This would be super fun. Classic mini all the way

I viewed all of the links associated w/ the Thunderhill driving school. Sounds just what I've been looking for to improve my skills at driving my classic Mini that's has been "built" WAY over my abilities. Please sign me up for the contest.

Regards, Michael Kotowski (Rosebud)

This is an article worth reading more than once. I was happy to find I was already doing a couple of things right, and surprised at the number of things I was doing wrong. The article and the contest are very timely for me since I've only been a Mini driver for three weeks, ('09 Cooper S convertible), and would really like to get the most out of this amazing little car.

I had the opertunity a few years ago to participate in some hot laps at a local track. The relativly stock 998 did very well and left a great big grin on my face even after a few years of time has passed. The opertunity then to run the mini and get laped by get this an original GT40 is burned in memory. The oportunity offered here in my opionion is the same but the skill that can be learned to last a life time! If it's any thing like my story it should be a hoot.

Put me in for the driving experience.... I'm now 64, vietnam vet, x-SCCA crew chief and worker, ...and never got to get on the track (except for the victory lap once, and have even got a National Championship under my belt as crew chief). Have '67 Cooper S, still not driveable...no $$, no retirement... but I love 'em! Just fat & happy!

Wow! What an amazing oportunity! I would love to be able to get the oportunity to drive a properly setup Mini by the "masters" at Mini Mania on the track! Having driven both my classic mini and my new mini on the track I would love to see how a properly set up track mini handles on the track. Seems like it would be a good oportunity to get plenty ideas for my car!

Pretty informative stuff, but nothing could replace the visceral learning experience of actually being on a track. I've driven worn and ragged out cars to near their (admittedly low) limits on the street and autocross course. A track day has always been out of my budget, but I would love to see what a properly set-up Mini feels like at the limit.

I always swore I would own a Mini since the days I grew up around the Road America race track in Wisconsin. It took far more years than I had anticipated, but I am making up for that now. Outings like this allow owners like me to see what a properly tuned Mini can do. I always question whether or not I am getting the most out of mine and would love the opportunity to learn from others.

Sounds like a complete blast!

Like most people I got involved in automobile events few years ago and was hooked....rallying, autocrossing, car shows...it is all good and very addictive. I also took part in a Driver's Ed class and HPDE or HPDS......these are the ultimate. For me all other forms of motorsport that I had been involved in wetted the appetite but kept me wanting for more......but the HPDE put me over the edge and Motorsports became more fulfilling. By being able to be on a real race track and trying to perfect a 'fast' line around the track...the concentration, the intensity, it is all very exhilarating. Best of all, you take what you learn back to the street and become a much better driver as a result.

Another thing that it did for me and others that I know.......we no longer have the urge to drive/race on the street, because we know that we have an outlet via the HPDE's to drive to the cars limit and our own, at the track and do it in a safe and controlled environment.

We also get to know our cars better and get to know what they are capable of doing...we also realize that we are not the star driver that we thought we were.....BUT....just after a few hours of instruction and track time......IT IS AMAZING how much we learn and how quickly we improve and how driving takes on a whole new meaning. The things we thought we could never do in the morning were easy by the afternoon session.

For me, it set me on a course to get involved in vintage racing......I recently met Don Racine in Portland at the Historic Races.....saw what he and Dennis can do with a Mini, and will graduate to vintage racing in 2011. I have had a mini, sitting in my garage for years, that is partially race prepped ....and now with Don's(Mini Mania) help it will be on the vintage circuit in 2011. To all of you that may read this......an HPDE or HPDS event is one of the most exhilarating and humbling things that you can do......but with some practise and good instruction, you will be amazed at how quick

What a great opportunity! To learn from a legendary driver, at a legendary track, in a legenary car! My wife and I had so much fun at Mini Thunder this year - can't wait to go back!

Great idea and great article. I am in. How do I participate if I dont win?

I would love to win the Mini Cooper High Performance Driving Experience. I have drove all around the world with the Air Force and seen bad drivers. So any time I can learn more driving skills to help me learn not to be a bad driver I jump at it. This would be one of the best things that could happen to me or anybody who wins this.

