Mini Cooper JCW Clubman for TT

[kmartin1971]

Hello,

I'm a former SCCA club racer that is now looking to do some NASA TT events. The car I have is an 09 JCW Clubman. Probably not ideal but the goal is to just get out on the track again and have some fun. I have reviewed the NASA rules briefly and I'm not sure I understand everything. Has anyone built a similar car? It looks like it is in TTC with 7 points initially plus another 5 for the turbo. Then if I add race tires it would automatically exceed 20 points and be bumped to TTB.....My hope is that I could do some "typical" modifications and have a car that is somewhat competitive that I can drive to the track (I'm 45mins from Mid O). Is this possible? Looking at the times for TTC and TTB they are similar or faster to what I was running in a fully prep'd SCCA ITR Acura RSX....

 

Any help in clarifying the details would be appreciated. Again the goal is not a national championship just to be in the "mix" for times with some other cars.

 

Thanks

Ken

[TurboShortBus]

Start: TTC* 2680 lbs min comp weight

 

+7 for the * and +5 for the turbo leaves you with 7 to spend on speed parts and stay in TTC.

 

Your base tire width is 255 mm, so if you run narrower tires, you get a few points back to spend on speed parts.

 

To be as competitive as possible in TTC, run a 225mm tire (-30mm gets you 7 points back) so that you will now have 14 points to spend, then blow 13 of them on A6 compound tires. Spend that last 1 point on whatever you see fit, but there aren't a lot of 1-point modifications that do much (although ditching the cat might help with the turbo). And do all of the no-points modifications that you can.

 

If you aren't worried about being competitive, then run a +2, +7, or +10 point tire compound on those 225s and spend the leftover points on springs, shocks, swaybars, etc. Or, run 205s to allow for further modifications. Continue to take advantage of the no-points modifications.

 

Mark

[kbrew8991]

getting a custom dyno reclassification will get rid of the +5 for FI, may also help the car overall if it doesn't respond well to gaining power without spending alot of points.

[kmartin1971]

Thanks for the help! That was my fear that I couldn't do any of the "fun mods" and keep it in TTC where it seems to be outclassed already. Still will be fun to get out on the track again...

[kmartin1971]

I also have an 07 JCW convertible....that may be a better way to go as it is in TTD with an *, and that years JCW package came with a real LSD...It is a bit of a chick car being a vert and all but probably = to the 09 Clubman in stock form on a track....Hmmmmmmm. Neither car is ideal.

[kbrew8991]

have fun with what you got, get a feel for the events, and maybe start looking at a dedicated competitve car (or competitive mods package on your existing cars) in the meantime.

[drivecontroll]

As stated above, getting the sticky rubber on is #1 for competitive times, which nearly forces you to have 2 sets of wheels/tires. This year C did not have a lot of participation, so you might be able to do well enough with street ish(rs3) rubber.

Good luck and see you at the track.

Fist bump for wrong wheel drive!

[kmartin1971]

I'm fine with springing for the R6's. The one advantage of the Clubman Wagovan thing is that I can get wheels and tires to the track...so I got that going for me. Would be nice if it started life in TTD though...Oh well, just want to get it on the track.

[kmartin1971]

So the JCW Clubman is officially in TTD**

 

This simplifies things. As I see it I can put 225 R6s on and all my points are used up. R6 = 10 pts, 225 is a 20mm down size so that gives me 4 pts to add to the 6 I have remaining. Then do some free stuff.

[ILIKETODRIVE]

Not exactly.

 

+10 for compound and -4 for size = +6 and +14 for ** = 20 total points

 

That puts you at the very bottom of TTC. 19 points is the limit per class.

 

You can do 215 R6s for +3 total and have +2 remaining for something.

[kbrew8991]

20th point bumps ya - not the first to make that mistake though

[kmartin1971]

Ahhhhhh...Thanks for pointing that out. I don't know if they make 215 R6s I will have to check....Or just say the hell with it and buy another Integra Type R and run that in TTD...Ahh, the joys of off season pondering...

[AZELISE]

Not exactly.

 

+10 for compound and -4 for size = +6 and +14 for ** = 20 total points

 

That puts you at the very bottom of TTC. 19 points is the limit per class.

 

You can do 215 R6s for +3 total and have +2 remaining for something.

 

Not exactly.

 

Don't forget about the +5 for FI.

 

I would highly recommend a dyno reclass if you believe that either you can't get to the minimum weight or you can't get much of an advantage power wise with a tune.

[kmartin1971]

Really? They don't account for the FI in the initial classification? Thought I had it figured out but confusion is setting in...hahahaha.

[TurboShortBus]

Back in the day, an OEM ECU reflash was +5 for NA and +10 for FI. As it was difficult for officials to confirm if an OEM ECU was reflashed or not, it was changed to be a no-points modification, and the current +5 for FI vehicles is the leftover difference. It goes away with a dyno reclass, though.

 

Mark

[kmartin1971]

I will have to read up on the dyne reclass. How does that work?

 

Thanks everyone for your help.

[TurboShortBus]

I will have to read up on the dyne reclass. How does that work?

It is outlined in the TT rules.

 

http://www.nasa-tt.com/rules

 

Mark