MINI Article Deciding Vini's future is as stressful as real responsibility

As my tank commander used to say: "You do what you can afford." Truer word have never been spoken.

 

I am all ears and eyes, people. I drive my car a few times a week to commute because I love driving it, but at the same time, it bounces the hell out of me and has 73,000 miles on it.

Is it time to make a commitment one way or the other?

- Marc

 

Amen. Wish I had time to wallow in that much self-generated angst. But, alas, I just did it. When I can afford to do more, I will. When I can't, I won't. If I find something else that's more fun, I'll do that instead. Easy, and angst-free.

 

Glad you caught the sarcasm of the column:wink5:

- Marc

 

And, by the way, everyone needs a race car. Everyone.

 

Duh!

 

I beg to differ. Everyone wants a race car. Not everyone needs one. Even less should have one. And surely even fewer should be on the track at the same time as I. :cryin:

 

I think this is why we have club racing. There are certainly worthy drivers involved. But if there's a chance I could be involved, then that says something

 

When I found my "street" car with a cage welded into the stripped out boot and restrictive racing seats w/ six-point harnesses, I decided that it was time to build a racecar. I have discovered that there is much involved in building a competitve racecar vs doing DE's in a well prepped street car. I am enjoying the process, but it isn't for the faint of heart (or wallet).

 

It's all about what you want...

if you want to race, then the question is what to race. You could buy a complete used spec Miata for $5k and have at it. Sure it's gonna take parts and time to keep it rolling. The Mini isn't the cheapest way in to a race car, that's for sure. And if you're gonna race, you're gonna break. So the tow vehicle and trailer are a given. Money, time and storage space all are needed. And if you can't work on your own car, a fat wallet or a close friend who's a good mechanic are requirements as well.

Because of my financial situation, my track time has dropped to almost zero (hope to turn that around soon), but I'll be back. Without a trailer though, it's best to not get too extreme and not push it too hard otherwise you're looking for a tow home.

I lost a belt at Thunderhill once. Scared the crap out of me. Not the fact that I shredded the belt, but the look on my wife's face as I borrowed tools and stuff (along with the help of John Petrich) to talk me through the paddock repair. What if the car had really taken a dump? How much would it cost to get home? How many nights would I have had to sleep alone because my wife would have been so pissed? That is what was scary... So after that I wasn't as aggressive and kept a bit more perspective. And carried some more tools (but you never really have the one you need, nor the part the broke). And the spare pads, and the bottles of fluids and on and on. Makes the "rent a racers" seem a lot more attractive, that's for sure.

I think that's why a lot like AutoX. Shure, the sessions are much shorter, but so is the drive to the track, and the hassle factor if something breaks. But then, getting really serious about that as well is a commitment.

Race cars aren't street cars. A lot who get into it slowly find that thier street car has become undrivable on the street and have to do a bit of reflection to really figure out how much time and money it's gonna take. In fact, I've never met anyone who tracks at any level who hasn't gone back and forth a few times throughout thier "carreer"...

Matt

 

Excellent points, Matt.

Yeah... it's all fun and games until you hit the wall with your daily driver... then.... not so much.

I'm actually glad that Blimey is a convertible with an automatic... because that limits how far I'm gonna take it. Keeps me centered on the "fun extreme twisty street car that can sometimes go to the track" theme.... I *know* that for me to take it much beyond where it is right now, it makes more sense to buy a mostly-or-fully dedicated track car - maybe not a racecar- but something I wouldn't want to drive on the street every day. And, yep, there are other non-MINI options I'd consider for that...

Thinking quasi-seriously about building my own Atom knock-off. :cornut:

 

I've spent way too much time obsessing about this; I love the MINI, but it's not the ideal track car. Almost bought a Lotus, but common sense finally caught up to me (Love that car, but it's just too impractical). Too much maintenance that I'd be uncomfortable doing myself, and nearest dealer two and a half hours away. And I've spent far too much time on the Lotus boards, reading about how much people who own both the Lotus and MINI love both, and track them both depending on their mood....

So it comes down to goals and time. What I'd LIKE to do and what I CAN (realistically) do are unfortunately two different things. When it's all said and done, racing spec Miata's is what makes the most sense. Problem is the time commitment is overwhelming--those spec races eat up entire weekends in and of themselves, not to mention the prep and upkeep required for the car before and after the races. And you definitely want to trailer those, as was mentioned above.

