H Stock Daily Driver/H-Street Build II
Updated here - the harness is in! Only everything else to go. Exactly 2 weeks until the first event. It's gonna be close...
Write up: http://r56hs.com/2014/03/15/harness-in/
Write up: http://r56hs.com/2014/03/15/harness-in/
Love the red harness. For HPDEs we need 2 sets; one for the driver, one for the instructor. I got red and black so it is easy to tell which is for which seat.
Hope the rest of it goes well.
Hope the rest of it goes well.
will def keep that in mind for road racing though, thanks
ha! @miata_racer, is it for the passenger side? i maaaay be interested, will let you know.
too tired to write right now, but the car is all set! i didn't push it at all, it was pouring rain and i just wanted to go home. however: suspension is on, wheels are on, off to be aligned tomorrow, and dog approved:
very very stoked.
too tired to write right now, but the car is all set! i didn't push it at all, it was pouring rain and i just wanted to go home. however: suspension is on, wheels are on, off to be aligned tomorrow, and dog approved:
very very stoked.
ha!
thought i'd throw out a few more pics of the wheels/tires:
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/28/new-shoes/
btw, very glad i decided to go with 205s over the 225s. fits perfectly and it's kind of close clearance-wise as is.
thought i'd throw out a few more pics of the wheels/tires:
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/28/new-shoes/
btw, very glad i decided to go with 205s over the 225s. fits perfectly and it's kind of close clearance-wise as is.
too true. thanks
posted this in another thread:
Not to flood this thread, but I thought I'd also share my new suspension set up:
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/29/fat-cat-...pension-is-in/
Not to flood this thread, but I thought I'd also share my new suspension set up:
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/29/fat-cat-...pension-is-in/
Handling Impressions: I think “WOW” pretty much sums it up. After a year of more or less fighting the old 08 Mini’s (stock sport suspension) understeer, this is a huge surprise. This car is very very neutral. I should probably add an asterisk here, my impressions stem from one (so far) autox event on a cold day, albeit with a codriver and tire warmers. Anyway, I think it is neutral enough that I can play with tire pressures to get the car to basically the same level as it was today. There is a hint of understeer when I overcook things, and a little more than a hint of oversteer when I lift throttle or I’m being too jerky with the steering wheel. I used to have to use some pretty violent inputs to get even a neutral balance out of the old MINI, so this is going to take some seat time to get used to. Fortunately enough, seat time is one thing I will have a lot of for this year. Overall, the car feels very good, and very planted. It just feels well sorted out, and I think the JCW FSB + JCW Springs + Fat Cat Motorsports Bilsteins + Hsport RSB is the best combination for HS. Seriously. In addition to FCM’s custom valving, my Bilsteinsn also came with his proprietary Kerb Blow Off (KBO) technology – AKA a proprietary technique to high speed compression blow off. All in all, I wouldn’t change anything about this set up (except if I could somehow increase the front camber).
Love the color combination. No one will ever question whether you've modded your car...
I have read your various posts and it seems this has all worked out and you have achieved your objective. Go you! And it is great that you got support from your friends to get it all done.
A detail question...do you think the front sway bar was worth it? I know you did everything at once so it will be tough to tell what part did what for you. However, there are some who have posted on here that the change should be to a smaller front bar not a large one. I am guessing, by the tone of your posts, that you are pleased with this part of that part change you made as it fits with the rest of your changes.
Also, you mention that you were able to get a bit of off-throttle oversteer, but that you had to be pretty abrupt to get it. I wonder how the car would react to throttle-oversteer in a long sweeper where you can be at the limits at pretty high speeds. Not a likely situation on an autox course, but it is something that one can get into out on the track. I would be interested to hear your experience with the car if you do get a chance to experiment on a large skidpad or the like. This is where I was least comfortable when I changed the RSB on my previous S, but that car was otherwise stock. I wonder if the other changes that you made would have calmed the abruptness from understeer to oversteer that I had.
Thanks for the great posts...
I have read your various posts and it seems this has all worked out and you have achieved your objective. Go you! And it is great that you got support from your friends to get it all done.
A detail question...do you think the front sway bar was worth it? I know you did everything at once so it will be tough to tell what part did what for you. However, there are some who have posted on here that the change should be to a smaller front bar not a large one. I am guessing, by the tone of your posts, that you are pleased with this part of that part change you made as it fits with the rest of your changes.
