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Drew - while on the subject of brakes, the GP has the DTC programming in it, same as my car. One of the things it does is provide the eLSD. This system is very sensitive to the size (area) of the pistons in the calipers and a smaller piston area than what you have now will result in the eLSD being overly aggressive, especially in places like the Toe. MINI has 3 different ABS programs, one for each of the three different brakes they put on the cars to account for the different calipers they use. I found this out when I put the Wilwoods on my car and I burned out a set of pads in 2 sessions at the Glen. Something to think about when going to the Stop Techs.
Eddie- Thank you for the comprehensive review on the brake system of the Mini Coopers. I did not know that there were three different ABS programs for the Minis. This will definitely stay in the back of my mind when thinking about the stop techs or any other brake upgrades for that matter. How did you like the Glen in your car? I have gone a couple times in mine and have always enjoyed the track and town as a whole. Filled with history of motor racing greats, the track and town just do not get any better.
Parts have started to roll in which I am very excited about. The first modification came out of the blue. I was doing some research on tunes for the car and decided on the Manic Stage 2 tune. As my excitement grew I decided to message Mario Plaza, aka MARIOKART. We spoke for a bit over the phone about the Manic Tune and what the benefits would come from it. Then though he brought up another tune that he has started doing. This intrigued my interest as I really only knew of Manic and Renntech for Tuning GPs. He told me about the RPM Tunes he was doing and the massive benefits they would have for me, especially for the track. With Boost by Gear, the slightly higher redline of 7000 and things in between it seemed like a better overall fit for my tracking experience.
Mario is so nice and informative on the phone it made my decision really easy. We discussed shipping and that was it, I was sold. After getting off the phone Mario sent me an instructional video and pictures on how to take my ECU out. Even better he sent me a speedo vid of what my car will accelerate similarly too with the tune I will be getting. I AM SO EXCITED!
Below are pictures of the process of taking out the ECU. Best thing is to undo the negative cable on the battery and then number each clipping related to the ECU. There are only three. With the GP though you have to undo the three bolts on the driver side of the strut brace. The brace will wiggle up just enough for a clean exit of the ECU out of the car. You can easily do it with one person but I had my mom to help me which was very kind of her. Overall you only need a 10mm socket to complete the job and job time should take no more than 15 minutes at most.
UPGRADE #2, Ohlin Road and Track BMS 120 and Vorshlag Camber Plates
For my second upgrade for the car, it has to be the suspension. When going to the track as a hobby suspension tuning is a must. For the last five years, I have run the stock Bilstein setup which has been great. The car handled amazing, the turn in was on point and how flat the car felt too in the corners was just beautiful, especially for being stock. With 60k miles on the car now I knew there was time for an upgrade. When looking at the suspension for the car my shop, Kachel Motor Company, suggested I do Ohlin road and tracks. Out of any Coilover setup, this seemed to be the best for my driving style but also the best for my budget with a company with a serious racing background.
I decided to call Ohlins personally to see if they had any in stock in which they had one pair. I gave them my credit card info and they were shipped the next day. The Front springs with the kit are 70-newton per millimeter, rears being 50 newtons per millimeter. Also, the car with this kit will automatically be dropped down 18mm from original ride height.
Ohlins as well as Way Motor Works also provided me with insight to buy the Vorshlag Camber Plates for the car. When ordered them I matched the order with the 2.5-inch springs, this is required when ordered Vorshlag Plates. Something very different than their competition. As for camber and caster rates, I do not know yet till my shop does the alignment and corner balance but I can tell you it will be more aggressive than stock. With the Vorshlags plates too I will be able to change the settings right from the top hat instead of going under the car. Just how the plates and suspension mesh so well together it only made sense to go with Vorshlag, so thank you Ohlins and Way Motor Works.
In all, I believe this set up will be great for my car. On the track, I hope to see a dramatic change in my handling and how the car tracks as a whole.
Below is a picture of the Coilovers with the camber plates attached and also the shop that the car is getting work done so people have a reference. You can see my Mini in the back under the Evo lol.
Eddie- Thank you for the comprehensive review on the brake system of the Mini Coopers. I did not know that there were three different ABS programs for the Minis. This will definitely stay in the back of my mind when thinking about the stop techs or any other brake upgrades for that matter. How did you like the Glen in your car? I have gone a couple times in mine and have always enjoyed the track and town as a whole. Filled with history of motor racing greats, the track and town just do not get any better.
Drew
You’re welcome...
