1975_mini

BLUF: First handling upgrade I recommend to most people are upgrade tires and brake when they a due for replacement and a stiffer rear sway bar. It increases handling without sacrificing daily driving comfort. The MINI platform is very stiff as is so until you have done most of the upgrades below you will not be stressing the chasis enough to get the benefits of a front strut bar or chassis braces. The strut bar does provide an appearance gain for some, and if it has full strut tower caps it would help prevent tower deformation from the nasty pot holes in the area. So here are the biggest bang for you buck in my opinion, so take with a grain of salt. - Tires: plan/budget to upgrade when when they wear out. If you are on run flats, upgrading to a quality performance tire (all-seasons are fine if you do not have to sets). Just buy a space saver spare for if you have a flat. ***I personally run Michelin Pilot Sport 4S A/S as my dailies, and switch sets for days at the track - Brakes: again a ware item so just when they a due to be replaced look at upgrading pads/ rotors. EBC and Hawk tend to be the two top brands folks use, just make sure you select the pad in their ranges that truly meets your driving. Putting full ceramic race pads, will just result in lots of noise, and not great performance as you likely will not have them up to temp most of the time *** I use Hawk HPS+ with drilled and slotted rotors Ok now for the good stuff in order you should look at doing them: - rear sway bar: this is probably the biggest upgrade for the money. Going to a large rear sway bar, helps to eliminate that pesky understeer in MINIs. You can get them for around $250 and there are several quality options out there. The install is a bit more that on most cars as the sway bar runs between the body and subframe. I would estimate part, install w/ an alignment you would be a shade under $1000. Best part about this upgrade is there is no sacrifice of daily ride quality *** I have a Hotchkis 25mm hollow rear sway bar. - coilovers /springs/struts: This is another honestly assess your goals or you can waste a lot of money on things you will never use. Do you need height adjustment and full rebound/ dampening adjustment? If so look at coilover setups, but remember you get what you pay for in this world. If you are looking for a stiffer ride you improve you may be able to meet you need upgrade springs or struts. If changing ride height or you want more adjustment to your alignment adjustable rear lower control arms are a good more also. *** I retained my JCW springs and updated struts to KONI yellow adjustable - Others: after all the above you can then look at upgrading to poly bushings, chassis stiffeners, etc..

It depends on what you goals are for your MINI. IMO, nether will have a noticeable effect of handling unless you are autocrossing or doing track days. If you are doing the are other upgrades that will have a larger effect on handling. What are your goals for using your MINI? Is it your daily driver, fun back road driving or coursed course (autoX, track days, etc...) Once we know we could recommend the most handling gain for your buck and goals

Event Title: Car Corral at SCCA Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series Event Date: 10/08/2023 09:00 AM to 10/08/2023 04:00 PM Event Address: We are excited to announce we will be the attending the Car Carrol at Summit point again this year!! The Washington DC region (WDCR) SCCA will car corral for us at the Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series (MARRS) event at Summit Point, WV on 8 Oct. When: 8 Octorber 2023, arrive at the track at 9am Where: Summit Point Motorsport Park, 201 Motorsports Park Cir, Summit Point, WV 25446 What is a Car Carrol consist of? - Free Admission to the Days racing. - Reserved Corral Area with parking and seating - Drinks @ Snacks (you are welcome to pack a picnic and bring in your our food) - Pace car led ride around laps IN YOUR MINI ON TRACK!! (First 25 registered have priority with additional spots "as space/time permits") ***NOTICE: Summit Point Motorsports Park has updated their on track policies to not allow EVs or Hybrids on track surfaces, this includes parade laps. EVs and Hybrids are welcome to attend the event, but will be unable to participate in the on track ride arounds. *** - Group photo opportunities on front straight - Access to the SCCA paddock, and opportunity see some of the cars and talk to the drivers about them. Come out and experience some wheel-to-wheel racing, talk to the people that race in a series well with in your reach. Do not miss this event!! Whether you just enjoy hanging out with the MINI community, watching racing, or you compete in time events and are interested in taking that next step there is something for everyone. We also will have a drive to the event where we will enjoy a few twisties with both VA and Maryland pickup points (which ever works best for you). Please sign up for the drive below. RSVP on the event here:

We held our first autocross school this year, and the event was a great success. It gave many of our MINIacs the opportunity to experience closed course performance driving for the first time. The event gave all that participated a better understanding of the handling of their MINI, and a few caught the competitive bug to take part in NCC autocross' MINI class this season. We would like to host a similar event again in 2024, but would like your input. Please take a few minutes and give us your feed back on the below questions to allow us to tailor the event to be another great success. What format would you be interested in? -School: practicing individual elements with instruction (AM session), and then tie all those elements into a full course (PM session) - Practice: A course layout with continuous runs during a AM and PM session. Instructor available for ride-alongs. - Competitive event: We could block off a set number of spots at one of NCC's competitive events for members to compete. - Other: share you thoughts Are there other closed course events that you would be interested in?

