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 Posted May 29th, 2011 at 6:26PM
The MINI was off the road and up on jackstands for two weeks earlier this month, as I went about replacing the front control arm bushings, front ball joints, header, and added a short shift kit and new gauge faces.
It was an ordeal, but I’m glad to have done each and every item. The bushings were apparently shot, but the replacement Alta Positive Response Steering System firmed things up and gave me 1.5 degrees of added caster per side.
The old ball joints were probably fine but I replaced them anyway.
I bought a used Alta header off of North American Motoring for pretty cheap. It had been hacked off below the expansion pipe, so I went to Synapse Motorsport in Cohoes to get the stock cat and flange welded onto the new header. They were able to make a jig and get the fit perfect without ever laying an eye on the car.
The new header has three inch longer primaries than stock, but they featured identical bends. The car now pulls harder and sounds meaner, fer shure, and I’m not throwing any codes. Not sure on the air-fuel, but I did pull the plugs recently and they looked in tip-top shape, with 75,000 miles on them and a 100,000 recommended replacement interval.
I do have a new obnoxious exhaust heat shield rattle, but that’s due to the short shift kit install. I bought the Helix unit (but received some other company’s imitation piece) which snaps onto the stock shifting mechanism underneath, keeping the same geometry but reducing shifts by an advertised 37 percent or something. It’s pretty neat. I like it.
I also finally pulled the plug on OutMotoring‘s colored gauge faces. I got the charcoal color, which does indeed match up nearly perfectly with the stock black interior. I was a little disappointed when they first arrived, but that was mainly due to the chintzy-ness of having tachometer and speedometer faces in-hand. Once installed, I think they’re a real nice little improvement. And they look really great at night, with the different font and all the extra hashmarks.
Make sure you do the two little ‘mods’ to the back plastic, however, or you’ll get ugly “dead” spots not lit up. Also, if you’re a chronic speeder, be like me and leave the speedometer off-center and indicating 2 MPH faster than the car believes you’re going (ie. 5+ MPH faster than reality). Even though you know it’s wrong, you’ll still cruise at the same indicated speeds, and your blood pressure will not soar when you get behind some lumbering barge doing the speed limit (or under).
I also have some R56 front brakes to install, and new rear control arm bushings. Then it’s time for an alignment, and then June 12 is Watkins Glen International with Patroon BMWCCA.
I took photos which I’ll upload sometime, somewhere.
And I need to do some maintenance to that damn Subaru.
Posted November 18th, 2010 at 1:26PM
I’ve mentioned purchasing a Subaru before in passing, but consider this posting its interweb premiere.
I was looking for a second vehicle for winter duties and whenever the MINI might be decommissioned. I watched Saabs, BMWs, and Subarus in my price range, and eventually decided that the all-wheel awesomeness of a Scooby would be my best bet. Monitoring Craigslist and a few Subaru forums, one eventually popped up, in my price range and more car than I was expecting to get. This was toward the end of September. My, how time flies. Original, one-owner car too.
It’s a 2004 WRX hatch, generic silver, manual, few mods, peeling clearcoat and plenty of dents. 135,000 miles when I purchased it, a few thousand more now. I was told that the turbo would need to be replaced, but the oil consumption has been so little the past two months, I am in no rush to do the work. I did replace both front CV joints, however, after finding one with a blown boot. I went with Raxles, since they were available for this car.
Modifications include but not limited to at the time of purchase (I don’t expect to do much more with it):
- Complete turbo back exhaust, Helix downpipe, SPT catback (sounds real nice like)
- Dyno tuned at DentSportGarage, on an AccessPort V1, according to previous owner: 235whp, 240wtq
- short shifter, shift knob, miscellaneous crap, terrible Alpine head unit
- 2003 WRX front seats that slightly mismatch the stock rears (blue/black vs. all black)
- dents, scratches, peeling clear coat
- Cusco rear swaybar, sedan (larger) front swaybar, Kartboy endlinks all around
- Cusco rear strut tower bar (for hanging laundry)
- STi springs on factory struts, with about 40k miles, rear raised slightly with spacers
- sedan control arms up front pull out the wheels and create some camber
- brake master cylinder brace (for what?)
- newer brake components except for front pads (going to be replacing the current Hawk HPS, they kinda suck)
- STi HID headlights (pretty great lighting)
- rear fenders rolled (can’t tell the difference)
- heavy duty front skid plate
- tow hitch with proper wiring and 1-7/8″ and 2″ hitches
- Rota GForce 2′s in 17×8 with 245/40R17 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K11
- RS 6 spokes rattle canned black with Blizzak WS50
- Yakima bike rack
blah, blah blah. The car eats a little oil, but the timing belt and water pump were done at 100,000 miles, and a recent compression test looked good. Oh, the passenger-side rear door is fugged and doesn’t open, courtesy of a poor repair job following an accident. It’s on my to-do list, more PITA than difficult work. Have I mentioned that the car has been in at least three fender benders that I know of? Title is still clean. Mechanics are solid. I can handle a few dents.
