The Dynamic Autosports/Gruppe-S Mighty MINI Wins The Redline Time Attack Finals
Once upon a time, back in the day, there were only a handful of Mini's on the road in the United States - only imported versions straight from Britain, with the steering wheel on the "wrong" side. There wasn't anything that could touch those four-passenger go-kart-like cars for canyon cruising, nothing street-legal anyway. They held to the road like slot-cars and you could practically carry one in the back of a pickup as a spare. Then, for a number of reasons, they all but disappeared completely for many years - except for those collectors stashed away. That is until April of 2001, when the BMW Group wisely began producing the "MINI" the successor to the original Mini.
Eddie Kim, Vice President of Dynamic Autosports/Gruppe-S in Lake Forest, California, and his crew recently prepped their Yellow JCW MINI to do battle at the Redline Time Attack Finals. The field was deep that weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, with many teams in attendance and championships in multiple classes at stake. This was their first event, and the goal was to simply go out and be competitive and to showcase the performance potential of the MINI to all their industry partners, racers, and enthusiasts. "We are preparing a spec series for MINI and this particular car is our test bed," says Kim. "The car has some basic modifications, which we believe will not void the factory warranty. That way consumers can buy a new MINI, do the modifications, and still keep the car under warranty. This is our goal, and that is why we have chosen the K&N intake, because of their pursuit to be a smog legal product." What the team ended up taking home with them was First Place in the Stock Front Wheel Drive class, along with an abundance of respect and admiration from the other teams and spectators.
The MINI performed flawlessly and flat-out ran away from the field. In their first attack session they ran a best of 1:59.14, which would have been good enough for second overall in modified class, and third in the street class as well. In their final attack the team again ran a sub-2:00 on the 2.5-mile course, clinching a surprising, but much-deserved first place. "The chassis itself is great right out of the factory box. We then modified the car with a K&N intake system," informs Kim. "We also added a Mega Mini prototype downpipe, Eibach suspension, Mega Mini intercooler, Mega mini spec brake pads, Enkei NT03 wheels and Yokohama AD08 Neov tires - and of course some bad-ass driving from Dez Ballard." "We will continue to test and make some alignment settings and possibly re-flash the ECU. We are trying to keep all the parts legal and low cost so that MINI enthusiasts can have a lot of fun and be competitive."
The Yellow JCW will be one display and a part of the driving experience at their Los Angeles Road Tour, November 21-22, at the Home Depot Center. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.
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