Now that I have been running my BC Racing coilovers for almost a year, I decided to post up a quick update. With three track weekends at three different tracks (Homestead, Sebring and Daytona) under my belt with these coilovers, I can honestly say that I have achieved my goal in finding the perfect compromise between a track and street car. On the track, the BC’s have held up unbelievably. The car feels PLANTED in turns and the built-in camber plates allow for needed camber adjustment (which I have left alone since my one and only alignment last year).
On the street, the car is VERY drivable. I feel the springs have softened up a tad over the past year. This has resulted in a slightly lower ride height. Performance, however, seems to be unaffected. In case you missed it, I had the privilege of having pro-racer Randy Pobst take my car out for a 3 lap session at Daytona International Speedway in December to give me his honest opinion on the car’s setup. Randy thought the car had a very good balance between track and street setups. It was cool to have a pro shake out my car and give me some feedback. The only thing he suggested was more brake - which I am in the process of doing (stay tuned for that write-up on my quest for more stopping power).
After thouroughly putting the BC’s through their paces, I still highly recommend them for anyone interested in improving their MINIs suspension performance. They will TRULY transform your ride into a serious handling machine. Pete @ Minspeed.net currently has the BC’s in stock and I encourage you, if you are in the market for coilovers, to give him a call or e-mail and order a set. At $1100 for a set of 4 coilovers and camber plates - you can’t go wrong!
Franklin Nichols from Slot Car News posted up a cool review of the limited edition Franklin Mint diecast of a 1967 Morris Mini Cooper.
…this die-cast represents a factory-production Morris Mini for the home market, done up in British Racing Green with offsetting cream roof and wheels. The twin fender mirrors and extra chrome are Cooper-correct. In keeping with Franklin Mint practice, the model’s hood, doors, and deck lid all open, revealing solid interior detail and an excellent representation of the 1,275 cc Mini-Cooper engine…
…Franklin Mint is known for their fine attention to detail under the bonnet this car is no different. The motor is wired and in high detail. The interior is also of fine quality, although the instrument cluster is a little hard to read with the warning lights almost illegible…
For the full review, including more photos, make sure you check out the link below!
Fifth Gear is at it again with another review of the MINI. This time they tackle the MINI Clubman. I have to agree with Johnny on several points. First off - why the heck is the car badged with a Cooper name?? A MINI Cooper is a specific model (so I thought). And where does it say Clubman on the vehicle?? Sorry but that just bothers me. Also, the start/stop function seems to be a joke. I guess technically my 1979 Datsun 210 was WAY ahead of its time because it did the same thing when I came up to a stop light! I still can’t wait to test drive one to get a first-hand account of the car, but it almost seems that the MINI SUV/SAV may be a better fit for someone looking for more room, making the Clubman kind of pointless. I guess until I drive both I will have to keep an open mind.
When we left our hero yesterday… (yeah, yeah - I know - I watched WAY too much 1970’s Batman growing up). Anyways… in part 1 of “Scooter’s New Shoes” we discussed the reason for the new shoes in the first place. While I hope you actually click the link to read part 1 if you missed it, in a nutshell, my daily drivers that I also used on the track were shot to “you know where” and I decided to mount some Toyo RA1’s (an R-comp tire) on my Enkei rims for track use only. So after searching dozens of wheel and tire sites and using Photoshop to see what each design might look like on Scooter, I finally decided on ASA’s 17 inch AR2 wheels and the Kumho Ecsta SPT’s in a 215/40/17 configuration (I really did like the wide-stanced 215/40/17 size of my Hankooks, so I figured why not get that size on the Kumho’s).
Well after 2 track weeekends and 15,000 miles of daily driving, my Hankook Rs2 Z212’s are finally shot. Last weekend driving up to Mickey & MINI 3 was the last trip they would see. Considering that I only expected to get 12,000 miles out of them - I am tickled to reach 15,000 miles without a problem! I must admit, however, towards the end there, the Hankook’s handled like crap. To be fair though, the tread was at the point that it did not pass the “penny test” so I really can’t complain. They served me well and handled like a dream when they still had some thickness to them!
Sooooo what now? Do I go out and pick up another set of Hankooks? Or do I take this opportunity to take my on-track traction to the next level? I did some research and spoke to many people who track their cars regularly and the logical choice that sits between a street tire like the Hankooks and a slick track tire like a set of Hoosiers is the Toyo RA1’s. The RA1’s are an R-compound tire, designed strictly for track use and seem to be the best choice for someone transitioning from a street tire. They are available with minimal tread or you can have a race shop shave them to enhance their dry traction performance (essentially making them *almost* slicks). I know what you are asking - why the heck would you shave OFF tread!?!? Doesn’t that shorten the life of the tire??? Well - not really. You see by shaving the tread, you are actually helping the tire heat up more evenly when on the track. Many individuals have noticed that by not shaving their RA1’s, they were only able to get 2-3 track weekends out of a set of tires. I am hoping to double that to 4-6 weekends by shaving mine. I will keep you posted on this of course!
In this installment of the MotoringFun Suspension Project, I will cover the final improvements I made to Scooter to take an already well-handling car and turn it into what can only be described as an adult go-kart. To recap, in part one of the project, I added lighter wheels and grippier (is that even a word?) tires and brakes. In part two, I added the ALTA rear sway bar and SPC adjustable control arms to reduce understeer and prepare the car for part three – BC Racing’s fully adjustable coilovers/camber plates, Powergrid’s adjustable endlinks and M7 Tuning’s Understrut System.
In this video, the 2007 MINI Cooper gets a challenge from the Suzuki Swift on the track. One thing that I found interesting was the mention of the taller gears in the MINI, to make if more fuel efficient, possibly being a hinderance on the track.
I already covered my brake, wheel and tire upgrades in part one of “The MotoringFun Suspension Project” which shaved off a few pounds and enhanced grip and stopping power, so now it is time to take the next step - reducing the understeer characteristics of the car and improving the stability during high speed cornering.
These goals will remain constant through the remainder of the project. Others may be introduced as we go, but for this installment understeer is the main thing I wanted to correct. For this reason, the ALTA 19mm rear adjustable sway bar was selected.
CNET has posted a very good and thorough review of the 2007 MINI Cooper S. They also include a video review that focuses more on the technical gadgets in the car rather than what is under the hood. They scored the MINI at a 9.3 out of 10, noting it as “spectacular”.
We’ve tested a lot of small, sporty hatchbacks recently, such as the Mazda Mazdaspeed Mazda3 and the Volkswagen GTI. The Mini bests them all in looks and quality. Although the Mini has a smaller engine, the power train makes the car feel more drivable, with the engine and transmission finely engineered to work together.
The June 2007 issue of Road & Track compares another gaggle of “hot pocket-rockets”. Included in the test with the 2007 MINI Cooper S are the Honda Civic Si, Mazdaspeed3, Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, and Volkswagen GTI, all sporty cars in econobox guise. This is the theme of the twelve-page article.
The test took place on the curvy roads of northern California and the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Road & Track testers rated the five cars in several performance categories like acceleration, slalom, skidpad, and braking. Subjective ratings were applied to driving excitement, engine, gearbox, handling, styling, and others. All cars were four-door models except for the MINI Cooper S.
Friday, April 11th, 2008
No Comments 
Posted by Pedro in Modern MINI, MINI Performance, Track Talk, Reviews 
