Planning on going down to Sonoma Raceway tomorrow to watch Jacques Andres do testing in his twin engine, R53 MCS MINI Cooper. Action should start at about 10AM. This Mini was designed and built by Jacques Andres of Bay Bridge Motors to run the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Any other Mini enthusiasts want to come out? I will be covering the test for Motorwerks Magazine. —
Jacques Andres discussed it in a podcast interview: http://miniology.com/2012/12/miniology-radio-christmas-2012/ It comes down to this... lots of power (like 500 hp) is needed to be competitive in the unlimited class at 25 Hours of Thunderhill, but that isn't going to cut it in a FWD car. So Jacques created an AWD R53, and boosted the power by adding a second engine! I actually have my MINI serviced at his shop (Bay Bridge Motors in Oakland). I'll be there soon for some regular maintenance and I'll try to have a look.
Stumbled over this video this morning... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u5XYsSikJM]1st Test Session for twin engine R53 MINI Cooper - YouTube[/ame]
Thanks Nathan - Here is a bit more. Also Motorwerks Magazine will be running a feature story in the upcoming issue Here is a follow up on the twin engine R53 with 520 HP. This car has been designed and built for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill Raceway and will compete in December. This was just the initial shakedown testing but the synchronization worked perfect. This MINI is expected to run in the top 5 in a 80-100 car field. Amazing that in race trim, it looks like a slightly modified MINI, but it will accelerate with the Corvettes, BMW's, and Porsches. Here is a short teaser 1st Test Session for twin engine R53 MINI Cooper - YouTube