Also, you mention that you were able to get a bit of off-throttle oversteer, but that you had to be pretty abrupt to get it. I wonder how the car would react to throttle-oversteer in a long sweeper where you can be at the limits at pretty high speeds. Not a likely situation on an autox course, but it is something that one can get into out on the track. I would be interested to hear your experience with the car if you do get a chance to experiment on a large skidpad or the like. This is where I was least comfortable when I changed the RSB on my previous S, but that car was otherwise stock. I wonder if the other changes that you made would have calmed the abruptness from understeer to oversteer that I had.
Thanks for the great posts...
Love the color combination. No one will ever question whether you've modded your car...
lol thanks. i don't really mind it to be honest, and actually when the car's down on the ground all you can see are the yellow bilsteins
I have read your various posts and it seems this has all worked out and you have achieved your objective. Go you! And it is great that you got support from your friends to get it all done.
thanks!
A detail question...do you think the front sway bar was worth it? I know you did everything at once so it will be tough to tell what part did what for you. However, there are some who have posted on here that the change should be to a smaller front bar not a large one. I am guessing, by the tone of your posts, that you are pleased with this part of that part change you made as it fits with the rest of your changes.
to start, i had to get the front sway bar regardless of whether or not i wanted it, because of stock/street class rules. that being said, given how perfectly neutral my car is right now, i imagine that i would have had too much oversteer with a smaller front bar, which would have made life a little more difficult. as it stands, i am very happy with the overall balance of the car right now, of which the fsb contributes. the install wasn't very painful for me, mainly because St Louis MINI Club basically did it for me lol. regardless, i'm pleased with the upgrade.
Also, you mention that you were able to get a bit of off-throttle oversteer, but that you had to be pretty abrupt to get it. I wonder how the car would react to throttle-oversteer in a long sweeper where you can be at the limits at pretty high speeds. Not a likely situation on an autox course, but it is something that one can get into out on the track. I would be interested to hear your experience with the car if you do get a chance to experiment on a large skidpad or the like. This is where I was least comfortable when I changed the RSB on my previous S, but that car was otherwise stock. I wonder if the other changes that you made would have calmed the abruptness from understeer to oversteer that I had.
It's more like, my poor driving abruptness created situations of off-throttle oversteer, rather than me doing that purposely to achieve that state. ideally i want the car perfectly neutral, maybe a touch of oversteer (which is what i have now). i assume you mean off throttle oversteer in your second sentence. i think for a long sweeper, the car suspension should "set" and you should be in a fairly steady state, provided you are being smooth with steering and throttle inputs. i did have a low speed sweeper situation at todays test n tune. i turned in with no throttle, and the car was perfectly neutral with what i felt like was perfect slip angle. felt like the rear was perfectly keeping up with the front and it was very comfortable for me. i talked with my codriver on saturday about the setup - he was actually anticipating the car to be very loose from what i wrote, with the rsb being in the middle setting - however, i think the dampers really helped control the motion of the car and helped the car to be much more stable. so yea, if you are having abrupt understeer > oversteer situations, I would probably first look at the driving input, rsb setting, rest of the suspension, etc. custom valved dampers from FCM really really help in this regard and I'm not just nut swinging for them. it really handles everything i throw at it with ease, and i was actually almost thinking today that it almost makes me a worse driver by letting me get away with bad driving behaviors lol
Thanks for the great posts...
lol thanks. i don't really mind it to be honest, and actually when the car's down on the ground all you can see are the yellow bilsteins
I have read your various posts and it seems this has all worked out and you have achieved your objective. Go you! And it is great that you got support from your friends to get it all done.
thanks!
A detail question...do you think the front sway bar was worth it? I know you did everything at once so it will be tough to tell what part did what for you. However, there are some who have posted on here that the change should be to a smaller front bar not a large one. I am guessing, by the tone of your posts, that you are pleased with this part of that part change you made as it fits with the rest of your changes.
to start, i had to get the front sway bar regardless of whether or not i wanted it, because of stock/street class rules. that being said, given how perfectly neutral my car is right now, i imagine that i would have had too much oversteer with a smaller front bar, which would have made life a little more difficult. as it stands, i am very happy with the overall balance of the car right now, of which the fsb contributes. the install wasn't very painful for me, mainly because St Louis MINI Club basically did it for me lol. regardless, i'm pleased with the upgrade.
