Just an update on the haps here at Webb Motorsports.
I have been VERY busy with installs, so as usual, it seems to many of you as if I've fallen off the face of the Earth. Not so! We have been working very hard at the shop on finishing several big MINI and Elise/Exige projects. I have finished the thorough rebuild of the Mule over the last couple of weeks as well.
I am now down to the last big project until the middle of this month, so I'm back to one install at a time - first the TurboKompressor and clutch/flywheel on the current MINI, then the '07 Elise Turbo install.
In addition, we have been wringing out the new car (R56) and new R53 products in our continuing development process.
With that, as many of you already know, I am just about caught up on emails! I have also developed a new way to stay on top of them - no promises, but I am always trying to improve our dreaded long response times (and I've got help this time). This is still the most efficient way to contact Webb Motorsports.
So, what have we been up to, and what is coming up?
R53 Products
We have finally introduced the SportBox RAF, and it is up on our site here. I am still working on a few more options - the thermal blanket is ready, and a silicone house is in the works, as well as a ceramic coating option. We have already shipped over 40! So far, everyone has been extremely happy with this unit.
We also have been very pleased with the Extreme Swaybar - which is still the best part on the market for the MINI. You can take a look at this tried and true product here. I plan on doing a full tech write up on this product in the very near future, which will explain the benefits of the torsion bar style hollow bar and endlink set up, as well as the materials used and why.
I am still working on the Webb Motorsports cat-back system for the R53, and it is all but complete except for some last material buys we have to make. With the cost of stainless, I am waiting until we have the Mule and Elise sold to make that last purchase. The exhaust system is completely revolutionary, and I have incorporated new tricks in the original idea - very cool.
R56 products
As soon as we received our R56 test mule, I started with the tweaking. We have now tested several products, and developed a few new ones as well. More are in the works...
H&R Springs - these are a must have for looks alone! The car looks as it should have from the factory, and the quality of the springs is very high. The rates are slightly firmer than the sport suspension option from the factory, and we have been very successful with them on the track and autocross course.
Here's a shot of our car with the springs installed:
You will notice we have been playing with wheel and tire options for the R56 as well, and I have had Team Dynamics make us a wheel with the correct offset to fit an 8" under the wing (fender in US speak). While I don't have it on the site just yet, they are now available from us - email for pricing and other info. The other good news about this set up - 235 tires fit too! I have been playing with the new Bridgestone RE01R, which has been a great tire, and we are going to be adding it to the site in the correct sizes shortly.
We have also been testing and now offer the Milltek downpipe with replacement cat, and the Milltek cat-back. This is one of the only setups for a full turbo-back on the R56, and I have been happy with it, even if it did not meet all of the manufacturer claims for power (it did make a postive gain however).
We have also been testing the R56 crank pulley for some time now, and are very happy with the results. It is similar in weight to the R53, and red too (the fastest color). This piece is also currently available.
The new Webb Motorsports R56 short shifter is available as well - which uses the same technology as our R53 piece. This is a very nice change, and takes the R56 shifting experience to a whole new buttery level.
Of course, the rear suspension of the new car is very similar to the R53, and the Extreme and Preferred as well as our other rear suspension products all work on the R56 (and are listed in the R56 catalog section).
We are currently working on an ECU solution that will provide significant gains for the R56. That is the biggest news on the R56 front. Also in prototype form and soon to be available is the R56 SportBox with or without RAF. There are some other tricks being developed too, but I am going to keep them under wraps for now (cough - headwork - cough).
Cars available
I mentioned earlier that the Elise and Mule are up for sale - still the case, and with very good terms. This will provide us with the capital for more products. Though I am still dedicated to all three cars, I have used the Mule and the Elise to develop as much as I can, and the R56 is the only car I will be keeping for now (I also have a nice tow vehicle in the form of a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins for sale).
Upcoming Events
First, we will be having a joint install day with Lyle from Vinyl Styles coming out to the shop on June 18-19 for a black out session. He will be at Webb Motorsports doing black outs (vinyl wraps on the headlight rings, beltline, etc) on the R53 and R56 - click here for more info and sign ups.
The next big event will be MINIs in the Mountains at Copper Mountain (our backyard). I have created a sign up for this event as well, and we have posted on the NAM Vendor Install thread as well as the forum discussion for MITM on NAM, so you can find plenty of info on that one.
In addition to the MITM Pulley Party, we will be having a WMS MITM breakfast/ride from Webb Motorsports to Copper on Thursday morning. Coming in from the east? Join us! We are planning to meet at 7:30am and we'll leave at 8:00. Stay tuned to the MITM discussion forum for sign up info.
2007 WMS Motorsports involvement
While I have gone to the track with the Mule to do final sorting after the rebuild, we are sticking to test/tune track days and instruction for the R56 this year.
I have dedicated to the autocross schedule for '07, as with any new car, I think it offers a very good method of evaluation. We are competing with two cars in the BMWCCA season, and so far, in the first two events, I have taken first and our other car has taken second in the very competitive (minimum of 13 cars each event in class) B Street Tire. I will be posting more on our success and pictures - Vicky has been driving this year for her first time autocrossing and has so far placed third in the R56 in both of her events!
We plan to drive at least one SCCA event in STX, and so far, I think we have a winning set up.
I still plan to do more wheel to wheel racing, and there may be more involvement with the Phil Wicks North American MINI Cooper Challenge in '08.
So, that about wraps it up for us. I am still running the show solo, with occasional help from Alex (who is headed off to Stanford at the end of the summer), so it may take some time for me to get back to you. I plan on having the response time down to 24 hours for email within the next week if all goes well. Try it out!