So how does it compare? To the MINI? Hard to say.
The WRX definitely pulls hard and strong. The old butt dyno cannot definitively say which steed is faster down a straight line. The WRX is more peaky compared to the very linear MINI, but there is definitely less drama from a dead or slow start with four wheels powering things compared to two. I never realized how obnoxious the torque steer has become in the MINI with wide tires and too much POWAH. The MINI is happy to coast along at much lower RPMs than the WRX. Once that stinker has the turbo spooled up, however, it’s like “woh.”
The MINI feels demonstrably more proficient around the twisties, but it’s hard to tell, again, concretely. The Coop is definitely the better autocross car, with all the work I’ve dumped into it. It corners flat as a pancake, but on the other hand, the Subaru puts the fun back in gunning the throttle mid-corner. Whereas the MINI just gives you massive understeer in that situation, the Subaru clamors for more.
And in terms of ride quality, the MINI can’t hold a matchstick to the Subaru, with its softer spring rates and longer wheelbase. The only downside is that the Subaru doesn’t have heated seats, or as good a sound system as the MINI. Of course, that problem is probably just a subwoofer swap away from rectifying itself.
Subarus get bad raps for being understeering pigs, but the previous owner worked things out for me. The car used to autocross frequently with New England Region SCCA, and has seen track and rallyx in its time too.
I narrowly wussed out of attending a Rallycross this past Sunday, Nov. 14, down in Red Hook. I might have been able to fit it in around my weekend work schedule, but the potential for a mechanical failure or some unforeseen consequence put the damper on my attending in the end.
I definitely plan to make it to some events next year. I’m also eager to autocross the Subaru a bit too, just to get the feel of a new vehicle.
Meanwhile, the MINI can move further and further toward “dedicated fun time car.”
The Subaru is slightly more than the MINI to insure, on the scale of about $200-250 more a year, through Liberty Mutual, with the same coverage.
Here is where you’ll be able to follow all of my Subaru photo uploads on Flickr.
Posted October 1st, 2010 at 12:22PM
So despite either off-courses or coned runs on every try, I was having a blast at the new Fortitech site during the September 19 autocross. Until my fifth run when I broke another axle.
I had replaced both driver’s side and passenger’s side axles on the car in the previous week, to “level 0″ axles from the Drive Shaft Shop. This after the clamp on my “level 2″ loosened and began spitting grease again, and the other side exhibiting perhaps interesting clicks and clunks. So I changed them both, and the driver’s side broke again.
I ran around like a chicken on Monday, inquiring as to the status of my Level 2 (which had been sent back for re-clamping and a check over) and ordering a stock replacement from Keeler in case the Level 2 did not come back to me in time. The Drive Shaft Shop agreed to repair the level 0 given that I had it on the car less than a week, and sent the refurbed level 2 back to me in no time at all.
When I tried to put the OEM replacement axle in, I could not for the life of me get it to snap in. The circlip, grind, and everything else looked identical. It just wouldn’t go in. So I threw the level 2 back in, clicking easily into place.
The car ran without fault at Monticello that Friday, September 24. I had a blast, but two other MINIs were not able to run that day. One went into limp mode on the drive down, while the other discovered a torn CV boot. I offered to give him my spare (I had an extra for both sides that day), but he left early.
I was signed off to solo and enjoy possibly the last two hours I’ll ever have on the Monticello Motor Club full course configuration. I enjoyed myself. This was the first track event hosted by MoHud SCCA in a long time, and by all accounts it was pretty successful.
Oh, I also bought a 2004 WRX. But that’s another story altogether. Come on, snow!
Posted September 3rd, 2010 at 12:20AM
September 24 is when I get to drive Monticello Motor Club again. I’m starting to get the MINI ready, by addressing the clickety-clockety passenger side axle.
I had noticed earlier that there was less than a thumbs-width of clearance from that side’s inner CV joint and an integral part of the engine directly above. I can not see how the “level 2″ axle from DriveShaft Shop could possibly fit, with the beefier joint, despite their assurances that they had sold them and never heard a complaint (excepting mine last year on the driver’s side, that is).
But I discovered that they also had “level 0″ stock replacement axle stubs for $249 total, including the added option of high temp grease on the outside and other measures for ensuring survival under hot conditions. After being told the CV joint would be the same diameter, I ordered one today.
I’m going to change tires and wheels tomorrow to see whether the high pitched noise is wheel bearings or the Kumho XS tires getting louder.
Some fluid changes and it will be ready to go.
