Track/Daily Driver maintenance

[vetteburna]

Wanted to know what kind of maintenance that those of you who often track your R53 are going through with minor engine mods.
For example.....

- How often are you replacing your oil
- Bleed/flush brakes
- pads & rotors and what kind
- tranny fluid?
- seals and gaskets to keep an eye on?

I'm planing working towards my competition license on my 2004 R53 that 'm slowly prepping for track use.

Any advice on maintenance is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[Konstantinos]

Good stuff to know -- I'd like to hear some of these suggestions as well, even just as a DD

[Camaro]

Change oil after track day.
Bleed and Flush mid to end of season depending on how often and how hard you drive.
Pads and rotors should have a track set.
Tranny fluid mid to end of season depending on how often and how hard you drive.
Seals and gaskets are all good unless they are obviously leaking.

[Jeffsmashkot]

I think the service recommendation for brake and coolant flush is every 2 years. That's what I follow for my DD. I haven't tracked the car.

[Camaro]

Tracking will put additional heat into the brake fluid so however hard you drive on the track it will fry the fluid. I said nothing about coolant changing.

[Konstantinos]

Please explain the significance of changing tranny fluid. This confuses me. I thought the dealer spec was to never change tranny fluid on the MINI.

[Camaro]

If you want better performance out of your transmissions when it comes to shifting and lubrication changing the the tranny oil from stock oil is needed.

[justintime]

change tranny fluid when you do your oil. Its just as important and always neglected. I use to do it every race, and oddly once we did we never replaced another gearbox.

or

drive the car a full track season and trade it for a new mini at the end!

[Camaro]

What the guy who races karts and other 4 wheeled vehicular thingamajigs with steering whatchamacallits

[justintime]

and everything else camaro said is spot on, an addition to that, is nut and bolt everything related to your steering/suspension/brakes and important stuff that keeps you from flying off the track if they come loose or break. Pretty important not to neglect such items. It would also be smart to drill and safety wire said items.

Its scary when things fail on the track lol prevention is key and things like rumble strips and bumpy braking zones take a tole on your vehicle

[07hardtop]

What would be a recommended tranny fluid to replace the oem with for say moderate autocross use?

[ScottinBend]

The OEM stuff is very good. No real reason to change it. I tried the Redline MTL and didn't like the less than smooth feel and went back to the factory stuff.

[Camaro]

Scott you apparently don't track your car hard when you do go to the track. Furthermore its pointless to not go hard at the track. Stock tranny oil can't handle the sustained heat shock that can be seen on the track.

[ScottinBend]

Really......you've seen me drive? Cool.

So you suggest the Redline?

[Camaro]

Yeah Redline or Amsoil