I took the Mini to Autocross this weekend

"fourvalleys" (fourvalleys)
05/31/2016 at 12:50 • Filed to: classic mini, mini, fourvalleys

Body roll? What body roll?

The weather held up on Sunday, so I decided to take the Mini out to autocross again. I figured with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I’ve got planned for this weekend, as long as I didn’t blow a hole in the block or roll it over, I’d be fine.

Okay, enough jabbering. Here’s a video:

You can’t say I’m inconsiderate of the people behind me! I actually only ended up being about 10 seconds slower than an “average” time from the rest of the field, and 8.7 seconds behind the fastest HS car (a Fiesta ST, of course). Fastest overall time was 47.4 in a clownshoe BMW.

Also, I did carry passengers on a couple of my runs! The Mini weighs about 1400lb, so each passenger was adding about 10% to my total weight. It wasn’t a massive difference, but it was noticeable - my times with a passenger were about 1 second slower than those by myself. Here’s a video of my second-last run, with a passenger:

As usual, I let a bunch of people drive the car after the fun was over, including a bit of time with four full-size adults in the car. There was a lot of rubbing (mostly from the car). I love to show people how much fun a car with 20-some horsepower can actually be. Smiles all around, even from the guys in 400hp+ cars that cost more than my house.

The Aftermath

The bad news is it’s definitely broken right now. I made it home just fine, but went for a drive the next morning and discovered some rather ugly noises. A bit of rattling when I let off the gas. I only drove about 1000' before I turned around and parked it, so I’ll have to investigate further. In any case, it’s getting torn up this weekend, so hopefully it’s nothing major.

Here’s a couple more photos:

Cheers!

DISCUSSION (9)

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > fourvalleys
05/31/2016 at 13:14

This is great. Glad to see you letting people share in the fun of the car. I wish more enthusiasts would do the same.

shop-teacher > fourvalleys
05/31/2016 at 13:20

Looks like a great time! Well done!

fourvalleys > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
05/31/2016 at 13:23

Thanks!

It’s such a fun, unique little car and I’m more than happy to let others share in the fun. It wasn’t expensive, it runs well, and it’s pretty far from being a show car. So why worry? Especially after an autocross, when you’re in a closed off area with no traffic or obstacles. If the car breaks, I’ll fix it. No biggie.

I just think about the fact that almost every other car they’ve driven has at least 5x the power and weighs at least twice as much. Most of the people who jump in haven’t ever driven a RHD car, so it’s a fun experience that way, too.

fourvalleys > shop-teacher
05/31/2016 at 13:25

Thanks! It was a riot. You’ll have to come check it out sometime!

By the way, some friends are considering heading to Byron this weekend to have our own little Battle of the Wagons. I haven’t heard anything about your car, so I assume it’s still down. I might be there, maybe not. Depends how badly broken the Mini is and how long the work I’ve got planned takes. In any case, I wanted to throw you a heads up.

-this space for rent- > fourvalleys
05/31/2016 at 14:05

I once witnessed a mini get up on two wheels in an autox corner. If you put big hoosiers on your car, make sure you stay slim or have a passenger.

fourvalleys > -this space for rent-
05/31/2016 at 14:25

I’m planning on going to 10" wheels pretty soon, and I’m also planning on going lower and stiffer at the same time. I was a little bit shocked at how much it was leaning in the photos, so I’ll definitely be cognizant of that aspect going forward.

No Hoosiers, probably Yokohama A032R/A048R (whichever I can find) or A008. The latter is the smarter option for street driving, but not the fast option. We’ll see!

shop-teacher > fourvalleys
05/31/2016 at 16:09

Yeah, I need to try autocross again, it’s been a looooooong time since I tried one.

My battle wagon is still down indeed. Last week was insanely busy, so I haven’t had time to even look at it. I’ll be digging into it this week sometime, but I will most definitely not be at Byron this weekend. Everybody there was great, I have only good things to say about the people who run it and the other competitors.

-this space for rent- > fourvalleys
05/31/2016 at 16:48

10" diameter or width? Lol

fourvalleys > -this space for rent-
05/31/2016 at 21:24

Hah! 10x6 or 10x5, I’m not sure yet.

I need smaller brakes in the front first.