Race Report - Round 3, USTCC at Llihrednuht 4 May 2008

by Jerry (Siddhartha) Bradbury

Standing on the track at the top of Thunderhill’s Turn 5, the Eagle’s Nest, I’m looking west down a three story drop and picking out reference points and points of timing for this blind turn. Little squiggles of asphalt patch and locked up tire tracks on the surface will help me place the car at speed and tell me when to turn, because I won’t be able to see anything on this approach. I’ll have to turn in on my POT and slide it up over the blind crest, keeping it on the black stuff as I head down the other side toward Turn 4. That’s right, 5 to 4, because today we’re running Thunderhill backwards. It’s a whole new track.

Behind me the sun slips over the horizon and turns the westward peak of Snowtop bright orange. Mount Shasta is visible to the northeast and the Sutter Buttes are limned against the blue-gray sky to the southeast. The gently rolling hills of the pasture land where Thunderhill Raceway was built are a mottled gold/green as the succulent grasses of the rainy season gradually surrender to the dry heat of approaching summer. It will be another perfect day at the races. Already I can hear the cough and mutter of cold engines getting their first taste of spark and air/fuel mixture under compression. Soon the quiet of the dawn will be ripped apart by the shriek of high revving rotary engines as the Formula Mazda cars are first out for warm up.

I arrived early on Friday to instruct for Trackmasters and to get in a few laps in the new direction. It was to be a weekend of attrition. First to fall was Canyon Bob Scheer whom I discovered sitting disconsolately on the cinder block wall running a torn supercharger belt through his fingers. His team just could not keep the race car from throwing belts, so he decided to fold his tent and pack it in for this race. Next, Rich Peterson failed to show, still working on his car, I presume. That left only me to carry the Mini flag to battle.

The population of our portable village was considerably less than last time at Infineon and I think that the new direction factored into some drivers’ decisions to stay home. Whatever their reasons, it was great for the rest of us; a perfect day and less traffic. Saturday revealed that drivers were still confused about where to go as our group split at Turn 5, some going up the hill, some going over the bypass. The Eagle’s Nest was in play because the Formula Mazdas get too much air going over the bypass and the slow turn up there makes an effective chicane. The rest of us were supposed to use the bypass. One Miata driver in HPDE 4 couldn’t make up his mind which route to take, split the difference, went off, lost the car and hit the flag box, spilling two corner workers to the ground. A massive emergency operation ensued which ended only after the injured corner workers were medevac’d out. Both are in the hospital but will make a full recovery. Belatedly the flag tower was dragged out of the hot spot between the forks and we ALL went over the hill from then on. I finished another race without a scratch and have now qualified for my national racing license.

Sunday was another glorious day and the cars continued to fail. During warm up some went off. During qualifying a Honda engine grenaded on the race line in the very fast Turn 6, spilling oil on the track. I was next around and did some ice skating before getting the car straightened out. After that, the yellow flag stayed out there and qualifying was essentially over, so I rolled into my pit early to save the car for The Show.

Jacques Andres and the Bay Bridge Motors team seemed to have found some horsepower since last time. They had traced a problem to an uncommunicative O2 sensor which was causing the air/fuel mixture to go fat at 4,000 rpm, just when the engine should be lighting up. A blown 15 amp fused was causing the problem, so I had more hp to work with this time. Still, I qualified 5^th.

This race was all about traffic and attrition. At the start, I finally figured out how to get the transmission into second gear, but could not gain any ground and was passed by the 6^th position RX8. By the end of the first lap I had reeled him in, re-passed and lit out after the leaders. I could keep them in sight, but could not close. Then we began running into back marker traffic and I was toast. The gentlemanly conduct of my history at trackdays where slower drivers point you by and where you take a breath in a tight corner and wait for a better place to pass is OVER! Now I have to learn how to pass any car anywhere on the track at any time. The racing line is out the window. So are lap times. All that counts now is position. This is a steep learning curve for me, but Sunday was better than Saturday. I found a way around Turn 14 by dropping the left front wheel off the curb there and hooking the car around the inside while everyone else went wide. I could get a good run down the hill from 9 through 8 and pass other cars at over 100 mph as they turned in for the apex at 7. I kept my foot on the floor coming through Turn 1 and got a good run down the front straight. But while I was doing this, the rest of the USTCC field was charging around and through traffic everywhere. If I can just get closer, I can train ride through traffic behind them . . . but I have to get closer. They are certainly not going to wait for me.

