I took delivery of my black MCS today It has been a rough day of me learning to drive stick again (i knew how, but have always had automatics, so didn't have much practice) in hilly San Francisco Just figured I'd share a few pics. I am still waiting on black S-style bonnet stripes (with the white pinstripes), as the dealer said they were backordered. The whole set can be found here:

http://www.hello-napalm.com/mini/mymini.html

 

Looks great with the Black Exterior and Anthracite Interior!

How do you like the Nav?

 

Nice ride......................................:thumbsu p:

 

Nice car...very stealth! Good for you for driving a manual again...it is especially tough w/ all those hills, but then again it makes you a pro real quick!

 

Your MSC is a beauty.

Which Bay Area dealer do you get the car from?

Also, are you planning on joining one of the MINI clubs in the area?

 

I'm lovin' your bodacious JB/JB MCS! I have the same exterior and seat options but with silver dash, and I didn't order the nav or HK. My car is also pre-LSD. I have bonnet stripes. Otherwise, yours is the closest I've seen to mine in a while (and no two are 'really' alike).

Great looking car! It will look great with tinted windows!

 

Congrats just picked mine up too on Sat.. JB with Panther Black Leather and antharite headliner and interior

 

Came home gave him a bath




Then did a Zaino treatment on him He is happy.

 

Good job! Looks great!

 

Capn Panic: You've got more guts than I. I had to have an MCSa. I could not imagine negotiating Taylor Street again with a clutch (same goes for Gough between Green and Washington). Never mind the streets of Russian Hill. Even though I grew up in SF I find it daunting to negotiate the hills even with an automatic. When I was just learning to drive someone spilled oil at the top of Mason between Sacramento and Clay. The city was a gentler place then and drivers were actually laughing about having to stop halfway. Nowadays people are too much in a rush to tolerate such inconvenience. Congratulations on getting your beautiful MINI.

 

Capn Panic & morknmini:
Before I moved to San Francisco a few years ago, I had little experience driving on hills with a manual shift, and it was intimidating. At first, I felt as though it was necessary to have finely tuned skills and reflexes. However, once I understood how to utilize the emergency brake, I found hills to be no problem, and I feel confident anywhere in San Francisco. You need to learn a technique also to parallel park into a tight spot on a steep hill, without bumping into the parked cars in front or behind.

I knew I had mastered the hills when one day I was caught in gridlocked traffic going up California St. from the Embarcadero to *** Hill. It was about 5 steep uphill blocks where the traffic inched along and I had to stop every 10 feet, yet I never rolled backwards even a little bit. When I reached the top, I thought it had been sort of fun.

The basic technique is that when you are going uphill and come to a stop, use the emergency brake to hold the car. Then you can shift into first and when you go again, slowly drive foward, and when you feel the car try to tug forward (but the emergency brake holds it back), slowly release the emergency brake. You should be able to stop and start the car on a hill with NO rolling backwards at all. On a hill, most drivers will continue to drive as though on level ground, and simply try to minimize rolling back by quickly going from the brake pedal to engaging first gear. If you have the skill and quickness to do this confidently on a steep incline, then go for it, but when there is little margin for error I suggest using the emergency brake as an additional tool.

 

Hey, thanks everyone! Sorry for the delay, I've been out of town and away from a computer for a few days.

creeker: I bought from Mini of Concord, just because a friend bought there and had a positive experience and recommended it.

r13ater: good color choice there, the car looks great! :D

morknmini: fortunately I live in the outer Richmond and work in the Presidio, so I don't have to navigate the super steep areas very often

next on my list: black S-style stripes (on order), tinted windows, some carbon fiber john cooper works bits and maybe a short shift kit

 

Congrats! See you 'round SF

 

liking the all black look fellas, got myself a all black mcs 2 weeks ago, only had arches coded so far, Respect for keeping it simple. I'll post some pictures or mine soon.

 

Maybe we need an all-Jet Black club!




Here's Wanda being rousted by the Secret Service in Washington D.C., during a fun day-visit there with Donna/Mike back on my first roadtrip in 03.

They were perplexed by the Cali temp reg (front right bottom windshield), rather than most other states, which issue a temp paper plate in either the back window or plate frame. We came back a few blocks after visiting the Smithsonian to see the roust underway. Donna tried to sell the agents on getting their own MINIs!

Wanda now has chrome bonnet stripes, PIAA rally lights, window tint, and a silvertone metallic sunroof flag.


Clover

 

Nice MINI, I'm jealous. Oh well, I'll get mine in time, but for now I have a question. Are those the Grey Letherette seats that are on the Build your Own on the miniusa site? If so what are they? That is the best picture of them I've ever seen and it almost looks like it is black leatherette with grey cloth in the center. Is that right? I've been thinking about getting them for my MINI, but I have yet to see or hear a good description of what exactly they are. How do you like them?

Any help would be great.

 

Holy cow you washed it so much it looks like you made silver wheels look white!

Paul

 

Very nice MINIs - both of you - Congrats!!!

Donna
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven - burned up)
05' Cool Blue MCSC "Ariel"
05' HB/W MCS "Gizmo"

 

I just LOVE the pics....