Ross' R56 FJCW

[TBi]

I think i'll go with Michelin next too. I should have taken your recommendation the first time! I was half thinking of going with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's but it would probably be sacrilege to put those on a Cooper S.

[The cake]

Hey Ross i'm also running 215 40 18 on my jcw and it drives well no problems and a relatively smooth ride.
Was in with Ger before Christmas and he told me all about how good the michelins are, and i needed 4 new tyres at the time but as i was putting them through work couldn't go with them as they we were working out around 800 quid. So a friend recommended vredestein ULTRAC CENTO so i checked out some reviews and all showed up very well. got the set for 600 quid and so far im very impressed with both wet and dry grip and also noise levels are fantastic.

[AdyP]

I cannot agree more Ger, cheap tyres are just not worth the savings! I just swapped a mixed set of Silverstone (Malaysian) and Sunew rubber (not sure) that were on the Works, as I had zero confidence with them, especially with decent power going through them.

Their replacements were a new tyre from Uniroyal, the Rainsport 3, which I bought from Camskills in the UK for £78 a wheel. I looked at the Michelins and Goodyears but decided I was willing to give these a go for the price as the RS2s were pretty good.

Ride quality is a lot less harsh over bumps and suddenly there is some wet weather grip, even when accelerating through a roundabout. They have only been on for a couple of days so far, so will see how they bed in.

[MiniMpi]

They sound good Adrian, had a set of Rainsport 2's on my R53 and found them very good.

[AdyP]

On the RS they were really good as well, especially in standing water. This new design feels great as well with wet roundabouts no issue at all. Happy so far anyway, but would like to get to get some miles onto them before singing praises from the rooftops

[Fluoxetine]

Not any further with tyre choice yet, but I have dragged the JCW out the garage, and given it a wash...



Been an expensive month so far, with the acquisition of new discs & pads all round - As per my previous post, there are a few options for alternative (cheaper!) rear discs, but the front 4 pot Brembos seem limited to Carbotech or OEM.



Given the car seldom spends any time on track, I've dismissed the Carbotechs and went for OEM solid discs. (Non-crossdrilled, as although they look pretty, I've had issues with previous cars cracking them on track).

Managed to get a new set from eBay for £150, and a set of OEM front pads for £89 - Still a bit 'ouch', but better than what my local dealer was asking.

OEM rear discs were £85 from Cotswold BMW, and I've went cheap with some Pagid pads for the rear.

With new brake wear sensors, it all came to £400 / €480, so not as bad as it could have been - The car's done 27k miles / 43k kms with one trackday, so probably fair enough.

(Apparently the far cheaper Nissan 350Z front discs & pads fit with a little fettling, but I decided not to investigate this right now...)

Also noticed a noise from the OSR - Would seem to be the start of a worn wheel bearing, with the other side coming out in sympathy too. Bit annoying given the low mileage, but google suggests that the R56 is prone to early rear wheel bearing failure, and I probably rode a few too many exit kerbs at Mondello...

I've acquired two new rear hub assemblies, and will change them out when the rear calipers are off to do the brakes.

The last TLC service is due in August, so I'll get this done (even though I've already had it serviced twice myself in the last year!), as a FDSH is handy to have for resale in the future.

Will probably get the wheels refurbed when the new tyres are fitted, then arrange a full geometry sesh at my favoured garage.

All this TLC is with an eye on the car's next adventure - In August, myself and Mrs Fluoxetine will be heading from Dublin to Lake Como, via Holland, Germany, Austria, the Alps (including Timmelsjoch & Stelvio Passes), then back to Rotterdam via France, Luxembourg and the Nurburgring...



(Map of the planned route)

Hoping also to get along to some more Mini club stuff, when I get the car back over to Éire!

[MiniMpi]

Sounds like an EPIC road trip !!!!!!
Great work on the car too.

[AdyP]

Hey Ross. No issues with my rear bearings but I just had to change a front at 67k km. seemed early to me but it was definitely in need of replacement. Often just down to hitting really bad bumps and denting the races I guess. After that it's a matter of time.

Rears should be a nice easy swap anyway.

[The cake]

Hey Ross, yeah had to change my two front wheel bearing at 58k, but glad after doing cause mad it whisper quite again...!

[Fluoxetine]

Well, I cheated and got my local garage to do the work.

I've changed brakes before and was happy to do it, but work has been a bit crazy and I'm pushed for time at the moment.

I'm glad I did go this route, as apparently it was a bit of a nightmare - The retaining bolts for the rear hubs were seized solid, and he had to break out the weapons of mass destruction to get them out...(!)

They came free after lots of heat / abuse, and had to be replaced with new ones. (The issues seems to be that 2-3 threads of the retaining bolt sit proud of the hole, and get coated with all the road grime, which causes them to swell & corrode).

He had issues with the retaining bolts on the front discs too, as well as a bleed nipple at the back - I'm glad I farmed the job out!

