Bolus, Congrats. I'll be looking for pics on Sunday.

 

Yay!!

 

sweet! don't forget the pics.

 

Good news!!

 

I hate the internet on April 1
http://motoringfile.com/2006/04/01/v...mini-from-bmw/

Picking up the mini in 2 hours Slept like 4 hours last night. I was dreaming that I had to assemble my own tires before they would let me drive it home :/

I just hope they dont play any April Fool jokes on me

 

It''s finally here!!

HOLY COW!! Why didn't anyone tell me it was possible to accelerate while in fifth gear? In the Geo, I had to be going down hill for that to happen

No April fools jokes at the dealer but they had one in mind. Someone had just picked up a Mini who had it custom painted hot pink. If she had not picked it up they were going to pretend it was mine. I'm glad that didn't happen since I'd probably be heading for mexico about now.

Here are some shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4083565...7594096093465/

The wait was terrible but it all seems well worth it now. I'm heading back out WOOOHOOO!!

 

Congrats Bolus and what an awesome ride. The color is fantastic and the silver mirrors really work with the blue. I'll bet you can't wait to put on the 1250 break in miles. I know it's killing me. I'm at 800 so far so only 450 to go. I should be there by next weekend.

I know the wait s*%ked, but wasn't it worth it? I know mine was.

Phil

 

Congrats and we're all glad your long wait is over.

I completed break in on the road trip to Sebring for the Phil Wicks School/Race. REady to roll. ;D

 

I got to 62 already but it started raining like crazy so I decided to call it a day. I could not be happier with the car. My face is starting to hurt I've been smiling so much
Things I've noticed so far:

1. The "fly by wire" accelerator is quite interesting. It seems to have 2 settings. Granny speed and bat out of hell speed. That's going to take some getting use to
2. Rain sensing windshield wipers are the best technology ever invented. They speed up and slow down based on how hard it is raining. That is just so flippin cool!
3. Since when do radios know what song is playing on a station? Oh, the Harmon Kardons sound very very good

So what is the deal with the survey anyway? The MA made it sound like someone would kill his family if I did not give him all 5's. "I *fail* if you put anything other than a 5. repeat, I FAIL"

 

Yay! Went out driving the columbia river gorge today. Found some twisty roads to cruise around on. Such a fun little car. What have you guys been up to? Go anywhere fun yet?

 

My car arrived just a few days ago, on thurs. I went 140 miles in the first two days, test driving and all that. I don't even register the car yet (intransit plates).

I've taken plenty of fast turns, and I might go up into the hills here the Bay Area (Hwy 9 AKA skyline) once I get registered. I noticed today a small misaligning of the right side front fender trim that wasn't there at delivery. Hopefully the dealer can help me out with that when I go to pick up some mats tomorrow.

I've already encountered a few MINI's, passed a space blue/silver, a Pepper White MCS parked next to me once, and I saw a Hyper Blue that I cut through traffic with. Too many MINI's in the bay i guess, mostly nods cuz too much waving.

 

Unfortunatley for me, just commuting and a few short, tame drives with the family. We're heading out to Palm Springs for Easter weekend and there is a short bit of twisty road just before the 60 joins back up with highway 10. Might be fun if there isn't too much traffic.

I'm also going camping in the Anza Borrego Desert at the end of April. Highway 79 and Route S2 are quite interesting but the last 10 to 15 miles of the trip are off road and inaccessible to a Mini so I'll be taking the tank (Yukon XL 4X4) instead (on the plus side, the Yukon holds a whole lot more beer).

I've got some comp time due to me at work, so I would like to follow Dashiel's lead and take a trip accross Ortega Highway (74) in May.

Phil

 

Bolus,

I've read all your posts, stayed with ya the whole way through and now you've GOT IT! Wait was well worth it. Congrats.

I can assure you that even after 901 miles, I'm still grinning from ear to ear too. Your spec'ed MINI looks just like Hong's over in week 5 support group. I've got a great old friend that lives in Bend, OR - love the roads up there. Have fun in the twisty's.

