As a shop, we strive to develop cars and performance solutions that meet or exceed the desires of our customers. We listen to the needs, the type and style of driving, budget requirements, uses (daily driver only, track car, both, etc), and then craft what we believe to be the best combination of elements to make a truly great car.
We hope that we hit or beat our target, and with one of our MINI Cooper S project cars, we did just that. This car started as one of our shop project cars, and we had partnered with Dinan for most of the parts for this car. We wanted to develop a MINI that would really be a phenomenal handling car, that could serve duty as a daily driver, but also serve duty as a very aggressive track car. Projects with this goal often end up being a compromise in too many areas, and no goal is achieved. That’s what we got w the first round of enhancements. We tried several coil-over solutions, and all of them had too many compromises to soot us as a daily driver, yet, they also failed when we went to the track…that was a lose-lose proposition.
From there, we turned to Dinan, who we have nothing but high praise for, and where we fully understand the investment they make in design and engineering. Their solution was absolutely spot on…and the result was a car that served as my daily driver, but also served as our primary “instructor” car for track days, when we need to take students on ride alongs or demonstrate the proper line in a “lead follow” around the track.
After we completed the development and tweaking of this car, it was time to tackle a new project car (see our 135i project), so we put the car up for sale. The car quickly sold, but you always wonder if you have been drinking your own kool-aid, and did you really create a great solution, or does it have rough edges.
Well….we obviously hit the spot, as evidenced by the letter in the BMW Roundel Magazine (December 2008). Totally unknown by us till we had someone mention the letter to us, but the new owner was so impressed with the car, that he submitted a praise article to the Roundel, and it got published.
This now marks the third BRracing project or customer car that has made the news….. Thanks Randy!
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