Rubbish..............
Turbo Mini Forums

I also drove the 2 hour journey to avon park and the 1.5 hour journey home (i got lost :))

So it seems your car isnt that "Road" amazing for its spec is it?

Edited by SumpNut on 18th Aug, 2005.

paul whiffins ????

Everyone knows that instructions only have to be read if the thing doesn't work....

Edited by stevieturbo on 18th Aug, 2005.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Shall we now talk about going around corners?

JF..

no.... my car still doesn't do that!

alex

AlexF

I say fair play, you have to admit boys, he was doing this 10 years before you boys. But the MAIN thing I can't understand from his thread is how a 14.6 mini is "dangerous" to drive??? My old valver (XE)nova I used to have 1/4's in 13.3 @109mph on 110bhp gas (progressive), and I used to rape it everyday I drove it, I would regularly see the rev limiter in 5th, and it never felt particularly dangerous to drive.

It had far more unequal shafts than your mini, far more power, and it used to torque steer a little but no where near as much as you make out your mini did? did you have the tyre pressures and tracking checked?

Any how I think you should dig your mini out and get it into the 12's if you think its that easy. I'm still struggling to get in with a 280 bhp nova running a 50bhp WON kit. New engine back in soon so hopefully we shall see soon.

Rich

If someone funds it, I'd be more than glad to have a go at it. But I cant justify spending what would be needed to repair the rust, and make it go that much faster, which in turn would almost make it a race car.
As I said before, I love making cars go faster. But they must remain 100% road car, and be enjoyable to drive fast, and equally important, to drive slowly on the road.
A stripped out, caged, etc etc mini would be anything but enjoyable for me on the road.
Perhaps if I had a dragstrip or similar near me, I wouldnt mind having a car more race orientated. But when the closest race venue is across the Irish Sea, and at least 200 miles away. A fast enjoyable road car makes more sense. At least I can use it.

Its dangerous mainly due to torque steer, and the aggressive power delivery. In the wet, wheelspin on tap in 1st to 3rd, and all it takes is a bad surface to start it in 4th.
In the dry, 1st and 2nd have severe wheelspin on tap. It grips in the dry great after about 70mph, once you change to 3rd. Then it pulls hard, 4th pulls almost as hard.

Its very difficult to control, and even in a straight line, it has a mind of its own. Perhaos there were some structural issues with the car, although visibly it looked ok.? Subframe was mounted solid, rose jointed tie bars, and neg camber front arms with poly bushes.
I'll admit, Last time I drove it, I had A008's on it, and I feel it has made the torque steer much worse than when I had the 165 Goodyears. Tracking and tyre pressures are fine.
Perhaps not having an LSD makes that worse ??
Ive never driven a fwd car with a LSD, so cant say.

This whole 12s thing seems to baffle me.

Is everyone here saying that not a single road legal A-series Mini has run a 12s quarter mile yet ?
Does that also include the Vauxhall engined cars ? Turbo vauxhall ? Vtec ?

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

As far as I know I'm the only person in the country now with a turbo'ed vauxhall engine mini and its at least a year away from completion.If that won't do a 12 I will burn it. I could spin up the nova in 1'st and 2'nd , it would chirp in 3rd and spin in the wet in 1'st 2nd and 3rd. I used to drive it like I hated it, but it never felt dangerous or unstable, which why i can't understand why your mini felt so off. Maybe the bodysehll was just past its best.

When I bought the car, it was mint, no rust at all. Its only since its been lying up its got bad, more so the past 2-3 years. Even panels like the doors are rusting through, and not even at the edges.

Although it did make some strange noises occasionally when the power came in. But the shell looks structurally sound. I had even removed the front subframe to have a good look, and couldnt see anything out of order.

While it did use both lanes quite often when accelerating, its when you went to turn it felt worse.
Now, it never did anything bad, and always stayed firmly planted, it just never felt safe.

One of the last times I drove the car hard, was at a sort of track day. Part of the surface was loose, others concrete. Despite it feeling horrible on the road, it actually felt superb and was great fun at this track. I had no fears about hitting anything, and was chucking it into corners like an idiot, but as a mini should, it just went where I pointed it, and felt class.

Back on the road again after though, it went all strange again.

In order to rebuild it, easiest option would probably be to source another complete car with a sound shell, and start again. But complete good cars are still selling for silly money here.
If I was to repair mine, it would be a lot of work, and then it would need painted which would cost quite a bit.