 

Hey, I wish my Mini had Bolus's JCW stuff and IPod adaptor, on the other hand I have a roof rack .

How is the weather in Portland? we got so much rain this year and the coming weeks that I seriously consider leaving the rainy California . The only good thing is that the rain keeps my web spokes clean and I have an excuse to escape weekly carwash.

The throttle hesitation is a little annoying, may be it's because of my auto, although it didn't happen very often, there were couple of 'oops' moments when I tried to cut off into another lane and it refused to speed up for a second, then all of sudden it screamed and downshifted, quite embarassing and scary. The engine seems having a weak point around 3~3.5k rpm, may be it needs a CAI or %15.

 

RDS is cool, though in my area I find about half of the stations I listen to provide full track info. http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/rds.html
My dealer fed the Mini with floor mats and me with a tasty cake, they try to make me feel guilty if I dare not to give them all 5's.

 

It's been raining on and off but that's okay since I giggle like a school girl every time the automatic windshiled wipers start going.

The throttle is less of a hesitation for me and more of a short range I think. It starts out fine accelerating like any other car and then a millimeter more depression and the car jumps to life and surges forward. This is not a bad thing mind you, just a little hard to get used to. The JCW supercharger can plant me in the seat pretty much at any speed and any gear. soooo coool.
This actually reminds me of a '65 mustang I had a long time ago. when accelerating sometimes the accelerator would drop to the floor by itself and the car would leap forward with the V8 engine wailing. I thought it was possessed for a long time. I found out later that the engine mounts were broken and the engine was literally turning with the torque and pulling on the accellerator cable. I had to put my foot under the accelerator and pull it back up to get it to stop. Yeah, that was loads of fun in traffic

 

Thanks!! So worth the wait. I'm going to head up to Bend and over to mount hood this weekend

 

Superior Mini brakes and handling saved my butt today. traffic stopped suddenly on the freeway which no one was suspecting since the other lanes were wide open. I braked and moved to the shoulder since I was more worried about the people behind. The car behind locked brakes and slid forward to where I was and then was hit from behind and slid even further. If I did not move to the side I would have been hit and if I did not brake hard enough I would have hit the SUV in front. I think the second car was in turn hit from behind as well.

Gah! that scrared the crap out of me but holy cow did the mini perform beautifully. Nice test of the JCW antilocks for 55 to 0 while turning abruptly.

Now I shall go home and lock the car in the garage never to drive again

 

Glad to hear your OK. Thank goodness for manuverability and good anti-lock brakes. It sounds like you were practicing some good defensive driving by being aware of what/who was behind you. Just go clean out your shorts and get back on the horse as they say. Use the experience to reinforce the good driving habits (ie. Don't tailgate, be aware of who's around you, have a plan to avoid an accident) it appears you already have. Don't let a good Mini go to waste, especially not after that wait.

Phil

 

Thanks,

when I was slamming on the brakes I had enough time to think "damn these are some good brakes" before flinging the car to the shoulder to avoid getting hit from behind. I wish I knew Michael Cooper's email. I would send him a word of thanks

 

Try this JCW Contact Info. If you lavish enough praise, who knows...

 

Thanks! email sent

 

Spent the afternoon cruising some twisty roads on the old Columbia River highway today. Great fun! At one point I got behind a VW GTi who was pushing the corners a little. Kept up with him for about 5 miles and he waved when he turned off. Even in the rain the Mini can sure hang on in those corners. I'd love to rent out that road for the day to run it a little faster.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=45.538861...9,0.004415&t=h




Very fun drive since it ends at Multnomah falls.



I took this week off to do some more driving and hopefully get through break in. I hope everyone has been having fun!

 

Your Emma looks like my pam.... except I have the stripes, British flag caps on the mirrors, and JCW. Nice color.

 

Cube just broke 1250 miles right before the St. Louis MINI Club Spring Rallye. It was a fun drive through some twisties. 35 MINIs showed up.

A few pics:
http://www.cube17576.com/mini/DSCN9520.JPG
http://www.cube17576.com/mini/DSCN9534.JPG