Hello from canada! Love your mini!! We are also building a similar spec mini only with an R1 engine. Had some questions did you notice difference in grip and handling going from 10s to 13" rims? Did you have to do much clearencing to fit the 13s under the standard fenders to achieve the ride height you wanted?

@reallybigkidd

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Kevin, thank you. Ah that’s awesome a friend of mine is running an r1 spec mini (stu lugger) they are very rapid. Good way for lightweight power. Going from 10s to 13s the behaviour of the car is totally different, with a 10 you have more notice of reaching the tyre limit as it has the tendency for more roll on the sidewall it does also feel to be a slightly softer ride. We run the mini on racing slicks so can also give feedback on tyre behaviour with tyre construction. We did notice going to 13s there was a little more tram lining where it would follow grooves in the road. We run mainly on cross ply slicks as these give as close feel to the 10s just a little stiffer in the sidewalls so less give but still enough warning when things are on the limit. I expect for those you would be looking at Hoosier. Cross ply 13s turn in incredibly well with no real front end slip on initial turn in. 13 radial slicks are a different handling characteristic again certainly on our car. It does move around a lot more with the road surface, it gives a much looser feeling and certainly the car breaks traction earlier and being a mini has swapped ends quickly. To get the 13s on we did have to tub the rear arches which gave us around an 1 1/2 inch clearance on the outer of the body. The front arches were a case of cutting away to gain clearance on steering lock. If you reduce the ride height I would recommend using a steering arm kit like the ones mondo sport sell as it transformed the behaviour of the car by bringing the rack ends level with the rest of the suspension movement.

@Bratmouse1

3 жыл бұрын

@@reallybigkidd thanks for the reply! Would you have any pictures of rear arch modifications? Also what size tire you running?

@reallybigkidd

3 жыл бұрын

@@Bratmouse1 will have a look in my photographs and see wether I saved any of the rear arches when they were cut. Tyre size in the cross ply is 7-20-13. The car is garaged away from where I am at the moment so I can’t off the top of my head remember the radial size

@reallybigkidd

3 жыл бұрын

@@Bratmouse1 if you email me on benbonfield@outlook.com I have the mk1 shell out the back of the workshop which we tubbed the rear arches, I can send you photos, it was done in a very similar way to this car.

@matthewchandler2647

3 жыл бұрын

@@reallybigkidd wow, most informative thread I’ve ever found on KZread! About to have my shell prepped for a Vtec swap. I want the axles as level as possible to help minimize torque steer, so planning to tub the rear arches to correct the cars ride height with 13” wheels. So here’s my question: with the rear arches tubbed and the car lowered & leveled front-to-back, did you end up with relatively level driveshafts using 13” wheels? If the shell is still too high because of rear arch clearance I can always have completely new wheel wells fabricated, it would just be a lot easier to remove the outer arch lip on the rear and tub the gap to the original wheel well.

Why is the alternator switched?

@reallybigkidd

2 жыл бұрын

Hi, to answer your question because we do short runs in the car 20-90 seconds by not having it energised when the engine is fired up and run it doesn’t cause a drag load by trying to recharge the battery (freewheels). It doesn’t create a big drag but in short runs in hillclimbing you try to minimise potential loses. To be fair it probably doesn’t make a big difference certainly not noticeable. We still have the alternator fitted as the car is double driven so on the return run we can flick it back on and put some power back into the battery.

Hi what sort of power is the car making

@reallybigkidd

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Daryl, the full blown race engine that is currently in the workshop in bits was producing 175bhp. I do have to rebuild it and I’m hopeful over the winter that I can, the one that’s currently in the car at the moment is one built from a variety of older parts it’s not quite as powerful at 153bhp but it has a very strong midrange.

why are you running the rear shocks so hard. Rear end is literally jumping un stabling the car

@reallybigkidd

2 жыл бұрын

Back when we built the car the MSUK rules were that we couldn’t use a beam axle or coil overs, the car is still running rubber cones, they are a bit hard and maybe could have fitted softer ones but the dampers have been softened off but it’s still really stiff on the back. The rules have since changed, it is one thing we will probably do now as it’s also a large weight saving to convert the rear end from full subframe.