Then attrition began to be a factor. Around Turn 2 I saw Pete Bovenberg’s car parked in the grass. Now I’m 4^th. Coming around Turn 1 there was Dave Bongiovanni’s EVO rolling to a stop in the infield. Unfortunately, I was just a little too late to pass him before he rolled past the checkered flag, so I crossed the line still in 4^th place.

It was pandemonium at the podium. On the last lap, Curt Simmons had collided with Bongiovanni’s EVO and a Ferrari 355 while trying to pass in the extremely narrow, off-camber dip that is Turn 11. As the perpetrator, Curt’s very fast SRT4 was disqualified. Tom Lepper’s Cobalt had passed Bongiovanni as he was limping around to finish second on a flat left front tire and I was now 3^rd.

No matter how you get there, a podium finish is a podium finish. You get your name called on the PA to take your place amid applause and hoots from the crowd, you get the big trophy and the kiss, you get the magnum of champagne with which to try to drown your fellow combatants, and you get the wide non-stop grin. Champagne stings when you get it in your eyes! And it makes your racing suit and hat smell winey. But I have to say, a fella could get used to it.

A perfect example of the photogenic line versus the fast line. While the Miata is busy getting air (no traction in the air) Shiva slips by on the outside.

And now a word from our sponsors

by Jerry (Siddhartha) Bradbury USTCC #37

Without the help of these sponsors, there would be no racing effort for me this year.

It will come as no surprise to my readers that since 1974, Mini Mania has specialized in parts and accessories for the Classic Austin Mini Cooper, and now the new BMW MINI Coopers. Mini Mania is the largest supplier of afteremarket Mini and MINI goodies in the world. The friendly folks at Mini Mania will do everything possible to get your parts and accessories into your hands quickly and efficiently. Their merchandise is the highest quality and the directions for installation or use are clear and concise. In addition, they are always ready with help and advice. My car is faster than ever before because of Mini Mania speed parts. There is no better place to get your Mini and MINI parts and accessories than Mini Mania. Call them at 800-94 MANIA.

Based in Oakland, California, Bay Bridge Motors continues to be the refuge for my race car. When it was totaled last fall, Jacques Andres and his crew resurrected it and turned it into the car it is today. Jacques, a former racer himself, has 18 years experience in building race cars and engines and has been offering repair and service for Minis and BMWs in the Bay Area for 10. There are two shops under one roof. Bay Bridge Motors handles repair, service and maintenance while Clean Green Collision does the body work and fabrication. The personal attention and reasonable rates you and your car receive is something no dealer can provide. So for Mini Cooper and BMW service and repair in the San Francisco Bay Area, think Bay Bridge Motors. For collision and auto body work for Mini Cooper and BMW, think Clean Green Collision. Both are located at 2408 Mandela Parkway, Oakland, CA 94607. Call 510 208 3273.

Thanks for listening.

Jerry

Dyno Testing at NCA’08

Fun and informative is the nature of this part of the Nevada City Adventure.  Very few MINIs have been left absolutely stock and thus it is fun to be able to actually measure the differences.  NO DRIVER Skill required!
Make your reservations now to have your MINI measured for wheel horsepower at the Nevada City Adventure, May 17th, 2008. We also very much would like to invite the very stock MINI to be measured to see if the factory is good to their promise also!  Each participant will receive a full color print-out of cars performance. Introducing a radically different approach to chassis dynamometer testing….

The Dynapack! - the only unique and technically sophisticated dyno available today in a market that is crowded with cookie-cutter designs. We have SOLVED the problem of tire slippage and the inconsistencies of the tire to roller interface - while our competitors try to pretend that these problems don’t exist. If you’ve operated a roller dyno, you know better. We’ve started with a clean sheet to design a dyno that truly performs and exceeds customer expectations. Why settle for a “standard” dyno when you can have so much more.
The Dynapack is a true load-brake dyno - just like the best engine dynos. We directly measure the work being performed, while others just estimate it. Since we have real hydraulic load brakes, we allow you to perform tests that simple inertia-dynos are incapable of. You can now have unprecedented control over the vehicle with a degree of resolution and precision that has to be seen to be believed.

And the Adventure starts here!

