mini love - part 51

With the pre-season maintenance and detail inspections completed, Mini went to the two-day track event with a brand new set of Nitto NT01 tires in 225/45 15. Tires this wide was possible with a set of new Konig Dial In 8"x15" wheels. The NT01 has a wear rating of 100 which is essential R compound so they should be grippy short of a set of slicks.

trailex open car trailer towed by brunnhilde - part 2

When I bought Brunnhilde I would not have imagine that one day I would tow a car trailer. She served me well over the the years for my silent water sport. Now that I am really into performance driving on race tracks I managed to equip her with an open car trailer that is a marriage in heaven for this wonderful compact motorhome. Something that I nearly dismissed not being impractical given the 8,000 lb nominal weight of the James Cook plus circa 4,500 lb of car and trailer weight, all to be towed by a engine with 154HP/243 lb-ft.

mini love - part 50

I was very happy to complete the supercharger swap. The other major maintenance for the Mini is the diagnose of the vibration and shake which has been gotten worst started as a subtle tremor triggered by hard braking at the end of a long straight at the track. I suspected it is due to the CV joint(s) of one or both axles.

mini love - part 49

I had taken a month long trip to Asia in mid March. I planned all along to partake in HPDE days upon my return, and wanting to drive in the last two days of April. The problem is there is a long list of things to take care of in the street car named Desire before any track days can be entertained.

mini love - part 46

This was the second time I remove the supercharger from Desire for inspection. Last time I remove it the power take off gear housing as bone dry without oil. Surprisingly the gears showed no sign of premature wear. I fill up the SC with GM SC oil and had since driven on track many times. To my surprise somewhat, the high pitch noise did not subside with the replenished lubricant. Fearing the PTO housing seal may be leaking and all the oil got sucked into the SC compressor housing I remove the SC for the second time to investigate.