Ran a SCCA TNIA at Harris Hill Road the first week of May in my R56 Cooper S, and the car was a blast. It was the Mini's first ever track event and the car is completely stock except for some EBC Yellow pads, Motul brake fluid and 17x7 BBS RGR wheels with 215/45-17 Federal 595 RS-RR tires. With the suspension being bone stock, the car had some mid-corner push but was quite easy to drive at the limit and very consistent. Running about 9/10 I was able to click off some consistent mid-1:35 laps, which is about 6 seconds slower than what I usually run in the Mustang, but it was a hoot being able to go flat through sections I would have to brake or lift for in a more powerful car. Here's a video of a few laps from my final session of the night. FWIW I was in the Advanced run group and we had so few cars that I hardly saw anyone else on track.


Now for my weird problem, the left front lug nuts would loosen up badly at the end of each session, to the point the wheel would wobble and make noise. They were all torqued properly and wouldn't get loose during the session, only afterwards during my cooldown lap. None of the other wheels did this and I didn't notice anything strange when I pulled it later. Is it possible the hub may have been cross-threaded and tapped at some point, leaving enough material to hold the lugs during normal driving but not enough to retain it through the heat of a track session? I ordered new lugs just in case, hopefully that will cure the problem!

 

Good to see they have patched the worst parts of the track. No stretches coned off.

Only time I had issue with wheel coming loose is with new wheels that still had paint or powder coat on the surface facing the hub.

 

Yeah, they did a massive repaving job a few months ago. Sections that were redone include the front straight, up the hill to 4, the back straight/turn 6, and through 9 and into 10. A lot of it is a lot better, though up the hill is still pretty bumpy. My friend with an S550 Mustang that has aftermarket suspension reported his head was bouncing off the roof going up the hill. My Mustang has stiffer springs than his and hasn't been there since it was in Street class, I wonder if I bring it back, will my fillings fall out?

You know, both the Mini's left side wheels were refinished recently and I bet there's paint around the lug holes. I'll pull the wheel and check it more carefully, thanks for the tip!

Here's a couple of shots taken by Gregory Pfaff Photography of my car on course. You can see where the repaved sections are in some of the pics:

 

Here's how it looked 5 years ago after being patched then. It's been patched at least a half dozen times I bet.

 

I was there five years ago also, albeit in a very different car. I forgot how bumpy it was, and how terrible my line was