Race Report - 2nd Round USTCC at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA

Waiting in pre-grid at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA. photo by minispeedracr

by Jerry (Siddhartha) Bradbury

Infineon Raceway, April 11, 2008

It’s quiet tonight under this hill in Sonoma. A few lights gleam and the faint tink-tink-tink of a hammer sounds from some hidden pit area where work continues as it always does on a race car. Bright stars look down on a few early arrivals and the air is redolent of hay and the sea. All through the night the transporters pull in, towing their brightly colored cars. They’ve come from Oregon, Utah, Nevada and all parts of California to become a part of this temporary community, to see old friends, to make new ones, to race. Dawn reveals a small village sprung up over night. There are streets, traffic, pedestrians, wives, sweethearts, kids and dogs. Cars of all descriptions, from daily drivers to factory sponsored racecars have become the focus of attention as they are prepared to go on track. An air of festivity prevails over this day at the races, but an undercurrent of the potential for violence and wreckage is present as well as the tow truck rumbles slowly around the perimeter like a bright red velociraptor, tail high, looking for prey.

One of the best things about a NASA event is that there is something for everyone. You can bring your daily driver and run a High Performance Driving Event. Anything will do as long as it’s roadworthy and safe. Looking out my door once, I saw a Ford GT40, a GMC pickup, a Toyota Camry, a Porsche GT3 and a Mini Cooper S, all lined up to go out in HPDE 1. As your experience and driving skills improve you can bring your modded up street machine, change to race wheels and tires and run with the faster HPDE groups, 2, 3 and 4. Some folks have been happily doing this for years. Since these are non-competitive instructional driving events with instructors on board, your insurance should cover any mishaps (NOTE: check with your own provider to be sure). In addition, there are many classes of racing to watch featuring exciting door-to-door competition. Add to that a free barbeque Saturday night and you’ve got a really fine weekend at the track.

My Mini has a new setup for this race. Speed parts from my sponsor Mini Mania have been added by my sponsor Bay Bridge Motors and USTCC sponsor Nitto has provided four brand new NT 01 tires. This will be my first official race with the US Touring Car Championship and I look forward to hitting the grid with more horsepower and quicker lap times. Alas, it is not to be. I’ve fallen victim to modomania, something I have been warning people about for years on the Mini forums. “Change one thing at a time,” I’ve said, “otherwise you won’t have a clue if something goes wrong.” You’d think I’d listen. Instead, we made five changes to the engine and the ECU does not like it. Horsepower has actually gone down. But I’m stuck with it for the weekend, so I’ll do the best I can, break the tires in well and fix it before the next event. Even with the car being slow I manage to wheel it around to within a second of my fastest lap at Sears Point.

Bob Scheer is back with his Ireland Engineering MCS. Bob is way faster than me but because he’s not used to the track, we qualify close and we’re side by side on the grid for the race. Finally in the late afternoon our turn to race arrives. The track is hot under a warm California sun and a little greasy with all the rubber that has been laid down today. Caution will be called for at the off-camber Turn 2 and the braking zone for the hairpin Turn 11. USTCC goes out first for the warmup lap, then pulls up by start/finish for the standing start. The furled green flag goes up (engines rev) it is unfurled up high (cars seem to lean forward in anticipation) it drops and the air is filled with the sound of roaring engines and screeching tires as the field blasts off for Turn 1.

All except me. In all the excitement and adrenaline flow, I make the same mistake I did at Pahrump. I catch the detent to reverse on my attempted one-two shift and can’t find second gear. *expletive deleted*. Rookie mistake. The field streams by me on both sides and by the time I get it going, I’m behind the Honda Challenge cars. The Civic in front of me is just a little slower than me and is braking just a little sooner. I pull up next to him several times but I’m running with the pirates now. They show no mercy and give no quarter and I just don’t have the skills yet to shoulder my way by and get away.

And so I finish last. In spite of the embarrassing start it was far from a wasted effort. I have completed two more events as a provisional rookie racer without incident or going off track. One more and I can apply for my NASA National racing license and the gloves can come off. Before that happens, though, I have homework to do. I have to find more horsepower for the car and I have to practice standing starts until that 1-2 shift is automatic. Next time will be different.

It was great to have some of you Mini owners at the track cheering us on. Next time at Thunderhill on May 3-4, Bob and I should be joined on the grid by Rich Peterson in his USTCC MCS. Hopefully as more Minis join the racing we will see more of you out there, too!

