Irish Mini Owners Club

Anyone know of anyone in Ireland who has built a Zcars r1 mini??

heard of a zcars hayabusa in carrick but never seen it... still think its under construction!!

There is supposed to be a zcars vtec mini in cork but don't know much about it.

If you are looking to build one for a track day car then you should be ok but if you are looking to put it on the road then good luck.
I looked into buying one in the UK in 2009 but couldn't get any insurance company to insure it here and the paperwork for the VRT
was a joke and that was before the NCT took it over so I can just imagine whats its like now.

Changed my mine re R1, now going for Volvo 1.9 T4 turbo engine........little more subtle i thought !!!!!!!!!

Evlabe wrote:Changed my mine re R1, now going for Volvo 1.9 T4 turbo engine........little more subtle i thought !!!!!!!!!

the volvo conversion is an excellent one and getting a bit popular... are you getting the z-cars kit??

zcars kit is the plan, they are the same as the vtec kit with different engine mounts. Vtec engines are getting very pricey and bike engines are not only alien to me but i have a feeling ill look and sound like a bit of a plank trundling driving around town at 6000+rpm !!!!!

Are there anyother t4 engined mini's in Ireland ?

I met a few lads a few years ago at the donegal mini owners club indeed one of the lads up there has an R1 mini, it was at our show last year. His words were "great yoke in a straight line but useless in a corner, and if u crash u ll be cut out of it".

The mini is designed so that the shell flexs along with the subframes. The problem with Z cars i feel is the cage so so rigid that the wheels end up lifting in the corners which causes the car to bounce and there fore lack in grip.

People think that by sticking in a V tec or the like they will have a serious mini, it does nt work like that, The A series weighs about 110kg over the front wheels, a V tec weighs about 200kg, resulting in massive understeer.

Kmg and I are currently doing 16valve conversions, his is the 1.3 suzuki gti conversion and mine is a 1.3 nissan micra with cbr600 motor bike carbs, both will produce over 100bhp. Kmg s conversion is the better one at he minute as his subframe is comercially available but u have to cut the inner wing, with mine i dont. both engines weigh about 80 or so kg, so are the best conversions to maintain the mini handling, in theory but are a way from been finished

so have a big think before u spend the pounds

I agree that the zcars kit does make for a very stiff car as essentially its a spaceframe car wrapped in the mini shell. However, you know what they say, "you learn by your mistakes" and beleave me there are going to be mistakes. I figure that nothing ventured nothing gained so i'll give the T4 a go and see wht happens. I know that lads in zcars have a new front suspension set up now which should give better handling in the corners. As long as the rear inner wheel is the only one off the ground at anyone time it should be OK!!!!! much like the old VW gti's.

Any ideas on a cool paint job anyone ????