Hey guys.. I am basically looking for a good all-around car. I test drove the Mini Cooper S and loved it. I basically wanted to get a car that costs less than my current car, and one I could afford to enter into some autox events and some rallyx events. I think one of the obvious choices for rallyx would be the subaru wrx, however it doesn't handle as well as the mini straight from the dealer, and the interior isn't as good. Overall the mini has more pluses than the wrx so I'm leaning toward getting that, but I also REALLY want to compete in rallyx since that looks like a complete blast. I'm probably going to post this in the general area too since it looks like that forum gets more traffic.

 

I autocross my MINI on a regular basis, but I would never, never, RallyCross it.

I autocrossed yesterday in the MINI, after just reassembling the front bumper and radiator support. I hit a critter two weeks ago and did close to 1k in damage as the lower portion of the bumper isn't supported by anything but a plastic radiator support. It's fixed now and looks perfect, but the front of the MINI is really, really weak there.

On Saturday, I RallyCrossed my Subaru (it was a fun, but busy weekend). I put the car on its nose several times after being airborne. The car has skidplates that attach to the metal radiator support and the subframe. It's pretty tough, but I still wince when I start surfing over some of the bumps.

I've got about 2k in the Subaru. I'd do 2k worth of damage to the MINI at one Rallycross. Pretty simple math. Get a $500 Golf or a $2k Subaru and have a blast.

Per

 

I wouldn't rallycross a Cooper, either, but I have thought about it. You can get a full skid-plate from mossmini.com, but that would have to come off for autocrosses, as you really don't want 22lbs of steel strapped to the engine.

I don't imagine there's anything that you couldn't do with the Cooper, but you just wouldn't be happy after doing it. Your side-skirts would get badly trashed (they're soft plastic), the front bumper would be gone, and, well, it's FWD. For proper thrills in rallycross, go AWD or go home.

 

Cool... you guys have pretty much summed up what I wanted to know. FWD isn't actually THAT bad. There were plenty of people out there over the weekend doing just fine in FWD cars. Granted they are not the best, but they do run in a different class than the AWD guys.

If I had the money(and space) I'd just have two cars.

 

I think a Cooper S with LSD and Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 DSST run-flats would be unbeatable in Street Stock FWD, assuming you were brave enough to rallycross a MINI.

 

I am planning on rally crossing my mini but its not something you can do stock... it really needs some serious help as to not cause some serious damage...

my plans... and don't hold me to them..

1) full skidplate front to rear in pieces...
2) nose supports so you can nosedive the frontend and not KILL it
3) brushguard to protect the front bumper

there may be more but thats my list as of now...

-Josh

 

I'm sure a set of these wouldn't hurt:

Kumho ECSTA R700 Rally tires. Yummy.

 

cheap too!

-Josh

 

The problem with the Moss skid plate is that the front portion bolts to the plastic radiator support. One good yump and you've got to replace the radiator support. Sure, you can get a repro for about 100 and it takes only about 3 hours to replace it...but do you really want to do that every weekend?

Again, keep the MINI on asphalt, pick up a POS that you can wad up and throw away if it comes to that.

Per

 

i sponsor a MINI COOPER Rally car over here in the UK...i certainly would say that they can be rallied ! Ive just been sent a 1+ Hour incar dvd of theyre last rally and the terrain was truley awful....but the MINI passed every single stage with no problems at all. (and there were so many cars broken down at the sides of the road it was that bad)

Go for it id say

 

 

OK RallyX is now an SCCA event with two years of national championships.

My local area is thinking of starting up RallyX with classes in Stock Front, all and rear wheel drive and modified and performance classes for each.

Runs will be 1.5 minutes long on grass, dirt, loose gravel with mostly flat terrain but minimal road or paved surfaces.

Anybody think a MINI with winter type tires could survive this type of RallyX?

And what sort of tire would be OK on which rim?

My MINI is lowered 1.6" front and rear and I have some rims I want to try-
15x8 in the front and 15x6 in the rear for a staggered approach. More traction to the fronts.

Not expecting much mud but it's possible if it rains. Likely my very low MINI would not do well in mud.

Otherwise I have to consider RallyX in a 2006 stock Honda Civic sedan AT.

 

I Rally-X'd mine for 5 events last year. Got it nice and dirty!! Mine is stock height though; we had a rule that no lowered cars were allowed, had to be stock height or higher. I would suggest the first thing you do is to get the height back up, if you can.

Winter/snow tires are allowed for Stock catagories, so long as they're studless. In the summer, TireRack had a GREAT deal on snow tires. I got some 195/55/15 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-50's for about $40. Put them on an old set of Konig's. They worked great. But I came to learn that any soft tire with large ***** of rubber work all the same. (the pic above was with stock run-flats, and you can see even they will throw some nice dirt)

And a nice skid plate would be a good idea. On our last event, the course started getting large ruts and I hit one kinda hard. Knocked the radiator back about an inch. Before I start this season, that's my first thing to get.

But all-in-all, it's a great time. And a stock MINI does surprisingly well. I found out just how fun putting a little scandinavian flick into a turn was. Highly recommend that!!

Also, get out of the auto-x mind-set. Getting close to cones in a rally-x means you WILL hit them.

