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Cooper S in GTS2


gjkasten

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I know that I can get my Cooper S to fit within the HP/Wt ratio, but am curious on peoples thoughts regarding it being competitive. It seems the class is dominated by M3's and a smattering of 911's. Is there any chance that it would be competitive or would it be a waste of time and money?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoghts.

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We've seen a few Mini Coopers in GTS. I don't know if we've had any in GTS2...certainly not here in the Great Lakes region...but why not? They're great handling cars with a modern suspension and a relatively small frontal area. Could be a winner!

 

In our region, GTS2 has been dominated for the past half dozen or more years by Porsches. 944s and 968s mostly but, as you say, there are other regions where it's all BMW or something else. Bring the Mini and prove everybody wrong!

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I'm building mine for GTS2. I checked lap times at local tracks and it should be competitive.

 

I'm dropping it off at the cage builder early next month. Will try to get things together for the November event - will be racing next year for sure.

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I have a GTS4 MINI. I haven't raced it yet, but will be doing so soon. i'm not sure how competitive we can be, but we will be out there. my co-driver holds the GTS3 track record at Barber in a MINI. they can compete. we just need to have the cars optimized as much as possible.

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I'm building mine for GTS2. I checked lap times at local tracks and it should be competitive.

 

I'm dropping it off at the cage builder early next month. Will try to get things together for the November event - will be racing next year for sure.

 

I will have to check back in with you for a download on how things went after the November race. If you are willing to share, I would be interested in what all you have done to prep the Cooper.

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Alan and beaner,

 

Would you guys be willing to share some of what you have done to build your Cooper into a race car? I have been slowly building mine into a better track car and have done the following to date:

 

CAI, 15% S/C pulley, catback exhaust, KW Varient 2 coilovers, adustable rear sway bar, adjustable rear camber, brake ducting, stainless steel brake lines, wheels and tires.

 

My Cooper is still a daily driver at this point so is still very heavy. Are you guys running any type of aero? I was looking initially at the M7 front splitter and the M7 rear wing. Any thoughts or experience with these? I also think that a change from the stock brakes to a BBK would be in order.

 

Thanks for any advice or help you can provide!

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I bought my MINI new in February 2003 and have been slowly modifying it since for track days, TT, and now racing. I retired it as a street legal car earlier this year.

 

I am not convinced aero adds are worth the weight (and drag). I don't use them and it has not been an issue.

 

You will need a BBK. I have a modified front setup I put together that uses a 12x1.25 rotor / Outlaw 2000 calipers / Hawk DTC-70 pads. This setup works very well with Motul 600 fluid. It fits under 15x7 wheels. Stock rear brakes are fine - I use Hawk HP+ pads.

 

Suspension is the key to make these cars hustle. They are understeery pigs stock. Make the car as loose as you can drive it - when you get used to it, then make it looser still. You're close when you have to be on the gas at turn-in to keep from looping it. I'm close to settling on camber, toe, and shock settings, but am still working toward final spring rates. Talk with the FWD folks that run the tracks you will race on.

 

Good Luck,

 

Alan

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I bought my MINI new in February 2003 and have been slowly modifying it since for track days, TT, and now racing. I retired it as a street legal car earlier this year.

 

I am not convinced aero adds are worth the weight (and drag). I don't use them and it has not been an issue.

 

You will need a BBK. I have a modified front setup I put together that uses a 12x1.25 rotor / Outlaw 2000 calipers / Hawk DTC-70 pads. This setup works very well with Motul 600 fluid. It fits under 15x7 wheels. Stock rear brakes are fine - I use Hawk HP+ pads.

 

Suspension is the key to make these cars hustle. They are understeery pigs stock. Make the car as loose as you can drive it - when you get used to it, then make it looser still. You're close when you have to be on the gas at turn-in to keep from looping it. I'm close to settling on camber, toe, and shock settings, but am still working toward final spring rates. Talk with the FWD folks that run the tracks you will race on.

 

Good Luck,

 

Alan

 

I will keep your suggestion on aero in the front of my thoughts. I had thought it would be needed (at least the front splitter). Others had said that the rear wing would help with air flow off the back, so long as I don't crank the angle of attack into to aggressive of a position.

 

I am thrilled that you found a BBK that fits under 15-inch wheels!!! I thought I was totally screwed on that and was going to have to go with a larger wheel (I run Team Dynamics 15x7 right now) so this gives me real hope! I've been running the stock brakes and just bought DTC-60 pads (I kept cooking EBC yellow stuffs) and had previously put in ducting to help with cooling. Already have the Motul 600.

 

I already have the H-sport adjustable rear sway bar. It is set in the middle spot, but my next track event I will try tightening it up to see what happens (slowly).

 

What tires are you running? I have been using Direzza II's, but started having issues with "chunking" at my last session. I think my next step is going to be some R compounds.

 

It is still my daily driver, so I haven't gone full bore yet.

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My BBK is based off of this:

http://www.waymotorworks.com/tsw-bdm-brake-kit.html A 12" rotor will fit!