Who knows. I dont intend going much further with my Granada, so maybe I will have a go at the Mini again next year. It is a shame to have it sitting there rusting away.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Actually, at Jap Fest at Santa Pod October 04, there was a Mini of sorts, red in colour.
It ran a mid/rear mounted MR2 Turbo engine, rwd obviously. It even wheelied off the line, and looked as if could wheelie when provoked up the track. Im sure it was running 12's with around 110mph terminals

Although not sure if it really counts as a mini lol.
Cant really make much out in the pic. I never took any photos of the actual car. Bit silly of me. It was a bit mad, as the wheels sat way out oof the car. It had sort of a wide body/arch kit oon it to cover them.
Rear pic shot.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

http://www.britishminiclub.co.uk/mambo/ind...d=295&Itemid=97

It says Motorbike engined Mini pulling wheelies but the sound you can hear is fastcarl's twin A-series warming up.(LINK TO VIDS)

read up on Stu meads' zetec powered mini now running 9.91.

As far as the MR2 engined thing goes no, not a real mini,a real cut and shut effort with the toyotas chassis legs and rear suspension all welded into the mini.No not a mini!

Maybe you should do some research on Ian Johnson's and fastcarl twinnies...130 terminal?

My first turbo class entry at Santa pod,where the mini showdown was held, was in 1996..no pots in those days..My first pot arrived in 98 and only one year have i not earnt a pot, due to a mechanical failure.

All this this tosh how you would expect faster times over the 10 years or so i getting a little boring now.Remember many of todays cars like when you had "your day" are daily drivers/bits of fun/hobby on a budget.I have got faster each year and not due to the internet thanks very much!

I for one enjoy track days over drag strip anyday and no changes are made especially for the strip, just tyre pressures and damper settings.Maybe you would like to follow me around Cadwell Park in your granada!....

I comlemented you on your car and asked an interested question about your water injection system?..Did i get an answer?..no!

JF.

Edited by giallofly on 19th Aug, 2005.

Never noticed the question.
Its quite basic.

Yes teh bottle is pressuriesed by boost
A pressure switch triggers a windscreen washer pump, which in turn squirts in just before the carb. It does use an aquamist jet, but at the time, I wasnt going to spend the money and buy their pump. The jets however were cheap.

Windscreen washer pumps dont create much pressure themselves, which is why I also applied boost pressure to the bottle.

A proper aquamist system would be better, as a windscreen washer pump doesnt create anywhere near enough pressure for proper spray, like the aquamists pump does.

Although I did once use a headlamp washer pump on a mates GT4 celica to good effect. They can create good pressures.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Just wondering stevie.

If funds were unlimited what spec turbo mini do you think would break into the 12 second catagory??

Obviously very light and very powerful - but I just cant see it being posible myself.

It is possible...

I will do it soon!

You really think so??

I spose anything is potentially posible, maybe 10 years ago someone was saying a turbo mini would never do 13.5

If you do it my hat will certainly be taken off to you big guy :)

Jon, you mentioned a while back Ed Short, is he the paint sprayer from Yeovil? If so, I went to the same school as him!!

Edited by n.g.l. on 19th Aug, 2005.

with the aid of slicks and N20 ofcourse.......

OH! not forgetting an ECU i have ready to go that will improve mid range torque that improves acceleration.

i need to find 0.5 of a second and slicks are worth 2 tenths in the first 60 foot.

That 13.49 at Avon was a good run but the engine was seriously over fueling since i fitted the Cosworth intercooler.

best i get to avon soon...

Rolling road booked.

slowdown jon, I'll never catch you!

Team Racing

Out of curioisty, how many people are running mappable injection/ignition ?
And how do these cars compare to SU powered cars ?

Has anyone tried traction control ?

I dont see making power as a problem to hit 12's. Either by boost, or by NOS. Not sure how the drivetrain would handle it though.

I'd think my current engine, running fuel injection, a better intercooler, a lot more boost, bigger exhaust, maybe squirt some methanol in too would be capable of making decent power.
Add some TB15 Michelins, or similar sticky tyre, as wide as can be fitted. You can now get road legal TB15's
Get a good Launch control and traction control system working. ( My DTA P8Pro I use in the granada has both built in, although Ive never used the launch control yet )
Strip shell to minimum, cage it for obvious reasons, fibreglass front, doors, boot, perspex windows.
Rear beam, alloy arms/drums

And I'm sure it couldnt be far off hitting 12's.

