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A little race home (MINI, OMG)


Pimm

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As i passed my 24hr garage coming home from work 15 minutes ago i noticed a 06 plate mini pulling out behind me. No one around for half a mile and he caught me up quick but at that time i was just doing the usual trip home.

I came up to some traffic lights and then got stuck behind one car and a lorry so when it was clear i overtook as fast as i could and this mini was stuck to my bumper :scare: .

I am approaching two corners that i know and are tricky but to make things worse there is that fine rain, so at my comfortable pace i motor round them but all i can see is this mini glued to my bumper :scare:. I did feel the z was on the limit but this mini i reckon would of nailed me around those bends :blush: .

He then flashed his lights and we went different directions. I was very surprised at how the mini pulled up so close to my car but i will stress i did not go ott due to having respect for my car, also being a little wary about losing the back end. :D

 

Just thought i would share my little moment with you lot. Anyone else been surprised how fast some other cars are compared to the Z ??

 

:D:D

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Its dead easy to get the jump on cars when following them. He would of seen that you were about to overtake, anticipated it, dropped a gear and floored it whereas you at that point probably wasn't.

 

Also if it was a JC Works mini then they are virtually the same weight/power ratio as the zed so its not thats suprising..........

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Mini Forum:

 

Was following one of those Datsun 350Z things out the 24Hr garage tonight after work. Gave it some beans and kept up with it.....

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

 

They handle well and if a 'good' driver is behind the wheel they'll keep up.

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Its a lot more about the driver than the car TBH. Also Mini's (especially Cooper S) are dead easy to tune as is any FI car. They could have been modded to have more BHP/tonne than the Zed and probably easier to handle being FWD. The Zed is a very quick car, but you have to be very commited when driving it. There are a few corners near me that if driven half heartedly can cause the Zed to understeer through, but fully commited, you can take it at a shockingly quick pace. I find the Zed quite hard to judge when not fully commited and can feel like its on the edge, but pushing it makes it feel more planted and a lot quick :thumbs:

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I'm not that surprised. I loved my Cooper S, great car, and as others have said so easily tuned. Funnily enough I was only just saying in conversation this morning that I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one in the future (I of course have no qualms and don't have to worry about the 'girly' comments, seeing as i am a girl :p )

 

The competence of the driver (well, not just competence, but how far they are willing to push it/risk it on that particular day and time) also comes into it along with the weight issues too.

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Mini Forum:

 

Was following one of those Datsun 350Z things out the 24Hr garage tonight after work. Gave it some beans and kept up with it.....

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

 

They handle well and if a 'good' driver is behind the wheel they'll keep up.

 

that is sooo funny :lol::lol:

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it is nice to hear that it is just not me that have had these experiences with the z. On reflection from last night i could of drove maybe a little quicker around the bends but i felt within my limit and thats more important than humping around the corner and losing it :lol::scare:

 

I think once i lower my car and change from the 18's to 19's the z may feel a little firmer on corners !!

 

Thanks lads and lasses :D:D:D

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I had a run in with a white jc works last year. Was on the A50 and as I accelerated off he kept up with me but didn't edge on me at all.

 

Not really bothered they're 2 different cars, and the Zed looks a million dollars in comparison.

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I couldn't shake a Focus ST one day, really surprised me. And got absolutely schooled by a Rangie Sport just outside Dundee yesterday.

 

Again the Focus ST and Range Rover (ugly things) would both have been tuned to keep up - both FI cars and easy to do. Range Rover Sport has a 0-60 of 7 secs standard and with a bit of tuning could easily improve it's performance (not round a track though!). Just an exhaust an filter on a turbo/sc car can liberate a fair amount of hp. I suspect the mini owner had tuned their car or had the cooper works. A stock cooper S will have absolutely know chance. Even my old golf out-accelerated them with a fair amount of ease.

 

The fact many cars try to give it a go against a Z just shows how much of a "presence" the Z has and how everyone else wants to try and prove their own car is "as" good (even more proved by how that mini driver had to leave a message on another forum saying how they kept up). For all he knows you may not have been giving it 100% which you probably weren't. I know what car I'd rather be in.

 

The Z is only marginally slower than an E46 M3 (stock for stock and lots of vids to prove this on youtube) and to me that is enough to know the Z is one quick car. Although the Z is not the most powerful car out there. Agree with comment above, about how doing 60 you can just floor it and it keeps on propelling you forward with strong force.

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The new shaped CooperS' are turbocharged so undoubtadly there will be cheap remaps for it to give over 200bhp! I looked into getting a smaller pulley wheel, remaps and few other things for the 1.6S and it was coming to £3k for parts and labour! for about 30bhp!!

 

Decided to look for 350z's instead :teeth:

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The new shaped CooperS' are turbocharged so undoubtadly there will be cheap remaps for it to give over 200bhp! I looked into getting a smaller pulley wheel, remaps and few other things for the 1.6S and it was coming to £3k for parts and labour! for about 30bhp!!

 

Decided to look for 350z's instead :teeth:

Blimey, and we thought £1.5k for ~30BHP on the Zed was bad money! (new ECU and remap will net you ~30BHP). FI cars are meant to be cheap to tune, did noone tell BMW that?! :surrender:

 

As the others have said, theres always something quicker out there. When I was at TGM Sport over the weekend, an interesting lad came in. He was banging on about how his mate has a Nova that can do quarter miles quicker than a Lambo, until on his second run that weekend (against a Lambo again), he blew the engine wide open. The Lambo driver just drove home :lol: Some people just dont get it :dry:

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A £500 remap alone on the supercharged 1.6 will give you ~10bhp! (178bhp)

 

A £500 remap alone on the Gen2 Turbo CooperS will give you 45bhp!!! (215bhp)

 

Then the remap with colder plugs and a milltek exhaust would be 230bhp, or for the CooperS Works ~250bhp

 

 

^^ So I can see how a MINI might have given you a run for your money round the corners!

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