Most liked posts in thread: SCCA 2012 DSP - R56 JCW Class Prep and Results

Indeed.

One good thing is the effort finally got me off my butt to finalize several things I've been putting off. I had a great work day with k-huevo and sorted out a lot. I have one more day with him next week to do final changes and I'll be set up for a final config for next year's nationals...and a whole 12 months of driving to drill the skills. By 2013 I aim to knock off at least a couple of the 18+ BMW 3 series beasts that frequent the nationals. Well...

I'll do a post with the final changes we did and the final config info if anyone is interested. As I've worked through the D-Stock, STX and DSP rules for the R56 JCW's I increasingly believe that of the three classes the JCW might have a better chance in DSP than the other two classes. I would love to have a pros/cons discussion with folks in those classes and see what they think.

 

K-Huevo's Werkin Mini

Spent the day with k-huevo yesterday finishing set up and final mods. I updated my signature below to list the major mods I have in place now. All of these mods are compatible with the DSP class in SCCA Solo II.

As a side note, when we changed the Intercooler to the Helix, the OEM Intercooler was essentially dry. No accumulation of scuz at all after 45,000 miles! May not bother with catch can after all.

K-huevo pushed me into returning to the 70Nmm Swift Springs in the front and leaving the 60Nmm springs in the rear. Though I was reluctant to do so I have to admit I think it was a good move. The ride is not changed appreciably but based on playing around on my way home I think the new config will work well in autox. He swears I will like it so well I'll be back one day to raise the rates on the springs again. We'll see.

Everything else is working great. We set the NM sway bar to the second hole for the rest of the year. In the end I may like it moved forward to the more aggressive setting but I thought I'd try it like this for a few months first. All fluids are new, brakes bled and I will get an alignment this week and keep it at the same settings as before...-2.5F, -1.6R, Slight Toe-in F&R. The rest of the year should be mine in autox. :fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed:

The next project will be to install a suite of gauges. I'm considering the Craven/Marshall combo for Oil Pressure, Water Temp, Boost and Oil Temp. The total cost runs around a grand...whew. We'll see what Santa says. If anyone has input on gauges I'm all ears.

Again, if anyone gets a chance to have k-huevo do work on your mini I highly recommend his work and value is analysis and recommendations for performance set ups.

 

Possible Results at the Nationals

Ok, this will be a kinda silly post. But, I've been wondering how I might have fared at the Nationals if I would have been able to go. So, I've run a few numbers to see if I would have a chance at all. It turns out that I would not likely have done very well but...

I used a measure of the time delta I usually hold between me and one of the faster drivers in the club that did go to the nationals. For the last two local events I finished 1.7 secs behind him on a 42.4 second run for him and I finished 1.5 secs behind him on a 41.9 sec run for him. I've been pretty consistent at that level. If I average that time delta it comes to about 1.6 secs delta on about a 42 sec course for his time. At the nationals he ran a 126.8 sec best times for the sum of the two days. The total time is about 3 times our average local runs so I multiplied the 1.6s delta by 3 for a total delta of 4.8 secs. If I would have run at those average times behind him (big if, of course!) I would have had total best times of 4.8s + his time of 126.8 = 131.6 secs. Of course, that assumes I could hang on the 60+ sec runs without getting lost since I'm used to only 45 sec runs or less.

In DSP that would have placed me at 17th place out of 22 entries...if, if, if, if,....

Well, next year for sure! :biggrin5::biggrin5::biggrin5:

 

We held the Spokes/SASCA autox event yesterday during heavy rain...all day.

I finished first in DSP by a slight margin with a total of six entries. I was at 56.996, 2nd finished 57.248, 3rd was 58.582. Though the course was quite flooded for most of the runs the third run of five was during a slight let up of the rain. Most of us had our best time then. It was fun and quite a learning experience.

My normal main competitor, a lightly modified MazdaSpeed3, finished third and I was ahead by about 1.6s which is quite a change. We'll see if that holds up in dry weather.

A new MazdaSpeed3 appeared upon the scene and finished about 0.25s behind me...so it looks like the competition will continue to get stronger for the rest of the year.

Bottom line...the new set up is awesome. I'm running 70Nmm Swift springs in the front and 60Nmm in the rear. Combined with the 225-40-17 A6's the larger rear anti sway bar (NM Eng 22mm) and spacers on the wheels the Lenz is handling beautifully. I'm running 5mm spacers front and rear. I've ordered 15mm spacers for the front and will keep the 5mm's in the rear. That should prevent the rubbing we found and provide a little better handling...maybe...we'll see.

