Pocket Rocket

[sweetgrass]

Going through some images that I took last year and came across some that I took of my 2004 Mini Cooper S up on Mount Lemmon. I picked it up after moving to Tucson as a little car to jet around town, and wow does it jet around town. LOL

 

[AlanLichty]

Those are boatloads of fun out on a track

 

[sweetgrass]

I can only imagine! It was fun being a hooligan up on Mnt Lemmon. LOL

 

[Ben Egbert]

Sunny, you must have a car collection second only to Jay Leno. Do you still have your Ram?

 

[sweetgrass]

Sunny, you must have a car collection second only to Jay Leno. Do you still have your Ram?

LOL No real car collection, more of a motorcycle collection. But yes I still have the Ram, I dont want to get rid of that truck. It's going to take me on my new photography excursions.

 

[JimFox]

This is really well done. What a cool car! I like the color a lot.

 

[AlanLichty]

I can only imagine! It was fun being a hooligan up on Mnt Lemmon. LOL

I used to be a track instructor for the Portland area BMW club and had quite a few students show up driving Minis. Lots more fun being a hooligan where it's legal to go out and play.

 

[sweetgrass]

This is really well done. What a cool car! I like the color a lot.

Thanks Jim, I dig the color as well and was one of the selling points. It is known as British Racing Green.

 

[sweetgrass]

I used to be a track instructor for the Portland area BMW club and had quite a few students show up driving Minis. Lots more fun being a hooligan where it's legal to go out and play.

That is cool! I have only owned one BMW car, which was a 540i, but my brother in-law here in town had a beautiful 2001 M3. But he moved over to the Porsches. There is a legit track near me in Wilcox called Indie, I think I need to do a track day there. So you are a race car driver?

 

[AlanLichty]

That is cool! I have only owned one BMW car, which was a 540i, but my brother in-law here in town had a beautiful 2001 M3. But he moved over to the Porsches. There is a legit track near me in Wilcox called Indie, I think I need to do a track day there. So you are a race car driver?

I did take an SCCA Racing course but never descended into the money pit world of actual SCCA racing. I was an instructor for BMW, Audi, and Porsche track events at Portland International Raceway.

There are lots of car clubs (BMW/Mini, Audi, Porsche, and more) that hold what are called Driver Events on local tracks around the country. All will require you to go out with an instructor to begin with. These are "thou shalt not exchange paint with thy neighbor's car" sessions that let you drive your car in ways that are not possible on the street since there is no cross traffic and passing is in regulated zones only. You get to find out how to really drive your car as it was designed. You have a fun one to play with and would get to find out how well that front deflector works.

 

[sweetgrass]

Money pit is right. LOL I did some track days and actual motorcycle road racing and it does get expensive. A lot of fun, until you see your depleted bank account. But I would like to drive the Mini on a track.

 

[Brian]

Great photo. Look into NASA HPDE if you want to start doing track days. It's an excellent way to get on the track. I went from HPDE to getting my racing license with them.