mid engine rear drive or front engine front wheel drive?

So some of you may know that I have a mini, that I'm in the midst of a classic mini vtec conversion. Plan being to use Honda based front suspension components. Though I don't run with the scca a lot, I thought D-mod was good goal to build the car towards, as the classes I run with other organizations would translate pretty well. So here is my crisis. Why not make it mid engine rear drive, with the vtec motor/tranny combo? Forget scca rules for this discussion, as the car will get classed wherever it belongs and I'm fine with that....the goal is to make a car that is a good autocrosser and hillclimber. So retaining the original mini shape and wheelbase, why shouldn't I go mid-engine rear drive? From a performance perspective and engineering perspective. Would I end up with a better performing car? It's kind of a flight of fancy at the moment, and I need some folks to talk some sense in to me. Think kimini, but with a real mini shell as opposed to custom body. I'm half wondering if it might be easier.

From a performance stand point the mid/rear would be the way to go. Of course more fabrication would be involved. Then again, a FWD car can be made to handle quite well with the proper suspension mods.

my concern is the short wheel base, with rear drive. If the rear steps out, it will happen very quickly.

Well it would be easier than Kimini but still quite hard plus long and involved - so do it! ;)

I'd do the midmotor for better weight balance. You'll wind up fabbing your own suspension. As long as you pay close attention to the roll centers, roll axis and camber curve you should not have an issue with it being tail happy.

We were already planning on doing our own suspension front and probably the back. Using honda spindle, hubs brakes etc, with the arms being custom. We'd use the honda arms if space permits. Going rear drive means the front gets a whole lot easier, and the back more complex. Motor access is where I see being the biggest pain. Where kimini had like a flip rear, I don't think I could do that.

Still just sort of in the thought germination process at the moment.

At the Rolex this year there was an Integra that someone did a rear-engine swap on. I think it was the model below the Type-R. It was such a clean install that you seriously couldn't tell the difference from the outside.

Mid motor...then you can put it in "R" when you want front wheel drive.

Let me suggest using Miata uprights and brakes all around. They are much smaller and easier to 'package'.

first: i'm jealous of your minitec conversion. me want.

second: mid-engine sounds really sweet, but it's going to be a LOT more work.

i think either one would be a blast. one would be on the road sooner.

Do both. The front engine kit is sorted and proven. Do that first and add the mid engine as time permits. Shift linkage would be challenging but not impossible (especially if you used two auto boxes), and you'd probably have the only twin engined mini on the planet.

Bad-Ass. Can you say low 3 second 0-60's?

for hillclimb id stay FF because of how fast it would spin on you if it stepped out in MR with that wheelbase. remember, no runoff room on the hills.

The twin engine thing as has been done before in a mini, so that wouldn't be new ground. Apexcarver, thank you...thats the kind of sanity I needed some one to inject into this discussion.

Brust wrote: Do both. The front engine kit is sorted and proven. Do that first and add the mid engine as time permits. Shift linkage would be challenging but not impossible (especially if you used two auto boxes), and you'd probably have the only twin engined mini on the planet. Bad-Ass. Can you say low 3 second 0-60's?

Actually, why couldn't you have one manual box and one auto box? As long as the throttle was synched, the auto box should keep up according to load, speed, and throttle opening. Do it! Do it!

Buy me the second engine and transmission. It would be a lot of extra weight for very little gain.

Actually that would have to be the first twin honda powered Mini

this would be one of the first twin-engined Mini's

Twini-Mini