Shiva kicks some Acura butt at Infineon. Photo by jimZ68

More photos by minispeedracr here:

And you can watch the last USTCC race at Thunderhill here:

Phil Wicks Driving Academy/North American MINI Cooper Challenge

 

March 28, 2008 Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch – Pahrump NV2.2 Mile Track It was an absolutely perfect day for a track event – 75 degrees, 5 mph wind.  The Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy drew strong list of entries from various regions of the country, equally divided between basic novice, intermediate, and expert classes. Pre-registration and tech inspection were completed the day before, Thursday, at the AMVIV host hotel, Palace Station in Las Vegas.  Everyone attended the drivers’ briefing and safety instruction meeting first thing at the track on Friday morning.  Instructors were allocated to students.  Some instructors were allocated two students, one in basic novice and one in intermediate.  This meant that every student had an instructor one-on-one all day.  The first group on track was the expert group, which consisted of dedicated autocross competitors and instructors getting some fun track time.  Meanwhile, Phil Wicks delivered the first classroom session to basic novice and intermediate group.  Safety and track etiquette was covered. The intermediate group was next on track with instructors with each student.  The novice group remained in the classroom.  Phil Wicks delivered the Accident Avoidance instruction curriculum.  This curriculum deals with ABS braking, slalom (serpentine), and emergency lane change.  The track was marked with cones and students drove to each station under instruction.  The instructors guided the students to complete the course.  This continued until each student gained sufficient confidence in him/herself as well as the capabilities of their MINI.  Then, for each student, the excitement really commenced as the cones were removed from the track and the three groups started on-track instruction in rotation of 20-minute sessions. Lunch was staggered so there was no track downtime.  At approximately 1:30 pm, the AMVIV group arrived from their morning tour of the Death Valley Run.  There were about 100 MINI/Minis arriving.  They were served lunch courtesy of MINI USA.  The Solo I Autocross began.  26 cars lined up for a one lap standing start (one cool down lap).  This consisted of 5 MINI classes and 1 Classic Mini class.  The classes were quite evenly divided between 26 cars.  This was the first round of the NAMCC Solo Challenge and was a huge success.  Next came the invitation Touring Laps.  There was no fee charged for this one.  100 cars enjoyed a few…  Read the rest of the Article here... Photos courtesy of Ed Dean

 

 

RACE REPORT - March 8TH & 9TH - Thunderhill Raceway, Willows, CA

RACE REPORT - March 8TH & 9TH - Thunderhill Raceway, Willows, CA

US TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

by Jerry Bradbury (Siddhartha)

Pix Here

Ah, the thrills of racing! The smell of high octane fuel and hot brakes, the squeal of tires, the machine gun rat-a-tat-tat of the Wankel rotaries, the deep rumble of American iron, the pretty girls in the paddock and everything on the grid from highly polished pro race-cars, layered like a Victorian drawing room with vendor stickers, to five colored back yard beaters whose quarter panels look like they have been worked over by a large angry man with a big hammer. And that’s before the race starts. When the green flag flies another set of sensory impressions rolls in: the sound of engines all around you, the rush of the wind, the feel of g forces against your harness and seat in the corners, the clatter of the chassis working under stress, the low howl from your tires as they fight for grip, the buzzing swarm of Miatas ahead that you must somehow get past or through and those pesky Hondas that dance in your mirrors briefly before blowing past.

I wish I could tell you about my debut race on Saturday at Thunderhill Raceway in National Auto Sport Association’s Performance Touring class, but I failed to make the call to the post. Oh, I was in there for “warm-up”, which to most of these crazy guys means “spank the rookies and cut ‘em off at the apex” on a cold track with cold tires. Gee whiz, fellas! And I qualified first in my group of one with the fastest time I have yet turned at Thunderhill, a 2:08 and change, but I was having electrical problems during qualifying. I lost my power steering in turn 6 with Miatas going past me on both sides and the wheel suddenly feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds. I managed to limp it around to the pits, turned it off, started it again and the problem went away. Come race time, I strapped into all my safety gear and was heading for my grid position when the panel went black and the starter solenoid would only click-click-click-click. Dead. Off they went without me and we pushed the Mini back to our pit and tore into the external master power shut off switch that is mandated by NASA rules. Sure enough, one of the poles to the alternator was dead and the car ran only until the battery died.

So we re-routed the wires, charged the battery, went to the free barbecue, drank mudslides and went to bed, satisfied that the morrow would bring better tidings.

Sunday was another perfect day, mostly sunny, in the 70’s, with a clear view of Mount Shasta and the Sutter Buttes. The paddock was jammed full of cars and transporters and most of the cars seemed to be in Group A. There must have been 70 racers on the track for warm-up. But all my opening night jitters were gone. I just warmed it up and watched my mirrors so none of the strafing runs would catch me unprepared. Sure enough, there was carnage as a few guys took themselves out during the warm-up session. Why do they DO that??! Reverse Darwinism, I guess. Good for the rest of us, as always.

