I am planning on autocrossing my MINI in GS very shortly, but further down the line I would like to make some modifications to my car for fun that would make it ineligable for GS.

Planned mods are, probably in order, not all at once, ECU remap, Cold Air Intake, H&R Springs, adjustable rear swaybar, catback exhaust. I plan to run 215/45-16 Falken Azenis when autocrossing, some 17's with non runflats for everyday driving. Again I am doing the mods for fun and to tinker with my car a bit, yet I want to do some autocrossing with it as well. I think this setup will still be quite a nice everyday car for the street, and while I know it is nowhere near the hot setup for STX I want some opinions as to whether this is an acceptable setup for STX for some fun at local events.

Also, for the most part the mods are easy to put back to GS should I have the itch to go to a bigger event and try to compete.

 

All of the mods you list would be great for STX, especially if you just plan to autox locally or regionally.

You could just do the exhaust and stay in GS - all of the other mods put you in STX. I'd probably do the rear swaybar first.

THE tire in STX is the Falken Azenis Sport, however there will be a new generation Azenis, the RT-615, out in the first quarter of 2005 which may prove to be the tire to have.

The big mod (at least until now) for STX was adding an LSD. With the ability now to order an 05 MCS with the factory LSD -- you could slap some light wheels and azenis on your cooper S and do STX or stay in GS.

It will be interesting to compare the 05 factory LSD MCS to the aftermarket quaife LSD pre-05 MCS.

 

Any preliminary thoughts on what we will find, David? I have a 2005 MCS with a factory LSD arriving in mid-February, and I'd like to make an STX car out of it. And this seems doable provided the factory LSD is not vastly inferior to the Quaife.

The factory LSD is produced by GKN Driveline. GKN also produces a special mechanical limited-slip differential for the BMW M3. However ,the M3 limited slip differential differs from the one offered in the MCS. Where the M3's limited-slip senses wheel speed (rpm) the MINI's specifically senses torque.

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for the info dpayne1. I guess based on your feedback and some of my own pondering I will reverse the order of mods a little, plus I think I may do an exhaust before anything else to keep me in GS until I do the suspension stuff/intake/chip.

Another couple of questions....will the 16x6.5 rims I use in GS be ok for STX? Not ok as in legal, I know there's no problem there, just from a performance standpoint. Also, if the factory LSD will be legal in GS, it seems like I'll be equally limited by this no matter if I run GS or STX, but at least in STX I can(for a pretty penny) make up the difference by buying a diff.

Finally, if I want to get more serious about things later.....how much do coilovers and aftermarket LSD affect the car's street drivability? I've heard some people comment that coilovers are not only better for handling but better for street than just aftermarket springs due to their tunability, and I wouldn't think the LSD should offer any problems. Again, this is my regular daily driver but I know (from my karting and roadracing background) that once I start I'm going to want to be competitive, so I want to find a way to get to that while still having a drivable street car.

 

The 6.5's won't be terrible if you use a tire with a very stiff sidewall like the Azenis but you would still be better off with a 16x7.5 or 16x8 and I would consider the wider widths to be very important on most other tires. I wouldn't even bother with 7's unless you wanted to run a 205/50/15. Up till now I've been on 205/50/15 Azenis on 15x7.5 SSR's but I just got a set of 16x8 ce28n's with the hope I can get a really good 215/40/16 tire for them. If gearing were less of an issue for me I'd be more interested in one of the 225/50/15's I've heard about for 05. My SSR's weigh just under 10 lbs. and my ce28n's weigh 12 lbs.

 

Both the Quaife and the MINI LSD's are TBD. The MINI's lock up is said to be 30% but I don't know about the Quaife. If some else know's or calls Quaife to find out let me know as I'm considering getting an 05 or maybe an 06. The amount of lock up will make a difference but I forget how it works, better for starts and worse for turns or the other way around or better for both but worse in transitions. I have the Quaife in my 03 and would consider moving it to an 05 if it was better but I get free labor from my co-driver. :smile: :smile: :smile: It is nice to have a MINI mechanic as a co-driver.

 

Thanks for the feedback to all. I would like to run an autocross next month, but now after looking over some prices and rules I may just start off in STX even though the plan was to start off with a GS setup. Here's why....

-- To start off in GS I have to come up with 16x6.5 wheels, which is fine except I won't want to use them when my car moves to STX.
-- I would have to buy a set of Hoosiers, which are costly and I can't use later.
-- For less money than wheels and tires for GS I can buy wheels, tires (Falken Azenis Sport), rear swaybar, and springs. I know it's not ideal for STX but I can build from there. If I invest in a GS setup I'll spend more money initially and I will have to start from scratch if I do anything else to the car and it has to move to STX.
--Final option is to just set it up and stay in GS, but then I can't tinker with my car any more, which I would like to do. Any thoughts?

 

Your choice is not clear cut, but since it sounds like you want to mod the car then maybe you should just start with STX. The Tires are cheaper in STX but have less grip than the more $ r compounds in GS - life is full of choices. Once you get the mod bug, you will spend a bunch more in STX than in GS.

I think starting w/the rear bar and h-sport springs isn't a bad way to go. You can do coilovers later - they will let you adjust rebound and/or compression for track or autox days and still have a drivable MCS on the street. They also allow you to corner weight or simply adjust ride height. I have PSS9's and like them very much - Gowest swears by the KW's and he knows cars and how to drive them. His advice on wider wheels and therefore more contact patch is correct. Just remember than he and his co-driver are national caliber drivers who go to Topeka every September -- you can get by with a 15x7 or 16x7 locally or regionally.

 

I don't really know what to expect as a comparison -- they are probably very similar in normal street driving -- On an autox course I'd love to do back to back runs. There would probably be a lot of other variables to account for between a full STX trim 02 and a new 05 besides LSD's - Wheels. tires, swaybars, lower gearing in the 05, and the newer MINI's have a slightly softer suspension than the 02's and 03's did.

I'd love to see if it feels any different

David