[shiftspark]

Hi shiftspark, love the car!!

I’m looking to copy your alcantara trim (sorry) on the IP supports. Is it something you bought as a piece of pre-stitched trim, or did you start completely from scratch?

Mark

Hi Mark
I bought them a while ago in a group buy, I think it was R53 owners club on faceache.I am not on there anymore but worth a look.
They are quite difficult to get on without small creases which are out of sight thankfully. If I did them again I would use glue that allows movement as I used impact adhesive.

 

[shiftspark]

Jackpot ! ding ding ding ding ding

 

[shiftspark]

Today I refitted my Ohlins to get ready for Oulton park in dec although today’s COVID news may prevent it going ahead.
Anyway the last time I fitted them I had somehow managed to fit the front springs on the rear and vice versa and only noticed when refitting them. This is why my front tyres were really close to the springs as they are 2 different lengths.
Before

After.
Hoping for some good Black Friday deals as looking for tyres,brake pads and Alta rear arms.

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Mini cooper S R50 R53 R56 SPC style adjustable rear control arms gp1 gp2 jcw | eBay

fyi, seller is on here, just an option

I can supply Carbotech pads although no discounts and usually a wait for them too

my Mrs was saying it looks like things are going to open up a bit from the 2nd?

 

[shiftspark]

Hi Sean
Sorry I meant Hardrace arms , dunno where I got Alta from 😆 I am going to try Mintex M1144 as these will work for sprints from cold and track day is a bit of fun as usually bored by lunch.
, ha.
Just ordered 4 x PS4 which are £367 fitted on the drive which is cheap via tyresonthedrive with 15% off.
Going to fit alloy arms and a new ARB but not sure the Whiteline at 21mm are thick enough as the Hotchkiss are 23mm ?? Anyone offer any tips ?
Cheers.
Not sure on the tier stuff except in tier 3

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Hotchkis are 25.5 and imo are great, start it low perhaps, I run mine with just this, front now removed entirely,

price sounds good for the tyres, what size? I did consider them in 225/45r17 only for road really

 

[shiftspark]

215 45 17.
Looking on the hotchkiss page and says the 25.5mm bar gives plus 226% 234% and 383% increases !
20mm Whiteline Over the factory 17mm bar, this will increase stiffness by approx 56% / 92% / 133%. Which seems a waste of time.
Alta from Lohen at 22mm increases it to 330 over standard and is cheaper that Hotchkiss.
Thinking maybe Hotchkiss is too much ?

 

[Maccmike]

I think it was Whiteline fitted to mine? and for the road it was perfect for me. Turn in was great and on the often wet and muddy crountry lanes near me, the rear was planted too.

 

[NigelStap]

my Mrs was saying it looks like things are going to open up a bit from the 2nd?

Am I the only person sniggering like a schoolboy at this?

 

[CarsOrBikes]

😂

 

[KeithyCoop]

Am I the only person sniggering like a schoolboy at this?

I had a little titter, which in it's self made me titter some more!

 

[shiftspark]

I had the MPS4 tyres fitted a couple of weeks ago in time for Oulton park tomorrow. Looks like a wet day though so 🤷‍♂️
Just bought some oil to top up and some coolant from MINI as it was just on the bottom level i didn’t think it was bad for £12 for 1 1/2 litres.
Ill see if I can rig the go pro up and get some video.

 

[shiftspark]

Quick update from yesterday at Oulton park, arrived to a dark wet track to find my garage like most full of water and as luck would have it a 15mm deep puddle when I put my foot out of the car which gave me wet feet from the off.
The track stayed wet all day although I found the grip to very good and predictable and thankfully few red flags.
The MPS4 tyres are excellent in the wet giving good feed back and grip.The Mini behaved itself all day except for a soft brake pedal after the 1st session which gradually got worse and resulted in a black flag on my last lap as sparks were coming from both front wheels !
The car handled superbly on the Ohlins and I managed to easily catch a couple of moments going into lodge and deers leap and later in the day a huge moment into old hall.
I will get to look at the brakes tomorrow and fingers crossed there’s no disc damage.
I ran on standard pads as I had no time to fit the M1144 and thought that the standard ones would be good enough for a wet track day proved wrong.
I also think that the M1144 will not be up to a summer track day but should be good for sprinting if anything goes ahead next year.
I think the wheels look good darker with all the brake dust on

and a closer look at the front wheel with all the dust and rust stains from the brakes.

 

[shiftspark]

Not much been happening with this for a while but with news of events starting up again this year it’s had some tlc
First up was a new front wheel bearing on the drivers side as it was making quite a noise and failed pretty quickly.
My rear dampers had been making a noise so were sent of to BG motorsport for a check over. They found that there was a minor problem with them which was sorted and sent them back rebuilt ready to go back on.This was a bit touch and go as they are very busy as it seems everyone had sent theirs in for a check over for the new season.
I have made a new timing strut as I have mislaid my old one and made sure my safety gear was a) still ok and b) still fits lol
I also taxed it as it was briefly sorn and at £367 ! It’s getting bloody expensive.
We are at Aintree on saturday and because of COVID everything is done on line before hand with only random checks being done which will save time on the day but a few are worried about cars taking part with simple issues that could have been picked up at scrutineering.
Also no spectators,catering etc
I will report back after the event.