Anyway, still bedding the pads / discs in, but it's much better now.

Wheel refurb booked for early June, so I've got a month to decide on tyres - Down to Goodyear F1 AS2's (winner of the 2013 Evo magazine tyre test), Michelin PS3's, or Michelin Pilot Supersports (the all-season option for the GP2).

Also picked this up in anticipation of running non runflats...

[MiniMpi]

Sounds great Ross
Ger is very happy with his recently fitted PS3's.

[AdyP]

Working in a car is always a calculated risk...something will always shear off 5 minutes after the only place selling a new one closes. Or you may find the one socket/spanner/lump hammer you need is not in your tool box. The easiest jobs often turn into a nightmare! I love having a go at it myself though. Try to only give up when I am about to bodge or break something in a REALLY BIG WAY.

Glad you go sorted.

[Fluoxetine]

Another month, another added expense on something that really isn't too exciting...

Having replaced all the brakes last month, attention has turned to wheels & tyres.

After a lot of thought, I opted for the Goodyear Eagle F1 AS2's - I'd first heard about them reading Evo magazine's 2013 performance tyre test (http://www.evo.co.uk/features/features/290650/performance_tyres_2013_tyre_test.html)
which they won, and also noted that the brand new Porsche Cayman GTS has them fitted from the factory... High praise indeed.

The clincher over PS3's was that they were €25 a corner cheaper - A €100 saving isn't to be sniffed at.

I'd booked my wheels in to be refurbed, and the company undertaking the work were happy to swap my new tyres onto the rims.

When I'd bought the car, there was evidence of kerb rash all round, and it's taken me a year to get around to repairing this!





The centre caps also showed signed of wear



Four tyres in a Mini? Easy!



The powder coaters offered a 'same day service', and gave me a courtesy car - All in cost was £240 (€288).

The courtesy car was a lovely Micra, but at least it kept me mobile...



Job done, I had to dispose of the old tyres (thankfully for free at the local tip)



I also replaced the centre caps and tyre valve caps for new...



And here's the finished result:





Very happy with the job - And the difference over runflats is remarkable... I just wish I'd swapped tyres when I first bought the car!

Have only completed around 160km on the Goodyears, but they seem to be very confidence inspiring in both wet & dry conditions.

Next job is an air-con service in a fortnight, then it's booked in for a full morning of geometry checks & tweaking at an alignment specialist.

Roll on Stelvio in August!

[MiniMpi]

Fantastic work Ross !
The Challenge alloys look stunning now.

[Fluoxetine]

A rather hectic three months later!

After fitting the new tyres in June, I'd booked the car in for a full alignment and geo re-set in July - It wasn't too far from factory settings, but the car seems to track that little bit straighter now.

Next up was the aforementioned August European Trip – What a blast!

Following a last minute TLC service at Mini (a big one, with plugs / all filters & oil all changed), there was a slight hiccup when they discovered that the air conditioning condenser was u/s – Apparently the pipework had cracked, but thankfully they were able to get a replacement fitted under the extended warranty, and the system recharged / tested prior to our departure.

With this sorted, we caught the overnight ferry from Newcastle to Ijmuiden and proceeded to drive the 642 km down to Stuttgart – The Mini took the journey in its stride, and proved to be surprisingly effective on the derestricted autobahn sections, hitting a GPS verified 245 kph at one point (although 190-200 kph was a more comfortable cruising speed).

After a couple of days taking in Stuttgart (the Porsche museum is worth a visit), it was off down to Innsbruck, and then over the Timmelsjoch pass into Italy.

Timmelsjoch was great to drive – A real variance in temperature; 14.5C at the bottom, and 4.5 C at the top! There was rain / mist, so caution was the order of the day, but it was still good fun.







After a night in Merano, it was up & over Stelvio – I can’t recommend it highly enough for the Mini.

It was possibly a little too tight / unsighted on the Merano side, but heading down the Bormio side had a fantastic combination of sweeping curves / tunnels cut in the rock / well sighted hairpins.







We had a few days in Lake Como to recover, before heading to France through the Mont Blanc tunnel, and up to Adenau in Germany thereafter.

Arrived at the ‘ring to find a rather wet track, and rather smashed Porsche 911 limping back to the car park. I used to be a regular ‘ringer’, and have probably completed 100-150 laps over the past 15 years I’ve be going, so I wasn’t too bothered about taking a fully loaded Mini on a soaking track and pootling round at 50% speed.

Instead, we visited the Pistenklause for the obligatory steak on stone dinner, and I nabbed a rather dark shot next to the M Test Centre.



Returned to Ijmuiden the following day, and made our way back to Newcastle.

Overall, we covered 3500 kms over the 12 days away – The Mini never missed a beat, taking everything asked of it in its stride.

If anyone's thinking about a mainland Euro excursion - Do it!

Happy to give any advice I can to help in the planning