I've recently traded for an '05 R53. I like autocrossing and managed to stay up in the top 5 or so with an R56 that I ran last year in DS. I am struggling to stay in the top 10 in the R53 in SMF. The car is not heavily modded but it has a 15% pulley which is what has bumped me. I am on a budget so I am faced with incremental changes at this point. The current set up is the way it came to me except the IE fixed plates that I added a couple weeks ago.

15% pulley
JCW airbox
Borla cat back
Alta IC
M7 strut brace
R105 18x7 et52 25lb wheels

After changing the strut tops I notice less understeer but the inside wheel is spinning excessively out of the corners. It seems to happen no matter how gentle I try to be.

I know a good set of tires would help but don't see much offered in 18" and might want to wait to replace the wheels with 16's.

I am wondering if it might be best to buy a rear sway bar and possibly a softer front sway first or save up for tires and wheels.

A LSD is in my future but not for a while so I need to do what gives most bang for the buck. Ideas?

Thanks,
Roy

 

Honestly the most bang for your buck is going to 15x10s with 275 Hoosiers up front. Then maybe the 225 in the rear to help with rotation. Check the 949Racing 6UL. They make a 15x10 specifically for the CSP miata crowd that would probably work for SMF minis. Otherwise spinwerks could probably build you a custom set of wheels that would work. Get ready to start modifying fenders. That should provide enough grip that you don't have to worry about inside tire spin until you get more power. You're just not going to cut it in SMF without some serious tire under the car. Although the SMF crowd in Hawaii probably isn't competitive as some of the regions in the states.

You say "bang for the buck" and tires are really going to be the best bang for your buck. The question is how many bucks do you have to spend?

Unfortunately in order to be really competitive in SMF your'e looking at spending enough money that you could just buy another R56 and enough tires to last you for years in D Street

 

yeah... SM is not a happy place to be unless you meant to be there. I'd de-mod the car and get into an ST class

 

A friend of mine that autoX's a Miata was going to let me try out his 15x9 6ul's but the center bore was too small for the Mini :( I am the only competitor running SMF on the Big Island right now but we use PAX which would theoretically level the playing field however the modifier for SMF is not nearly as user friendly as the DS modifier, especially with street tires. So, I'll either have to bite the bullet and dump serious cash into this car or, as kyoo says, de-mod it back to a suitable class or, spend the next season working on the nut behind the wheel while I save my money for 2015. decisions decisions...

 

I've done it both ways, and at one point had a beastly evo with upgraded turbo and the works running in SM, a smattering of classes in between, and now an HS MINI. Coming from spending so much money and worrying over things breaking, things that "needed" to be upgraded, running in a stock class has been an absolute joy.

 

Kyoo - I looked at your build link and found myself wondering how long the car stays in HS with the mods you are making?

 

Anything I'm doing is by SCCA rules for a stock class - the big ones being damper, sway bar, and this year +-1 inch in wheel diamater - i.e., since the Mini comes in 17x7 we can run a 16x7

 

I'll bump this to help you. You need at least 10mm (1/2" is better) to get the 15x9 to fit up front with a 225 width tire. To fit a 275 on the 9 the 12mm would be better. I ran the 15x9s and 225s up front on our 2011 last year and never ever rubbed. I also had about 3 degrees camber.

Get longer studs too. It will fit

 

David,
Thanks for the input. I ended up buying 15x8's all around. This Mini is also my DD. I also seem to be the person to haul the timing equipment to the track so no room for dedicated track wheels/tires. I did get 225 45 rivals which should help. The 15x8 +35 wheels fit with no spacer front and 5mm rear. If I can get the suspension parts I ordered soon I can get it all together and have a day of testing prior to our first official event in February.

 

Just read this and by far you need an Hsport comp sway bar, that's a must have for all MINI's in AutoX even in stock class.

 

Thanks for looking Way. I just received an H&R 19mm rear bar for the car and I hope that is good enough. I received the rear camber links from you yesterday and the coilovers and brakes are on the way. If all goes well I will have a very busy Saturday...

 

Got the coilovers in yesterday along with the H&R 19mm bar. It turned out to be a long day and I didn't get to work on ride height until today. I also played with the dampening adjustment a bit as well. I started at 15 clicks from hard and then went to 20 clicks from hard, twenty seems to be ok for running around town...especially when my wife is in the car.

Right now there is a "two finger" gap between the tire and the arch and this is as low as I am comfortable going. The splitter is at just under 4 inches and I have already heard it drag a couple of times coming out of driveways.

I still haven't installed the Hotchkiss rear links and I am trying to decide if this can be tackled after work before it gets dark? My alignment appointment is Friday morning.

Roy

 

I do strongly recommend that you find someone to corner weight the car. It's always best of the car behaves the same way turning in both directions.

Enjoy,

Charlie

 

CMT

I agree. We'll have scales at the test & tune this weekend to get that dialed in.

 

I got the Hotchkiss lower control arms installed today. It was much easier than anticipated. Much easier than screwing in the calipers with a pair of needle nose pliers.

 

Took the MINI to the test and tune. Made no adjustments and was running with the big dawgs again. These changes have made the car seem a lot less dramatic to get around an autocross track. Very pleased so far. Only negative so far is occasionally dragging the splitter over speed bumps or driveway aprons .

 

On my SMF Mini Coupe I have just enough clearance to wedge my tire warmers in. So less than a single fingers width I'd say, but with nearly -3deg of camber my 235s barely rub the outside plastic fender. So if you do have clearance issues, camber plates maybe in order.

And remember if its plastic, its replaceable!

 

This site needs a like button

 

I would love to get it down that low but this is my only mode of transport and so I am trying to balance. At this height I never heard any rubbing at the track so maybe I'll lower it at the track for the February event and raise it back up before I leave to head home. I'm running -2 front and -1.5 rear camber right now. With the Hotchkiss rear bars and the Megan adjusters in front I could go further.

I ran the 225 45 Rivals at 32lbs all around. The pyrometer showed that temps were within 2-3 degrees across the tire with the fronts running about 10 degrees warmer than the rears.

Unfortunately the scales didn't make it over to the track so I'll have to play with corner weight later.