MINI Motorsport Centre upgrades

[Snowie]

Well I went down to visit Tony Franks at MINI Motorsport Centre - Tony and his team are ex JCW so they know the car inside out. They also are heavily involved in the UK MINI Challenge.
Once I could get in the yard - they were unloading all of the gear having got back from Oulton park late on Monday night, I met up with Tony and discussed the work to be done on my GP

The work list - based on what is used in the MINI Challenge

Braided hoses all round
Racing brake fluid
John Cooper Motor sport slotted rear discs with Mintex fast road pads - I already have JCW R56 drilled/ slotted front discs with R56 pads
John Cooper Motor Sport front brake cooling ducts - these fit well and only utilise the ducts as it is possible to cut off the back black plastic bits off the fake GP intakes and utilise these as they line up perfectly with the JCM cooling ducts (just be carefull on alignment when refitting the front bumper).
Of course there is some cutting of the wheel liner and plastic behind the bumper but none is noticeable once all is re-assembled.

Now the GP is getting nearer where it should have been in terms of brakes and cooling.

Whilst I was there a few visitors turned up - the guys from M7 in the USA along with Ian from Modern Mini. M7 certainly have some nice bits, good design and construction, well finished and very functional.
I am sure we will see some M7 stuff soon

It was great to spend a few hours talking to Tony as he worked away on the car. Quality guy and real caring quality work.

Well worth a visit - may be heading back soon for some more power.

thanks Tony - see you at Donnington in August

Snowie (Alan)

If you want caring service contact Tony@Minimotorsportcentre.com
MINI Motorsport Centre

[Root Ginger]

Yeah Tony is a good guy when he used to work for JCW.

I wanted to use the MINI Motorsport Centre for servicing and such and had an e-mail from Mike Raven (another ex-JCW guy) about them opening. However I had no reply from the e-mails I sent them so consequently they lost my business.

It's harsh but I will not deal with companies who don't reply to their customers (or potential in this case).

[Snowie]

Sorry to hear that you have had communication problems with Tony. I have sent him various e-mails and always had a response within a day or 2. I have also phoned him and got through at the first attempt.
The garage is very busy and has an extremely friendly knowledgable team

Alan

[Root Ginger]

Quote: Originally Posted by Snowie (original)

Sorry to hear that you have had communication problems with Tony. I have sent him various e-mails and always had a response within a day or 2. I have also phoned him and got through at the first attempt.
The garage is very busy and has an extremely friendly knowledgable team

Alan

It was Mike I was mailing not Tony. Maybe I'll try them again sometime as they always looked after my classic Mini really well.

[Hobbe]

Anything from MMC on how to squeeze out a few more bhp from the GP ?
Everything else offered above incl. manifold and sportcat has been done already on mine.

[JCW_GP0128]

snowie, any chance of some pics? would be good to see what the changes look like. might tempt me to get mine done!

[Babes]

Quote: Originally Posted by Root Ginger (original)

Yeah Tony is a good guy when he used to work for JCW.

I wanted to use the MINI Motorsport Centre for servicing and such and had an e-mail from Mike Raven (another ex-JCW guy) about them opening. However I had no reply from the e-mails I sent them so consequently they lost my business.

It's harsh but I will not deal with companies who don't reply to their customers (or potential in this case).

They never bothered to answer any of my emails either, bit hard any other form of communication from the other side of the world. They would have made a killing off me, now Roland at GT Tuning will be getting my hard earned.

Maybe someone local should tell them to pull their finger out! The email I sent all but said I will pay anything for the parts i want!

[Snowie]

Quote: Originally Posted by JCW_GP0128 (original)

snowie, any chance of some pics? would be good to see what the changes look like. might tempt me to get mine done!

It will be next week before I can take and post any pics as I have been putting some miles on the GP - it is now in Sweden for a week (social & work) and not back in UK until 8th June.

From the outside nothing other than the slotted disks is visible, so it will have to be wheels and bumper off to show the install.

Contact issues
For those of you who seem to have had difficulties contacting them please note that MINIMotorsport centre is run by Tony Franks it is not the old John Cooper Garages - do not mix the 2 entities, this could be what has been causing confussion.
If you e-mail Tony at mailto:tony@minimotorsportcentre.com I am sure you will get a response.

[Root Ginger]

It's run by Tony but some of the other JCW staff are there too, such as Mike Raven. I think I was using a generic address that Mike contacted me on. This is what I found even more annoying. They contacted me and never replied. They might as well have not bothered.

[CrazyPhil]

In Tony's support he is a major part of the MINI Challenge which is in full swing now - so they are extremely busy and Spa is 2 weeks away.

[Root Ginger]

Quote: Originally Posted by Phil Craddock (original)

In Tony's support he is a major part of the MINI Challenge which is in full swing now - so they are extremely busy and Spa is 2 weeks away.

That's fair enough Phil if there was a delay in replies to e-mails. Delayed replies I can understand not bothering is throwing business away.

[CrazyPhil]

true !!!!

[Babes]

would just like to add that I have received a reply, albeit delayed.

[Keano]

All responses are delayed - I am ready to buy something from them and have told them this by email but have heard nothing since!

Very frustrating.

[CrazyPhil]

I do know that they are gearing up for the AutoSport show this week and they have a 24 hour race scheduled for next week in Dubai.

Please be patient with them