Its about time it has cooperated this year, lol.

I will shoot you a text this evening to setup pickup

I can take them off your hands and pickup this weekend

Thats a great idea for a run, start fairfax'ish area and work down your way

Event Title: MINIs Take The Beltway 13 Event Date: 11/11/2023 01:30 PM to 11/11/2023 06:00 PM Event Address: What: MINIs Take The Beltway 13 When: 11 November 2023 Where: American Legion Post 176 6520 Amherst Ave Springfield, VA 22150 Why: To honor our veterans and support our wounded, ill, and injured Veterans. All donations will be going to Operation Second Chance. Come join us for the return of a flagship event for DC Metro MINIs. We will be starting at the American Legion Post this year, where we will stage our cars before taking a MINI parade lap around the outer loop of the beltway. You will be amazed at all the waves and smiles you'll get as part of a line of MINIs as far as the eye can see! We will return to the American Legion Post after the lap to socialize, give away great prizes that were generously donating by our sponsors, and eat a delicious lunch by Mission BBQ; or attendees are welcome to bring their own lunch. Raffle: Raffle tickets will be included with your registration, and winners will be drawn during lunch. Please keep an eye out for a list of great prizes donated by our generous sponsors. Registration/Donation: Please take a moment to review the registration packages offered below. ALL money collected for registration will be through Operation Second Chance, 100% of your registration goes to the charity, and you'll receive a tax deductible receipt. $25 – Cooper package: Includes your registration package with swag donated by our sponsors, vinyl event stickers, and 10 raffle tickets. $50 – JCW Package: Includes all from the Cooper package with a limited vendor gift, and an additional 10 raffle tickets (20 Total). $75 – GP Package: Includes all from the Cooper and JCW packages with a premium vendor gift, and an additional 10 raffle tickets (30 Total). $100 – Paddy Hopkirk Package (SOLD OUT): includes all lower packages along with a one-year DCMM individual membership for 2024 and an additional10 raffle tickets (40 Total). Once you have chosen the package you would like, please make your donations by clicking HERE Lunch: This year's event will have lunch catered by Mission BBQ, and will consist of a buffet style meal with 2 different meats, 2 sides, biscuits/cornbread, and desserts. Soft drinks and water will be provided. (Due to the change from a sit down restaurant to a catered meal, we must pre-sell lunch tickets instead of individually paying at the event). CLOSED - Tickets can be purchased for $25 in the club store. Prize: At the event, each prize will have a correlating bag where you can place your raffle tickets for a chance to win that prize. Pictures and more details about the prizes will be posted in sponsor highlights on our Facebook/Instagram pages leading up to the event. Sponsor Raffle Prize Qty CravenSpeed $100 Gift Card 1 Detroit Tuned $50 Gift Card 2 GTPeace $50 Gift Card & pint glass 3 $75 Gift Card & Pint Glass 3 Free alignment & Pint Glass 3 MINIMania Dashcam 2.7' with touch screen and back cam 1 3 classic MINIs hat @ Car Duster 2 Poolesville Design Cross body bag w/ assossories 2 Out Motoring t-shirts 8 Passport MINI of MoCo Coming Soon Member donation MINI RC car 1 Member donation Looking roof bars (R56, R55) 1 Start Point: American Legion Post 176 6520 Amherst Ave Springfield, VA 22150 Timeline of Events: 7:30 - 8:30 – Registration (Post 176) 8:30 - Group picture 8:45 – Driver’s Meeting (parking lot) 9:00 – Departure 10:30 – Return (American Legion Post 176) 11:00 - Veteran Day Ceremony by the American Legion 12:00 - Lunch with Raffle giveaways 13:00 - Event concludes RSVP on the event here:

we did a little quality control at the first stop rocky point today. We can report they passed, lol.

