Your car is looking good! Well one side. I really like how you've modded. You had a good run going looked like fun until that last bit.
It was actually big fun. Hence the WooHoo The WooHoo was a combination "that was awesome!" and the realization that we didn't hit the tires insanely hard, or head-on, and the engine was still running and not making any weird sounds. I was sure I had cosmetic damage, but doubted I broke anything important or expensive. I've learned an IMMENSE amount from that few seconds of video. Priceless experience. I know what is probably the weakest part of my car control skills (understeer situations), and can work on it.
Looked FUN up to that point. Glad it was only cosmetic.. Now that Blimey has a few battle scares your good to go!!!
Been there, done that. You were carrying good speed through that corner, looks just about right, and got on the throttle a bit too early and too hard--commendable for an automatic! A few of the other corners, you came in slower, and got on the throttle early, but because you weren't carrying as much speed you got away with it. The thing with the Mini is if you get on the throttle too soon near the limit of the corner, it understeers like a pig, you can't get on it as quickly as with RWD, where at most corners they're at or close to full throttle at the apex. For the MINI, unless it's a challenge car or set up like one, we're at full throttle when we start to unwind the wheel. If you can get on the throttle before that, then the car's telling you you can carry more speed into the corner.
REALLY good counsel. Yeah, from looking at the telemetry from the good lap, I was carrying 60 mph around that particular apex and was typically at 70ish at the point where I lost it. I suspect you're dead accurate regarding the dynamics of the car, but I still believe in this particular case, at the speed and grip I was carrying, my #1 offense this time was not giving it the right steering input (unwind) as I throttled up. Traction circle violation... My instructor is a Mini owner also... so he gets it.
Moar parts! Fedex is fondling my nuts somewhere, they should be here later today (hopefully). And one big MAGIC part. Rebuilt to better-than-new standards. My tranny started doing flaky things on the way home from the track. Not the same symptoms as before when I just had burned fluid. But also doesn't act like clutch problems... just acts like one or more of the solenoids is freaking out. Which could also just be burned fluid. But given the record of failures of the solenoids in these valve bodies, and the fact that I have 151k HARD miles on mine, I figured I might as well swap it before I flog it any more on track. Already have the pan gasket and strainer from a previously planned gasket swap that never happened. Bolts and two cases of Royal Purple synthetic fluid being delivered tomorrow. I'll be convalescing this weekend, so this will probably be my 8/23-8/24 project.
Be cool if you can ever get to Road America or Blackhawks-I instruct for some of the groups there. Maybe not well, but I do it. The thing with instructing is I learn as much from that as I do from being instructed, both are extremely helpful. Not a whole bunch of MINIs to instruct though, wish there were more. I'm instructing an FRS driver Friday with the Milwaukee Branch of the PCA, should be fun as I've never been in one on the track:
I agree with cct1, one of the tricks I use when working on corners in the mini is to think about unwinding earlier rather than getting back on the gas sooner. If any of the events you go to run a skidpad those are handy for practicing your reactions to under/oversteer so it becomes second nature. I fought the same thing in that fixing oversteer came naturally but opening the wheel for understeer just felt counter intuitive till i beat it into my head
Transmogrification Step 13b - Moar Stopping (part 2) I've been running 2nd Gen MCS brakes on the front for a few years... a huge upgrade from the 1st gen stock brakes. But even with these, and with great pads, I've had overheating issues in the past. So tonight I went from this: to this: I know not everyone is in love with these calipers - I get that, but everything's always a trade-off of some kind. I want to stick with my 16" wheels, so my options are limited. I don't want to spend a zillion dollars, so that limits them some more. I want to focus on heat management, which means fat directionally vented rotors. In the world of fat rotor kits for Minis that fit in a 16" wheel, you don't have a lot of options. Oh yeah, and it had to be RED. :lol: So here's what really sold me on this kit: On top, 2nd gen MCS (1st gen JCW) rotor. On bottom, DT rotor. It's massive. The diameter of them is almost identical, even though the DT looks bigger in this pic, if you stack them, they're within a couple mm But the vastly superior venting has got to do something good... The "business end" of the airflow... this has got to move air better than the OEM rotor. Interestingly, the calipers use pads with LESS contact area than the old calipers: New XP10 pad for these calipers on the left, XP12 pad for my old calipers on the right. And they use thinner pads, with less friction material than the OEM calipers. Another trade-off. But at least these CT pads don't have rivets, so I can run them down thinner (in theory). Will be interesting to see what kind of life I get on pads and rotors. I upgraded to the cryo-treated rotors, in the hope that they'll last longer. We'll see. Cooler setup should mean that I'm able to stay within the XP10 temperature range, and get longer pad life. Again, time will tell. Took it out for a test drive... OMG STOPPING. I really didn't expect a night and day difference. The pedal feel is much more firm and the pedal is a bit higher - a welcome surprise. With the ZII's it took some serious brake application to get into the ABS with the old brakes... once warmed up, the XP10's and these brakes are like an anchor... I think I could almost do a front wheelie. And it takes a lot less effort to get to the limit of the tires and invoke the ABS. It's not touchy... there's just a lot more available clamping force there. Should be plenty for later when I move up to R888's or Rcomps. Modulation is still very good. Bias with the rears also seemed good once everything was warmed up. Really really happy right now. We'll see how they do at the track in a few weeks.
