And so the soggy NE conditions continue. I got to try out the automatic windshield wiper setting. It is pretty good. I especially liked that it slowed the wipers down a lot when I came I came to a stoplight. They did go a bit schizophrenic when a heavy mist hit the windscreen. Not sure what happened there as they were fine afterwards with similar mist...

Albert now has a bit over 200 miles on him and I am feeling more comfortable with those Hankook AS RFTs. They have surprisingly more grip in the wet than I expected, given the really bad reviews I read about them on TR. Not sure how hard I have to push the car before I get into them slipping, but I have gone far enough that I am past the complaint department. It may be that early on I was feeling the tire’s mold release compound and that was why they felt untrustworthy. Now, with that worn off, they are better.

And as for the ride of Albert versus Smokey, my modded 2012 S, I forgot that Smokey is on 16” wheels vs the 17s on Albert. I would think that with the same wheels and RFTs on Smokey, he would be a lot worse... It also confirms my thought that MINI has done well at improving the ride of the Gen III MINIs over the previous generations, without a loss of handling.

Yesterday was supposed to be a trip to a local track that is a little over an hour away to check it out. Albert is still in the break-in period, so this would have been a fun ride through the countryside to a fun destination and it would have been a fun way to put some miles on him. But sometimes life gets in the way of play life. So another day for that. But, to make up for that, today Albert went to the local SCCA autocross event to see what he thought of that.... Hmmmm, he liked the idea of doing that. Maybe next month at their next event. What fun would that be... A pure stock car, right down to the the AS RFTs, on an autocross course.....

 

And, so, why can’t we get these great looking seats for our JCWs....
https://s3.paultan.org/image/2014/12...ini-jcw-20.jpg




Or can we? I bought Albert off the show room floor, so it had what it had. Also, it seems that MINI no longer does a mix an match build menu and the choices of options for the base version of the JCW are limited.

I am actually quite pleased with the seats in Albert. For road use, they are snug and supportive; much different from the seats that came in my 2007 S. Oh, those were back killers and had no support. The sports seats in that car were a big downgrade from the sports seats that we opted for in Blue. When I ordered Smokey, I opted for the seat upgrade that has the adjustable lumbar support. Turns out those seats also have stiffer side bolstering than the base S sports seats. Overall, a much better seat. Now, it seems, MINI has come full circle and is once again putting very supportive seats, like those in our 2004, into their cars. The addition of the adjustable length of the bottom cushion is perfect for me and my slightly longer legs than the average. The seat cover material is “sticky” and there is no sliding on those.

 

Those are the optional Dinamica/Leather JCW seats.It's part of the $2000 Signature Upholstery Package.

 

I have the cloth JCW seats in my '19 JCW and had the same seats in my '15S. Living in CA, hot summers and a few cool days in the Sierras, the cloth seats are great and the back support is awesome. The other seats look cool, but for me, the cloth is best.

 

I initially thought this is projected from under the open door. But evidently Mini has progress and is projected from under the side mirrors? Very cool.

 

I have that light in my '19. It comes from a light in the door handle.
Some people do not like that the new MINIs have become a high end product, but I am not one of them.

 

thanks for the info

 

I stand corrected. It comes from a light under the mirror. Sorry about that.

 

If you look closely at my picture, you can see a lighted area up on the side of the door, above the reflection of the “MINI” logo. that is the underside of the door handle being lit up. The “MINI” logo projection comes from there.

I took my youngest daughter for a spin (picked her up to take her out for her birthday) and I told her about that “MINI” logo light. She thought it was so neat.

Overall, her opinion of the car was that it was very nice and had a high end feel to it. But taken in context with other cars out there, everyone has upped their game. But, I think that MINI has always had a high end feel to it compared to its competitors. This is what sold us on the 2004 MINI; it was much nicer than the other cars we looked at. Now, with the Gen III, they have continue with that feel and have improved upon it. So in comparison to the Gen I MINIs, yes it is not as rough; it has had 15 years of improvement. I have always felt that this “feel” to the MINIs is part of its uniqueness. The lighting just adds to it.

 

I wondered if that was the case. At first I wondered if those seats were like the Euro JCW Recaro seats that were available to the R56....

