My new racing car....

GJUK · 24 Apr 2008 at 13:57

I want it.....

That looks like a real hoot to drive....

volospian · 24 Apr 2008 at 14:48

commited said:
Volospian - 6pots are the way to go apparently. All the quick guys have them. Mine has the older design KAD 4 pots which are great for road cars, but once I get slicks they will really let the side down. There is next to no braking effort on the back.

Yeah, I suppose, thinking about it, you're not getting a lot of leverage due to the small diameter of the discs, so need better clamping force on what you have.

The Cerbs run a minimum of 330mm disks, which are probably larger than your entire wheel

a1ex2001 · 24 Apr 2008 at 14:51

I love old mini's and I've always wanted to race one, I know it's rude and don't answer if you don't want but how much did she set you back?

Housey · 24 Apr 2008 at 15:14

Good lad, Mini racing is a great way in and Mini's are cool.

kaiowas · 24 Apr 2008 at 15:39

a1ex2001 said:
I love old mini's and I've always wanted to race one, I know it's rude and don't answer if you don't want but how much did she set you back?

Buying the car is the cheap part of motorsport that makes people think they can afford it. It's everything from here on in that'll cost every penny you've got and then some

commited · 24 Apr 2008 at 17:48

a1ex2001 said:
I love old mini's and I've always wanted to race one, I know it's rude and don't answer if you don't want but how much did she set you back?

About £7500 + £750 for the trailer. It isn't cheap. Still need to buy a few £££ bits for it too, would say I'll easily have spent £10k on the car by the end of the season.

It's about £270 a race day + fuel + everything else.

I have a company jeep so no to or fro expenses thank god!

I now have 4 cars including the Jeep. REALLY need so sell the 530d and 318iS

No debt yet, but no money either

St0rmer66 · 24 Apr 2008 at 18:04

My mate at work has a mini with a Civic Type-R engine in it. Got a new ECU and remap, along with air filter and exhaust... 220bhp and 650kg. Leaves black lines on the road if he puts his foot down

.

Matt82 · 24 Apr 2008 at 18:08

thats not crap at all, the big lardy new minis are though, that does not apply to yours, not by a country mile

commited · 24 Apr 2008 at 23:28

Why thank you sir

Stormer - my mate just totalled his vtec mini

Hxc · 24 Apr 2008 at 23:43

Looking very strongly into getting a old mini for my first car, and getting it all sorter prior to me turning 17. Loving racing done up ones, just plain cool

rG-tom · 25 Apr 2008 at 13:26

Hxc said:
Looking very strongly into getting a old mini for my first car, and getting it all sorter prior to me turning 17. Loving racing done up ones, just plain cool

mini as a first car isnt a great idea tbh.......you WILL more than likely crash, and there arent many cars worse than a mini to be in a crash, iirc they had a design flaw where the engine is pushed towards head height in a head on crash? Also they are expensive due to scene tax, you can get some serious metal for the price of a banger of a mini.

Of course, the OP's mini isnt in the same class, that's awesome

commited · 27 Apr 2008 at 00:47

All set for the race tomorrow - just home.

Had a nightmare day - didn't get to work on the car until 2, snapped a head stud, then had to redo the whole gear linkage and fit a quickshift. Then got flashed by a scamera

Wicksta · 27 Apr 2008 at 01:30

Good luck in the race Commited.

commited · 27 Apr 2008 at 23:57

What a day - gonna just quote what I posted elsewhere

I had a day with its ups and downs.

Qualified really well with a 1.07.8 - not bad for my first time in the car in the total dry. Managed to lose my sump plug due to stupidity but got away with it and the car still ran

1st race - Was caught napping at the start and dropped 7 places. Climbed back up the field and had a great little dice with Kev and was flying. The car wouldnt engage 3rd twice so I ended up dropping back a bit and all of a sudden Berty was on my tail. Stayed like this for 6 laps, and we went across the line with me just 0.2s ahead biggrin.gif That battle made the day for me - great sportsmanship all around. Finished 9th, 4th out of the Minis. Would have been 3rd if I hadn't been napping at the start but ah well!! Did a 1;07.575 this race.

2nd race - following someone stealing a spring from my engine bay which was nice of some scumbag, I got on the grid. Car felt good. Lost 1 place at the start from Des due to what I thought was wheelspin, but I think was clutch slip. Had a brilliant battle with him over a couple of laps, finally getting past biggrin.gif Then I noticed the clutch was slipping badly in 3rd and 4th and was getting plumes of smoke in the cabin. I eased off a bit and took it handy the rest of the way, but still came 10th

Thoughts - AWESOME day and the Mini guys are a great bunch - everyone helping everyone. Reminds me what the non-racing MR crew used to be like. Time for another set of wheels and some slicks, because Berts getting more confident (huge improvement today in his times!!) and my Avons are going off too quickly. Also need to fix this clutch business :S Also, might have a look at the set up, I reckon there is more in the car!!

Everyone else drove really well and cleanly, Ian unfortunately broke his box, Des had a misfire in race 1 and a spin in race 2 which was unfortunate as it's a very very quick car! Richie didn't even need his 4th cylinder to pick up a few trophies!

Bring on the next one!

My first race - did quite a bit of overtaking, and was 0.8seconds quicker than the previous owners best time

Yewen · 28 Apr 2008 at 00:03

Good to hear.

Only way is up, good luck on the next run.

commited · 28 Apr 2008 at 18:28

Here are some of the pics that my dad took yesterday

McBain · 28 Apr 2008 at 18:36

Old style Mini = :cool:

Simple as.

Dogbreath · 28 Apr 2008 at 18:52

rG-tom said:
mini as a first car isnt a great idea tbh.......you WILL more than likely crash, and there arent many cars worse than a mini to be in a crash,

It's amazing that my entire immediate family is still alive today... I guess you wouldn't advise riding a bike either then?

Commited, what a fantastic car and opportunity to start in such an exciting and close racing series. Me, envious? Well, yes quite a lot actually

rG-tom · 28 Apr 2008 at 19:28

Dogbreath said:
It's amazing that my entire immediate family is still alive today... I guess you wouldn't advise riding a bike either then?

Commited, what a fantastic car and opportunity to start in such an exciting and close racing series. Me, envious? Well, yes quite a lot actually

at least bikes are quick and fun, old stock minis, unless they are sorted like the OPs, are just a royal PITA, dangerously slow and generally just crap. Especially considering the prices they demand.

commited · 29 Apr 2008 at 10:11

Dogbreath said:
Commited, what a fantastic car and opportunity to start in such an exciting and close racing series. Me, envious? Well, yes quite a lot actually

Cheers.

Unfortuneately it isn't as close as you might think!

From the Minis, there are 2 guys with about 200bhp in the class ahead of me.
In my class, there are 2 guys who have over 130bhp and slicks, so have quite an edge over me. There are then 3 guys with the same sort of power, all with slicks (who I was faster than

). In fact, I'm the only one in my class without slicks, and I still came 3rd in class, 4th in Minis, in my first race

Then in the class below, there are a few guys with around the 100bhp mark.

There are some great battles though and I really enjoyed it. Ordering slicks later because I just sold the e30...