I should have listened to k-huevo a long time ago. He's been advocating putting the heavier springs back up front since I took them all out for DD ride considerations. He's now recommending that I go to heavier springs one day. I might do so after the new year. I love the Swifts but they're pricey.

The combination of AST 5100's and swift springs is finally working out like I had hoped. It took awhile mainly because I didn't take the time to really analyze the set up and make changes aggressively. "Slowly we turn...step by step."

I'm considering upgrading the 5100's to 5200's in early 2013 if I get new heavier springs. The combo might still afford a reasonable daily drive and still get better performance and more flexibility for various racing surfaces. That will be important because I'm planning to step up to 3+ National tour events, including the 2013 Nationals, and 2+ ProSolo events in addition to 24 local events in this new season. Much work to do.

I love this game.

 

Well, I did it. I went ahead and ordered the Craven gauges. Seeking to fulfill another long lost desire...door to door gauges...with my MINI. What fun!

 

Recent AutoX Results

I won my class by a tenth of a hair yesterday. I again beat my current nemesis MazdaSpeed3 in DSP with times of...Me: 33.631 and MS3: 33.651. Whew! 0.02s. Crazy. For the last couple of SASCA events I was quite a bit ahead due in large part my use of Hoosier A6's and his continued use of the R6's. But, he ran A6's this event which brought us back to a head to head, even-steven dance again.

The course yesterday was more open and faster than usual which also gave him a bit of a step up due to his near 300 Bhp to my approx 230 bhp in the Stage One mode I run with the AccessPort. Also, he continues to drive a bit better than me...much more consistent. We're both improving but he's getting better faster. He has minimal mods compared to my much larger investment.

Another measure for me is the Honda Civic that did the class hopping from ST to STX last year. Yesterday he timed at 33.508. Actually, the Civic he is driving now is a new platform for him which is more capable than the one he drove last year. He's the better driver of the three of us. But, at least the 1s+ lead he used to carry on us is gone now. Also, the more open, less technical course put is civic at a disadvantage.

In raw scores I placed 29 out of 104 drivers. Most of the top drivers from both Spokes and SASCA were back this month so I felt pretty good about the day's effort.

The GreyLenz is nicely configured now for AutoX and the setup is fairly well tuned. But, I still need to get the rear AST's re-built to resolve the very stff adjustment problem and I'll move the NM sway bar from the middle setting to the stiffest setting soon to experiment. I also need to flip the A6's before the next SASCA event on 11 Dec.

Note: We also now have three other mini's that have run with SASCA and Spokes over the last few months. Hopefully, they will continue.

 

Suspension

Here's a few pics of the suspension set up and new NM brake discs (installed backwards cause I like the look).

If you look close you'll see a fix used for the install of the NM Sway Bar...the threads in the subframe for the bracket to hold the bar were stripped. So, I had the local repair shop do this fix after I decided not to spend the money to fix the subframe at this time. K-huevo saw the fix and said it is just what he would have done under the circumstances, so....

K-huevo Approved.

 

I think they're radial vanes. But, now that you mention it, I never really checked. Mmmmm...will have to do so soon.

 

K-huevo suggested the same thing about the sway bar so I'll try that interim step. Actually, the car is really handling well. It has a nice balance of turn in and the rear end is fairly lively...pretty good set up for autox. But, tightening up the rear bar a step might help a bit. Since our times are so close now I thought I'd try this sooner than later.

No directional issues with the A6's. The A6's wear so quickly on the outside edge that most folks flip them after about 25 runs...around 5 or 6 events. Given I'll likely need every advantage before the final run of the year on 9 Dec I think I'll get this done before then. Still not sure how our final points add up for the year. I didn't move to DSP till March so I'm two events light. Not sure how they count the points...minimum 8 events...they throw out two lowest...etc?? However it turns out the back and forth win dynamic between us has been a blast. He's a better driver and the MazdaSpeed3 is more capable in stock form. I leaped up because of the mods and then he went to R6's and jumped in front and then I went to A6's and jumped back and then he went to A6's and closed the gap again. The last event of the year will be fun, indeed.

So, are you still tearing up H2R on a regular basis? I've not done an HPDE in almost a year. Just too busy. But, I think I'm going to cut back on autox events in 2013...will just do about 12-15 to make time for a few track days.

 

By custom hub centric spacers do you mean the spacers themselves have an extended "hub" that will center the wheel?

Also, I'm having difficulty finding studs long enough for the thicker spacers. I've been running the TSW studs for 3 years but can't find longer replacements.