[Mysticarl]

If you're looking for a May day I think there are some other Mini's going to Snetterton on the 10th. That's with Track Obsession.

Thanks for the info - I've rebooked for the 10th, seemed to make sense! There's a good few going, hopefully will get some good running with them

I was meant to be busy this weekend but now have Covid, so I'm going to try and get the rear suspension adjusted over the weekend assuming I don't feel too crap!

 

[KeithyCoop]

I love Brundle into Nelson.

If you're looking for a May day I think there are some other Mini's going to Snetterton on the 10th. That's with Track Obsession.

Bit of an update.. Alternator Fucked 😂

Great job on the new fastest time, and very handy video. I'm defo back at Snet on 22nd Sept if not earlier, some useful insights into the gears you were using which I'll try out when I'm next there.

Absolutely smashing it around Coram, I'm yet to find the balls yet, think I'm only around 65 ish there.

You need a good pair of balls to get round Coram quickly, I’ve improved, but I know it’s my worst corner.

 

[Mysticarl]

Got a couple of small jobs done - main one being hooking up the oil warning light to my sensor ECU which works a treat (MOT passable now anyway), and the other putting some trim treatment on the bumpers etc. which I've had sitting around for ages. I wasn't expecting much but it's made a lot of difference! They were really faded. Not sure how long it'll last but for now at least they actually look pretty black!

 

[NigelStap]

Keeping the black trim in good condition makes a huge difference to the appearance of a Mini.

 

[Colonel Bogey]

and the other putting some trim treatment on the bumpers etc.

Just did mine and the wifes last week with this stuff.

Meguiar's G15812EU Ultimate Black Plastic & Trim Restorer 355ml. Makes black plastic & trim look like new : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

Meguiar's G15812EU Ultimate Black Plastic & Trim Restorer 355ml. Makes black plastic & trim look like new : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

www.amazon.co.uk

Very impressed.
Both had gone grey and stripey.
Goes on white and dries black.

Before

After (a week later and after a wash)

 

[Chalky13]

That’s the stuff I use on the wife’s R53 (painted my trims instead)

 

[Mysticarl]

Have adjusted the rear ride height now so it's 15mm lower. It's still slightly higher relatively than the front (by about 10mm). While I was there I checked my rear brakes and there's not much left in the pads, so have ordered standard Brembo rear discs and pads which I'll pick up tomorrow.

Also my new steering wheel arrived! I'll almost certainly need a spacer as well but I need to get it on and see exactly where it's going to sit first. I'll probably fit both over the weekend!

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Thanks for the info - I've rebooked for the 10th, seemed to make sense! There's a good few going, hopefully will get some good running with them

I was meant to be busy this weekend but now have Covid, so I'm going to try and get the rear suspension adjusted over the weekend assuming I don't feel too crap!

Nice, should be at least one running a TVS there.

Hope Covid hasn't hit you too badly!

 

[Mysticarl]

Nice, should be at least one running a TVS there.

Ooh it'll be good to see how one goes/sounds in person! Not something I'll be pursuing anytime soon though - BVH next power mod plan but no expecting to be able to go there for a couple of years!

Hope Covid hasn't hit you too badly!

It was ok, just tired me out for a few days really! All fine now though

 

[Mysticarl]

I had some fun and games with getting the studs off the rear hubs - one decided it was so attached that it sheared off my 5mm hex drive bit. I did eventually get it off using the double-nut method but it took around 100ftlb to shift it!

New brakes bits, under £80 from eurocarparts:

Old pads on the passenger side were pretty tired!

Looking a lot better (especially with the newly blacker trim):

I was glad the pistons wound in with no apparent issues - a little stiff initially but smooth after a turn or so. Now just need to get the back wheels on tonight and bed them in on the local dual carriageway.


One question on the brake fluid level in the reservoir - I can get it to the level of the strainer in there but I can't take any more out from the top, but that's above the max line. How do people get the level back below the max level? Do I just need to bleed it through making sure I don't go too far and draw in air?

 

[CarsOrBikes]

take the filter out and syphon it out

I used the Brembo pads once, less than 130 miles including driving ~40 miles to Oulton before they started on the metal😂, fronts pretty much there as well,

 

[Mysticarl]

I used the Brembo pads once, less than 130 miles including driving ~40 miles to Oulton before they started on the metal😂, fronts pretty much there as well,

I've managed about 200 miles of street driving and they're OK so far in all seriousness though I hope they'll be fine, I've seen a few comments from others that on the rear they'd be ok - I've still got the Carbotech XP8s on the front that should still take the majority of the beating. Those old pads have done about 10 track days and they weren't new when I got the car!

My new steering wheel's on - feels really good and actually I don't think I need it spaced closer to me, at least initially anyway. Being smaller though it does restrict visibility of the dash, so I'll be working on some mods to that at some point. Initially I think moving the shift lights to an extension of the top will work well because they would be above the wheel line, but I'll see how the 10th goes. At least now I have alarms for oil temp and battery voltage!

Suspension-wise I need to tweak the LCAs slightly as I over-adjusted them last time and I'm down to about -0.9 degrees on the left and -1.1 on the right. Thankfully those are actually really fast to adjust, and now I also have a proper idea on how much rotation on them gives me in camber change. All roughly of course as I only use 2 bits of wood, spirit level and a vernier! One day I might get a proper alignment done.

Other than that I think I'm all set for the 10th, which feels wrong somehow there's always something last-minute to sort!

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Sounds good!

Think you had enough last minute things to sort last time both pre track day and on the day! So Hopefully that's you all set and ready to rumble!

Looking like a warm one on the 10th so front mount will be getting a good run out.