Happy Motoring!
Randy
I have been VERY busy with installs, so as usual, it seems to many of you as if I've fallen off the face of the Earth. Not so! We have been working very hard at the shop on finishing several big MINI and Elise/Exige projects. I have finished the thorough rebuild of the Mule over the last couple of weeks as well.
I am now down to the last big project until the middle of this month, so I'm back to one install at a time - first the TurboKompressor and clutch/flywheel on the current MINI, then the '07 Elise Turbo install.
In addition, we have been wringing out the new car (R56) and new R53 products in our continuing development process.
With that, as many of you already know, I am just about caught up on emails! I have also developed a new way to stay on top of them - no promises, but I am always trying to improve our dreaded long response times (and I've got help this time). This is still the most efficient way to contact Webb Motorsports.
So, what have we been up to, and what is coming up?
R53 Products
We have finally introduced the SportBox RAF, and it is up on our site here. I am still working on a few more options - the thermal blanket is ready, and a silicone house is in the works, as well as a ceramic coating option. We have already shipped over 40! So far, everyone has been extremely happy with this unit.
We also have been very pleased with the Extreme Swaybar - which is still the best part on the market for the MINI. You can take a look at this tried and true product here. I plan on doing a full tech write up on this product in the very near future, which will explain the benefits of the torsion bar style hollow bar and endlink set up, as well as the materials used and why.
I am still working on the Webb Motorsports cat-back system for the R53, and it is all but complete except for some last material buys we have to make. With the cost of stainless, I am waiting until we have the Mule and Elise sold to make that last purchase. The exhaust system is completely revolutionary, and I have incorporated new tricks in the original idea - very cool.
R56 products
As soon as we received our R56 test mule, I started with the tweaking. We have now tested several products, and developed a few new ones as well. More are in the works...
H&R Springs - these are a must have for looks alone! The car looks as it should have from the factory, and the quality of the springs is very high. The rates are slightly firmer than the sport suspension option from the factory, and we have been very successful with them on the track and autocross course.
Here's a shot of our car with the springs installed:
You will notice we have been playing with wheel and tire options for the R56 as well, and I have had Team Dynamics make us a wheel with the correct offset to fit an 8" under the wing (fender in US speak). While I don't have it on the site just yet, they are now available from us - email for pricing and other info. The other good news about this set up - 235 tires fit too! I have been playing with the new Bridgestone RE01R, which has been a great tire, and we are going to be adding it to the site in the correct sizes shortly.
We have also been testing and now offer the Milltek downpipe with replacement cat, and the Milltek cat-back. This is one of the only setups for a full turbo-back on the R56, and I have been happy with it, even if it did not meet all of the manufacturer claims for power (it did make a postive gain however).
We have also been testing the R56 crank pulley for some time now, and are very happy with the results. It is similar in weight to the R53, and red too (the fastest color). This piece is also currently available.
The new Webb Motorsports R56 short shifter is available as well - which uses the same technology as our R53 piece. This is a very nice change, and takes the R56 shifting experience to a whole new buttery level.
Of course, the rear suspension of the new car is very similar to the R53, and the Extreme and Preferred as well as our other rear suspension products all work on the R56 (and are listed in the R56 catalog section).
We are currently working on an ECU solution that will provide significant gains for the R56. That is the biggest news on the R56 front. Also in prototype form and soon to be available is the R56 SportBox with or without RAF. There are some other tricks being developed too, but I am going to keep them under wraps for now (cough - headwork - cough).
Cars available
I mentioned earlier that the Elise and Mule are up for sale - still the case, and with very good terms. This will provide us with the capital for more products. Though I am still dedicated to all three cars, I have used the Mule and the Elise to develop as much as I can, and the R56 is the only car I will be keeping for now (I also have a nice tow vehicle in the form of a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins for sale).
Upcoming Events
First, we will be having a joint install day with Lyle from Vinyl Styles coming out to the shop on June 18-19 for a black out session. He will be at Webb Motorsports doing black outs (vinyl wraps on the headlight rings, beltline, etc) on the R53 and R56 - click here for more info and sign ups.
The next big event will be MINIs in the Mountains at Copper Mountain (our backyard). I have created a sign up for this event as well, and we have posted on the NAM Vendor Install thread as well as the forum discussion for MITM on NAM, so you can find plenty of info on that one.
In addition to the MITM Pulley Party, we will be having a WMS MITM breakfast/ride from Webb Motorsports to Copper on Thursday morning. Coming in from the east? Join us! We are planning to meet at 7:30am and we'll leave at 8:00. Stay tuned to the MITM discussion forum for sign up info.
2007 WMS Motorsports involvement
While I have gone to the track with the Mule to do final sorting after the rebuild, we are sticking to test/tune track days and instruction for the R56 this year.
I have dedicated to the autocross schedule for '07, as with any new car, I think it offers a very good method of evaluation. We are competing with two cars in the BMWCCA season, and so far, in the first two events, I have taken first and our other car has taken second in the very competitive (minimum of 13 cars each event in class) B Street Tire. I will be posting more on our success and pictures - Vicky has been driving this year for her first time autocrossing and has so far placed third in the R56 in both of her events!
We plan to drive at least one SCCA event in STX, and so far, I think we have a winning set up.
I still plan to do more wheel to wheel racing, and there may be more involvement with the Phil Wicks North American MINI Cooper Challenge in '08.
So, that about wraps it up for us. I am still running the show solo, with occasional help from Alex (who is headed off to Stanford at the end of the summer), so it may take some time for me to get back to you. I plan on having the response time down to 24 hours for email within the next week if all goes well. Try it out!
Happy Motoring!
Randy