MINI’s New Shoes Jul 27, 2005
Kim and I have been in a small dilemma with this MINI. Kim realized that she was just 2 events away from having enough points in STX for a year-end trophy. As a first-year autocrosser, Kim is understandably psyched about this. Of course, I had to go an sell the SE-R which throws a monkey wrench in the works. We came up with a pretty easy solution. We mounted up some leftover Falken Azenis on the extra set of 15" MINI wheels that I found online. This will allow Kim to run a few more times in STX (an HS car on "street touring" style tires is legal in HS, STS, STX) while I can see how it compares on PAX index as an HS car. After Kim finishes up her two events, we'll be switching over to R-compound tires.
Appalachian Tire--a great place to get tires shaved!
MINI’s first autocross Aug 1, 2005
Kim and I autocrossed this weekend in Ft. Pierce. The MINI was wearing its Falken Azenis tires, so I ran in HS and Kim ran in STX (I think she got second) We felt pretty good about the car's performance.
Unfortunately, we had our first problem with the car on the way home. The driver's side window decided it didn't want to go up. I'm taking it to the dealer today for a look-see.
MINI Window Aug 2, 2005
My trip to Orlando to Downtown MINI was somewhat succesful. The service technicians disassembled everything and realized that the window motors are different for 2005, so a new one had to be ordered. The 2004 one that they had in stock used a smaller gear reduction shaft and had different mounting screw spacing.
While they were figuring that out, I tapped the old motor against their lift with a good metallic "rap." This got it going so that I could drive the car home with the windows up (good thing, as it's the rainy season here in Florida.) Downtown MINI has ordered a new window motor for us and we'll be making the 50 minute trip back to Orlando to get it installed.
Nothing beats the smell of fresh rubber Aug 5, 2005
A fresh set of Kumho ECSTA V710s arrived on our doorstep. It's one thing to do well in our recent autocross tire test, we're interested in seeing how the V710s work over the lifespan of the tires. The 215/40R16s are significantly wider and shorter than the 175/65R15s that our MINI came with.
We're currently waiting for a set of 16x6.5 Rota Slipstreams to arrive. These new wheels are stock class legal for the MINI, lightweight (13 pounds) and cheap (under $130 per wheel!) What's not to like?
H Stock = Fun Aug 11, 2005
It looks like the MINI did pretty well in H Stock, despite not having R-compound tires. I wound up first on index overall. Kim, who was running in STX, finished 29th on index, this would have actually been good for 15th overall with the friendlier H Stock correction factor.
The PAXed results are posted here.
Kim and I are planning on going over to Brooksville this weekend for a CFR West autocross. We'll have our R-compound Kumho V710s on board for some seriously fast times.