Category Archives: Audio & Video

MINI WINS AT DAYTONA!!

This past weekend I had the honor of witnessing the MINI John Cooper Works Racing Team of LAP Motorsports dominate in the BMW Endurance Challenge for the season-opening race of the IMSA Continental Tires Sportscar Challenge at Daytona International Speedway!  It was amazing to watch the 3 LAP Motorsports MINIs race the field on the high banks of Daytona and pull out a win in dominant fashion!

I will be posting full video I shot from victory lane soon, but I wanted to share this recap video of the race day to congratulate Luis Perocarpi and the entire LAP Motorsports team on the amazing performance and win!!  Can’t wait for Sebring!!

Video: Sebring Track Weekend 2016

This past weekend was the first time running the full course at Sebring since I last drove it in 2008 in my 2006 R53 MINI Cooper S, Scooter.  Last year I was lucky enough to take the Ford Shelby  GT350 R out for a spin at Sebring, but it was the club course and not the full 3.7 miles.  All I can say is WOW!!  I wasn’t sure how well the F56 MINI would perform on the track compared to the R53, but I was quickly impressed by not only the power, but the amazing handling I was able to get out of the MINI Dynamic Damper suspension coupled with the NM Engineering lowering springs, control arms and sway bar.img_6159Overall, the car felt amazing around the track.  Plenty of torque allowed me to power out of turns in 3rd gear without having to drop to 2nd.  On the straights, the 2.0L engine provided plenty of power to not let the higher horsepower V8s get too far ahead ;).img_6125Body roll was almost non-existent, which made for a very stable and comfortable feeling whipping through the twisties.  I had forgotten how much I love being out on track and am very happy to have had this chance to get back out there and surprise some Corvette owners again lol.

Photo Credit: PhotosByJuha.com

Video: Forza 6 – Sebring in a MINI JCW GP

A few of us in our local MINI club are trying to plan a track weekend at Sebring later this year.  To get some practice in, I hit the track in Forza 6.  Here is a quick 3 lap race at Sebring in a 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP, recorded off Forza 6 on the Xbox One. The controller I used was the Thrustmaster TMX Force Feedback Steering Wheel and Pedals.  The GP’s horsepower in the game was upgraded slightly to just about 300hp due to some in-game mods ;).  Enjoy!

Scooter’s 130,000 Mile Update

For those that remember my 2006 MINI Cooper S, this week I received an update on Scooter that he hit 130,000 miles and is doing well in the cold weather in Indiana! IMG_0339His current owner has quite a list of mods planned including:

-Cravenspeed adjustable shifter
-Cravenspeed boost gauge holder
-Stacked boost gauge
-Condor speed shop weighted shift knob (made for bmw e30s)
-Outmotoring speedo/tach faceplates
-MSD coil pack
-MSD 8.5 plug wires
-NGK step colder plugs
-DDM intercooler diverter in black
-DDM intake and intercooler couplers
-DDM intake

Here is a video that was just shot this week of Scooter.  Man he still sounds great!!

 

Video: Baseline Dyno Run – 2016 MINI Cooper S w/ JCW Tuning Kit

I brought Clark down to Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 100 degree heat (yea yea I know – not ideal conditions) for his baseline Dyno run this weekend and I was quite impressed with how he performed.  I expect to have the raw data from the dyno shop e-mailed to me tomorrow morning so be on the look-out for a post with SAE corrected graphs and more detail.  Until then, enjoy the video below: