13 replies to this topic

[nrwilliams]

Hello,

Does anyone do track days in there Mini?

I currently have a Porsche 924 as a track car and am rebuilding a Sprite for the road and like the idea of having a Mini Track car and was just wondering if anyone is using a Mini for track days and what sort of spec you have? Also how reliable is it?

Thanks

Neil

[Dolly 89]

im just doing this myself im basically stripping the car totally and rebuilding then only having 2 seats and a roll cage in the cab and lightweight doors plastic windows im just making it as light as possible really. not totally sure on the spec im going for yet but it will be a 1293 turbo hoping to get between 130-150 bhp but i will have to look into it when it comes time to get a motor sorted

[mini-man-dan]

I used my Pickup out on track at the Action Day last weekend, and that was brilliant fun. It's got 88bhp, which doesn't sound a lot but when the car only weighs around 650kg it does get up and go quite well. It's not stripped or anything, so a saloon with no interior etc could potentially be lighter.

They are brilliant fun out on track, handling is second to none for the money.

Anywhere around 90bhp and upwards is where you want to be for a fun track car.

[nrwilliams]

Cool.

I got the sprite with the intention of it being a track toy but it has been suggested on this forum to restore.

I really fancy a clubman (used to have a couple of GT's) so will start looking for cheap car/shell.

Keep the opinions coming

Neil

[summs116]

ive built a trackday mini and its great,power 2 weight and as dan said handling is fantastic,
a few points

light as possiable
good suspension with it set up right
90-100 bhp engine is very good fun

can be cheap or as expensive as you make it.as for reliable,mine seems to be fine been running for four months now,but my old 1 lasted 18months untill i rebuilt to current spec

wots your plans.

[smudger068]

currently bulding my austin mini 1275with stage 1 (exh, air filter, carb) for the track bought it with cage and seats already in and good running engine, totally solid. just want to get it running right before i worry about major tuning. if you go on the like of minisport.com you will how cheap the stuff is to tune compared to other cars, as already said its as expensive or cheap as you like
good luck

[samsfern]

mines used everyday, and ive done a few trackdays. It was a 1293 unknown spec, with a 3.65 fd, and 12" revolution wheels, 165 yokohama a048 tyres. And straight cut drop gears.

Im rebuilding it at the mo, as i want more power, lol, so itll be a 1330, piper 649+ race camshaft, stage 4 or 5 head, 12.5:1 compression ratio, lightened and strapped bottom end, lightened flywheel, straight cut drop gears, 4pin diff, 3.65 f/d, arp studs and bolts all round, twin hif38s, megajolt soon. Should be looking at quite a bit of power.

Suspension and brakes are, standard callipers, ebc yellow stuff brake pads, grooved discs, alloy rear drums, mintex shoes. Im running -1.5 degree camber, +4 castor and 1/16th inch toe out, adjustable ride height, pretty low at the front and the back rides a little higher than the front. Spax adjustable shock absorbers all round.

Cobra buckets and 4 point harnesses, rev limiter, will be set to 8k.

I still intend to use it everyday as well.

Edited by samsfern, 01 October 2010 - 04:41 PM.

[keefers]

I used my Pickup out on track at the Action Day last weekend, and that was brilliant fun. It's got 88bhp, which doesn't sound a lot but when the car only weighs around 650kg it does get up and go quite well. It's not stripped or anything, so a saloon with no interior etc could potentially be lighter.

They are brilliant fun out on track, handling is second to none for the money.

Anywhere around 90bhp and upwards is where you want to be for a fun track car.

Hi Dan , is your pickup yhu 741v? if so, I uploaded a few pics to flickr, (have a search for castle combe), may have a few more on my flash card. heres the link mini pix

Edited by keefers, 09 October 2010 - 03:54 PM.

[danrock101]

Mines being built as a track day tool, but want to still be able to use it daily. Should be done this month
There's plenty of videos of minis on track days on youtube! Makes it more fun when people under esimate you

[spacekadett]

