty, but it washes off, and makes the little guy look like a real tough nut.

He was clean and shiny before this very fun run



Is the MINI an off-road car, no. Is the MINI a good backroad car

 

Reminds me of the ford POS waggons that had their roofs chopped off and the doors removed on "Fantasy Island"

And the time when Bo Luke and Cooter put a lift kid and off road tires on the General.

 

man, you guys must not see what your cars can do!

i'll have to find the pic i have where all 4 of my tires are off the ground over a hill peak on some roads near my house!

(ok maybey they werent off the ground more that an inch or so in bac, but you can see light underneath all 4 tires )

 

 

haha, id do it again, but i dont want to bottom it out and break something, hehe

 

Front wheel drive cars are not serious contenders here. Rear wheel is better because when you accelerate the weight of the car shifts to the drive wheels. Plus you can steer with the rear wheels also. To rallye with the top dogs its 4WD. I'd love to see a professional team, but it won't happen untill we have a 4WD Mini. Then BMW($$) will probably have a Rallye team to boost sales.

 

BMW has never really been into rally seriously. All I can think of is the 2002 and the 3.0CSL. BMW tries to keep it clean on tracks and circuits, but definetely they need to bring Mini to WRC. There is different classes in WRC as well, the car is too small to keep up with the big boys, need a bigger car.

 

My dad was a serious amateur rallye driver in the late 70s and he had the most wins on Fiat 127 and 128, all frontwheel drive cars. People then also used Opel Kadett and Ford Escort and BMW 2002 as Rallye cars, no 4WDs and did just fine. Could these cars compete in Rallyes today? No, but neither could the F1 cars of then compete versus today's F1 cars..
As for front wheel versus rear wheel drive, I invite you to challenge me in my Cooper S in a rear wheel drive car with similar horse power and engine size in snow and we'll see what handles better.

H

 

Yes, your MINI would make it to the top. :smile:

 

those cars would not pass the safety requirements of present time. I kind of remember the days when WRC cars went out of control putting close to 600-700 hp, and after serious accidents big restrictions came in just to keep the sport under control in a safer perspective.

Keep in mind, frame, rigidity, suspension set-up and quality play an important role in handling as well.

 

http://www.essentialmini.co.uk/RALLY.htm



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