Also, you mention that you were able to get a bit of off-throttle oversteer, but that you had to be pretty abrupt to get it. I wonder how the car would react to throttle-oversteer in a long sweeper where you can be at the limits at pretty high speeds. Not a likely situation on an autox course, but it is something that one can get into out on the track. I would be interested to hear your experience with the car if you do get a chance to experiment on a large skidpad or the like. This is where I was least comfortable when I changed the RSB on my previous S, but that car was otherwise stock. I wonder if the other changes that you made would have calmed the abruptness from understeer to oversteer that I had.
It's more like, my poor driving abruptness created situations of off-throttle oversteer, rather than me doing that purposely to achieve that state. ideally i want the car perfectly neutral, maybe a touch of oversteer (which is what i have now). i assume you mean off throttle oversteer in your second sentence. i think for a long sweeper, the car suspension should "set" and you should be in a fairly steady state, provided you are being smooth with steering and throttle inputs. i did have a low speed sweeper situation at todays test n tune. i turned in with no throttle, and the car was perfectly neutral with what i felt like was perfect slip angle. felt like the rear was perfectly keeping up with the front and it was very comfortable for me. i talked with my codriver on saturday about the setup - he was actually anticipating the car to be very loose from what i wrote, with the rsb being in the middle setting - however, i think the dampers really helped control the motion of the car and helped the car to be much more stable. so yea, if you are having abrupt understeer > oversteer situations, I would probably first look at the driving input, rsb setting, rest of the suspension, etc. custom valved dampers from FCM really really help in this regard and I'm not just nut swinging for them. it really handles everything i throw at it with ease, and i was actually almost thinking today that it almost makes me a worse driver by letting me get away with bad driving behaviors lol
Thanks for the great posts...
truth. here's a more detailed write up of my first events this weekend:
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/31/starting...n-a-high-note/
Overall, extremely happy with the balance of the car. I feel like I can go a long way in the new mini. I was always hesitant to invest in the old '08, because of the mileage and the fact that it'd never be truly competitive, due to the enormous panoramic dual sunroof the car came with. The new mini is something else though. Was a great start to the season, and can't wait to run a boatload of events!
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/31/starting...n-a-high-note/
Overall, extremely happy with the balance of the car. I feel like I can go a long way in the new mini. I was always hesitant to invest in the old '08, because of the mileage and the fact that it'd never be truly competitive, due to the enormous panoramic dual sunroof the car came with. The new mini is something else though. Was a great start to the season, and can't wait to run a boatload of events!
Watched your videos - Nicely done
Sometimes you can feel that things are rough and jerky from inside the car. This is typically the way I feel. But I have had outside observers say how smooth my car looked when running a course...Your video shows a car with little lean, is smooth and transitions nicely. While it is difficult to see the timing on the turns, I would say that you may have even been a little early on a few cones. Something to think about.
A few suggestions - mount the camera inside the car to give you a Driver's eye perspective and to show what you are doing. It was good to see your hand movement in the first video. You want to be able to see what you are doing as well as where the car is going and when things are happening. Work at keeping your hands at one spot on the wheel and try to not let go. Shuffling your hands takes extra work and concentration that could be put to the effort of driving. You can also loose track of what is "straight" on the steering wheel. This also may help to smooth out your steering inputs. Last suggestion - get a pair of driving gloves. A suggestion is to get a pair of light leather baseball batting gloves that fit snug. This will help to keep your hand from getting tired which is also one less distraction.
Overall, it is good to hear that you are happy with the car. Being happy with your car helps when working at driving more quickly. Also, you will start each run feeling good about things; if you generally feel good then you will drive well. Remember, this is a mind-game more so than just driving. I have seen drivers of what should be very quick cars talk about how poorly their car is doing, then over-driving a course and thus not do well. On the other hand, some of the best runs I have seen have been when a driver says that he/she is going to drive "slowly" and then turn in their best or near-best time.
Lastly, it seems you are having fun with this and, in my mind, that is what it is all about.