Put a big suction cup on the giant dent in my door yesterday and it popped right out. Car looks about half as effed up now. Now just need to use the glue puller on the rest of the dents and polish it out. Will be a couple of weeks before I get around to that. Do need to pull the bumper and do some work on that, at some point. Not in a big hurry... it's a track car.
Get some brake ducts in there, it helps immensely. Cryo rotors are worth a shot, but to be honest I don't think they make much, if any, difference, at least on our cars. Braking technique will do more for your rotor life than cryo IMHO. That, and having your rotors perfectly centered. I run a 12.19 inch rotor under 15 inch wheels, but it's not cheap. I still roast rotors, but not as much as before, and I may have had an issue with back pressure in the brake lines not allowing full release, we'll see if the ABS bleed helped tomorrow. You've got more brake than tire--that's ok, it's a great time to practice modulation.
From one Paul to another, I'd like to pick your brain about the Schroth setup you have... my biggest annoyance with my car at this point is that I can't keep my ass in the seat when cornering. Although I'm not a huge fan of a 4-point harness for street use (even with ASM straps), being able to swap to a track-ready harness in a couple of clicks sounds great, and probably better than I could do with the stock seatbelt in place. Do you still have the custom shopping list from HSM? I'd like to take a peek and see what you bought and why :arf:
The Schroth's 4 points work great for me, I don't use them on the street, but 5 or 6 points are better, I'm switching to them as soon as I decide wether I'm keeping this car forever or not. And Paul--the ABS bleed--thanks for the post about enginuity stuff from a bazillion years ago, it was one of your posts that I referenced when I bought it--rather fork over for the ABS bleed myself than at at the stealer.
The Schroth Quick-Fits are good enough for most folks, if you haven't tried those. My setup only works if you have a roll bar or cage with built in harness bars, or a dedicated structural harness bar installed for mounting the shoulder straps. Rear strut braces don't count. You also need a seat with an anti-sub strap slot. If you have all that stuff, read on... You can order a Profi-II ASM FE plus optional double ant-sub strab and just call it a day. Or if you'd rather have the Hybrid-style anti-sub straps, you get a Hybrid-II, and purchase an extra 3" ASM shoulder strap and FE buckle to convert it to a street safe/legal setup.
I have a plan that involves getting a roll bar and seats with an anti-sub slot in them. I've had the Quik-Fits, but any 4-point is frowned upon for an HPDE car, and PCA will usually flat out fail you for tech. Anything wrong with getting the ASM FE and adding the anti-sub straps (for HPDE days, not club racing)? It would be freaking awesome to just unclip the anti-sub, pull it under the seat, and drive away. (OK, not counting wheel and pad swap) What's the huge attraction to the Hybrid setup - less "nut hug"? :biggrin5:
Sorry - yes, you add the anti-sub strap setup to the Profi-II ASM FE - I forgot it didn't come with that (I edited my post above). That's the setup on my passenger side. I leave the ASM strap in all the time. Schroth now says it's fine to use with a HANS, even. I stow the crotch straps or just let them hang over the front of the seat (looks cooler) when not in use. I got the Hybrid for the driver's side because (a) it's more comfortable and (b) it works better. Though it is a little bit more effort to hook up the anti-sub straps each time you harness up at the track. But after a few times it's no big deal. So on the driver's side I had to add the ASM shoulder strap and an FE buckle for the street. I'm glad I got the Hybrid setup... but I rode at the track in the passenger seat with the Profi-II setup last weekend, and it was fine.