I understand that I will probably have to make adjustments for street use, autocross and track days, which will be all difernt setting, I just like to know About where to start at.


Jon

 

Just replace my lighten flywheel and clutch master clutch with a OS GIKEN STR CLUTCH/FLYWHEEL (standard flywheel not the lighten one). I had it put in last Wed and got it back Thurs. have less than a 100 miles on it. Waiting to get it broke in so I can autocross it and do a track day. I really like it so far.

Jon

 

I don't know anyone in my area using m7 Coilovers. You want ride height adjustable and shock adjustability for both dampening and rebound if you can get it. Set front shocks to softer to mid setting and rear shocks to firm not the stiffest. Then adjust. This will help to reduce understeer.

Alignment-
Front camber should be as negative as you can make it. -3.5 degrees is not possible with any suspension upgrade for the MINI, the suspension parts will hit and limit will be about -2.4 to -2.2 degrees in the front.

If you do only lowering springs or coilovers only then front camber will not be enough at about -1.0 degrees. Adding adjustable front camber plates allows you to adjust right and left front camber and get as much as you can. Rear camber should be about 1 degree less negative than the front if you can to reduce understeer.

For street and autocross use-
Front camber- as negative as you can make it. About -2.2 or more is good.
Front toe slightly out about 1/16" to 1/8" which helps with turn in but wears tires a little more on the street and makes steering a little more sensitive. 1/4" would be aggressive but I have used 1/8" with no problems.

Rear camber about -1.2 degrees using a lower adjustable rear control arm. If you use only lowering springs or coilovers the rear camber will be very negative about -2.4 degrees which would increase understeer.
Rear toe- slightly toe in helps with straight line stability, about 1/8" toe in is fine and not as much as for normal street, if you want a little quicker turn response then zero toe is OK.

Adjust alignment about once a year or at the start of the season.

Don't forget to always clean or replace your air filter- I do about 3 times per season.

I use BG-44K about twice a season to help clean the injectors
http://www.bgprod.com/products/fuelair.html

Good luck.

Anytime you make upgrades you need to drive better to make use of the upgrades. If you drive the same then you get the same times/results. You'd need to push harder and reach the next higher limit.

 

Thank you Minihune that helps a lot. I'm still waiting for M7 to get the coilovers in. I'm hoping to have everything and on the car, before the beginning of the 2010 season.


Jon

 

Well for the 2009 season on a set of worn out V710 tires and end up replacing my clutch/flywheel at the end of the season I was NEOKLA SM champ.

I think the clutch and flywheel was missmatched that I put in 2008, I replaced them with a OS Giken matching race clutch/flywheel combination.

I was surprise to win the championship, since all I was really trying to do is work on myself and the car. I had a lot of good competition last season and will have a lot more this season since I'm going to SMF and lot of my competition will be joining me.

I got new tires for this season and still have to get use to the new clutch/flywheel setup. Trying something new and not sure how they will work, but i'm going to run the Kumho W710 tires, I know they are a rain tire, but the optimum operating temperature is 195, the dry rating is not much differnt than the V710.

Jon

 

Good job.

For some reason there are fewer MCS running in SM class these days.

It's tough to keep up with cars shod with 275mm wide R compound tires.

Let us know how the current season works out for you.

 

I screw up and bought a 1990 Miata to make into a Spec. Miata racecar and ran it last year in SMS Solo class and it was a big let down. Traded it for a 2005 Mazda3 SCCA SSC class racecar which I am planning on racing here locally and in SCCA club racing. So I am going back to Solo competion with the Mini, right now it is still in SMF solo class.

I'm considering in changing to maybe a Street Prepare class, so i thought maybe I could get some ideas from other drivers, what to considered, stay where I'm at now or change classes, and/or what mods to make to the Mini and so on. Right now I'm only do local Autocrosses, but later on do some Nationals, after I get my racing started.

Jon

 

Well the mazda3 is a good SSC car...probably down on grunt to the honda/acura guys still but it's the next best thing...

I noticed something above I don't agree with...says max camber is about 2.2-2.4. I've got nearly 3 degrees on a 2011 mini right now with no clearance issues anywhere...

 

I have not work with the camber or any suspension on my mini as of yet, so I'm not able to tell you anything on it. Minihune posted that post. But I am planning getting some adjustable coil overs and camber plates for mine after I get my racing started.

Jon

 

Max negative front camber will vary with model year (gen 1 MINI2 is limited to about -2.4 degrees) and your suspension parts.

If you have more negative camber up front then great, up to -3 degrees is ideal.

Difference between front and rear negative camber should be about 1 degree. So if front is -3 then rear can be about -1.8 to -2. If you have too much oversteer then decrease rear negative camber.

 

I'm back autocrossing my Mini. I just got through ordering some Koni performance sport shocks, Hotchkis rear control arms (uppers and Lowers) and H&R lowering springs. I'm not sure if I can use the lowering springs with my R888 225/45 16's tires. I just order some IE fixed camber plates and now I'm waiting for all the parts to get here so I can get start putting it on the Mini. Now to find a starting point for the alignments and so on.

 

Really? Decrease rear negative camber to reduce oversteer?

Aloha,

Charlie

 

http://winhpde.com/track-alignment/

 

Ok, I know that there are other threads out there for suspension setup and so on, but I would like to hear about some of the autocrossers setup on there adjustable shocks, especially with the Koni yellow sport shocks, so I can get a good idea where to start with my tuning and so on. I'm running the Koni yellow sports shocks with fixed camber plates and adjustable control arms (uppers and lowers) on Toyo R888 225/45 16 tires.

 

I have a autocross this Sunday. Here is what I have plan for my adjustments to start with front shock turn to full firm, rear shocks mid range, 22 mm rear sway bar at soft and tires 35 front/30 rear. Does that sound like a good start?

 

Sounds like a good start! Here are some articles you might find interesting, and let us know how you do!

http://www.minimania.com/Search_Resu...cross/Articles

 

I think I finally got my suspension setup, now to better myself with the new setup. I ran a autocross today had eight runs, the first five runs I tried to hard and went in to fast, so the last three I slowed down and went faster. My biggest problems was the way I was handling the steering wheel, so I work on that also and did improve some. I guess I need to practice my steering while driving on the street. I still need to find a EVO school to go to.

 

Sounds like a good start! It's always been counterintuitive to slow down to go faster, but that's as true in Solo as it is on the road racing circuit! Please keep us posted how it all goes!

 

would love to see some videos!

 

I'm having problems trying to figure how to get a video on here, but soon as I figure it out I'll have one posted for you.

 

Its about time to reopen this discussion. I have been running my 2006 JCW the last year or so in DS and I've been missing my 2004 SMF Mini, since my last post I have put Koni performance sport shock and struts, H&R lowering springs, Hotchkis upper and lower rear control arms and IE fix camber plates on her. Found a place here to get her tune for all the mods I got on her. I'm thinking about getting some JCW injectors and maybe changing my pulley from a 15% to 17% pulley and possibly getting her corner balance. I would love to hear from some of you who has their Mini setup for SMF. I also put a DMF Flywheel conversion clutch in. My other mods are posted in a earlier post.