Sometimes you can feel that things are rough and jerky from inside the car. This is typically the way I feel. But I have had outside observers say how smooth my car looked when running a course...Your video shows a car with little lean, is smooth and transitions nicely. While it is difficult to see the timing on the turns, I would say that you may have even been a little early on a few cones. Something to think about.
A few suggestions - mount the camera inside the car to give you a Driver's eye perspective and to show what you are doing. It was good to see your hand movement in the first video. You want to be able to see what you are doing as well as where the car is going and when things are happening. Work at keeping your hands at one spot on the wheel and try to not let go. Shuffling your hands takes extra work and concentration that could be put to the effort of driving. You can also loose track of what is "straight" on the steering wheel. This also may help to smooth out your steering inputs. Last suggestion - get a pair of driving gloves. A suggestion is to get a pair of light leather baseball batting gloves that fit snug. This will help to keep your hand from getting tired which is also one less distraction.
Overall, it is good to hear that you are happy with the car. Being happy with your car helps when working at driving more quickly. Also, you will start each run feeling good about things; if you generally feel good then you will drive well. Remember, this is a mind-game more so than just driving. I have seen drivers of what should be very quick cars talk about how poorly their car is doing, then over-driving a course and thus not do well. On the other hand, some of the best runs I have seen have been when a driver says that he/she is going to drive "slowly" and then turn in their best or near-best time.
Lastly, it seems you are having fun with this and, in my mind, that is what it is all about.
hey thanks for the suggestions.
actually the phone was mounted inside to use with the solo storm app to take video and data, which i did for the second half of the tnt - i haven't really parsed through the data yet. normally i do mount the camera inside the car though.
i am really happy with how everything's turned out - and i'm happy that the car is "done" i've got a few buddies with never ending project cars, and actually i've got one of those too. it really is unending, you're never satisfied, and in the end it doesn't even make you that much faster. i like that the car's done, so i can just put that thought away and just focus on improving as a driver, rather than improving the car
actually the phone was mounted inside to use with the solo storm app to take video and data, which i did for the second half of the tnt - i haven't really parsed through the data yet. normally i do mount the camera inside the car though.
i am really happy with how everything's turned out - and i'm happy that the car is "done" i've got a few buddies with never ending project cars, and actually i've got one of those too. it really is unending, you're never satisfied, and in the end it doesn't even make you that much faster. i like that the car's done, so i can just put that thought away and just focus on improving as a driver, rather than improving the car
If you've got the data and video, you can use something like RaceRender to put the two together. Makes for much better videos and its a lot easier to see what the data is showing you on screen.
I decided to write in a little more detail as it pertains to my FCM dampers - I'm very, very, very happy with these. I can't stress this enough - I firmly believe these are the way to go over Koni Yellows.
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/29/fat-cat-...pension-is-in/
http://r56hs.com/2014/03/29/fat-cat-...pension-is-in/
FCM Dampers: I am very, very impressed with these dampers. These are Bilstein Sports, custom valved by FCM and include his proprietary KBO technology for digressive high speed compression. As far as the KBO high speed compression bit - FCM asked me to take a video of me driving the car over a speed bump at 15-20mph - I'm not brave enough to do that yet, but it should give you an indication of how confident they are in their KBO. Overall. the car is very stable and very planted. I've gotten comments about how well they ride as well as how they handle. One of the top level drivers in my region commented that it looked like FCM hit the money on the valving. According to my codriver on Saturday, the car transitions much better, especially in slaloms, and the car overall behaves very predictably. He went as far as to say it might slalom better than his STF R53! We had a stretch of the TNT course on Sunday that had a very rough/bumpy patch - I was basically able to keep my foot down during this entire portion of the course - i KNOW other drivers were for sure losing time here - I hit my head on the roof of one car I was riding along with when we got there! To be honest, I've even had the thought that these dampers are too good (for my skill level), allowing me to get away with certain bad habits (especially with throttle on bad surfaces) - hopefully that's not entirely true. To my fellow autoxers - forget Koni Yellows and their ***** - that's really their only draw, and if you've read A2W, you'll know that the ***** aren't even reliable to begin with! Not to mention they like to blow when you custom valve them. FCM Bilsteins are where it's at!