 

[shiftspark]

Aintree sprint

Last saturday was my 1st event for this year and with all the COVID rules in place made it a much more relaxed day if I am honest. This was because all the paper work was done online before hand and with no scruteneering taking place and paddock places allocated I arrived an hour before we were due to start practice instead of 2 or 3 hours early like normal. I just fitted my timing strut,numbers and championship decals and seat belt clip and tow eyes and was ready to go.
1st practice went well with no moments due to being rusty etc and set a time of 55.25 which was ok.
We had 2 practice and 5 times runs of which my best time of 54.07 was good enough for 2nd in class and managed to beat a standard looking double driven R53 and a fully modified R53 in another class by 3 and 2 secs.
The car ran well but it through the eml light just before my 4th run which reset but distracted me a little and it definitely needs more go from the engine. I think a cam, injectors and map need doing @CarsOrBikes may have some ideas!
I also want to drop the front about 10mm to give some rake as running at the Ohlins setting but not sure how much this affects the set up as it will alter the spring pre load ?
Also refresh the rear control arms and suspension arm bush as they are well past their best. It could do with converting to the r56 arms but not sure how much it will gain from that vs cost and time to do it as I have an event per month for the next 3 months and want to fit some more in as I have really missed being on track.

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Sounds like it was a great day and you did really well

 

[shiftspark]

Scammonden Dam hillclimb 16 may.
I was out last weekend on my 1st hillclimb of the year and its a venue I have been going to on and off since the late 80's and its not changed much ! If you dont know its the service road to the pump house situated at the bottom of the dam.
The weather was going to be showers in the afternoon but it was still wet from the previous weeks rain and muddy in the paddock which was being dragged onto the road making the tyres muddy even down at the start making getting off the line quickly a bit hit and miss.
Practice was soon completed and then onto the timed runs, the 1st and 2nd being dryish so these needed to count as the rain was expected later. Indeed I was sat in my car and the sun was out and I was thinking I had not put any sun cream on only for the next minute for a massive hailstone shower and plummet in temperature !
I was making a note of air inlet temps and found due to heat soak it was not dropping much below 30 deg and at one point was over 55 degrees whilst waiting in the start que. This must be costing power or the engine cutting timing ?
Anyway the guy in the next car came over and said, " I was quickest after the 2nd timed run" to which I said " I would be as only myself in my class" to which he said "no quickest overall" it was only a small field and most cars were sat on slicks so that explains everything !!
I was looking forward to a great battle in the afternoon but I received a call to say my youngest son had broken his arm at football and was on the way to A & E so I quickly packed up and headed off home.
I eventually finished 7th overall.
Next event is 3 sisters at Wigan so fingers crossed for a trouble free day.

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Sounds like you were doing really well!

Sorry to hear about your boy, shame you had to pack up. Hope he has a speedy recovery.

 

[shiftspark]

3 Sisters sprint 13 June
My 1st visit this year of a planned 4 events and this one was a 2 lapper as opposed to the more usual single lap.
My class was a Saab turbo, Imprezza wrx and Megane R26R
A change this year to give more timed runs ment only 1 practice which went ok and found myself quickest but I thought it was early days yet and plenty of runs for the others to get dialled in.
It was a hot day as expected with my AIT climbing to above 50 deg C and only dropping back after the lunch break but I saw over 60 deg which never went below 55 so I think I will try a standard cooler to see if it recovers quicker.
Anyway after a couple of timed runs I was still quickest with the Saab about 3 seconds back, subaru 2 secs and nip and tuck with the R26R each bettering the other by a couple of 10ths of a second !
I tried to be as smooth as possible and managed to go 0.13 quicker on my 2nd to last run which was enough for a very surprising win !!
I think the R53 has some good potential with some more power, sticky tyres and a bit of lightening with bucket seats and no carpets alas this does not come cheap.
Next 2 events are at 3 sisters at the end of july and beginning of august which is a Javelin sprint event.
Thanks for reading and hopefully spectators are allowed and I may see one of you at the events.

 

[shiftspark]

Scammondon dam hillclimb 18th July.

Last weekend was on the hottest day of the year and I had fitted a standard cooler to see if it could manage to recover quicker than the Airtec than I have normally run.
I kept a note of the temps after each run and at first it seemed to be recovering quick enough but as the runs continued it slowly crept higher and higher and not recovering with the air temp at 26C and water around 98C it reached 75c air inlet temp as I was held on the line due to a crash.
Obviously this was far too hot so I swapped back to the airtec at lunch time which is not the best thing to do as I could not get one of the clamps to seat properly but eventually solved it and the temps dropped back to around 48C to 55C which was much more like it.
I came 3rd in class just a second or so behind a big spec MCS turbo and Polo gti turbo both running sticky rubber vs my PS4.
I decided that to get the most from what I have is to get some Extreme VR2 super soft rubber which despite long delays on ordering I struck lucky and got some. Unfortunately they have not arrived in time to get them fitted for tomorrow as I am at 3 Sisters.
I also need some more wheels in case I fit them to my only set and the remaining events are wet I will need to use my PS4 tyres.
Hopefully spectators will be allowed from now on.
Heres a link to a video of the hillclimb if you are intereste.Although sadly the tarmac was in poor condition and events have been suspended until it can be repaired or resurfaced.