Sorry northern dudes and dudettes, but our local club's first event of 2017 is scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 7. I've decided to give the Mustang the weekend off while I wait for some setup change parts to arrive (higher rate rear springs). The el cheapo Federal RS-RRs on the Mini seem to do well in colder temps, and since it's supposed to be mid-40s, I figured it was time.

Former Nats course designer Vivek Goel is slated to design our course this weekend, so I'm expecting something with lots of varied elements and good flow. Half a dozen national trophy winners including a champion will be running in X PAX class, so I'm curious to see how an underprepped DS car with a nationally average driver will stack up.

The Mini is a 2008 Cooper S with factory Sport suspension, EBC Yellows and 215/45-17 Federal 595 RS-RRs on BBS RGR wheels. On the street, the car seems to like to rotate going into a corner but understeer once it takes a set, so we'll see how it does at the limit. Though it might be my steering input that's causing it to rotate. Remember, I'm used to a Mustang

Anyway, I cleaned the car today and did a test fit of my spiffy new numbers, will post videos and my impressions after the event

 

Damn you, I had to clean an inch of snow off my car this morning.

Let me know how you like those RS-RRs, I loved the previous revision of that tire.

Data point: Ron Williams says he ran 41/55psi f/r on the re-71r we he ran his R56. 55psi scared me so I ran 41 square at Lincoln and it worked for me. Strange coming from an ST car using low 30s. Not sure how the Federal's sidewall or carcass compares, but maybe at least a baseline Sunday for you.

 

55psi? Brian Burdette, 2013 F Stock national champion, was a contract driver for Bridgestone in 2015, the year he trophied in G Street with a Focus ST. He gave me a strange look when I told him someone ran 50psi in their 71Rs. Most people I know run high-20s to high-30s, and I believe he ran mid-30s in the Focus. Trust me, if 55psi was faster, he would've run it himself.

Anyhow, the event yesterday was cold, starting in the 20s and rising to the 30s in the afternoon. Because of this, some of our regulars decided to stay home and we had a small turnout with only 80 drivers.

Thanks to the Mini's mid-corner understeer with its bone stock suspension, I decided to start the tires at 32psi front and 40psi rear. It was driveable in this state so I left it, though in retrospect I could've gone a little lower in the front as the wear line didn't quite make it to the edge of the tread.

Brian decided to park his FoST and codrive my car so we could get some heat in the tires. He definitely had a distinct advantage over me, since this would be my first real autocross experience in a FWD car (my only previous FWD autox experience was two runs in an STS Civic a few years back).

Without further ado, here are some videos. Ignore the G readings as I forgot to bring a swivel to level the Virb.

This was Brian's best run in my car, a 52.484.

My best run, a 52.779.

He killed me in the entire first half of the course and maintained more speed through the longer righthanded sweeper and all through the first slalom. My excuse is that he has a jacket and more experience than me

All in all, the car was easy to drive, though Brian said compared to a prepped mini, it was soft and not as sharp. I noticed the car seemed to porpoise a bit at the limit, as if the shocks didn't have enough rebound. Given 86k miles on OEM shocks, I wouldn't be surprised if it was time for some new ones. Even with 40psi in the rears, there was mid-corner understeer but it was controllable. One other thing we both noticed was a bunch of one wheel peel coming out of corners thanks to a lack of LSD.

But I will say this, even stock the car was a blast. So how did we do overall? This was the top 20 in PAX.



A couple seconds back from one of the best drivers in the country in a full-prep STR car with Motons and 71Rs. How acceptable is that? No idea, but the car was still a blast to drive! I wouldn't hesitate to bring it out again, though I'd want to do an alignment, shocks and a rear bar first.

