Last week I took Clark up for MINIs On The Dragon to join about 900 other MINIacs driving the mountain roads of North Carolina and Tennessee.  The previous MINIs On The Dragon events I attended were done in my previous 2006 MINI Cooper S, Scooter, so I was looking forward to bringing my 2016 F56 MINI up there for some comparison.  I have spent quite a bit of time working on setting up Clark to at least match the handling of Scooter and driving the Dragon (US 129) is a sure way to test the setup out.

If you recall, Clark is equipped with the Dynamic Damper Control from the factory and is riding a bit lower than stock on NM Engineering’s F56 lowering springs.  An NM Engineering 22mm rear sway bar and adjustable rear control arms & endlinks help tighten up the suspension.  I also recently added the NM Engineering Upper Tie-Bar to further improve steering response and handling.

Overall, I was completely blown away with the performance and handling that Clark provided.  Obviously from a power perspective, Clark has significantly more horsepower and torque which was evident in being able to stay in 3rd gear the entire run on the Dragon without feeling bogged down climbing the hills that would previously require a shift to 2nd gear in the R53.  What really blew me away, however, was just how responsive and neutral the handling was.  Not only did it match the awesome handling I was used to in my previous R53, but it surpassed it.  The car took turns EXTREMELY flat with just about zero body roll or flex.  I was able to rotate the rear end on tight turns in a very controlled fashion without feeling like the car was about to snap loose.  Look for some video I will be posting up soon that will help demonstrate what I am talking about.  It was simply a joy to drive!

Clark was photographed extensively while on the Dragon, thanks to Killboy.com, 129Photos.com, and 129Slayer.com.  Here are some of the photos they took last week: