Hey everyone, I'm John from The Woodlands, TX and another new member to NAM, but OLD to Minis, my first car being a 1963 Austin Cooper which I bought in '65 from a BMC dealer mechanic. It was a great little car and the mechanic bought it back when I moved up to an MGB.
I am about ready to go for another and have been visiting for several months and learning so much. What a fantastic site. I just have to select the color and have "narrowed" my choices down to about five! They all look great and each time I see another that's got to be the one.
About the only option I still have open are the wheels 17" S Lites vs Webs. And that leads to a question. Can anyone tell me the weights of these two types? I haven't been able to find that information yet. If they are nearly the same, I'll choose the S Lites now and go for a lighter wheel when I need tires.
I'm nearly ready to Motor!
John

 

As I recall there is only about 3 lbs difference, the webs being lighter.

Welcome and tell us more about yourself and the Mini you are going to order :smile:

 

Hey, John! Welcome! Have you driven a MINI yet? How would you compare the two?

Here's a link to MINI2. Everything you ever wanted to know about wheels:

http://mini2.com/forum/faq.php?faq=f...heel_tire_tech

 

Thank you both, eVal and Johnny L, for your words of welcome and excellent advice on the wheels. Just what I needed. There is just enough difference to make the Web wheels tempting, but for my order I'll probably stay with the S-lites. They are great looking too and remind me of the F1 Cooper wheels I remember from the early US GPs at Watkins Glen. Showing my age again!

Now to your questions about me and my MINI.

I had my original MINI when they really were rare and I can remember tooling around with a constant grin and beeping at any girls walking nearby. It was a mossy green color with white roof, it burned a quart of high viscosity Castrol every 500 miles, had a loud, but pleasant exhaust note out of big dia tail pipe on center, and some great, illegal Lucas unsealed beam headlights. I added a nice air horn kit from "MG Mitten", an early mail order house for foreign car goodies.

The mechanic I bought it from had used it for winter ice racing in upstate NY and sold it to me when he ordered one of the first 1100 cc Mini Coopers. He never got that one to go as fast as mine and was happy to buy mine back when I moved up to the MGB two years later.

I drove my MINI around Ann Arbor MI during my last year in college, and between there and home in Rochester NY and all over NY, Ohio and Ontario and it was so much fun on the beautiful macadam back roads, even on the packed snow in winter. When I graduated, we travelled to my first job in NYC, a tough place to find an apt and parking place. Marriage, family, overseas assignments, etc., meant "more practical" transportion, until now.

I have not driven a new Mini Cooper yet, although I am in a hot spot for Mini's, with a great year-old dealership within 15 minutes of home and a Motoring Advisor about two blocks away. I have this thing about wanting to sign papers as soon as I test drive something nice, so I am waiting until I am truly ready to order before I try one. From visiting NAM, and just looking at the darn things, I know that I won't be disappointed!

For old times, I would love a BRG/W MCS but we already have two in the neighborhood and another at work, and I want to be original. No matter what I like on a given day, I keep coming back to CR/W or HB/W. I prefer a rich color, but I am really intrigued by JB/B, as well as JB/W, DS/B and even PH/B. I have names based on the color ready for each!

Aside from the final color, I plan to order the sports package including silver S-lites with performance tires, probably roof-matching stripes, black leatherette upholstery, matching body color dash if available, sunroof, chrono pack, and black carpet mats. Down the road, there will be lighter wheels and possibly a pulley, CAI, etc., although I try to be fast and smooth without being aggressive, so the stock performance may be enough. Need to see how it takes to TX summers, too.

Enough about me and my future MINI. I'll continue to learn by visiting the website, welcome some other newcomers, and I'll pipe up again when I have more questions and when I place my order. Thanks again for your help and, by the way, from what I can see, I really like your Mini's.

 

How cool! I love hearing about your old classic Mini. Once upon a time my significant other imported an old right hand drive Cooper (BRG white as well and absolutely loved driving that around - I think he regrets selling it to this day. We were tempted many times to get one but in the end we had to be practical and have been very happy with the new version.

I won't give you any unwanted advice about what to get on your car, but, if you can, try to see and sit in as many configurations as you can just so you can experience the variety before committing. There are just so many choices to make, but you can't really go wrong.

Cheers :smile:

 

Hi again, everyone. Doesn't seem like nearly two months since I first posted, but after that much more time procrastinating and going through all my color choices again, I stopped by my local Mini dealer on Thursday evening hoping to see a couple of cars listed on their website inventory. As expected, already gone... but the MA and I went through the list of the 2005s still in their pipeline and found one almost exactly to my specs and it was just starting production. So, after carefully thinking it over all day Friday, I came back yesterday (Saturday) for my very first modern Mini driving experience (what a gorgeous demo!) and then immediately placed my order.
I missed out on the fun of ordering mine exactly to order, but missed out on only one minor option and gained a couple I wouldnt have splurged on. On the plus side, I miss the uncertainty of not knowing exactly when mine will start production and now have a pretty good idea of when he will arrive. So I still have the fun of visiting the lounge and anxiety of waiting for delivery!
Looks like my MINI will be a he. "ANGUS" will be an all Jet Black 2005 MCS, manual, Sports and Premium packages, S-lites, grey leatherette, silver dash, etc. due here late September. Stripes, checkered moonroof cover both being considered. Yellow Lab navigation system eagerly awaiting installation!
Now I have to update my logon and create a signature!
Once again thanks to eVal, Johnny L and C4 for their specific advice and to everyone whose posts I have been reading for the past year to help me make the right decision.
john

 

Hi again, everyone. Doesn't seem like nearly two months since I first posted, but after that much more time procrastinating and going through all my color choices again, I stopped by my local Mini dealer on Thursday evening to see a couple of cars listed on their website inventory. As expected, already gone... but the MA and I went through the list of the 2005s still in their pipeline and found one almost exactly to my specs and it was just starting production. So, after carefully thinking it over all day Friday, I came back yesterday (Saturday) for my very first modern Mini driving experience (what a gorgeous demo!) and then immediately placed my order.
I missed out on the fun of ordering mine exactly to order, but missed out on only one minor option and gained a couple I wouldnt have splurged on. On the plus side, I miss the uncertainty of not knowing exactly when mine will start production and now have a pretty good idea of when he will arrive. So I still have the fun of visiting the lounge and anxiety of waiting for delivery!
Looks like my MINI will be a he. "ANGUS" will be an all Jet Black 2005 MCS, manual, Sports and Premium packages, S-lites, grey leatherette, silver dash, etc. due here late September. Stripes, checkered moonroof cover both being considered. Yellow Lab navigation system eagerly awaiting installation!
Now I have to update my logon and create a signature!
Once again thanks to eVal, Johnny L and C4 for their specific advice and to everyone whose posts I have been reading for the past year to help me make the right decision.
john