I had to think about your question and how to best answer it. My first reaction was “love it”. But “it” is the track (love it) and your question was: liking the Glen in my car. That is a bit of different answer. My response to that is love/love-not-so-much. The track has a great flow to it that you don’t see on newer tracks. I can understand why F1 drivers like it so much (I saw Louis Hamilton there a few years ago in his car). It has a lot of hiddened secrets that the MINI can use to its advantage. The “love-not-so-much” part is that it is a track that rewards HP as well as skill. HP is something that I don’t have and momentum only does so much, especially with corner speeds being a two-thirds to half the speed I am doing on the straights. That is a lot of speed to have to kill. From the bus stop, through the outer loop, the boot and out onto the front straight I can stay with a lot of cars (well, they don’t outright run away from me...). But HP plays a big role running down the front, through the esses and the back straight, which is where I get whomped by most cars that I run with. Rarely do I get to run with cars that are similar to mine and when I do, it is the most fun...
I have been on the track with JCWs and know what that extra HP can do. Your car is probably 70 hp greater than mine with the JB and probably will be over 100 more when you are done. I would like to get a tune, but I find brake cooling to be the limiting factor on my car (braking for T1 and the bus stop are real killers for me). So no point in adding HP if the brakes won’t handle the added speed. Clearly, you also have much better braking than I have. I have made an upgrade but haven’t had a chance to try it out...
One of the great things about going to the Glen is the variaty of cars that it attracts. I have been out on the out on the track with the likes of stock cars, stock trucks, GT3RSRs, Monster Corvettes and even a couple of Porsche 956 Prototypes. And then to be able to talk to the drivers of these cars, puts a whole new level of experience for me to learn from. I have even had a few of them coach me (having an instructor in the car is always helpful). I have a few videos posted on YouTube if you want to see what I have done; just search for Eddie07S.
Ohlins + Vorshlag - great choice! Of course I'm biased. But don't expect that you'll be able to easily set camber from the top, need to cut out the top of the strut mount for that as the hole is too small and blocks access to the hex head bolts. Still, I love my setup.
does the RPM tune change the knock sensor sensitivity? I Had heard it did but I was not sure if that was just tuner wars, it can be hard to separate the BS
In preparation for my tune and other power upgrades, I installed the NGK ILKR8E6 Spark Plugs. These plugs are colder than the original plugs meaning they will be able to handle the new power much better than the original spark plugs. The job itself was very easy. All you do it just take off the JCW engine over and slowly pop off each coil, there are four of them. Tools needed for the job are 14mm thin wall socket and as well a 5/8th think wall socket too. I believe the 14mm socket it for the original Mini spark plugs and the 5/8th is for the NGKs. I did not have these on hand so I had run over to my shop to borrow the correct tools.
Below are pictures of the process. You can also see my original spark plugs too.
Also sorry for late post, been busy.
Drew.
plugs and new ones, such a dramatic difference.
Your old plugs still looked good. A good indication of the condition of your engine.
One thing I found with my stock S is that being out on the track chews up spark plugs. I’ll be interested to hear how yours do with the added power and the stress of the track.
Thank you. Ordered the 15mm Spacers and studs for my car last Friday. Should be expecting them later this week. Thank you guys for being some help on your site. Lots of options for the Gp2.
Your old plugs still looked good. A good indication of the condition of your engine.
One thing I found with my stock S is that being out on the track chews up spark plugs. I’ll be interested to hear how yours do with the added power and the stress of the track.
Thank you. I was hoping they were gonna look as good as they did. I think they will do well. These plugs seem to be a big upgrade to the car.
I will update you afterward of how they look. If anything I will take them out again and show pics. Thinking about just buying these plugs every six months for the car. Cheap upgrade and just good for your car in general.
Ohlins + Vorshlag - great choice! Of course, I'm biased. But don't expect that you'll be able to easily set camber from the top, need to cut out the top of the strut mount for that as the hole is too small and blocks access to the hex head bolts. Still, I love my setup.
Thank you. I was suggested by Way Motor Works and Ohlins to do these camber plates. Also, thank you for that information. I have informed my shop of the custom engineering they will have to do to fit these in. They said no problem. Can't wait! Thank you for the info though.
I will tell you more after so of how the setup does with the GP2 compared to stock.
does the RPM tune change the knock sensor sensitivity? I Had heard it did but I was not sure if that was just tuner wars, it can be hard to separate the BS
I am not sure about that. Thank you for telling me though. I will give Mario a call this afternoon and ask him. Should be interesting to hear his thoughts on this.
I am also going to do a full RPM tune write up after all my parts are on too.
Thank you. I was suggested by Way Motor Works and Ohlins to do these camber plates. Also, thank you for that information. I have informed my shop of the custom engineering they will have to do to fit these in. They said no problem. Can't wait! Thank you for the info though.
I will tell you more after so of how the setup does with the GP2 compared to stock.
Much appreciated,
Drew
Drew
I remember reading a Grassroots Motorsports article where they tried to optimize the front camber on a R53 and they came up with about -3 deg max. Beyond that they lost straight line braking. I think my friends who run camberplates run -2.5 deg and still consider it “streetable”.
You mentioned adding caster. Will your Vorshlag plates allow you to do that or do you have other plans for how to do it?
I have camber set to -2 deg all around with no adverse tire wear, my R56S is my daily driver. I rotate tires Front <-> rear every 5K. Also have Helix rear control arms to set the rear camber.
I remember reading a Grassroots Motorsports article where they tried to optimize the front camber on a R53 and they came up with about -3 deg max. Beyond that they lost straight line braking. I think my friends who run camberplates run -2.5 deg and still consider it “streetable”.
You mentioned adding caster. Will your Vorshlag plates allow you to do that or do you have other plans for how to do it?
You can't really put a figure on what the appropriate camber setting is without also factoring in toe and to a lesser degree caster. A -2 camber will behave completely different with a neutral toe vs a 4mm total toe out for example. You need to look at the whole package.
Having said that, increasing negative camber is a trade off. You are trying to optimise cornering (turn in, mid corner grip, exit). This is at the expense of straight line acceleration, straight line speed and braking performance. Think of negative camber and toe out like a big fat rear wing. It will help your corner speed, but slow you down on the straights. You need to get the balance right, and suspension setup and alignment often is different for different tracks.
and the pyrometer, on sticky tires I need more than I can get. I also add castor with offset control arm bushings. My car has 200whp and I do not have exit traction issues with hooseirs but I do have clutch issues
You can't really put a figure on what the appropriate camber setting is without also factoring in toe and to a lesser degree caster. A -2 camber will behave completely different with a neutral toe vs a 4mm total toe out for example. You need to look at the whole package.
Having said that, increasing negative camber is a trade off. You are trying to optimise cornering (turn in, mid corner grip, exit). This is at the expense of straight line acceleration, straight line speed and braking performance. Think of negative camber and toe out like a big fat rear wing. It will help your corner speed, but slow you down on the straights. You need to get the balance right, and suspension setup and alignment often is different for different tracks.
Great build thread BTW
Drew, this reminds me, for WGI and to negotiate the toe in particular, you will want to set the front toe at the stock setting. I tried a little less toe than the stock setting (don’t remember if I was at 0, but close) and found that I was getting excessive wear on the inside of my my right tire. I actually experimented with slightly more toe in than stock with good success. As Robo points out, suspension setup is a package deal and this is one piece that I found the hard way.
and the pyrometer, on sticky tires I need more than I can get. I also add castor with offset control arm bushings. My car has 200whp and I do not have exit traction issues with hooseirs but I do have clutch issues
I remember reading a Grassroots Motorsports article where they tried to optimize the front camber on a R53 and they came up with about -3 deg max. Beyond that they lost straight line braking. I think my friends who run camberplates run -2.5 deg and still consider it “streetable”.
You mentioned adding caster. Will your Vorshlag plates allow you to do that or do you have other plans for how to do it?
I believe it will. That is what I read. I could be wrong. I am going to have my shop just do my setup. They will be able to read out what they think is best.
You can't really put a figure on what the appropriate camber setting is without also factoring in toe and to a lesser degree caster. A -2 camber will behave completely different with a neutral toe vs a 4mm total toe out for example. You need to look at the whole package.
Having said that, increasing negative camber is a trade off. You are trying to optimise cornering (turn in, mid corner grip, exit). This is at the expense of straight line acceleration, straight line speed and braking performance. Think of negative camber and toe out like a big fat rear wing. It will help your corner speed, but slow you down on the straights. You need to get the balance right, and suspension setup and alignment often is different for different tracks.
Great build thread BTW
Thank you very much for the very kind words. I will see what is up. I do not have a lot of experience but my shop does. The owner was one of the first 10 at Turner Motor Sport back in the day and has helped them win multiple championships during their glory days in Grand AM.
We both have a good idea of what we want. We are not going to go too aggressive to start. If anything slightly neutral. At the track though we will make slight corrections if necessary.
07-25-2018 | 04:57 PM
). But HP plays a big role running down the front, through the esses and the back straight, which is where I get whomped by most cars that I run with. Rarely do I get to run with cars that are similar to mine and when I do, it is the most fun...
