thewheelerZ Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 So we crashed and wrote off our car in our last race and are looking into new options beyond just buying the same type car and remaking what we had. Has anyone thought about a Mini Cooper for chump? 200 points, I think the supercharged S engine should be doable through the rules. Should be raced easily at less than 2200lbs. 13.5 gallon fuel tank wouldn't be sufficient, but I bet an extra two gallons and a surge would get it pretty close to two hours. I worry about electronics (drive by wire throttle for example.. sounds like recipe for disaster) and supercharger standing up to sustained heat and racing conditions. Anyone know anything about these cars? Could it be fast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendawson3 Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 i've wondered the same thing too..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcewena Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 They run pretty well in Continental series, not sure how far they are from street and BOP needed to make them competitive there though. Supercharger should be less heat affected than a turbo... I've heard parts are pricey though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee mcoppola Posted October 10, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Just press the easy button.... Couple fenders and doors and this would be a nice looking AND FAST car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtwill Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 thanks for the bump...it comes with a pair of matching doors...we just put our old ones on to keep with the 'scrap' vibe....no other fenders though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted October 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 I have definitely looked at that ad in the last few days. No cage though right? Is that correct with what I read? Its also a bit far away... transport starts to make the car not as good of a deal. If I was west coast, it would be a serious consideration. Im not opposed to buying a pre-made car. Would actually welcome that as long as its the right car for a decent price. @mcewena Yeah, Ive wondered that too. Tried to get in touch with a guy associated to the CTCC guys that run minis, haven't heard back yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiredBirds Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 2 hours ago, thewheelerZ said: So we crashed and wrote off our car in our last race and are looking into new options beyond just buying the same type car and remaking what we had. Has anyone thought about a Mini Cooper for chump? 200 points, I think the supercharged S engine should be doable through the rules. Should be raced easily at less than 2200lbs. 13.5 gallon fuel tank wouldn't be sufficient, but I bet an extra two gallons and a surge would get it pretty close to two hours. I worry about electronics (drive by wire throttle for example.. sounds like recipe for disaster) and supercharger standing up to sustained heat and racing conditions. Anyone know anything about these cars? Could it be fast? I'd think for Chumps a mini would be way under powered... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee NigelStu Posted October 10, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 3 minutes ago, TiredBirds said: I'd think for Chumps a mini would be way under powered... base engine, yeah. its like a boxy, FWD 1.6L Miata. Might be underpowered but light with high potential for excellent handling. And with 200 pts, lots of room to play with for both power and handing improvements. Supercharged engine 160-168 HP, good torque, and still has curb weight near 2200 lbs, solid lbs:hp ratio there. Potentially a rocket. 300 pts (with current VPI list) may rather under-valued for that one... I say build one If anything it'll look cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted October 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 42 minutes ago, TiredBirds said: I'd think for Chumps a mini would be way under powered... Yeah, but you drive a V8, likely most things sound under powered. 34 minutes ago, NigelStu said: base engine, yeah. its like a boxy, FWD 1.6L Miata. Might be underpowered but light with high potential for excellent handling. And with 200 pts, lots of room to play with for both power and handing improvements. Supercharged engine 160-168 HP, good torque, and still has curb weight near 2200 lbs, solid lbs:hp ratio there. Potentially a rocket. 300 pts (with current VPI list) may rather under-valued for that one... I say build one If anything it'll look cool. That's what Im thinking. Would VPI be 200+ 100 for the factory installed Turbo/Supercharger? Swap calculator using 168 hp "S" engine in says 292... . I think as long as I strip the "S" badge off the back it should fly right?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcewena Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 What about the last of the RWD Volvos? Run it stock 'til you've got it sorted then drop a small block V8 in it. Massive OEM fuel tank should get you more than 2 hours and tank like construction won't bend as easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmabarone Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Z, a guy I worked with at a few pro races DDed a Mini Cooper S. He raced an e36 M3 then an e46 touring car. He said the Mini was one of the quickest "easy" car to drive on the street and track. Heck, even Kenny Schrader drove one in a Conti race. If you can find contact info for him, look for Owen Trinkler. He raced that generation Mini in Conti back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee NigelStu Posted October 10, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 One of my buddies has a S w/JCW package - that limited slip and 6-spd sure so make the car more fun to drive. I'd think that extra 8 pts would be worth it. Build it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross2004 Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 48 minutes ago, jmabarone said: Heck, even Kenny Schrader drove one in a Conti race. He said he has more fun doing ChumpCar races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopar 4 Life Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 