The 595 RS-RR definitely lacked grip compared to the 71R but was easy to drive and seemed to be tolerant of some overdriving. Brian said they seemed vague compared to the Bridgestone, though granted we were on a car with OEM suspension and alignment. Given their price, I would definitely pick up another set if every last tenth wasn't a concern, and in fact I may get a set for street/track/wet use for the Mustang. I drove the Mini through some huge puddles during one of our torrential Texas downpours and they didn't miss a beat.

A pro photographer came out and snapped off some shots, here's a couple of pics:

Brian causing cone carnage:


Loaded up:

 

Nice looking runs! So jealous, we have 10 weeks left before the season starts. Vivek put the smack down, huh?

The car does look like it's wiggling a bit at full steady state, looks worse with Brian driving, do you know if they're input corrections or the car itself?

A rear bar would really help the car dance a little in transitions, and also help keep that inside front planted a little better on corner exit. Slippery slope and all that jazz.

One more question - is that the factory Virb software that did the overlays? Is that done in real time? I assume you've got a bluetooth OBD dongle for all that info.

 

Thanks! Vivek has been cleaning up in PAX lately. Last year, it was mostly Ricky, Brian or John Hale up top, but ever since he got the codrive in Michael Willman's STR car he's been basically untouchable. Ricky is usually closer to the top but he was driving Chris Leclair's car this event, which while similarly prepped doesn't seem to have the same pace as his own. Also don't know how old their tires are.

The wiggling you see is not steering input, that's the car bouncing. At least with me, I only rode with Brian once though I didn't see him adjusting the wheel either.

Definitely a rear bar would help. I don't know when that's gonna happen though since I have no plans to go "full prep" with the Mini and the Mustang needs some pars. It never ends, especially with an FS car newly prepped to STP

And yes, that's the overlay from the Virb app that's designed to work with the camera. It does connect via Bluetooth to an OBD2 dongle. Got the Virb as a birthday present from my wife this summer, and except for it not pairing properly before my final run at Nats this year (I think someone else with a Virb may have tried to pair my dongle by mistake, that's the only theory I have) I'm very happy with the camera and its data recording.

Made an observation after examining the X class results. Not surprisingly, Brian and I were DFL.



Excepting our first runs, which were our very first runs in the car, all of our times were within .5 except for his "flyer" fourth run. His fourth run was actually a re-run he took immediately after stopping for a downed cone, which meant he started on already warmed up tires. Vivek was right behind Brian on course and stopped for that same downed cone. He also went immediately after, and his fourth run was also a flyer. Coincidence? Who knows

P.S. if you're DS Matt from Nats, good job breaking up that WRX trophy rout

 

DFL in that crowd is fine. Just out of the top 10 overall is great.

The porpoising is really weird to me. I'm on not-fancy older OTS Bilsteins and my car definitely does not do that.

A DS Mini and an STP car sounds like an awesome two-pronged attack at a local championship. The Mini for the small lots, and the Mustang when there's room to run. Then you just need an AWD car for Pros and you're all set. Then your first world problem is deciding which of your race cars to take out any given weekend.

Pretty curious about that STU Boxster. That's a car I really want to build in my heart, but in my mind don't think has a real shot.

Thanks for the Virb info. My GoPro 3 still works fine but always looking for the next thing.

 

I hate you I'm in Buffalo freezing. Enjoy!

Gary

 

Same here. Our season only starts in May

 

The owner of the STU Boxster doesn't think it's competitive either. Which is why he runs this nationally:

He also owns a Porsche restoration/race prep shop and the Boxster was a pet project he bought for $2k that he runs when he doesn't feel like bringing the race rig out, or when it's broken. I don't believe the car is full prep either, so there may be some time left in it.

Funny you mention AWD, one of my friends just bought a WRX Though Dennis Sparks seems to have DS covered lol.

Sorry guys! Though I am originally from Massachusetts, and while it doesn't get as cold as Ontario (most of the time) I do understand some of what you're going through.

 

great pics - I've found the Mini does better on fast, open courses that don't have a lot of digs, so I run the Mini on the faster lots & my STU Evo on smaller lots