1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Ran the R53 at the 1/4 mile

Oh dear God please don't drag race a Mini. It one way to destroy your car 1/4 mile at a time.


Drag racing a Mini is like taking an dragster to a road race course or the Rolex 24.

 

If it makes you happy have at it. We all like different things & that makes life interesting.

 

There's nothing harder on a car than drag racing. A mile on the strip is the equivalent hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of street miles. That having been said, it's your car and it can always be fixed, so have at it!

 

I don't buy into the fact that MINI clutches are a weak point....my clutch (OEM MINI) has over 130k on it....probably close to a hundred 1/4mi passes (including burnouts and launches on r compounds)....hundreds and hundreds of autocross runs (more launches on R tires), and plenty of pro solo runs (more burnouts and launches).

Clearly this causes more wear than driving to the grocery store, but as long as you toss in a little bit of mechanical sympathy when driving hard, our cars are not that fragile!

Now, that being said, I'll be lucky to make it home from work today without my clutch expiring

Do whatever you want, have fun with the car!

Jason

 

Track day/ Drag race it's all racing and it's all abusive, to the bits,pieces, and parts of a car no matter of make model or manufacture. It's what you consider fun and what is available in your area. As was previously stated preventive maintenance helps in keeping a daily driver, sometime racer happy. I've had a few daily driver racers in my time and as long as you maintain them they last, and won't let you down on the drive there,or the drive home after hard day on the track.

 

It's no harder on a MINI than it is on any other car.

For me, it's fun to make a couple passes here and there. It puts a smile on my face, who cares what anyone else thinks?

Jason

 

Nicely done!

Might as well run the car down the strip once in a while if you are so inclined. After all where else can you legally hammer the car to the end of 3rd gear and beyond.

 

Well let's see......multiple hard launches hurts the clutch (MINI weak point), multiple hard shifts (again hard on the clutch and drivetrain), temp on the IC soars w/o a proper cool down.

What could go wrong?

 

Very well put. Many folks do not have that feel for things mechanical. If one doesn't have it, they should learn it.

 

Have fun with these cars... if you beat anything its life is diminished.

I have replaced my lower bushings do to 'wild' torque steer on the bottle runs.. Axles/clutch/CV joints/ trans/ shifter.. all stock on my 06 !!

They say here in the south.." IF your not going to run with the big dogs... stay on the porch!" I guess you could always keep it safe and in the garage?? Yes??

Just have fun and fix when it breaks..

Just me.............................

Thumper

 

Don't think you're going to find many here that like drag racing. Most feel it is way to abusive to our cars, like me.....:biggrin5:

If you ever get your car to a dyno, you will find out that the shift points for max acceleration are about 300-500 rpm before redline. That is where you get the most torque for the next gear.

 

I've had my R53 down the 1/4 mile more than a few times (personal best 13.8 @100). I enjoy an evening at the drag strip from time to time.

I find that you actually want to shift at the rev limiter to maximize torque to the ground. Even though it's past torque peak, you are still putting more torque to the ground right up to the revlimit than you are in the next higher gear at torque peak.



Jason

 

First time out to the drags is rocking!! That MPH is a low 14sec pass... but the 2.3 60 ft kills ya!! FWD SUX!!

Dont be banning your ET's the FWD is a skill to get to leave correct!! MPH is a solid 14 sec car!!

The Drag strip is a cheap and fun way to find HP improvements. Get your weight and your MPH and it will tell you the WHP !! Cheaper than a dyno and a lot more fun!! Yes??


Have fun and 'Drag On'

Just me..............................

Thumper

 

If your not breaking parts while racing than your not driving hard enough.....just my .02


Ofcourse I am a parts guy so............

Tummi_Gummi...you keep having fun that's what MINI is all about.....

 

Very nice I have always wanted to run mine on a strip......but.....as Scott said, just don't like beating it up like that :lol: But one day??????? Hmm.......maybe when I'm just about ready to put on some new tires?

 

Wow Tummi that mini is slow. Mine is faster than that and it doesn't even have stripes :idea: Trazy Mane :incazzato:

 

On the video you're definitely over revving in first gear at least, you can actually see the car slowing or not going faster as the revs increase as the car passes the camera. I'm no longer into burning rubber and racing any further than the other side of the intersection; and, like most "S" minis we're usually the first across, if we're so inclined. I blew off this guy in an Avalon the other day, boy was he pissed as he went by, after I slowed down.