You are correct, I sit corrected. This just means that the wallet may have just gotten a little bit lighter. Me has to do some thinking now and you know how that hurts

 

I noticed it has been a long time since there has been a posting to this thread...and today is the first time reading it so I would like to comment here and give it new life. I currently run in STS with my 05' MC. I must say that I'm enjoying every second of it! I bought my Precious in May of 05' 2 years before I knew what autoxing was. I started out in HS and in a novice class at my local Flagstaff SOLO SCCA 07' summer series event. I liked it so much that I also attended the AZ region summer series at the same time. I did very well nabbing a second place in the Flagstaff series and a first in the AZ region series for 07' But I wasn't happy with the understeer no matter how I fiddled with tire pressure. Hello STS with the installation of an Alta 22mm 3 way adj RASB. I did this not even knowing what cars I would be up against in this new class. I just changed the bar so the car would handle better and more predictable...and I've been modding ever since. I have since earned a second place in the 07' AZ region fall series, currently second place for the AZ Region spring 08' series (with 1 event left to go...I won the last 1 and only 28 pax points away from a first in series), and a first in class at the first SOLO event of the 08' North American Mini Cooper Chalenge series. I have'nt beed autoxing long (just under a year) and I'm still learning but I (and alot of others as well) belive I have the motivation, determination, enthusiasm and finances to be very competitive in STS with the MC. Is it an uphill battle...sure will it be tough absolutely but what worthwhile isn't. I will have the lightest most powerful STS MC there is when I'm done and it's going to require help from others (with design allowances and the sort). So if you have any suggestions...please add your $.02

Thanks

Clinton "cowboy" Campbell

 

Good on ya Cowboy - keep us posted!



Charlie
2004 JCW MCS [STX]

 

Well,
I am entering my first SCCA event this Sunday.
Hopefully, I won't make a complete fool of myself
ANyway, with the few little mods, I am being put into the STS class.
No biggie.
Any advice?

 

Kitty,

How did you do? Sorry I'm late with getting back to you, but the best advice I can give in the STS class is conserve momentum. Pick a line that will alow you to carry the maximum speed through a turn. We don't have the horsepower to do the traditional slow in fast out.

 

Thanks for asking!

I think for my first time, I did very well..... my times were slow, but each run got faster, so there was improvement there.
I had an instructor ride with me each time.... he said I did well, and advised me to get on the gas and brake more.
It was a very difficult course I heard... so I'm happy

Here's a few pics of Nugget and I in action:




As you can see... much fun was had

 

Hey! I'm the only Nugget allowed here!!! LOL

 

 

Holy S**t!!!!!!!!

That's awesome!

Just stay on your side of the country

 

Oh, and fyi- that's a nice lookin' Mini

 

Listen Dee don't but in here this Nugget is way coole she autox's her Mini unlike certain sg/b owners I know.

I'm glad you had a good time, the look on your face was how I felt after my first event. Kitty if you really start to get into the autxox sport you might think about going back to stock (I know all that money on mods and you want me to go back to stock) well the n/a MC is very competitive in stock form...in fact it's the car to beat! So in 2009 spring series I will be returning to HS to see if I can nab a 1000 point top pax!! Heck I'm consistantly in the 950's in the open class against some natnl champs in some seriously fast SM cars so I think in stock form I could nab a top pax.

 

I agree... the funny thing is, I believe my exhaust bumped me the the modded class
I don't see how that gives me an advantage... except for sounding cool
All I've done is a CAI, exhaust and short shifter.
No suspension work has been done at all.

 

The exhaust is allowed in the stock class. The cold air intake and short shifter put you in the next higher class STS. Then if you have tires wider than 225 or wheels wider than 7.5" that puts you in STX. What intake do you have?

 

hmmm...07 MCS - Currently running stock run-flats, have an Atla CAI and a custom exhaust..no other mods. The rule book is pretty clear yet I took the advice of others and have been competing in STX. I wonder if I am in the wrong class.

The runflats are the next thing to be replaced..just allowing the bank buffer to re-fill.

 

MCS with intake STX.
MC with intake STS.

 

ahhh..Thanks!

 

It's a DDM Works CAI.

 

Thanks!Yours too! SG rocks!!!

 

Good...anything (even a high-flo drop in panel filter) is better that a short ram intake, you get too much hot air.

 

I'm going to run some more and figure out what I want to do.
I figure I have 2 routes I could go:

I could just take the short-shift kit out, and take out the CAI for each event, and just get a smaller, lighter set of rims and tires to run in stock and be done with modding.

Or...... I could do a whole lot more and stay in the STS category.... but I don't know how competitive I'd be in the STS, and how much I'd need to do to get competitive.

I went and watched an autox yesterday... my husband ran his car, so I just helped out and watched.
The 5th overall fastest time of the day was by a Cooper in HS class. It wasn't a huge event, but that's pretty impressive.

 

The HS MC is very tough to beat, I have seen this and heard this several times. HS the Mini Cooper is top dog, in STS it's the 89' Honda Civic si with nearly a 500lb weight advantage!! I was thinking of staying in STS because I like how my MC handles with all the suspension work but a somewhat new to autox driver in a, you guessed it, 89 civic si put the whoopin on the entire field and then his wife in the same car put it to us all again and the car wasn't even fully prepared he ended up with the TTOD and a 1000 pax score. HS can't come soon enough.

 

Dropping to the HS seems more and more like the route I want to take.

 

It's not an easy choice for me, I really love how Precious handles with her suspensiuon upgrades but if I want to be competitive it's a MUST to return to stock form.

 

I don't think I'd go back if I had a lot into Nugget mod-wiser, but I just started... and with him being a Cooper, there's not a ton of things I can do that are worth the money (performance-wise).
So taking out one mod I've done isn't too bad for me..... but if you have a lot done, I can see your dilemma.

 

About $2,500 worth, fortunately were getting my wife an S so all the mods will go into her Mini.