Back in the pits, my support group was waiting. Canyon Bob Scheer and his dad, Jack, had motored up from LA with their race prep mechanic, Dan Pacheco. Bob runs his silver Burbank Plating 2002 MCS in the prestigious US Touring Car Championship, where they pay real money for racing. For the past two years he has been my hero and my mentor, always available to chat, diagnose problems and offer advice. His engine has been vigorously massaged by Dan with some amazing plumbing by Hubie Fuh and produces over 200 big horsepower in a lightened race car that goes like stink. All I’ll say about his suspension tweaks is that you can see twin Moton cans in the boot, ‘kay?

My JCW MCS motor is still stock. The car has been stripped and the suspension re-engineered, but it still weighs a chunky 2650 lb. and makes only 210 bhp. Still, our lap times in qualifying were only a second apart. Bay Bridge Motors in Oakland has put my car back together twice now after two costly shunts and Jacques Andres, a Mini racing wizard, has done the race prep. That’s Jacques behind the wheel of his orange and blue MINI MANIA/Andres Motorsports racing MINI that you’ve seen bicycling the car on the inside cover of MC2 magazine. I brought Lee, my treasured mechanic from BBM along and it was he who helped me into my safety gear and found and fixed my electrical problem. In addition, Vince (minispeedrcr) and Mickey (kmickey) were there with their S cars, running in the High Performance Driving Event expert class. They offered help and support to Bob and me as well.

After another qualifying run and more attrition, I was getting ready for a nice lunch when who should appear at my door but Ali Arsham, who runs the west coast USTCC. He asked me how many cars were in PTD. Ans.: One. He asked me what I was getting for running in that class. Ans. : Nothing. He then said, “Why are you wasting your time? Your qualifying times are right up there with us, why don’t you come run with USTCC? We’ll give you 4 new Nitto racing tires today, two more at each race, we offer cash for racing and if you win, MINI USA will give you $2,000.” Sold. So I applied the USTCC sticker to my windshield and got ready for my racing debut in a professional series. You can see Bob and me on Speed TV. Hey, mira mami, I’m a pro!

I lined up 11th on the grid and waited for the green flag. There it is. Let out the clutch and we’re off. USTCC starts first so there was clear track; well, except for all the rest of the USTCC guys who were up ahead there. So I motored peacefully around behind the Toyota in front of me until two fast Honda guys flew by me and went through turn 6 with about 2 inches of daylight between their bumpers. Coming through turn 14, the Toyota ahead of me sputtered and I motored past into 10th place. Hey, I passed a guy!! Coming through turn 8 next time, I saw one of the USTCC cars stopped sideways on the track with parts scattered around and leaking. Just as I was thinking “Oh boy, I’ll pass another guy!” he fired that puppy up and fishtailed up over turn 9, trailing parts and fluids, fenders flapping and bent wheel wobbling. I was sure I could catch him, but I guess he figured he had nothing else to lose, put the hammer down and stayed ahead of me.

Still I was slowly reeling him in with about 8 laps to go when the yellow flags appeared and coming up over the turn 5 bypass I saw the leading Honda lying on it’s side, smashed into pieces. Coming over the blind hill, with the green del Sol still right on his bumper, they suddenly came upon a rookie back marker putting along in the middle of the track. The lead car took evasive action but the track is tricky there. A section of asphalt running down from the high turn 5 intersects the turn 5 bypass route there and the bump upsets the car’s balance as it’s on tiptoes from cresting the hill. He miscalculated. His protruding wheel studs struck the back marker’s rear tire which slammed his nose into the pavement and caused the car to fly end over end into the weeds. End of race. He was airlifted to the hospital with some broken bones, his car was scraped up and towed off and that was our finishing position.

No, you won’t see us on the podium. Bob finished 4th and I finished 10th. But we have two Minis running in USTCC West and we’ll be back next month at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point. Stay tuned for more adventure.

Shiva Waits In Pre-Grid

Mini Mania offer Dyno Testing for all Mini Coopers at the annual Nevada City Adventure 2008

Nevada City, CA. Mini Mania Inc. is expanding it annual Nevada City Adventure to include the first ever “Vtec Encounter”, public Dyno testing, and a free clinic in MINI Cooper detailing. This will be the 7^th annual event that highlights the joys of owning and driving both the Classic Mini Cooper and the BMW MINI Cooper.

