Over to STS or maybe FSP....... It's not really what I want to but for the limited amount of competition that occurs locally or even nationally in HS I would rather move over to STS or FSP and have some fun with my car and the competition.

So I ask myself...Can the MINI be competitive in either class? Certainly it can locally but nationally has yet to be proven and could be a fun challege. Is the advantage of "R" tires overcome with camber plates, sway bars and additional power?

One thing that is really attractive about STS is that I can drive to events on my "race" tires. It may seem like a little thing but this makes competitng for me much more plausible since I am able to bring my wife and little girl along to the event.

So what do you think? I bought the MINI so that I could run and be competitive at the National level. Does it make sense to take a car that has proven to be competitive Nationally and put it into a class that is unproven?

Thanks for the input......

Stuart

 

Stuart, something that both classes (STS/FSP) require to be competitive is lightweight. Even following EVERY allowance in each class, the MINI Cooper cannot drop enough weight to compensate for it's power disadvantage. Keeping up with Honda Civics in weight is very difficult.
Having said that, you could certainly build a very fun and local winning STS/FSP car.

But the reason you haven't seen it "proven" nationally is because the numbers are way off. First of all for STS, adding a suspension to a MINI does very little aside from lowering the center of gravity. Adding a suspension to an '89 Civic, which is ALREADY competitive with the MINI in H Stock, transforms the car into a handling machine.
You would have to drop about 400 lbs from a MINI to put it in competitive Civic territory. Or gain a significant amount of power from the allowable modifications.
If you were willing to put every dollar possible into the car, you "might" make a Nationally competitive MINI, but I doubt it. And that's just not appealing for most people to risk.

For FSP, you have the same problem with weight. Also, you have no update/backdate available to help shed so pounds, like most other FSP cars have.
I almost did a National FSP car for 2003 when someone ELSE was going pay the tab. But I wouldn't try.

If *I* was going to try one of those two classes, I'd run FSP because I love R Compounds, and would want the clutch, flywheel, and Quaife. But my guess is that it would be easier to make a competitive car in STS, and more fun locally because it's usually a huge class now.

Good Luck,
Brian

 

I'm thinking I will wait to see if SEB dumps my MCS into D stock for 2005. At the regional level, where I run, STX and STS are growing and the stock classes are getting smaller. I can run near the top of the class in STX regionals with limited mods like mabye camber plates, cold air and a swaybar. At the regional level the D stockers with R compounds will kick my ***. I also like the idea of driving to the event on my "track tires" and much larger fields to compete against.

I'm in this for fun and recreation but, I want at least a chance for a podium in regionals.

 

"I'm in this for fun and recreation but, I want at least a chance for a podium in regionals."

Me too......That is why I am torn between jumping ship. Part of me says I should just buy a set of Azenis and throw then on my stock wheels to compete in STS locally but we have a couple pretty fast drivers in STS locally including Kevin McCormick out of Sacramento so I would be kidding myself to think I could be competitive without taking the total plunge.....

Maybe that's what I'll do.....Buy a set of Azenis and see how far back I am from STS with a stock setup. If I can get within a second or so of their top time it might be worth pursuing. If I'm 2-3 seconds back then it's probably not going to happen. Anyway, thanks for the input.......

Stuart

 

A second or so?!? Most other National competitors with fully prepped cars try to be within that time of Kevin. I would say that if you are under three seconds, you should try building it, unless you already PAX within a half second of Kevin.

Brian

 

I've been within 1/2 second of Kevin on a 50 second course with Kuhmos. So yeah, if I can't get within a second or so of Kevin's time on Azenis then I don't think I'll be able to get that much more time out of the car in STS trim.....We'll see, it's a cheap enough experiment.

Stuart

 

Makes sense to me...
Good Luck.

Brian