The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33536
and Swift coil springs. The adjustable camber/caster plates are also JRZ. The one-piece alloy wheels weighing just 12 lbs apiece are from 949 Racing. He says nothing about the subframe system that ties the back and front together as one piece, other designs on the market are separate pieces. When we shot this feature he had the stock GP brakes fitted but with Performance Friction pads. We watched Ian Stewart at Thunderhill and he’s brutal on brakes, hitting them hard as he prepares for a corner. As we wrote this story, Jan and The Brake Man (Camarillo, CA) finalized their agreement for a RMW setup. Their proprietary design of a convoluted (petal shaped) disc be designed for the rear, with standard disc shape out front with calipers will be available for MINIs during July. President, Warren Gilliland, has been in brake engineering since the days of Hurst Airheart in the 1960s (see Issue 22, pages 50-52 for details), and likely has forgotten more about brake design than most have remembered, so we look for some impressive track times now that Ian can’t “murder the brakes” as I stated at Thunderhill. Air Management Every MINI owner knows that we drive a brick. Just ask any MINI racer what he/she would like as a gift from their sanctioning group and they’ll scream “aerodynamic aids!” Group 4 Autosport to the rescue! Created by aerodynamic designer, Wayne Christenson, the company has integrated Joel Seymour, a former production model maker for GM, Mark Voegele to run the daily business, and Russell Roth of Mini-Fini for manufac- turing needs. The RMW GP is using a rear under-car diffuser, front race split- ter developed by RMW for Group 4, a lip spoiler addition to the factory GP wing (the factory wing is “purely for appearance, “ states Christenson, and what he calls “smile-line canards” at the front fenders. These re-route the air away from the exterior rear view mirrors and windshield edge. Once all these aero devices were fitted, Ian Stewart took seconds off his Sebring and other track times. They’re made of high-grade alloy, but not quite aircraft quality, as it doesn’t have the moldable ability required for form- ing the rounded corners in the diffuser. Together with the just-fitted under-car sheeting, the GP is noticeably stabler, starting at high freeway speeds, states Jan. One thing is for sure; the multi-color graphic wrap by Owen Palmer of 504 Designs gets this GP noticed, even at the local Costco. Singing A Tune If you’re a member of a forum – such as Motoring Alliance – you could have read about Jan and his traveling ways across America. He spends a week or two during spring and summer on the road, in addition to tuning winning Grand-Am Porsches with his Dimsport software. He’s become the go-to guy for all of us for an extra 20-30 or greater horsepower given his ex- tensive development with Dimsport the last few years. He’s even tuned MINIs in Australia and Europe via the Internet! Soon he’ll also be tuning Savannah Rickli’s Pikes Peak R53 MINI, and the MC2 Project Clubman. Stay tuned, as we’re told that Group 4 also has developed a rear diffuser for our Project Clubman, too. Resources: Jan Brueggemann Revolution MINI Works www.Revolution.MINI.com 949.456.9590 Wayne Christenson 270.338.5028 Mark Voegele 814.563.1669 Group4 Autosport www.group4autosport.com Jeff Howerton Howerton Engineering 707.685.6278 info@howertonengineering.com 28 www.mc2magazine.com 8QGHUEHOO\ FODGGLQJ VPRRWKV RXW DLU ÁRZ IRU LPSURYHG URDG KROGLQJ DQG WRS VSHHG ,W·V HDVLO\ UHPRYHDEOH IRU VHUYLFH VKRXOG WKH QHHG DULVH $V WKH 7KXQGHU +LOO WUDFN LV DW D GLIIHUHQW DOWLWXGH WKDQ -DQ·V KRPH HQYLURQPHQW RQ WUDFN DGMXVWPHQWV ZHUH PDGH WR WXQLQJ YLD WKH ODSWRS Because of the center exhaust, the full under car Group 4 diffusers ZHUH DEOH WR EH PDGH LQ WZR PDLQ SLHFHV ZKLFK LPSURYHV DLU ÁRZ