The “Vtec Encounter” will be the largest gathering in the USA of classic Minis that have been upgraded to Honda Vtec engines. These modern powers units add both reliability and performance to the classic looks and handling of the Mini.

The Dyno testing facility will be available to all any participants subject to pre-registration. Classic, BMW and Vtec Minis are all expected to be tested.

The 7th “Nevada City Adventure” for Mini Coopers is set for Saturday, May 17th, 2008. Held annually in heart of the gold country, this event celebrates both the Classic Mini as built by BMC (and Rover) and the latest MINI Cooper as built by BMW. Planning is now underway to insure this will be the biggest gathering in the history of Mini Mania in the Gold Country.
Events planned include:
* Vendor Arcade- Supplies will demonstrate product and answer questions.
* On-site Dyno Testing - measure the wheel HP of your MINI/Mini- reservations required- call for details
* ‘People’s choice’ car show with awards in a multiple of classes!
* Nevada Country tour- see some of the best of the Gold Country
* ‘Vtec Mini’ Encounter- largest ever gathering of Vtec powered Mini in the USA
* Silent Auction- Great products at only the price you want
* Raffle- Take your chance and win your choice of great products
* Free Grand Prize drawing- Every entrant will be eligible for some great prices!
* Mini Mania Open House- 15,000+ parts, 10% Discount on most parts.
* New MINI Clubman special display from Niello MINI
* Detailing Clinic - see some of the tricks and techniques to keep your car looking new for years.

Don Racine, owner of Mini Mania said “We expect this to be the biggest event of it’s kind in the area with 200+ MINIs and MINI Coopers on display. The event has always brought the old classic Mini together with the modern BMW MINI Cooper and this year we have added the “Hot Rod” Classic Mini. This community will make for a great match of personalities”

About Mini Mania, Inc.

Mini Mania was founded in 1974 and has grown to become a multi million dollar market leader that provides high quality aftermarket parts that include its own ULTRIK(tm) line of high performance parts and very specialized services to a growing customer base of approximately 50,000 consumers around the world.

Mini Mania solidified its market leadership position in 2001 by becoming the first company in the US to import the then all new BMW MINI to use as a product and performance test bed. Shortly thereafter, Mini Mania began to offer a suite of “lifestyle & performance enhancement products” that appeal to recent purchasers of the MINI Cooper(tm) automobile.

Mini Mania is headquartered in a 16,000 square foot state of the art facility in the Northern California foothills outside of Sacramento. The company’s dynamic web site is truly a one of a kind information portal for any Mini Cooper enthusiast – containing over 50,000 pages of unique content, augmented with 50,000 part number, technical articles and interactive community forums. Each month 75-100,000 individuals access the web site for research and purchase of Mini Cooper parts and accessories.

For more information - on the web: www.minimania.com, 800.946.2642, info@minimania.com

Mini to expand U.S. dealer network

Krause hints at Mini crossover vehicle

Ryan Beene

Automotive News
January 14, 2008 - 11:33 am ET

DETROIT — Mini will expand its dealer network in the United States after coming off a record year for sales.

Stefan Krause, BMW AG board member in charge of sales and marketing, said Mini will add 13 U.S. stores by 2010, making a total of 95.

The United States is Mini’s second-largest market behind the United Kingdom, after surpassing former No. 2 Germany in 2007. Krause said Mini sold 42,045 vehicles in the United States in 2007, up 7.3 percent from 2006. About 222,000 Mini vehicles were sold globally last year.

” We initially believed it to be more of a European car, so naturally we were quite surprised to have such great success in the United States,” Krause told reporters today at the auto show.

The United States also will see additional product. The three-door Mini Clubman is scheduled for U.S. launch Feb. 16 and will have a base price of $20,600, not counting shipping.

Krause said the next new Mini will be a crossover. He declined to give specifics but said the yet-to-be named crossover still will be in the small-car segment.

Source: Automotive News

MINI Cooper Nevada City Adventure 2008

The 7th “Nevada City Adventure” for Mini Coopers is set for Saturday, May 17th, 2008. Held annually in heart of the gold country, this event celebrates both the Classic Mini as built by BMC (and Rover) and the latest MINI Cooper as built by BMW. Planning is now underway to insure this will be the biggest gathering in the history of Mini Mania in the Gold Country.
Events planned include:
-Vendor Arcade- Numerous aftermarket supplies will be present to demonstrate product and answer questions.
-’People’s choice’ car show with awards in a multiple of classes!
-Nevada Country tour- see some of the best of the Gold Country
-’Vtec Mini’ Encounter- see the largest ever gathering of Vtec powered Mini in the USA
-Silent Auction- Great products at only the price you want
-Raffle- Take your chance and win your choice of great products
-Free Grand Prize drawing- Every entrant will be eligible for some great prices!
-Mini Mania Open House- 15,000+ parts, 10% Discount on most parts.