I’m actually currently investigating the possibility of purchasing a Subaru Impreza in the near future. It will be an excellent all year daily driver and rallycross vehicle. Can’t wait.
Posted July 27th, 2010 at 2:12PM
I had Sunday morning free, so I made the first heat at the McCarty Ave autocross. My first of my three runs was the fastest, a 37.1 followed by a 37.3 and then a 37.79.
That 37.1 was pretty respectable, the fastest street tire time as far as I can tell and earning me 2nd place in the three car SM class. Of interest this time around is that I recorded all of my runs and then reviewed the video that evening. It’s clear where I lost a lot of time pushing wide – a sweeper leading into the final WOT section. I’m hoping to actually begin uploading these videos, since I have a computer that can process the files now.
I also splurged for the $6.99 Trackmaster app for my android phone. I had some technical difficulties since it was a last moment decision, and I didn’t have a well-thought out place to stick the phone. The app requires you to tap the screen to begin logging, so it had to be accessible, but also someplace where it wouldn’t slide around the car. To make a boring story short, I ended up with data from only my last run, so most of the use of the data (comparing runs) went down the drain. Still, I definitely see potential in the program.
The developer of the app has solved one of the biggest problems with phone DAQ – low refresh rates. The phone’s 1hz GPS is not very accurate. Adding a bluetooth external GPS and another phone app will allow collected data to be 5hz. Maybe higher? I have to investigate. But I believe it holds promise.
Combining the video and data is still a long way off though.
Posted June 17th, 2010 at 1:34PM
I had planned June 14-15 to be my return to Watkins Glen with Patroon BMWCCA. I was going to camp at the state campground in town with my folks and the two dogs, just like last year. Instead, emergency repaving of turn 1 canceled the track event. So, despite a rotty weather forecast, we still decided to go camping – just a little closer to home, Adirondacks region to be specific. With two kayaks and plenty of other gear loaded on the truck, we set out for the Speculator / Indian Lake area, eventually settling into a site between Lewey and Indian Lakes, right on the water. The weather turned out better than expected, showering only Saturday, and I got plenty more time in our ill-used kayaks we picked up used several seasons back. Tuesday, the day before we left, my father and I (with my dog riding along as co-pilot) set off for the Indian Lake islands to plan for future trips. There are maybe half a dozen islands of varying size, and we picked out some prime spots for future visits – although we’ll need to rent a canoe to get all the gear over!
I was able to get my dog, Baja, to ride in front of me in the kayak last year, and he didn’t miss a beat this year. Our other dog was a little more hesitant and didn’t quite catch on this trip, but she ought to be game with a more spacious canoe. I’ve got some photos from camping which will be uploaded to my Flickr account in due time.
So I have a credit with Patroon for a future track event, which I may or may not cash in on their July event up at Calabogie. I need to see if any of these ongoing job application processes pan out, but it’s a track I’ve been wanting to drive ever since working the event last year. We’ll see what happens.
Posted June 10th, 2010 at 12:00PM
Going back to street tires has been an adjustment I’m still working on. I’ve found myself seriously blowing some corners, and I believe it’s my expectations of instant turn-in from the r-comps clouding my judgement. The XS have high levels of grip, evidenced by the times I can still post, but they can’t be pitched into the corners like the V710.
At the first official event of the season, I placed 3rd in class, three-tenths of a second behind an e36 M3 on r-compound tires that I could still be beating with better driving on my part (the local, tight courses favor the MINI’s size and bulk). I was nearly two seconds off the blue EVO and the FTD winning CP Mustang, but posted the quickest times on street tires, for what that’s worth. I have video of all six runs, should be posting it to YouTube someday.
June 6th was our second event, and it alternated between blue skies and torrential downpours spiked with lightening. Things had to be shut down twice but with the low turn-out everyone still got their six runs. Conditions were disparate between run groups and morning and afternoon heats, but I was able to post the fastest time in the morning as the r-compound shod could not generate grip due to conditions (curious, since our last runs in the morning were pretty dry). In the afternoon I forgot how to drive entirely. I was nearly a second and a half slower than the EVO by the end, and the SSM CRX coned away a run with a similar time. His best clean was a tenth better than mine. So I had the third fastest raw time, but due bragging rights for this event go to the GS club racing prepped Dodge Neon .04 seconds off of me. I recorded my last three runs, which unfortunately showcase some lamer driving. Although one has me pegging a cone just under the camera and dragging it, with a course worker running up and snagging it finally at the finish. Worth a few laughs, hopefully they’ll be posted at some point.
A ton of photos were uploaded to Flickr of the June 6th event, with quite a few of the MINI I’ll need to sort through. Here’s one teaser. All of these pics of the car under load are suggesting to me that higher spring rates are in order.
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