As I said, I think making the power needed is straightforward enough one way or another. Drivetrain I'm not sure about

Are there any strong gearboxes and driveshafts around these days ? Clutch would probably be difficult too, although if car was light enough, maybe not.
Maybe like a 3.4, or 3.5 diff, decent LSD too.
Something that will pull about 130mph at 7500rpm in 4th.

What sort of boost and what size turbos are the quicker cars running ?

I had a link ages ago, about a Starlet turbo in NZ that runs in the 11's. Its still a 1300cc, and makes about 340bhp at the wheels.
Granted its a better engine, and I dont imagine an A-series ever making that sort of power, but anything is possible.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

Stevie, Jon F one avonpark this year, with a T3 turbo, I came second with a T2 turbo, so we have both gone different routes. We both have mapped ignition, but jon's is still in his front room and not fitted. We are all running Su's Injection has been tried on the a series turbo, but without much luck.

How do you find the traction control on your p8pro? I have emerald which can do traction control, but I have not yet mounted the sensors.

There are uprated driveshafts, but myself and jon, and other top runners don't seem to need them.

Team Racing

T3 covers a wide range.
Saab 900 and Escort RS Turbo T3 is tiny
Cossie T3 is bigger
4x4 Cossie T3 slightly bigger again.
As mentioned, mine uses the 0.36 exhaust housing, with the T3 Cossie 2wd compressor wheel in a modified metro cover.. perhaps its far too big....or maybe it just has lots more potential
Full boost is by 4000rpm, but perhaps this could improve with mappable ignition. Ive no idea what AFR's its running, as there werent any widebands or similar back then. I just worked at the carb, and filed needles til it went well.

I'd think that using a modern ball bearing turbo would be an excellent choice. These usually have much better compressor wheel profiles ( ie, modern ) and are generally a lot more efficient than older oil bearing turbos..
We have a couple of Subarus running GT35 sized blowers ( rated at 600+ ) and these can make full boost by about 4000rpm. That may sound like a lot, but they can make about 1 bar by 3000rpm. Thats almost on par with some std turbos, and the big blower is making a lot more power at that point too.

I cant say for sure if the TCS makes my car any faster, as ive never had the chance to do any real testing with it.. Ive only had one outing with the car as it is now, which was on 31 July. But it defo makes it safer to drive, which was my main concern. In the wet it too was useless. The TCS struggles in the wet, the car is quite driveable, even on power, so Im quite happy with the results.
Power delivery though, with the supercharger is much more progressive than the old twin turbo engine. Id think TCS could be of more benefit on a turbocharged car, as usually power delivery is more aggressive.
Biggest problem is there are so many settings to play with.

I'd say TCS could offer more benefit to a fwd turbo car though in performance terms.

I mounted a Subaru trigger wheel on the back of my front disc/bell for the undriven sensor, and used the bolts of the rear disc/bell for the rear driven sensor pickups.

Launch control requires only one undriven wheelspeed sensor. Ive yet to have a chance to try it at a track though. Again, plenty of settings to mess with.
If I had a day at a strip, where I could get plenty of runs, I could mess with it. Unfortunatley I dont have that luxury.

Edited by stevieturbo on 19th Aug, 2005.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

steve, where are you located?

Team Racing

Northern Ireland, not too far from Belfast.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

stevie. yes there has been a 12.3 sec runner in a mini , it was XE powered, road legal , 250 neddies plus 75 of highpower gas, owned by a thourely approachable geezer by the name of Nathan dobson, this car was mopt'd but he had to use slicks as i witnessed it wheelspinning almost at the 1/8 on said slicks , a tyre something like Avon A 15 [sticky]. he's been away a while but he's comming back as i speek, watch this space.

if i have my way gialofly will run a 12 as i will hopefully be there to assist in the fine tuning of his nitrous assisted power. as long as he has revs to spare its almost doffo on..
ther eare one or two mini owners arounfd that through experience know what it takes to go really quick and will tell you it takes lots of power and i meen lots. plus traction of course.
Stuart meads, Ian jonson and a wanker called carl Austin.

its not as easy as just upping the popwer .

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