I have three kids and a busy career. So if I was younger and single, I'd spec race. I still may do it in a few years when the kids are older; it'd be pretty cool to race with my kids, both my boys have expressed interest, and they're both pretty good in carts. Who knows, even my daughter may get into it (she's only three), there seem to be more and more women at the track (we have a Mazda spec driver locally who is one of the best in the area, she's a great instructor too).

On the other hand, nothing floats my boat like the MINI. It's a car that either you get it completely or you don't. I've driven several cars thinking that maybe I'd replace it with something better for dual duty (most recently the 370Z, which I thought was going to be it--until I drove it, it's just not as much fun). So the MINI sit with KW V2's, not the nicest riding car around town with that setup, but tolerable (my springs aren't as stiff as yours Marc), and a blast at the track. Probably do a cam/header, might do a head too, rollbar is going in this spring...I've resigned myself for the time being to make the MINI as track friendly as possible and still be able to take it out for a spin around town. My only issue is to get the car to behave better under threshold braking; if I can get that figured out I'll keep the car forever. I'm not a speed freak and have no desire to have a car that can do 160 up the front straight at road america. I'd rather be able to take the first turn at 70 MPH consistently....

Granted, it's a compromise--it's no longer the most comfortable car on the street, but it's still a hoot on good roads, and it's no where near a track beast--but the MINI can more than hold it's my own running with intermediates at HPDE's (I won't run advanced anymore--the clubs I run with have Vipers, tuned GTR's, even a Radical here and there in advanced, no thank you), and for now at least, and perhaps forever, that's good enough. Kind of fun toasting Porsche's in the intermediates, guilty pleasure I guess...

 

I put a roll bar in my Mustang so I could take it to the track...

did it once, maybe I'll do it once more, but the bar is coming out. The shocks, springs and bars are all set for the street, and I lost the back seat so I can't take the kids and the wife out in it (it's one kid OR the wife now). While it was a blast to scoot around Infineon with the top down (and with a real suspenions set up I could do better than a lot of higher HP cars out there, even though I'm down on power), it's just the wrong car for track work. So the bar will come out, I'll get the kids car seats into the back, and it will once again be just a simple street car (OK, not so simple).

I agree about running the intermediats. Not only do you get much faster cars in the higher groups, you get much, much larger egos there as well! What some of those people do can only be defined as 9/10ths if your scale goes to 11! Agressive for sure! And arrogent. A lot of them ought to be out doing wheel to wheel, insteaded of driving as agressively as they do at club events. Very stressfull.

Matt

 

Guys - thanks so much for the thoughts and for the discussion.

It's all rolling around in my hollow head...

- Marc

 

I like my car too much as it is now to ever change it into a race car. Never been to a track day or race school or any other kind of driving event. All I've done is two autocross, and I'm not competitive enough to care how I ranked against the others, being in SM didn't help. It was all about fun.

I'd say my car is more of a GT car, but I need better front seats.

 

Don't go to a HPDE then

the pleasure of going fast on a race track is more addictive than most drugs. You get to be at a place where driving fast is safer than commuting to work or getting groceries, and it's really, really fun. I've only done a little AutoX, and it just doesn't do it for me. Runs are too short and speeds are too low. The good part of doing track work is that, at least for me, pushing it on the street is much less satisfying than it was, so I just don't do it as much.

Matt

 

Yea - that's exactly what I was going to say - if you've never been to a track day and are happy with your car as is, DO NOT GO TO A TRACK DAY.

I think I might proceed this way:
- roll bar
- proper seats/harnesses
- oil cooler

Then leave it like that while enjoying track days/HPDE's/street driving. I'll do a club race school eventually, and if the lure of competition is so great, I'll have to commit to buying a cheap race car.

A reader made a great point to me in an e-mail: "It's commitment time, Bud.

To really grow, to reach your potential on the track, your car's got to be a tool. Period. You have to be ok with hammering it and maybe crashing it. If you love your car, for it's sake you'll always shy away from that edge."

I can't imagine being that way with my MINI, but who knows, right?

- Marc

 

I really love my MINI, a lot. Preserving the car is my top priority, and a huge influence in my decisions on the street.

Maybe I should have my head examined but I could stare at my MINI all day. A mere touch of it's freshly waxed surface makes the hair on my neck stand up, as all the memories of our best moments come flooding in.

It helps that there are no nearby tracks. There are two within 2 hours, but I don't want to shred my only set of tires. I passed up an event at Mid-America because of that, plus I didn't want to hit another car or a wall.

 

Watch out!

The way you're talking the little Asian hottie in your sig is gonna get jelous!

Matt