But 2 Grand? Oppps, I forgot, those Recaro were 3 Grand... And I had a pair of them in my 2007 S.

While they are very sharp looking, I’ll stick with the wonderful seats I have.

 

This picture shows the MINI logo and the lighted door handle a bit better:


And, no, that isn’t the flash reflection.

 

I have gotten a few comments about how elegant the car is. I guess I have never thought of “elegant” as an adjective for MINIs. But I have to agree. The black on black with a hint of red is quite elegant.

My daughter noticed something about Albert that I too had started to notice. The aerodynamics of the F56 JCW are quite different from the previous 2 generations. What she noticed was that there was little buffeting with the windows open at 60 mph. When I picked her up, that was the first time that I had a chance to have the windows down; its been too cold otherwise... As she said that, I was thinking how nice this will be out on the track. The thing I had previously noticed was that the back window stayed clean on wet roads. The Gen I is really bad about this; the Gen II with the S’s rear spoiler is much better. But Albert clearly raises the bar on that one. Somewhere I read that the drag Cf for the S as 0.32. Not great. So I don’t know how these differences I am noticing play into the performance of the car, but I do know I like those differences...

 

Not that it matters, but after checking again, my '19 JCW has a small light on the underside of the mirror. If I cover the light with my hand, the reflection disappears. The light in the handle simply lights up the handle. Maybe mine is different because of the carbon mirrors?

 

I don't have one to confirm as my R53 has no manner let alone courtesy . However I suspect the projection is from the underside of the mirror given it extends the farthest from the body making it the more suitable location. The light under the handle mostly is a courtesy feature so you can find the handle in the dark.

 

Must be that JCW spoiler because my S gets filthy quickly on the back with our Portland rains. Upgrade might be needed.

 

Now I am curious if I missed how mine does the projection. This one of the fun things about owning a MINI.

 

dpcompt - you are absolutely right! It is projected from the underside of the mirror. There is a lens there that I couldn’t see until I put my head under the mirror and looked up. On the passenger side the ground is lit by the light in the door handle; that I did confirm. On the driver side that door handle light does shine down to the ground, but you don’t really see it because of how bright the MINI logo light is. Oh, those tricky MINI people.

 

I love spring, but not the Maple tree “flowers” that drop off by the handfuls. A little breeze and they drift to any unsuspecting car and get into every nook and cranny.



MINI must be listening to us as they put a screen over the drain. Much better than the pencil size drain they put on the R56, that plugs up with anything larger than a grain of pollen.So, Albert got a bath today. Those maple tree flowers were carefully removed with my favorite shop vac... the 20v Dewalt wet and dry vac. That was also put to use removing debris from the not quite new anymore floor mats. You would think it would take a bit more than a few days to crap out the inside of a brand new car... Well, Albert reminded me the folly of buying such an elegant looking black car.... I should have known better having owned a beautiful Astro Black 2007 S.... Dirt shows up as do WATER SPOTS... Ugh! I bought the ArmorAll paint protector and surprisingly the spots were mostly taken off by the micro-fiber drying cloth. Also, you can’t wash this car in the sun... there is a reason the solar water heaters are painted black... It gets hot! Even more surprising was that the brake dust came off with soap and water. So Albert is looking sharp again:



Now, can anyone figure out what the yellow mark is on the front bumper?
I’ll give you a hint - it has something to do with cleaning the crap off the floor mats...yup, that is one shiny bumper...

 

Awww...

;-)

Charlie

 

Yep its heavy pollen time. I have a green coating all over my MINIs.

 

We are having a week of elevated temperature and blustery here on top of the pollen season. My Pepper White Mini turned from color of vanilla ice cream into green tea ice cream in just one afternoon.

 

A heavy duty shop vac of sort. Might be a deWalt.

looks like this one

 

And we have a winnah!

It did surprise me when when I saw that reflection.

 

Albert had a light yellow-green patina to its shiny metallic black paint this morning. I tried hard to remove it with a quick spin, but that didn’t work too well. Maybe I’ll have to try again tomorrow.

 

Yes, it blows off then collects all on my rear bumper and glass. Air hose with a compressor works well. Also wax ahead of time and put a sealant on helps roll off the pollen.