Great article! My son is currently working on getting his driver's license so some of the points were good reinforcement for me, as well as some things that I need to revise. We've had an ongoing discussion about hand position on the wheel. I realize now that he is right, and I've been keeping my hands too high. I'm going to have him read this article as well. Good stuff! I'd love to have a chance to improve my own skills as well so please enter me.

I bought my first Mini, a Moke, in the USVI in the '60s. It was a resort fleet car and had lost an argument with a tree. I got it for three hundred bucks, pounded it into some semblance of shape, painted it pink, by hand, and at the behest of my then girlfriend, welded a tin flower box onto the back bumper which she then filled with plastic tulips! Since those days, I've owned many exotic vehicles...but I can think of none that were more fun to drive than that Moke! I miss her and wish I'd kept her instead of the girlfriend! Now, pre-Beachcomber concept, I decided I needed to build a Moke for my daily ride in Baja...so it's getting a 200 horsepower Nissan Pulsar SR20DET GTi-R GROUP-A rally engine, turbocharged, quad throttle induction, and intercooled all-wheel drive 4-cylinder along with Pulsar running gear and 5-speed OD...plus the biggest Brembos I can fit behind the 34.5" tall, Mickey Thompson 16" Baja MTZ WIDE radials. It's still only ten feet long but now, instead of being four feet wide, it's almost eight! Wider footprint aside, I figure I NEED to drive it to my capability if not its own...and learning to hang onto a 200+ hp machine that weighs barely 1200 lbs makes it sorta mandatory that I do it well. This thing should eat Ferraris and Lamborghinis for lunch, not to mention my innocent-looking 180 mph 911! This would be an awesome start! Next? The Baja 1000, perhaps? Dakar? London to Sydney? ...HEY, I'm only 71...!!!

Sounds like an excellent opportunity to understand the workings and nuances of a great vehicle. I've had the chance to run a couple of X's in Maryland with the Capital Driving Club and I learn something new each time out. To have instruction, man, that would be a treat.

Sounds like a great chacne to drive a Mini, since I sold my1965 1275S back in 1980. Gawd help though if it is RHD !! Missed shifts anyone?

I've had a short ride with Don; he's a super guy and I'm sure would be a good instructor.

I participated in a HOD event a few years ago when they had a Hooked on Minis event. Great fun and I am ready to go again. See my avatar for an ontrack image, when is this scheduled? I am ready to pay my way!

Gotta agree with everyone else - what a great opportunity! I've autoxed and rallyxed a classic for a few years. My skills have certainly improved over time. Unfortunately, between never competing against another Mini and the car being so forgiving, I'm not really sure what I'm doing right and where I need to improve. Instruction with someone familiar with Minis in a properly prepped car would be incredible!

This is a wonderful opportunity to learn from the BEST and to better appreciate my MCS. I grew up building and driving Drag Cars, drove a NASCAR at the Charlotte, NC... with that being say driving both the Classic and Mini Cooper is much more fun and exciting. I look forward and would love to win the Mini Cooper High Performance Driving Experience.

Chesapeake, VA

This would be a great experience, as you can never have enough track time and driver training. I have had both my kids take a local autocross training course, which greatly improved there regular road driving skills. This would be interesting to take both a Classic Mini and the new MINI out back to back and see how they differ.

Aside from general track strategy, I would think that learning to achieve pedal control-maintaining rpm's during brake application, would be a huge takeaway from the Mini Cooper Performance Driving Experience. Whoever wins will have some great memories.

Great oppotunity for anyone, not in only improving driving for the track but for the road as well. Something I think everyone could use. Would be a wonderful just to have instruction to get the most out of my driving when I start driving my minis when they get up and running.

What a terrific promotion!! I've always been a classic mini guy, but might want to switch up to a new MINI, if it was modded for performance. Current toy is an e36 M3 cabrio, but always had a thang for front wheel drive! Pick me, Don!!

Wow, what a great deal. I'm in the middle of a Mk1 rebuild and would love to have some great track time and coaching to learn the very best way to learn performance driving. Before, or after the Mini is finished!! Thanks.

