Just FYI, wheel width and diameter must be stock sized, so 17x7 is an oem size. I meant you are allowed a 1/4" offset variation per wheel as per Stock class rules.

 

Go to the SCCA event, you'll love it and learn a lot. The reality is that no one will protest you unless they think you beat them unfairly. If you run in RTF with real street tires (stockers) and you beat them, at that point they have more to worry about than the .5 inches of rim you have.

 

Hey guys, update is that i placed 18/35..had a blast but lost to my dad in his gti :(. O well more coming up. Guy had a zr1 there and was racing that...sick car!!!

 

Congrats on the almost making the top 50%! Is that Raw or PAX?

Take your time on the slalom, once you get behind you lose more time trying to recover than if you had hit it right initially.

 

Last summer I ran in CStock against a Golf TDI w 240 torque agaiint my Cooper 114 and 225/45/17 vs my 175/65/15. He was a couple of secs faster.

 

Haha ya and im sorry but what do you mean by Raw or PAX?

And as for the tdi he seemed to have a bit more power and traction. Nothing to be ashamed of

 

PAX is a system the SCCA has come up with to try to make things "more even" between classes. Each class has a multiplier that is supposed to represent the "maximum potential" of the best cars in the class. Multiply your raw time (minus penalties for cones) by the multiplier and then see who has the lower time.

 

I might be doing my 1st solo2 event this weekend at El Toro. I got a proper alignment and just picked up some Dunlop Z1 Star Specs (205/50/16) so I'm good to go for my stock class and I can't wait. I hope I didn't take to long to register though, it's also looking like rain and their's the Long Beach Grand Prix. What's a car junkie to do :P.

Cheers

 

doing it >> watching it!

 

Purie- that sounds incredibly fun

And i was doing a RAW course. I was put up against sti's and a lexus isF hahaha

 

I have learned that a great driver in a slow car can kick the crap out of a mediocre driver in a fast car. Case in point: Andy Hollis in his Mazda 2 was 5 seconds faster than I was in my Mini. The 2 has 100 HP? Andy said that it was the absolute slowest car he had ever driven on an autocross course, but he still set a time that was VERY fast.

Of course, Andy Hollis is a multi-time national champion at autocross, so I don't feel so bad that he smoked me.

 

The idea behind PAX is that you can accurately compare the driver, taking the equipment out of the equation. The faster the car, the higher the PAX number.

For example: DS has a PAX of .821 (Mini Cooper S), SS has a PAX of .858 (Audi R8, Corvette ZR-1)

So a 60 second Raw time for both cars would be a 49.26 for the Mini and 51.48 for the R8. If both cars turned the same time, the Mini driver would theoretically be the better driver on that day.

 

Continuing threadjack: DC Pro this weekend

 

Very nice! How did you end up? Was Joe Austin there?

 

I ended up 5th (just couldn't get my head around the left course and sat on my 2nd run of the event) but my co-driver stole third behind the reigning national champ and his co-driver. Joe was there but not in his car, so he didn't have the best weekend.

 

I'm going to be at the Texas Pro this weekend, have been jonesing for some drive time since I did the Tour a month or so ago.

I want to put the JCW springs and a rear sway on before the tour comes back to Texas next year and hopefully get some real tires. I anticipate getting absolutely smoked this weekend, but I'll have a blast either way.

Joe taught me a bunch about driving the Mini fast at the Tour event, especially the best bit "if you want to go fast, stop using your brakes"

 

Good luck tomorrow!

The JCW springs are must for stock class anymore. They are freaking ST-level stiff.

He's a damn good driver and knows his stuff. I was very proud to get him by a few tenths last week. And yeah, "brake less" is pretty good advice for HS.

 

Had a freaking great time at autocross today, course was SUPER tight and perfect for a MINI.

Overall Results:
1. Modified Evo X - 56.6
2. Modified Speed3 - 58.7
3. Stock Cooper S - 59.4
Rest of the field 61+

Went a little nuts during a "fun run" after the results were released. OM NOM NOMM cones!

 

Video from this week's Pro Solo at Mineral Wells. These are the four Sunday morning runs.

Autocross!

 

Is this Ryan or Nick?

As for the JCW springs, Bruce Bellom and Jeff Yatsko believe the springs aren't much stiffer than the OEM Sport suspension springs... The extra "stiffness" may be coming from the fact that the MINI is practically on the bumpstops at OEM height. The JCW springs may put the car there almost permanently. Do you think this may be the case?

 

One cannot come anywhere near the limits of a MINI's handling on the street without routinely crashing. Autocrossing is safe, inexpensive, and adrenalin releasing (which makes it addicting.) I recommend decent street tires and no mods to start. Find all you need to know at SCCA.ORG.

Did I mention it is addicting? You've been warned.

 

Its Nick,

Maybe it was going from the normal suspension right to the JCW, but it seemed like a massive stiffness increase.

The bumpstops thing is certainly plausible, but if thats the case I'd think it would be worse on midcorner bumps. I also haven't noticed any progressive-like action that would result from it settling onto the stops and the resulting instant rate increase. I'm probably not as sensitive to that as I should be though, but I'll make note to make note of it next time I'd driving hard.

Also, vid from NeDivs on Saturday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwzt1n1GKM8

 

Nick,

..great job on Saturday, both you and Ryan..thanks for the video...You hit the finish as good as could have been done.. I couldn't figure that out for anything...Sucks about Sunday, but hopefully sometime soon, we'll all get together again and give it another go..

As for the JCW stuff. The car "feels " stiffer, but I can't say it "feels" any different dynamically than that of the SS+ package. Only way to tell how much more stiff the JCW stuff is, would be to send it out and have the rates checked and compared to SS+ and stock. (since none of the rates are published anywhere I've been able to find). And when they are listed, it's usually followed by "it just feels more stiff".
My logic for the "stiffness" is that the total amount of suspension travel at rest is about 20-25mm...Given what I beleive is a spring rate of around 230-250lb, that would create a condition where just about every time the suspension loads up in a corner on Hoosiers, the front shocks would collapse onto the bump stops, then the bump stops take over the rate. The JCW springs lower the car by an additional 8-12mm, so just about any time the wheel is turned, you're on the stops. On my SS+ car, I performed the Zip Tie test and sure enough, it's on the top of the shock even after a run...Interested to see if that's the case with the JCW stuff..

Jeff

 

I forgot to add a bit of advice I received while at the Pro. If you have a sunroof and need more weight on the rear, open it up for your runs. It's supposed to transfer 60lbs to the rear axle.

 

I have read, and believe that the MINI rides on the bumpstops in cornering. I experienced snap oversteer at times when trying to break the back end loose a bit. I have since replaced the OEM bumpstops with FatCat Motorsport bump stops. Oversteer comes on progressively now. I can control it. http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/ His site has a great explanation as well a general information on suspension.

I have the SS w/OEM shocks, and a 19mm adjustable sway set stiff. I trust the car now. I've gone from a backmarker to 2-3rd place in street tire.