Personally I wouldn't touch those cars for this type of racing. Parts cost would suck compared to other brands. Personally if I didn't have a mopar tattoo on my man parts. I would look into... 1. Toyota Celica (very pointy) and it's a toyota 2. Toyota Matrix XRS, there is million of these things around the GTA 3. Acura RSX, same as #2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jab31169 Posted October 10, 2017 Report Share Posted October 10, 2017 40 minutes ago, Mopar 4 Life said: 3. Acura RSX, same as #2 I've started to wonder why I haven't seen more of these lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiredBirds Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 5 hours ago, thewheelerZ said: Yeah, but you drive a V8, likely most things sound under powered. That's what Im thinking. Would VPI be 200+ 100 for the factory installed Turbo/Supercharger? Swap calculator using 168 hp "S" engine in says 292... . I think as long as I strip the "S" badge off the back it should fly right?! so put a "170" HP V8 in it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 16 hours ago, Mopar 4 Life said: Personally I wouldn't touch those cars for this type of racing. Parts cost would suck compared to other brands. Personally if I didn't have a mopar tattoo on my man parts. I would look into... 1. Toyota Celica (very pointy) and it's a toyota 2. Toyota Matrix XRS, there is million of these things around the GTA 3. Acura RSX, same as #2 For 1 & 2 you need a new oil pan or it will starve. The transmissions are also very problematic and prone to going to 2nd when you wanted 4th. I know anything can do that, but it's realllllly easy to do on those C60s. They also dont like to find the next gear when you're shifting from high RPM (which you really gotta do with a 2ZZ) If you could figure out though, would be great. Loved mine (Celica GTS) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee hornerevan Posted October 11, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 18 hours ago, Mopar 4 Life said: 3. Acura RSX, same as #2 Downside of these is you have to make the suspension not move AT ALL because of how bad the bump/roll steer is on the front axle. Also, only a 13 gal tank for a pretty beefy motor (would expect 7+ gal/hr burn rate on the 2.0L). If you can overcome these issues, I wouldn't be surprised if these become the next FWD rocket ship of Chump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMoneyWasters Posted October 11, 2017 Report Share Posted October 11, 2017 On 10/10/2017 at 11:43 AM, thewheelerZ said: Anyone know anything about these cars? Could it be fast? Mini Cooper would be fun and faster than you think. Look for a 03 to 06 model. 07 to 12 have stretching timing chain issues. We have auto crossed a mini a few times and it rips pretty good. Wouldn't worry about the fly by wire deal. Turbo or supercharged, neither have been a problem in the repair shop I work at. Clutch replacement is brutal. Book says nearly 10 hours and the dual mass flywheels are expensive, so shift responsibly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmabarone Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 I just remembered something about the Drive-by-wire deal. We ran the Z4 pedal in the e90s in Conti (possibly in the F30 too, not sure) and I believe the Mini team would come up every once in a while and buy one of our spares for their car. IIRC, Mini uses a hanging pedal and the Z4 is a floor mount, but I believe it would fit right in. They ran MoTeC or Bosch, so it had a custom harness. All that said, in 4 years of racing, or around 150 pro race weekends, I can only think of swapping the pedal out twice. The Z4 pedal was more resilient and cheaper than the stock piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewheelerZ Posted October 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 For what its worth, I am pretty sure we are bailing on this idea. We took a look at replacement parts for the regular stuff (ball joints, wheel bearings/hubs, water pump, etc) and prices are 2-3x what they would be for our old mazda 626. not to mention stuff like the supercharger that apparently isn't serviceable. There is a pretty good resource on youtube of a guy doing maint. and such on his Mini. Looks like to do pretty much anything, the entire front clip needs to come off (pain in the butt!). I think the final straw was his clutch replacement video (which, yes, looks to be a huge job). Approx 20 mins into the video, after removing the subframe, axles, steering rack, etc he FINALLY gains access to remove the starter motor... To replace the starter you need to remove all that junk first? Just too complicated for our liking. Too bad though, as it could probably be an awesome car to race on track! Anyone have a 626 or MX6 they want to sell??!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorman Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 23 hours ago, hornerevan said: Downside of these is you have to make the suspension not move AT ALL because of how bad the bump/roll steer is on the front axle. Also, only a 13 gal tank for a pretty beefy motor (would expect 7+ gal/hr burn rate on the 2.0L). If you can overcome these issues, I wouldn't be surprised if these become the next FWD rocket ship of Chump. Right. And the K20A2 cars are 470 points out of the box. You'll probably exceed 500 with suspension items. I also think that oil supply is an issue because custom oil pans and Accusumps seem common. And yes, the 13 gallon tank is a killer in a 200 hp car. S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee hornerevan Posted October 12, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 Just K20 swap an Accord or something instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorman Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 4 minutes ago, hornerevan said: Just K20 swap an Accord or something instead. To lose 40-50 hp? S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee hornerevan Posted October 12, 2017 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 How do you figure? 1994 Accord with the F22B1 that makes 145HP at 200 points. Put in a K20A2 at 200HP, and you're now at 281 points, 200HP, and a 17 gal tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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