 

I think everything depends on the course.

When the locations vary and terrain is not level then a skid plate and armor would be prudent.

If the location is fairly dry and mostly level but loose on the surface then I think maybe a Stock MINI with knobby type winter tires in 15" could safely participate.

Firestone Winterforce
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.j...irePageLocQty=
No good sizes for larger than 15".

A lowered suspension is not safe.

 

My 06 WRX wagon is for sale.

Whatever you do, have fun and drive it like you stole it!

 

I'd agree with most of that.
I RallyX'd my WRX and then my STi (which everyone said was "too stiff, too low") for several years and had a blast. Our courses here in the Pac NW are not very bumpy, so I'm guessing Per's experience of putting the car on it's nose might not necessarily translate to all regions.
That said, if you do have bumpy courses in HI, I'd steer clear. (Mainly due to structural concerns raised by others)
The worst thing I really had to deal with was cleanup -we *never* had dry courses, so there was always a helluva lot of cleanup.
I love our '07 MCS too much to subject it to that... however, I do miss RallyX terribly.
Have fun, whatever you decide to do!

PS -LOVE the screen name "Minihune"!

 

I ran in a rallyx once with my MCS and placed second out of a group of five in Stock FWD. I was only three hundreths behind first (an ACR Neon). I had never rallyx before and I was on the original stock runflats. I was 18 out of a total field of 40 where most of the other cars were AWD and/or modified. I think the MINI is a great rallyx car, I bet the ones with LSD would be killer rallyx cars in Stock FWD.

That said the surface could probably be a limiting factor. If events are in a field that ruts up too easily you could potentially do some damage (but that would be the case with most affordable cars). The event I went to was in Michigan in the winter, the ground was mostly frozen so the ruts didn't get too deep until the end of the day when things thawed out.

The reasons I haven't made it back out: the entry fees are so much more expensive compared to autox in this area, it is very cold in November through March when I would have time to go and I haven't prioritized finding the time to devote to an experience with those two limitations.
That said I have been trying to fit another one into my schedule.

 

DWatkins,

Here's what I'm doing....Waiting patiently...for the 2010 Crossman. The first AWD MINI with more power than the 09' S. This is my choice for rallyx! What I would do if I were you, continue with the S in rallyx and trade it in for the crossman in a year!! I hear Getrag has a nice AWD tranny/transfer/LSD that will put the maximum power down to each wheel without slipage. Sounds great to me!

 

 

That's the ProDrive MINI RX car driven by Liam Doran who took Gold in the Munich X Games despite running half the race on a rear flat tire. He edged out Ken Block who has never won Gold.

It's lighter than the WRC MINI and has more power- 450bhp.

 

Rallycross is a riot in a Mini. My wife and I have been running our '02 S for about two years. Our sites aren't terribly bumpy, but we've had a few occasions where the car has bottomed out on bumps and ruts. No notable damage yet.

I was second out of 9 in Modified Front at our last event yesterday, about 4 seconds behind a fully rally-prepped Matrix after 8 50-ish second runs.

 

Rallycross can be done in either a base Cooper or a Cooper S, both would be in FWD classes based on mods.

Biggest mod would be rally tires which have a very stiff sidewall.

15" narrow wheels will work in sizes that are friendly for the MINI, some later model year Cooper S will have larger front JCW brakes which won't fit over 15" wheels.

Snow tires can also be used but the sidewalls are very soft and the rubber is loud and wears out fast if you drive on the freeway to get to events.

I have done Rallycross in a MINI with front Rally tires and rear snow tires and it works fine. X brace under and front skid plate are good to have.

Expect to use 1st and maybe 2nd gear depending on the course layout and terrain.

 

I would argue that running rallycross with a mini is really course dependent. would be fine in a mini. would not be fine. Bottomed out at 1:03 and drove through a series of holes at 1:47.

The biggest concern for the car is the plastic radiator support and anything that bolts to it.

 

Reviving this thread as I see more and more people getting into rallyx with their MINI's. I myself have been rallycrossing my MINI for around 2 years now. There are some cheap minor mods I have done to my car such as, removing the fender liner (soaks up alot of water and just not worth cleaning it), fully gutted the interior (with plans to remove the a/c and radio), installed harnesses (stock seats work okay but plan on upgrading to some momo's). My advice to anyone that wants to rallyx their MINI is this, if you are afraid of breaking stuff on your car then rallyx is not for you. If you aren't then you will have a very competitive car. However, I have a MINI Cooper r56 non-s. I have seen about 3 MCS' spin their tires the whole time because they aren't running good tires for dirt. On my MINI I run winters but I also have a set of gravels I plan on running next season. If you decide to run a MCS on street tires be prepared for a ton of understeer and wheelspin, you're also most likely going to be very slow around the course. If you're wondering about traction control and abs, I removed my main abs fuse and I turn off DSC. Power brakes are fine just make sure you bleed them alot or think about making the lines stainless steel. The steering is almost perfect for rallyx and it would be a very competitve car for rallyx, rallysprint, and if you have the money, stage rallies. If you have any questions and are serious about rallycrossing your MINI please message me.

 

If anyone is still interested, the scca rallyx nationals had an r53 take 2nd place this year