I get mine from Todd: http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/rotors/ Call him if you are not sure which ones to get for your application. If you want the best tell him you want the Alan Wolfe spec rotors (heat & chemical treated, $$$$). I have run TD pro race 1.2s & 2s over this setup.

 

I have been running R888s - the last of the 2009 SM tires, but they are gone now. Try NT-01 225/45/15s, they are a good 100 treadwear tire. I've got the Toyo RRs now, and will either race on them or SM6s.

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So the only change to the brake kit you have made at this point is the rotor? All the rest of the mounting equipment WMW provides works without mods?

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almost none of the original car us in my race MINI. I still have a stock bottom end in my motor. OEM coil and wires.

 

I have a splitter that is as large as BMWCCA rules allow. I also have a large rear wing. my co-driver is an aerospace engineer and test pilot. we will be working on improving aero further. rear diffuser, full under tray, improved front end. I think that aero matters in GTS4 if you are driving a MINI. we start out so aero-challenged compared to other cars in the field.

 

Don't go crazy with mods while it is still a street car. you can take all of the fun out of driving it.

 

message me if you have specific questions.

 

greg bean

#51 MINI

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So the only change to the brake kit you have made at this point is the rotor? All the rest of the mounting equipment WMW provides works without mods?

 

Yes, but it took about a half dozen iterations of rotors to find ones that would wear out before I cracked them. Try the cheaper off-the-shelf coleman directional vane rotors to see if they will work for you. I tried two other brands (that I can't remember right now) that would not work for me. The coleman rotors are the only ones I use now.

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I have the same TCE/Willwood brakes on my race car as I had on my street car. the only difference is that I now have a Tilton dual master cylinder arrangement and no ABS. i'm also much faster and lighter in the race car. it has worked perfectly for me. I need 17" wheels to clear.

 

here is a link to a short vid of Jason driving my car in his second or third session ever. we are now up 25hp, 20 lbs lighter and have an OSGiken lsd...

 

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/beaner2147/media/sebring28April2013session3-1.mp4.html

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I know that I can get my Cooper S to fit within the HP/Wt ratio, but am curious on peoples thoughts regarding it being competitive. It seems the class is dominated by M3's and a smattering of 911's. Is there any chance that it would be competitive or would it be a waste of time and money?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoghts.

Where are you located? I kinda specialize in Mini race cars.

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Where are you located? I kinda specialize in Mini race cars.

 

I'm located in Denver, CO and run in the Rocky Mountain Region. Where are you?

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  • 5 weeks later...

just to give you an idea of how fast a Mini can go with the right parts

This Mini weighs 2600 w/driver

Has ONLY these parts:

RMW Big Valve Head

RMW Cam

RMW Header

RMW Tune

STOCK supercharger Pulley

Stock LSD

Cheap KW suspension

Stock Bottom End

Stock Intercooler

RMW Front Big Brake Kit (fits under 15s with 12.19" rotor!)

RMW Spherical front/rear control arm bearings.

This test day was to see how fast we could go around Sebring in 100deg F heat with tires that were chorded after 4 laps.

A pulley, OS LSD and new tires will cut a substantial chunk of time off the car. (not to mention keeping the inlet temps down)

As you can see a Mini given the proper setup can be competitive . This is budget racing here

 

Here is Ian's car at Sebring 3yrs earlier and a daily driven street car with same engine parts but with 17% pulley

this car was 7mph faster down the straights on better suspension/better tires and better diff yet was ONLY 1 sec faster. This car was also the 1st Mini Cooper to ever win a Road Nationals championship. He set numerous track records along the way in TTC. ZERO AERO!

 

Ask yourself this one question:

How fast would they go around Sebring if we took 400lbs out of them? Given what we have learned over the years and the systems in place and currently being finished up. I think you will see a Mini run a time that will make you say........Unbelievable...........

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Jan - I want the Ian "torque tune" when you come to Texas. Hopefully early October - I need to check with Terry...

 

GTS-2 is a 14.5 power/weight class so a 2600 lb car can't have more then 179 HP. If you have more lb-ft of torque than HP then you average . The mods you list will probably be GTS-4 or 5 car??

 

The trick with these SC motors will be to get the torque up without busting the class HP number. Definitely need to put the rev limiter back to stock.

 

And thanks for the confirmation on the aero!

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Jan - I want the Ian "torque tune" when you come to Texas. Hopefully early October - I need to check with Terry...

 

GTS-2 is a 14.5 power/weight class so a 2600 lb car can't have more then 179 HP. If you have more lb-ft of torque than HP then you average . The mods you list will probably be GTS-4 or 5 car??

 

The trick with these SC motors will be to get the torque up without busting the class HP number. Definitely need to put the rev limiter back to stock.

 

And thanks for the confirmation on the aero!

 

I have some ideas for you to get the torque up

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The NASA event @ Eagles Canyon November 2 & 3 IF I get the car finished in time. Otherwise it will be the BMW event @ MSR Cresson December 21 & 22. I'm not feeling that good about getting everything in order for November, but 'ya gotta have a goal.

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