I would love to be considered for the driving experience! I have so many dreams about upgrading my Mini into a vehicle worthy of doing track days. I have so much to learn. This would be a fantastic opportunity. Congratulations to whoever wins!

would be an absolute blast to drive the track in the car that has made it all happen . About 40 years ago I noticed a yellow mini in a gas station in westmont Ill. I stopped and asked about it and the rest was history. You have the car now! I was bit a few years before that by a mini that went by the name( purple people eater ) Dallas Texas Richard McDaniels at overseas Motors ( you have that car also ) sold us alot of parts for our 850 autocrosser

Wow, what timing. I spent the last weekend flagging at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. Something I've been doing every year for the 28 years it's been running. Would be really fun to have a little of that experience of being on the track instead of besides it watching. (And occasionally sweeping up oil dry!) Don

What a wonderful set of articles. As a longtime Mini owner ('62 997 Cooper) and now a new MINI owner ('10 JCW cabrio) - I'm slowly realizing the error of buying such rare cars. I'm dying to improve my driving skills and take part in a HPDE program, but the cabrio is a bit of a pain for that, and the Mk 1 is too delicate (poor little flower!).

Its lovely to read articles with practical tips for improving skill on the road, and not just through track days.

I want to learn how to get nimble feet and feel the rush of tracking a mini!

I would love to do this HPDE. Throughout the 90's, I spent a lot of time on my PC doing sim racing online. It was pretty realistic (as realistic as computer racing can get I suppose) and in order to setup our "cars" right, I did a lot of reading up on performance driving, suspension setup, etc. The articles linked to here remind me of that time.

Since owning my MINI, I've been wanting to get to an HPDE. Alas, the demands of a busy life conspire to keep me from being able to really commit to that. I was fortunate enough to attend an event sponsored by our local MINI dealer. Not really an HPDE, but we were allowed on the track "at speed". I was fortunate enough to draw a session with an instructor. Based on the feedback, I guess all my "book learning" of the 90's had paid off as he was impressed with my starting base skills. The best part though was getting to translate that into actual driving on the track and getting the benefit of my instructor's wisdom and knowledge. In those few minutes of instruction, I'm sure I picked up more valuable driving knowledge than I did in an entire decade of reading all about it.

Thanks for making this opportunity available to MINI enthusiasts! I would love to be selected. If not though, congrats to whoever does win this - have a great time!!!

Jeff Causey

Article is great, on track time with Don Racine would be even sweeter.

Great article. I recently attended my first track day in May of this year and could identify with the story. I had a great time and want to eventually go again. In the interim, have been trying to hit the local autocross events to get as much wheel time as possible. It is a blast to drive a Mini (06 S).

Nothing new here but a great reminder of all the lessons that the Mini has taught us over the years. Rule 1: momentum is king.. if you don't slow down you don't have to speed up.

Driving a Mini has always been about anticipation; being in the right place at the right time ..and in the right gear :)

Cheers, Ian

Nice! Would be fun. I have half a million frequent flyer miles to get me there :)

Whee

Awesome! Most people, including me, first think of either racing, or spy stuff (e.g. "Bourne Identity" and "Burn Notice") when they think of high-performance driving. When it comes down to it, though, being able to handle ones car and getting it to respond exactly how you need it to is a matter of safety.

Thanks for the articles!

Safety fast! Sounds like a great event.

I ran autocross for about 12 years 30 years ago before finding other interests. Now that I have a MINI, I find myself drawn to it again. I always felt that high speed driver training made one a better and safer street driver as well. This article reinforces that notion and I can just imagine what track time with Don Racine will do. I'm hyped and ready.

Wow! This sounds like something I have been wanting to do for a very long time... actually far longer than I actually own a MINI Cooper S (2004). The articles are a fantastic read... thank you. I knew some, others were new... and I hope I am doing some thing right already, but will watch out for the others.

I'm ready to drive there anytime to get time behind the wheel of any mini, I spent 1/2 hr at speed there several years ago after a race at Laguna but never got around to doing a race there. Maybe soon with luck it will happen. BOBB

Sounds like this would be a blast!!