Ed D’Arata, Sales Manager of Mini Mania and who also serves as the technical expert on Vtec conversions says of the “Vtec MiniEncounter”; ” The ‘encounter’ will be the pit the best of the original Classic Mini as well as many of the new BMW MINI Cooper against the latest innovation to spring out of the Classic Sports car after-market, the Honda Vtec engine powered Classic Mini.”

The Vtec Encounter presents and opportunity to stand up and be counted! This will be the largest gathering of Vtec powered Mini in the USA. Special Awards, Special Parking and Special activities will be highlighted by technical demonstrations from the development team at Mini-tec. “Work in Progress” cars will also be displayed. A special manufacturers direct sale will allow V-tec conversion kits to be available at huge savings for immediate delivery.

About Mini Mania, Inc.

Mini Mania was founded in 1974 and has grown to become a multi million dollar market leader that provides high quality aftermarket parts that include its own ULTRIK(tm) line of high performance parts and very specialized services to a growing customer base of approximately 50,000 consumers around the world.

Mini Mania solidified its market leadership position in 2001 by becoming the first company in the US to import the then all new BMW MINI to use as a product and performance test bed. Shortly thereafter, Mini Mania began to offer a suite of “lifestyle & performance enhancement products” that appeal to recent purchasers of the MINI Cooper(tm) automobile.

Mini Mania is headquartered in a 16,000 square foot state of the art facility in the Northern California foothills outside of Sacramento. The company’s dynamic web site is truly a one of a kind information portal for any Mini Cooper enthusiast – containing over 50,000 pages of unique content, augmented with 50,000 part number, technical articles and interactive community forums. Each month 75-100,000 individuals access the web site for research and purchase of Mini Cooper parts and accessories.

For more information - on the web: www.minimania.com, 800.946.2642, info@minimania.com

Lifan 3-Series: Chinese Create 5door MINI Cooper Clone!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Lifan 3-Series: Chinese Create 5door MINI Cooper Clone!

Here we go again; the list with Chinese knockoffs has been enhanced with the addition of a MINI clone made by a carmaker called Lifan. The Lifan 3-Series (how ironic…) was introduced to the Chinese media today, and according to the translation we made from the clonemaker’s official site, the MINI(cat) will go on sale in China during the first half of the year.

Amusingly, Lifan decided to create a 5-door version of BMW Group’s MINI. Even though the Lifan 320 is somewhat disproportioned compared to the original MINI, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the resemblances between the two cars. Check out other Chinese clones here: Cadillac, Smart, Fiat Panda, Scion & Toyota RAV-4 -More pictures of the Chinese MINI after the jump

Official Statement (translated from Chinese)

Tencent vehicle - Recently, the Lifan 320 Weijiao finally lifted the veil of mystery. We have seen through the picture, Lifan The compact cars and MINI very similar, will produce cars there will not be much change. No accident, the first half of this year, this compact cars will be met with consumers. Reportedly, which amounted to 2.6 m wheelbase cars.

Source:  CarScoop

Mini Cooper Message forum at Mini Mania achieves another milestone!

Over 16,000 users have now registered for one of the longest running message forums on the Internet. The Mini Cooper forum has now been on line for more than 10 years and is celebrating yet another milestone with the number of registered users. On the forum you can find both a social network and very detailed answers to technical questions. The message forum includes both classic Mini owners and owners of the new BMW MINI Cooper.

A new feature of the message board forum is the chance to see where all you fellow Mini Coopers owners live. The new mapping option allows you to see the location of all fellow message board users.

“We are extremely proud of the message board community that has evolved around the Mini Mania Website. After all these years of supporting the Mini Cooper community it has been very satisfying to also be able to give something back. Our message board has become the biggest part of our Website and we look forward to it’s continued growth”, says Don Racine, president of Mini Mania.

The Mini Cooper message forum provides the ability for the entire community to share there ideas, problems and technical expertise with fellow owners. The forum provides allows a community to find everything from that no longer available part to the best service shops. The classified pages sell more Mini Coopers than most dealerships.

http://new.minimania.com/msgthreads.cfm

Mini sets new sales record

By Andrew Smith

Best-seller: Mini Cooper

The Cowley-built Mini has passed another sales milestone with its best year since its launch in 2001.

