Holie autocross Batman!
So I had MINIBee out at autocross on Sunday sporting the set of holies and Falken Azenis I recently bought. I really liked the look. I still like my Konig Rewinds better but at 12 pounds each, the holies are perfect for autocross and make most hardcore MINI enthusiasts smile.
The wheels, tires and all the suspension mods made a huge difference in the feel of my Cooper. Since I had driven off course the first two runs in the previous two months, I decided to take it easy on my first run. I just wanted to learn the course and get used to the new tires. That turned out to be a good plan.
When I lined up for my second run I could feel a wobble in the right wheel and heard a strange noise. I decided to get out of line to check things out. What I found shocked me – the lug nuts on all four wheels were loose. On closer examination I could see that the wheels were not flush against the hubs. I woke up that morning at 4:30 AM to change my wheels. I changed them one side at a time, torqued to spec while still on the jack, then drove some 90 miles to Tavares on them at high speed. How could they be loose?
I summoned my MINI colleagues and pit crew, Ben, Raddy and George, to take a look. George pointed it out right away…I had hubcentric centering rings on my hubs. Because I wasn’t aware they were installed with my Rewinds I didn’t even think to check for them. Instead of staying with the wheels they had stuck to the hub, preventing the OEM holies from mounting flush.
Holie humilitation Robin!
When I think of the disaster that could have occurred from this mistake, especially since I drove to Tavares at and around 70mph up I-75, it made me realize that changing wheels is no routine matter. Somehow the wheels stayed on and didn’t loosen until I did some hard cornering on my first run. Someone in MINI heaven was watching out for me.
With my opportunity for a second run disappearing, Raddy, George and Ben helped me quickly remove the rings and get the holies properly mounted. Then I was off to put them to the test shaved two seconds off my time. On the next run I took off another 7/10 and another 1/10 on the last.
My friend, mentor and autocross nemesis (just kidding), Ben Turner, burned up the course on his last run and finished first. I placed third again but I’m definitely closing the gap. Usually I’m about 2 to 2.5 seconds behind Ben but today I was about 1.6 seconds back. So I’m making progress! But most importantly, I had a great time with a fantastic group of MINIacs and learned something new!
