I did take the top part of the bra off for now, until I have time to play with the frickin' straps.

The other two bras I have didn't do this, so I figured this one wouldn't either.

And I wasn't keen on the $995 price quoted for a clear bra.

Oh, yeah, and with 600+ miles on him, Buddha has had two baths already, and his wheels are FILTHY again. I do mostly highway driving, so those of you in urban and suburban areas must really hate life with light coloured wheels...

 

Drew, Bliss is gorgeous! I'm so happy to see him. When I went to do my paperwork over the weekend, I saw some beautiful Space Blue MINIs and started to doubt my color choice. The colors look so different online! But Bliss has me feeling _so_ excited all over again! Yay!

 

Funny enough, I e-mailed my MA yesterday with a laundry list of questions. One of them, I kid you not, was...

 

Krikey. That's an expensive bra. I just spoke with my MA about the cost (and Mike from Aestheicreations.com) about this. Cost here is $695. Mike said he wished he would have and, here in AZ, it helps protect the paint from the sun. I get that part but it's a "bra" not a "suit".

He says if...WHEN...I want to change the bonnet stripes, he can place the new stripe over the clear bra (Invisishield is the brand here).

Hmmmm...hmmm...what to do...what to do...

 

Sorry I have been MIA so long... I've been driving Pi Rho! He has about 450 miles on him now! We had our first MINI event the day after I picked him up. People were all quite impressed I took him out up to NH on the first real day of ownership. Someone even said he still had the new "glow".

I've been trying to keep within recommendations for break in. I had a "incident" at the MINI event... we were on a steep incline on a grassy lawn no less and I accidentally revved him around 6000rpms!

I hope this won't mess his break in period too much... I am still concerned though... is it okay to have a few, random occasional accidental revs that high and not damage the engine/transmission during break in??

 

It better be! I'm that kind of driver who will think "okay, this tank I'm going to take it real easy and see how far I can push my miles per gallon..." and then not ten miles later go diving into a couple of nice twisties or hitting an onramp in a distinctly non-fuel-efficient manner.

 

Well, I decided to try and thing aboot something other than SHIP TRACKING - ...and visited the MINI2 site.

This is a great side-by-side comparison of the '07 prototype aka R56 Ring MINI - don't quote me on that "secret" name.

Check it out...

http://www.mini2.com/article386-1st-...otographs.html

 

Ugh. Spoke with my MA today and Mary just finally made it to the warehouse YESTERDAY! Sucky, sucky. I now have a dealership ETA of August 8th. On the upside, Mosquito has an appt. at my dealership's service dept on the 9th, so maybe I'll bring my camera and take some spy shots!

 

I don't know if it's the tape obscuring the headlights and other details mucking up the looks, but I just don't find the '07 prototype very appealing at all. Makes me glad I ordered an '06 while I could. Plus, the bonnet scoop on the '07 is NON FUNCTIONAL - a pet peeve of mine.

 

It's hard to tell on the tail lights. Can't imagine they'd futz with those. That's one of MINIs most identifying/unique design features.

So the scoop is non-functional??? What's that all about? Just a "pretty"? Where is the air intake then?

 

I certainly could be wrong about it, but since the '07 is turbo, not supercharged, I think there's no intercooler to need the direct airflow.

 

Turbos can have an intercooler, and they certainly do help to extend the life of the turbo, since most people will not let the car idle for 30 seconds before turning the engine off to let the oil drain from the turbo.

 

And the '07s would be Production Week (not 27)????

 

I guess I should have posted "off topic"...but that was the point!

 

So I am up past 250 miles already and loving it so much. I removed the cup holder today (in 100 degree heat even it was a task) and drove to Chapel Hill to pick up a bra for my MINI. Planning a nice wash on Thursday, installing the bra afterward, and then leaving for FL Friday morning around 5am.

Oh, and just so you guys know... every MINI gets driven through the entire powerband in the final inspection stage at the dealership. This must be done to check for vibrations, engine noises, and so on. If you get up around 5-6k every once in a while, you aren't going to hurt your engine. This advice came from a very good source, a certified MINI tech. :-)

Drew

 

Yep, I know that one well. Got myself a respectable sunburn because I couldn't wait until evening to install some of the mods I was putting in. The sunroof only blocks so much I guess.

