We're doomed. Wife bought an all dark blue '06 Mini Cooper yesterday. Even with auto and without the S it's a hoot.

We owned and autocrossed a 1964 Austin Mini Cooper 1275 S in the late '60s. Wife imprinted on that car and never forgot it. After trying to get me to sell my own BMW M3 for a Mini Cooper (no way), she decided to buy her own second car for when she doesn't need her gas-sucking Pilot to haul big dogs. My own other car is a Porsche Cayman S which I track and autocross.

When I asked about good Mini sites on one of the Porsche forums, almost everyone who responded named this one. Nice job all.

 

Alright! Welcome and enjoy!!

 

Welcome to the wifes MINI COOPER, tell her to send us a picture of the car and her if possible (you can include a picture of yourself and the Cayman S if you want).

 

Welcome to the forum for MINIacs! Many of us are fans of (or own) Porsches too, so you won't find much hostility here.

 

Welcome!

 

You can't possibly tease us with talk of a new (to you) MINI and a Cayman S and not post pictures!

We demand pictures! Well, okay...I do.

 

Yah if there aren't pics it doesn't exist!
Welcome back!

 

1964 MINI! +1 on demanding pictures of that cayman! oh wait, is this a mini forum?

 

Thank you, welcoming committee.

Pictures? It looks just like all the other all dark blue '06 MCs. The silver Cayman S looks just like all the others too.

I've been very busy trying to learn more about all the gimmicks and gizmos (yeah, I stumbled on the 35-page what's-your-Mini's-name thread). Maybe someone here can help with an unidentified stationary object on the console. I've been through the owner's manual, but can't find a clue about the little tube-like thingie that is built into the vertical post just to the right of the climate control buttons and toggle switches. At the bottom of this tube is a little round black plastic thingie. When I first saw it I thought it might be a mini tire pressure gauge, but the black round part is too small to fit over the threaded part of a tire valve. Could it be a cabin/cockpit air sensor? The appropriate pictures in the owner's manual do not show this tube there.

 

If you have a GIANT cup holder cantilevered off the side of the rightmost pillar that surrounds the stereo and center console, then dunno. But if you don't, it sounds like the bracket that holds such a cupholder. It was added to US model first gen MINIs because Americans said the real cupholders were too small...

 

they always come back... hehe

welcome home

 

thirdrail: You may be right; thanks. It doesn't have a huge cup holder; just the sufficient-everywhere-except-the-Big-Gulp-drinking-USA cup holder down below that. Now you've got me wondering how a sturdy enough big cup holder was ever attached to that little thing.

cccplus: It's been 38 years since our last Mini. This one feels large in comparison. The '64 MCS had 75 hp with the monster 1275 cc motor, weak brakes (don't slow down; just change direction), and 10" diameter wheels (4 track wheels/tires fit easily in the back seat).

First mpg test run results. My first back road drive in the '06 MC netted 35.1 mpg averaging 58 mph over a distance of 25 miles. I later duplicated the same drive at almost the same speed in the Cayman and got 28.1 mpg. The M3 would probably get about 28 mpg, and the OPEC-supporting Pilot about 20 mpg.

 

Oh.

Well...alrighty then.

 

thirdrail was right above; the thingie I asked about is what's left of a dealer-installed big cup holder. I found a retrofit kit at Moss Mini ($68), but the thick wire frame, bottom plate, and top rubber fixture are missing.