A total of 222,875 cars were sold worldwide in 2007, an increase of 18.5 per cent on the previous year, with 47,661 of those sold in the UK, up 25 per cent.

The success mirrors that of parent company BMW which sold a total of more than 1.5 million cars globally, a rise of 9.2 per cent.

Combined, the BMW and Mini brands accounted for seven per cent of the total UK market in 2007 (BMW five per cent and Mini two per cent).

Jim O’Donnell, managing director of BMW (UK), said: “Although it has been a competitive year, BMW and Mini have yet again achieved record sales.”

The new record reflects a successful first full sales year for the second-generation Cooper and Cooper S models which were joined by the Mini One and Cooper D models in April.

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The Cooper is again the most popular model with 17,173 sales, 20 per cent higher than last year.

11:48am Wednesday 9th January 2008

Source:  Oxford Mail

Detroit 2008: MINI to offer diesel option in the US?

 Posted Jan 9th 2008 12:32PM by John Neff

The car you see above is the MINI Cooper D Clubman. That’s “D” as in “Diesel”. The diminutive brand owned by BMW offers a diesel engine in Europe, but to date has not in the U.S. We believe that MINI may correct this at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week. Our guess is based on a press release issued by MINI today that, while saying very little about its plan for the Detroit show other than the Clubman and Clubman S would be present, included images of a left-hand-drive Cooper D Clubman. The press release also mentions that a talking point at MINI’s press conference will be “More Driving Pleasure, Less Fuel Consumption: The new MINI in the 2008 Model Year”. Couple that with parent company BMW’s announcement of two new models for the U.S. market that will be powered by diesel engines, the X5 xDrive35d and the 335d, and it begins to look like MINI will follow suit with a diesel of its own. Of course, MINI has not confirmed this so it’s pure speculation on our part, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Cooper Clubman D burning oil in Detroit next week.

Source: autoblog.com 

MINI crossover dubbed ‘Crossman’ by CEO

Posted by Joe Hitei on December 18th, 2007

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Filed under: Crossovers/CUVs, Hatchbacks, MINI The MINI has been on a growth spurt since the introduction of the second-generation model. With the 3½-door Clubman wagon on its way to dealerships, the new convertible set to follow, and even a sports-coupe derivative rumored to be in the works, the BMW division is focusing on the development of a crossover based on the MINI. No big news there, we’ve been watching the spy shots roll in for months now. The surprise, however, is that it won’t be called the Colorado as previously thought. No, that was just a working title, an internal codename. It won’t be called the Monte, either, as previous reports suggested. According to a recent interview in German publication Auto Motor und Sport, MINI’s CEO Kay Segler said the retro soft-roader will likely be called “Crossman”. Magna-Steyr is expected to build 80,000 Crossmans (Crossmen?) at its factory in Austria each year, starting in 2010. The name, of course, combines Crossover with Clubman, the wagon variant on which it’s based. Think it’ll entice more buyers than “Colorado” or “Monte”? Leave your opinion in the comments section below. [Sources: Auto Motor und Sport via Autoblog.nl and eGMCarTech]

BMW Group on Track for New Worldwide Sales Record for 2007

 

Source: Auto Spectator
By admin - Posted on December 11th, 2007
- Strong sales increase of 13.2 percent in November
- Successful market launch for the new MINI Clubman
12/07/2007, Munich –

Successful market launch: Over 2100 MINI Clubman sold already
The MINI is also continuing to enjoy a high level of demand worldwide. The number of vehicles delivered in the period to the end of November rose by 16.1% to 202,076 (prev.yr.: 174,082) vehicles. This means that as many MINI cars were sold in the first eleven months of the year as in the whole of the top-selling year 2005 (200,400 units). In November, 19,078 (prev.yr.: 13,402) vehicles were delivered to customers. Compared to the same month last year, this was an increase of 42.4%.
A new member of the MINI family successfully contributed to the further increase in MINI sales: The MINI Clubman has been available in Europe since 10 November and, as an individual shooting brake vehicle concept, has expanded the MINI model range to three versions. Even in its launch phase, this automobile has proved extraordinarily popular with customers. 2,142 buyers chose a MINI Clubman within the first few weeks. With the start of the model in the spring of 2008 in the sales markets in North America (16 February 200 and Asia, the brand is expecting a clear rise in sales figures. In the first full sales year, 2008, every fifth MINI will probably be a Clubman.

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