Sport button has exactly zero negative effect on engine break-in. All it does is remap the throttle and decrease the steering ratio. If anything it helps engine break-in by causing more variation in engine revs (since you tend to use somewhat more range on the throttle). I use it pretty much all the time since it makes response closer to what I'm used to with the M3, and it causes the exhaust to make more pleasant and strange noises.

I'm at over 2100 miles now.

 

Yeah, the only time I *don't* use it is when the engine is cold and I don't want to accidently push it too much.

How was the Petit Le Mans? Or did I miss that post?

 

Petit was awesome. 38 cars on the grid. Well, 37 after BK Motorsports trashed their Lola/Mazda on warmup. Otherwise, Alan McNish started from the pit two laps behind after race start in the Audi R10 and came back to beat Peugeot for the win 1000 miles later. It was amazing when he passed the Peugeot in the last half hour (I actually wanted Peugeot to win, but that's OK). There was also a lot of great racing throughout the field. It was classic great American sports car racing.

I need to catch up on some sleep this weekend so I guess I'll be watching some NASCAR.

 

Racetripper,
A few Petit Lemans questions: How many cars are on the track? What is the average speed... How long does it take to go 1,000 miles? As a spectator can you see the whole track from one place.
Sorry if I show my lack of racing knowledge!

 

Got my gominigo order in the mail yesterday. They are pretty fast shippers!
I ordered the b/w checkered glovebox tidy - am very pleased with the quality, of course it fits great, and looks pretty neat!

Will also install the pulsing third brake light circuit board this weekend - am a bit nervous since I need to snip electrical wires .. but read the pdf instructions and it looks pretty straightforward. Got it because Trooper is my daily driver and there are a LOT of tailgaters in the Bay Area.

Keep posting!

 

To be clear, it's Le Mans, not Lemans (named after the city in France). Usually 30-40 cars start the race, grouped in four classes: two prototype (purpose-built car) classes and 2 GT (production-based car) classes, known as LMP1, LMP2, GT1, GT2. The LMP1 cars are the fastest and they averaged 138 MPH in qualifying this year (completing a 2.6 mile lap in about 1:06).

You can only see parts of the track at a time. The most track you can see at once at Road Atlanta (where Petit Le Mans takes place) is on spectator hill at turn 5, where you see maybe 1/5 of the total. But since the race lasts for about 9 1/2 hours that gives you plenty of time to move around and watch the race from many vantage points.

Check my sig for a picture gallery of last year's Petit Le Mans. I took about 4000 pictures this year, but it'll be a few weeks before I have enough time to process the good ones and post a new gallery.

More info at the ALMS web site. There's a video of ALan McNish doing a lap in the Audi R10.

 

RaceTripper,

It's a small world. You were in GA last weekend (from St. Louis) and I drove down I-85, going to Atlanta, Saturday morning about the time the Petit started (I had driven from Ohio to Charlotte on Friday, and was going to Atlanta to visit some relatives for the weekend). Only now do I realize that I was about 5 miles from the race. Maybe I'll have to check it out some year.

Phantom was not along for this trip. He was safely parked in the garage at home in Ohio. Nothing new to report there. I've just been driving him daily to work and back. I have the auto tranny, but am shifting manually in town and averaging about 35 mpg so far (computer calculated - probably really a mile or two less than that). My plan is to run a tank of gas driving manually, then a tank keeping the car in auto all the time... to see what the mpg difference is... if any.

Anyway, thanks for the info about Petit Le Mans, Racetripper. Glad you had a great time. The weather was certainly nice down there last weekend.

 

I tried it and I'm hooked - wow!!! My exhaust was already doing the nice pops and gurgles, but it's even more with the sport on. I'll have to use it more to increase the variation - good to have a sound reason for more fun!!!!.

 

Look forward to seeing the new pics!

 

Hey all you Week 32ers! We've been away on our fall hiking vacation in the Rockies - Rocky Mountain National Park to be exact. The Aspens were at their peak - glowing beautiful yellow gold and orange. Weather was great, as was the hiking. Starting to see snow in the high country.

No we did not take the Mini - we took the Jeep so we could take all our hiking gear & equipment. On the trip we encountered 11 Minis.

I'm still waiting to hear back from Ed at Cooper Flags about the Week 32er badge & decals. As soon as I hear from him or they arrive, I'll let you know the details.

 

RoadTrip - glad to hear from you again. Am still interested in the badges so am looking forward to hear your word. Thanks!

 

+1

Has anyone bought any other badges or the magnetic holder that I've seen advertised?

I'm thinking of getting a new license plate holder as my dealership gave me a BMW plate holder.

 

Seriously, man... It drives me crazy that there's no temperature gauge. A serious design oversight. I don't like having to estimate whether the engine is warm enough to push it a bit. It's almost anti-Mini. You'd think they'd put more gauges than the average transportation appliance, not less... Right? I want to know engine temp, oil pressure, emotional state, etc.

Still having tons of fun, though. Love it. Especially the way it feels like it's on rails when accelerating through the local on-ramps.

 

My license plate is naked. It fits perfectly over the white sport stripe. A frame will just bulge out a bit to the sides.

I have one magnetic badge I put directly on the bonnet: "Hummer Escape Pod"

 

Great to hear your back!! Any pics?

 

+1

 

Here's one pic from the trip. It's on Bear Lake Road (if you're familiar with Rocky Mountain NP). I uploaded six other pics to my photo gallery, so feel free to check them out. I did not want to post too many here, but there are more good ones in the gallery (Trail Ridge Road - the highest continuous highway in the world at 12,000+ feet, Hallett Peak - we hiked up a few years ago, Bull Elk with Cows, and some others.

There are great motoring roads out there. In fact Mini In The Mountains took a one day road tour through RMNP this past summer.

Enjoy!

 

What are you JCW folks doing about a winter setup?

I've pretty much decided I'm going with a non-runflat all-season setup. TireRack has the Kumho Exta AST 215/45/17 for $89 each. A friend in the local MINI car club has them and gave a thumbs up approval. Besides, they are one of the ALMS tire suppliers so I'm supporting a sponsor of the sport I love.

 

I bought a set of R97 17" flame spokes used from someone here on the boards. They arrive tomorrow. I'll likely take them to a local place next week, but some snow tires, and have them mounted. As for tires, I'm thinking Blizzak runflats but I still have some research to do. I'm too much of a chicken to use on runflats.

 

After experiencing the harshness of runflats on my recent road trip I can't get out of them and into normal shoes soon enough. I'll just get a mobility kit for fixing punctures. That's what I had with my M3 for 3+ years anyway. Not to mention runflats add about $100 cost per tire, if not more.

 

No, it's not that much more expensive. Maybe $80 tops.

 

Whoa! Nice tree colors! I don't see much brown shades here in CA (except for burnt brown due to CA fires!). nice pic. Thx for sharing.

 

$320 is much more expensive for set of tires in my book. A lot to pay for the pleasure of having my spine battered. No thanks. Hell, for an extra $80/tire I'd rather get better non-runflats. I'm actually still considering Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Positions, for an extra $57/tire

Run flats are evil.

 

What's a winter?

 

Thanks great pics , beautiful scenery! Are the snow plow markers on the roads already - the skinny poles - or are they a year round thing at higher elevations?