Done a couple at RAF Marham with mine and it went really well despite my initial misgivings. See the track is set up with a long back straight so the Skylines, Supras etc can stretch thier legs and my Mini is a touch short geared ( had a good dice with a Xsara VTsomethingorother and got it to 90 at around 7,000rpm!) but it took it in its stride. To be fair it was built as a circuit racer back in 1968, so I'd have been disappointed it I'd understeered straight off the track tho it was completely different to the rwd sri130 powered Kadett Coupe I had been using for track work.
Car spec is roughly; Lightened and deseamed shell with lightweight glass bonnet and bootlid, alloy boot floor and fuel tank, arches modified with hand made alloy extensions, doors lightened (door bins removed, thin ally skins and handles,perspex windows) huge alloy bulkhead box, no inner wings, front panel modded for front mounted rad and oil cooler, seamwelded and various bit drilled out as well. Suspension is lowered, adjustable shocks, adjustable rosejointed front end and fixed neg camber brackets on rear.Brakes are stock 7.5 S ones with 5x10" minilight reps shod with A008s. Engine is currently disappointingly near stock at the mo while funds are gathered to rebuild the 1330 S motor it's just a MG metro motor with a little port work and twin carbs for a period look. Still according to my brake tester at work it weighs 580kg with 9 stone me in it and 3/4 tank of gas so it still scoots quite nicely.

[summs116]

I used my Pickup out on track at the Action Day last weekend, and that was brilliant fun. It's got 88bhp, which doesn't sound a lot but when the car only weighs around 650kg it does get up and go quite well. It's not stripped or anything, so a saloon with no interior etc could potentially be lighter.

They are brilliant fun out on track, handling is second to none for the money.

Anywhere around 90bhp and upwards is where you want to be for a fun track car.

Hi Dan , is your pickup yhu 741v? if so, I uploaded a few pics to flickr, (have a search for castle combe), may have a few more on my flash card.

i seen you had a pic of mini with the back wheel in the air,have you any more, ( jhu 39l ) thanks sam

[keefers]

I used my Pickup out on track at the Action Day last weekend, and that was brilliant fun. It's got 88bhp, which doesn't sound a lot but when the car only weighs around 650kg it does get up and go quite well. It's not stripped or anything, so a saloon with no interior etc could potentially be lighter.

They are brilliant fun out on track, handling is second to none for the money.

Anywhere around 90bhp and upwards is where you want to be for a fun track car.

Hi Dan , is your pickup yhu 741v? if so, I uploaded a few pics to flickr, (have a search for castle combe), may have a few more on my flash card.

Here's the link mini pix

Edited by keefers, 09 October 2010 - 03:55 PM.

[cradley-heathen]

i used my mini at castle combe action day this year, and i used my last one the previous year. previous to that i had a couple of redtop engined novas that were great fun for track days too, all excellent fun i must say.

the latest mini is the most basic, stripped out, sticky yoko a048 tyres, suspension sorted and set up and a totally stock 998 engine, obviously lacks power but keeps up with and infact catches allot of the faster minis at the bends. but i found the real fun came from knowing my mini was absolutely flat out on the straights and the bends, and i cant imagine many folks get to say that?

anyway bottom line is my budget racer put the biggest smile on my face, took everything and i drove it to work on the monday. MINI=great track car!

[keefers]

I used my Pickup out on track at the Action Day last weekend, and that was brilliant fun. It's got 88bhp, which doesn't sound a lot but when the car only weighs around 650kg it does get up and go quite well. It's not stripped or anything, so a saloon with no interior etc could potentially be lighter.

They are brilliant fun out on track, handling is second to none for the money.

Anywhere around 90bhp and upwards is where you want to be for a fun track car.

Hi Dan , is your pickup yhu 741v? if so, I uploaded a few pics to flickr, (have a search for castle combe), may have a few more on my flash card.

i seen you had a pic of mini with the back wheel in the air,have you any more, ( jhu 39l ) thanks sam

Hi Sam, yes I do have some more, but have used my flickr limit for this month, bit miffed because I used the wrong setting on my camera, so they're not as good as I wanted, if I add some lo res ones, can e mail you the ones you want. By the way if anybody has any pics of h224 poa or s408 bpg would be grateful  minismall9254383.jpg   370.13K   10 downloads83.jpg]  minismall9254417.jpg   343.98K   16 downloads  minismall9254374.jpg   735.79K   4 downloads  minismall9254263.jpg   353.05K   14 downloads  minismall9254092.jpg   381.25K   11 downloads  minismall9254077.jpg   429.54K   4 downloads  minismall9254383.jpg   370.13K   10 downloads  minismall9254277.jpg   378.21K   11 downloads  minismall9254103.jpg   330.06K   9 downloads  minismall9254078.jpg   376.9K   5 downloads




Ps sorry about using your thread |

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•  minismall9254430.jpg   300.97K   9 downloads

Edited by keefers, 10 October 2010 - 10:36 AM.