Event Title: Tri-State Run (VA,MD, & WV) Event Date: 09/02/2023 09:45 AM to 09/02/2023 04:00 PM Event Address: 962 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, Virginia, 20176, United States Are you ready for the Tri-state run? With three hours of twisty roads through VA, MD, and WV, this is a DCMM fall favorite. We are starting in Leesburg, VA and heading north, exploring the great driving roads of northern Loudoun County before crossing into Maryland where we will take a short pit stop to stretch your legs and empty/fill any tanks your need to. Then we will explore Fredrick County, winding our way up to West Virginia for our lunch stop. Our final leg brings us down around Summit Point, and back into Virginia, ending at a great Vineyard. ***Each leg of the Drive is Approximately 1 hour*** Start Point: The Leesburg Public House, 962 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, VA 20176 Pit Stop: Weis Market, 1201 Dutchmans Creek Dr, Brunswick, MD 21716 Lunch Stop: Parking lot Picnic, 85 Maddex Square Dr, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 (McDonalds, Dairy Queen, King's NY Pizza, Food Lion are in the shopping center or you can pack your own) End Point: Walsh Family Wine, 16031 Hillsboro Rd, Purcellville, VA 20132 walshfamilywine.com Timeline: Driver’s Meeting: 1000 Wheels up: 1015 Arrive at Pit Stop: 1105 Depart Pit Stop: 1120 Arrive at Lunch: 1235 Depart Lunch: 1345 Arrive at End Point: 1500 We understand this is a longer drive and we welcome those that may only want to do one or two of the legs. Please just let us know so we know to be expecting you as the pit stop and lunch break time are estimates. RSVP on the event here:

Event Title: Maryland Creamery Run Event Date: 08/19/2023 10:30 AM to 08/19/2023 03:00 PM Event Address: 8350 Pinecliff Park rd, Frederick, MD, 21704 It’s time to check out those great creameries scattered across central Maryland again, it is the annual creamery run. We will be starting in Frederick, MD and winding our way through some great roads to 3 different creameries, and an optional 4th, to get those VA drivers back south of the river. Check out the details below and RSVP for an afternoon of fun. We have included the estimated arrival times for each creamery in case someone wants to join mid-run. If you intend to join mid-run please let us know in the comments after you RSVP. Ice Cream Shops 1st Stop: Rocky Point Creamery (MD) https://www.rockypointcreamery.com/ 2nd Stop: South Mountain Creamy (MD) https://southmountaincreamery.com/ 3rd Stop: Misty Mountain Creamy (MD) http://www.mistymeadowsfarmcreamery.com/ Start Point: Pinecliff Park 8350 Pinecliff Park Rd, Frederick, Md Schedule: Driver’s Meeting: 1045 Rolling Out: 1100 Rock Point: 1140 Roll Out: 1225 South Mountain: 1255 Roll Out: 1340 Misty Mountain: 1440 RSVP on the event here:

All are just possibilities, but based on the info provided it could be a few things: - Yes a vacuum leak could be the cause - Also could be a failing pressure valve, not allowing expansion causing the high pressure switch to cut the compressor - You said the system is charged, could it be over charged if system was topped off with the DIY can refrigerant. This would cause the high pressure switch to cut the compressor. All are just guesses based in info, and likely needs to be further investigated by a AC diag machine.

Just a heads up for you all that attended to MINI school, the event on Sunday is on a different Circuit then the School was. We will be on the Washington Circuit (bigger than the Potomac Pad). There should be signs marking the way, but to be safe here is a quick set of directions.

I am ready to get the season started, always a fun day at autoX. I know we for a lot of you it will be your first event (@Zach, @Widdie, @SheerHippo, @jim0020) please post any question you may have I am happy to do my best to answer them or @Egadd will definitely be happy to give his 2 cents also. If you have the question I bet everyone else is wondering about it also. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few tips for you packing list: - A rubber tub ( it makes it easy to take everything out in one container when you empty your car, and keep stuff dry if we get any rain) - Sun protection (sunscreen, wide brim hat, etc..) you will be standing out in the sun during course work and sun reflects off the pavement - Pack a lunch / snacks ( you can run to the snack shack, but personally I think its better to have you lunch there and be able to chat with people on the lunch break) - Painters tape is good to put your numbers on if you do not have assigned number for the season *** air pump, tire pressure gauge, tools are not necessary to bring, you can always borrow if you need them*** Please notice that the first event is not in the same place as the AutoX school, we will be on the Washington Circuit. Straight when you come through the gate I will put a map in here later.

I am a hot ticket, filled up in 20 minutes this year and you thing you can just jump in. LOL Absolutely, you are welcome Ross. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed down two weeks ago. so we will be defaulting to our previous restaurant in Franklin, Cafe Rel.

@Edge Glad you are making it back down. Hopefully you won't have Gypsies as neighbors this year. It was entertaining the early part of the week before the MINI crowd arrived last year.

I will be there, whether you attended the MINI school or not. If you are interested in trying out a come on out. everyone is friendly and we are happy to help and ensure you have a great experience.

Hey all, I have a queen bedroom that just opened up in our cabin. If anyone was thinking about going this is a great chance to say in the middle of everything. Drop me a line if you would like more details.