Daniel Boughton writes >
>A guy in the Mini club here wants to drag race his car and is looking for
>information on hot setups. The consensus in the club is he's going to need
>a good gearbox and a lotus 1600cc engine. Anyone have any more info? How
>about some of the crazies from OZ?
Gerry Brinkman writes \
\The first step would be to get David Vizard's book on the A-series engine,
\from what I remember you can build a 200 HP A-series engine (probably with
\lots of bucks). I would think that re-engineering a Mini to slot in a Lotus
\engine is going the wrong way (why not just buy a Lotus 7 !!!).
The Lotus 7 would surely be faster. Front-wheel drive has many advantages, but
drag racing is not one of them. As soon as you get any real horsepower into
that Mini, you will get serious weight-transfer problems. Wheelspin City,
whilst your opponent disappears into the middle distance.
Daniel's acquaintance has four options, IMHO:
1. Drag race the Mini stock, just for yucks.
2. Convert it to mid-engine rear-drive and actually try to make it fast. How
about an SHO package? Mini-Shogun! Even the hot Mini stuff would do
better back there.
3. Do something more sensible, like vintage road race or autocross the Mini.
4. Go drag racing with something more suitable in the first place. Would you
set out to build a hot Chevrolet Impala for autocross?
\BTW these cars only weigh 1300 lbs (in racing trim)
Racing trim, heck! I put a *stock* 850 Mini on the scale at Donnybrooke
(now BIR) some years ago. 1300 lbs. I don't know what it says in the books.
Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans Street, Saint Paul, MN 55107-2676
h (612) 224-3105 w (612) 298-5324 phile@pwcs.stpaul.gov
"It's your language. I'm just trying to use it." - Victor Borge
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