I'm also needing a proper alignment trying to wait until I change the rear arms for the R56 ones though so I don't have to pay to get it done twice. Waiting for the wheel bearings to give up first though haha

 

[Mysticarl]

Never updated after the last track day! It was good. Great actually to be out with lots of other R53's and not to have to fix anything on the car. In the afternoon I even made a suspension setup change just because I could! It was really good to look at some race-ready cars too and see where they were with setup and lap time (even though without a cage or slicks I can't hope to get near their lap times).

Driving standards weren't up to much though, and they were rather lax with dealing with it as well, given one guy was allowed to continue despite having rear-ended someone and it being 100% his fault and totally avoidable. Damage was relatively minor but still in 3 figures I think. Mostly it was people just overdriving and getting themselves into trouble, but lots of spins despite there being lots of grip.

Time-wise I'm in the mid-2:24s now, still on the NS2R's.

Some observations:

• Oil temps peaked at 122C (after 15mins or so) ambient was around 22C.
• Coolant was getting to 104C which is also a little high.
• IATs were still getting to 54C or so.
• Car is still a little soft and high.
• Tried stiffer damping and it helped stability under braking, but may have given less cornering grip and lap times didn't really improve - needs more investigation.
• My rear wheels ended up like someone had resprayed them anthracite there was so much dust from the Brembo pads! Roughly 40% gone I think.
• Trackside pictures showed just how high I'm sat in the car - nothing I can do anything about as the seat is as low as it goes, but a bucket seat needs to go on the list.

Things for next time:

• Open up cooling on the front (modify crash bar, replace aero plastics with mesh, etc.) and see where temps get to.
• Run lower all round (will try 15mm drop front and rear).
• Run more negative camber all around (-2.5 front, -1.5 rear as a vague aim).
• Try stiffer damping (80% or so)
• Think about getting stiffer springs (10Kg all round maybe).
• Think about getting Mintex 1144s or something for the rear to replace the standard Brembo pads!

I've got a spare crash bar coming so I'm planning to drill that to open the cooling for track days. I'll stick with the standard bar for street use and swap to it for track days as it doesn't take long to swap over. I'll remove the standard grills and replace with wire mesh which should also help cooling.

I've been deliberating a lot about an oil cooler, but I really don't like any of the options for swapping either to an air cooler with a thermostat or a larger oil to water cooler (e.g. Laminova). It's so tight space-wise, and the added unreliability just doesn't seem the right solution yet. If I open the cooling right up and still have issues I'll have to consider what to do then. I also don't want to buy something only to realise it's not the best solution, especially when it's going to be £500 or so for a decent setup.

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Good variety of R53/R52s there on that day, always good fun to be out with similar cars.

Not sure why but Snetterton definitely seems lax compared to other circuits, granted I’ve only been there twice. I guess the TDO has a huge part to play.

Opentrack are probably the strictest days I’ve been on.

Can see in the pics how dusty the rears are haha think I’ve got eicher in mine not too dusty but doubt they’re doing much performance wise.

Will be interesting to see how the crash bar changes the temperature readings, fantastic you have the ability to log these as you can really see the impact your changes are having.

I’m in the same boat as you with the oil cooler, may have rethought it if it was blocked/in poor shape when I took it off but looked great.

 

[KeithyCoop]

Only done Trackdays at Snetterton with MSVT and standards have been good. I would say the first 2 were novice days which were busy, the rest were open pit days and much less traffic on track.

 

[Mysticarl]

There were a lot of people expecting others to pass in corners, and no lifting off out of corners to let faster cars through that were slower down the straights, as well as no blue flags on the day at all. It led to a few issues with multiple cars trying to pass the one at the front who kept flooring it down the straights but couldn't go round a corner faster than a reliant robin.

It was basically down to lots of people not knowing how overtaking on track days is meant to be. Maybe the briefings need to change to make it clearer - after the event on facebook when we were discussing it, there were quite a few saying 'why didn't people pass under braking or in the corners?' admittedly some from outside the UK where rules differ, but still plenty who were UK based.

The time before that was an MSV day and the morning was kind of the opposite - race teams using it as a test and they got told off (eventually) so it calmed down after the 5 red flags in the morning.

 

[KeithyCoop]

Yes some slower cars can out accelerate faster cars, my car is like that being turbo charged, so I just back off and let them past. I find Caterham 7's are the worst, like flies buzzing round a turd (me being the turd).

I'd never go on track at a show, that seems to be utter carnage.

 

[Alan16ac]

There were a lot of people expecting others to pass in corners, and no lifting off out of corners to let faster cars through that were slower down the straights, as well as no blue flags on the day at all. It led to a few issues with multiple cars trying to pass the one at the front who kept flooring it down the straights but couldn't go round a corner faster than a reliant robin.

It was basically down to lots of people not knowing how overtaking on track days is meant to be. Maybe the briefings need to change to make it clearer - after the event on facebook when we were discussing it, there were quite a few saying 'why didn't people pass under braking or in the corners?' admittedly some from outside the UK where rules differ, but still plenty who were UK based.

The time before that was an MSV day and the morning was kind of the opposite - race teams using it as a test and they got told off (eventually) so it calmed down after the 5 red flags in the morning.

One thing that worries me getting into trackdays is those who are there to be competitive and don't follow the rules. I'd like to think marshalls deal with it, but guess this isn't always the case. All there to have fun at the end of the day. It isn't a race, and I know I'd let people past on straights and follow rules, but sadly, I guess there will always be those who don't.

 

[KeithyCoop]

One thing that worries me getting into trackdays is those who are there to be competitive and don't follow the rules. I'd like to think marshalls deal with it, but guess this isn't always the case. All there to have fun at the end of the day. It isn't a race, and I know I'd let people past on straights and follow rules, but sadly, I guess there will always be those who don't.

Don’t worry, it’s not common at all, bad driving is dealt with and the rules are very clear.