Wrc Mini..?

[v8voodoo]

Hi All,

What do you think, should MINI/BMW should put a WRC MINI in for next year..?
Or would it be plagued by the stumble, a clicking steering column etc..
I think they should, in conjunction with John Cooper garages, imagine the support it'd get..!!!

Nige.
Dover.

[GadgetGav]

AFAIK, it won't meet regulations... too short. The Pug was the shortest car in the WRC and they had to stretch that a bit (long front bumpers) to get it in. Now they're replacing that with the 307CC (an odd marketing idea) which is a bigger car anyway.
Unless MINI did something very odd looking, I don't think they'd get in. Besides, when was the last time BMW supported a works rally team..? I think their interest lies in hard surface racing.
I would be nice though...!! I think the best you can hope for is private entries in other classes - not WRC.

[HarryHBMCC]

A well prepared Cooper would be a heck of a Super 1600 Junior WRC entry but as Gav says above, the car is too short for full WRC class where there is a 4m minimum length. Also, I think it would be stuck with a 1.6L engine which would be small due to homologation rules. Not to say a 1.6L engine can't be really powerful (there were 800HP and more powerful F1 engines of only 1.5L displacement with HIGH pressure turbos) but they'd be at a disadvantage at the low end which affects a rally car with hand-brake corners and such. A NA Cooper in Super 1600 class would be easier and a good introduction to World Rally anyways but I have not heard anything about any Super 1600 Homologation.

There are several rallying in north america where the class structure is more forgiving, though the S's forced induction still hurts it with the multiplication factors, ends up running against WRX's and Lancer EVOs which is a tall order in Production 4 or Production GT class. The Cooper ends up going against fairer opponents in the Production (2) Class.

Harry

[DerekR]

The weight might be an issue as well - it's a heavy beast. Also, for loose rallying, someone needs to come up with suspension that has a LOT more travel than seems to be available now.

Would be interesting to hear from the guys rallying the MINI on loose/forest stages as to their suspension spec. and issues.

Is there anyone with a specific loose/forest long-travel coilover? I am contemplating using a Bilstein from a Peugeot with appropriate travel. There will be suspension geometry issues (like positive camber) and maybe even driveshaft compression issues but we need a decent off-road setup.

As an aside - do any regions or clubs use power-to-weight groupings as a means of classifying production cars? We use it here and it works very well - means the MCS and other forced-induction cars do not have to run against the 4wd cars. The grouping here is 0 - <100 bhp/tonne, 100 - <120 bhp/tonne and 120 - <140 bhp/tonne. Metric tonne and SAE horsepower (don't ask!). The FIA-based cubic capacity breaks tend to force everyone to the high-output cars and, for a production class, that eliminates an awful lot of more run-of-the-mill cars that might otherwise enter. I can understand the cc breaks on the world stage but for local clubs the power-to-weight approach seems a better choice. We also allow (as of 2004) a fair amount of latitude - LSDs, free(ish) suspension, exhaust manifolds, roll bars, hydraulic handbrake, cold air intake. No ECU mods.

[Pepper'D]

I am sure there is a rally mini already paddy hopkirk was talking bout the old one on channel 4 the other day and said at least their is the new mini to carry on the mini while standing next to a mini with a big spolier on the back it was silver and green

[Redpoint Rallying]

Hi

In the near future I will be rallying a New Mini. I have been in touch with Mini Sport (Padiham, Lancashire, UK) and they advise me that they are currently developing a Mini for rallying. They will have forest suspension, 'proper' sump and tank guards, gearbox and diff (LSD)components in production and for sale in approx. January 2004. Mini Spares (or Mini Mania as they seem to call themselves these days) also have some parts already available.

Cheers