Also got my first door ding but luckily it was just a little paint transfer and not an actual dent. It took some work, but I was able to get the paint off. <whew>

Got a few more waves from other MINI drivers today. One I almost missed because I was so focused on listening to my motor (I've had it since Saturday and still haven't even bothered to turn the radio on! ).

Happy Motoring!

James

 

Since I started driving Buddha, I haven't seen a single MINI. Where are y'all hiding?

 

I have seen a buch of MINIs, but only a couple would've been able to wave, and yet, I still have not received a wave... I'm starting to feel like a dork waving at every MIN I see, but I will keep it up. Maybe I will catch one and they will learn to wave too!

Oh, and JDM, I hear ya on not turning the radio on. I have listened to mine a little, just to test it out and set it up, but usually it's off and the supercharger is playing a beautiful song for me.

Drew

 

Congrats to Drew on your pickup!!! And congrats to Doogs on his MINI hitting the dealership!!!

As for the hood scoop on the new MINI design, it isn't functional because the location of the intercooler has changed. I too thought it was because there was no intercooler, but got taken to task for that thinking over on another board

I also wanted to give everyone here a warning, especially those of us who already have our cars - pay attention to the area on your hood and boot around your washer jets!! (Unfortunately creseida already has experience with this problem as well) As you may or may not know, there is a problem with the rust-proofing compound they coat the cars with for the Atlantic trip. Traces of it hang around in and around the washer jets and mix with the stock wiper fluid. When these two mix, they are extremely caustic to the clear coat!! When I picked up Nitro, I made sure to check out the washer jets for any Cosmoline (that's the rust proofing stuff), and didn't see any. Yet over the past few days I've found some hanging around, and even though I had only used the washer jets once on the day I picked it up, fluid was weeping out and mixing with the stuff. I managed to catch it before it did any real damage to my paint, but I was still disappointed that it even happened. So the other day I had my wife sit in the car and squirt all of the fluid out while I held a hose to the car, and then filled the the washer reservoirs with straight water. Please please please, everyone watch for this!! I would hate for someone's new MINI to have a problem from the get-go.

 

Thanks for mentioning that Turcicus, I totally forgot about it. I haven't used my washers yet, so I will be sure to clean up around the washers really well before I wash the car, maybe that will help it some.

I got my first wave this morning on the way to work!!!!! And to top that it was from the car that made me fall in love with MINIs all over again. It's an 05/06 Hyper Blue/White MCS JCW and there is a young lady that drives it, probably in her late 20s-early 30s. We were blasting around the same turn and waved at each other... it was a beautiful thing to see I'm sure.

Drew

 

Whew...I feel better now.

Although AISLive (free) is as much as an hour behind it shows the AB currently IN the Gatun Lock.

I'll be glued to the Panamacanalcam for a bit to see if I can catch her.

We're back on track. Yipppeeee!!!

 

Great news, Red Scooter!!!!

Gatun is the Pacific side?

 

No, Atlantic side. She now has to cross Lake Gatun. Then two more locks - Pedro Miguel and Miraflores - before she enters the Pacific. The Miraflores lock has a cam, too.

I believe it takes almost a day to make that trek.

EDIT: Just checked - average is 8-10 hours.

 

At least the non-functional hood scoop will provide a good place to install this mod:
http://www.knightlight.co.uk/pr-ks4048.asp

[I want one!]

Thanks for the reminder on the washer fluid issue!

 

520 miles on Basil, no problems so far. I'll be checking for the washer fluid problem when I leave work because I did use the washers this morning for the first time. I installed the AUX adapter on Saturday, very easy install and I routed it to come out of the little vent holes between the down tubes. I'm using a Belkin iPod power adapter from my last car which works great, pauses the iPod when you shut off the car so the iPod goes to sleep. I think next up for me is the Euro shelf, because there just isn't enough storage space for my gadgets in this car