I never thought the time would come where my MINI needed to go. Blame having one in some way since 2003, blame being automotively [sic] ADHD, blame owning so many other cars that I would eventually find one that could overwhelm the fantastic ownership experience of a MINI.

There's no discounting how amazing the MINI community is. I can't imagine pushing through the fog of life without staying in touch with so many of the community friends I've met through the years. That said, after turning 30 last fall, I can feel that my priorities are changing. I no longer have the overwhelming drive to constantly tweak, dismantle, rebuild, and improve every portion of our little car. With the '02 MCS "#848" I just put up for sale, I had finally figured it out; how to properly setup a suspension, quality engine tuning that provides the right feel and interaction while staying highly reliable for extended track work. No MINI up to this point, my custom de-supercharged and turbo'd R53 included, could match the pace and predictability of #848. Last year I drove the car at 7 HPDE's, some of them with the Lotus club [a very hardcore and fast group]. It was satisfying to be in the underdog MINI and still out pace all but the best prepared and driven cars there. Satisfying to the point that I feel the car is at a zenith. As all the usual car-junkie projects go, once you're done with them, you sell them. I can't explain why this is true, perhaps it's the pride of success and completion and there's nowhere else to go but somewhere else.

I'll never forget the first "Can't wait for April club" and the first MINI's on the Dragon I helped organize, the infamous Yo-Yo chronicles, co-founding Detroit Tuned, then hiding in my garage for 6 months while I had Mr.Motor2 torn apart only to emerge with a single-turbo monster that finally put down 318wHP in its last tuning session shortly before being involved in a horrific crash in the smokey mountains. I'll always feel that if the MINI wasn't a safe car I wouldn't be alive; then again the police and winch operator agreed that I was one of the few they'd seen to survive such crashes. The couple R56's I had were a direction I wasn't ready for, so I found #848 and picked up where I left off and built the MINI-machine I always wanted. ...and now, it's time to say goodbye to it. How do I go about saying goodbye to the car, hoping it ends up a fellow gear-heads' garage in loving hands, and still cherish the wonderful MINI community? I'm not exactly sure, hopefully you all can help. I'm sure you can.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Awww, sad! So what was the car that made you give up Mini-dom?

 

sad =( beautiful EB!

 

I'm trying to talk Molly into it right now!

 

Sorry to see you go!
I always enjoyed reading your technical 'essays' going back to MiniCooperOnline days.
All the best with your new car. (What is it?)

 

Hey Paul, sounds fun! Let me know what Molly says

--->ofioliti; thanks for the compliments. I always wanted to compile my best advice onto my website, but alas haven't committed to it yet. To put it simply, the setup I have on #848 is the advice I'd give to anyone wanting to extract maximum potential out of the MINI and still keep it drivable [and reasonably enjoyable for people with good backs] on the street.

To those that are interested; the MINI is being displaced [not replaced] by a '05 Lotus Elise with Sport Package and a Katana supercharger [1979 pounds and 220wHP!]



I've been surprised how much crossover there is between cars like the Elise, MINI, and Miata over the years. They're probably the three best performance values on the market. Having now owned all three, the Elise is definitely amazing, albeit much less practical than the MINI but higher handling limits than the Miata.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Congrats!

From what I understand, driving an Elise/Exige is like driving an eggshell!

 

I'm still working on her. I wish we already had that 4 car garage we've been talking about.

 

Ryan, I hate to see anyone go, especially the long timers such as you. Though I do not know you personally, I have read most everything you have posted and I do feel that you are not a total stranger. I hope the elise brings you as much joy as the MINI. Wish you all the best!

Dexter

 

Good luck with the Lotus, some of my fondest memories are of my 1962 LOTUS 7A, and while it was basically a racer I could put a windsheild and muffler on and drive it on the street to break in an engine. That was a lot of fun but was unfortunately an automatic cop draw. Never had another car on the street that handled that way, what I would give to have had back then todays tires. The MINI is the closest thing to that car.

 

Keep in touch, eh.

Mark

 

Funny but I came from an 05 Elise to a Mini.

Just too hard for me to get in and out of the Lotus w/o spraining something.

Good luck with the Lotus.

 

Good luck and enjoy your Elise Ryan! Thanks for your shared knowledge about everything MINI all these years.

 

Hehe, he's all I'm 30 now and my priorities have changed. I was expecting a Volvo, or a BMW 5 series so he could have some legroom. No way I was expecting him to go from the MINI to something smaller. Let's not kid ourselves, the MINI is small, actually short is the better term, but the Elise is 700 lbs lighter, has very little cargo space, and riding in it is like your ***** riding in an eyepatch. I know this because I knew a guy who got a stiff neck from having to lean forward in the seat so he could see the stoplights. It's an amazing piece of engineering, more a next step up from MR2 than Mini.

The best thing you can do when going from front wheel drive to mid-engine rear wheel drive is take it to the autocross. The most important advice I'll give you is to realize when you're on the throttle the rear tires have grip and when you're on the brakes the front tires have grip, so don't brake in the turns or it may come around on you, and when it does come around it happens in an instant, so much faster than you can react, or even know what happened. I've been driving MR2's on and off for 15 years, and in all that time I never once spun off the track. Mid-engine cars spin around fast, and they spin in place, I used to spin all the time at the autocross, never once hit a cone.

Good luck with the Elise, you're going to need it.

 

Ryan... dude... your tireless support of the community and the knowledge base will be missed. Thanks for all the energy you've put into this over the last several years. I know many of us have benefited.

Enjoy the Lotus... helluva car

 

Ryan -

As the owner of an 04 MCS, I have always found your input here to be both insightful and valuable.

P

 

--->BensMini: very awesome to hear your story of the Se7en you had! Those cars make the Elise look massive. If I ever get the itch to have something smaller than the Elise I have a Caterham Superlight R300 in the back of my mind.

--->SeanBlader: Thanks for the perspective. I've driven MR2's in the past and I know how scary they handle. The Lotus isn't my first rear drive, though it is my first mid-engine [well, behind the driver anyway]. For what it's worth, the Elise is remarkably neutral approaching and surpassing its limits of adhesion. Obviously as you know, the never-ending chant going through you head is "never lift!", but adapting to particular vehicular styles has always been pretty easy for me. I've had the Elise for long enough now that going through the corners with the perfect amount of drift is both premeditated and comfortable. It's not quite as telepathic as a Miata in terms of yaw, but honestly it's very close. It's no MR2, Viper, or S2000 in terms of snap oversteer.

Everyone else: Thank you so very much for the support and love. This is inspiring me to compile a quick best-of-the-best guide for MINI performance. I plan on hanging around here for quite a while longer, you can count on that

 

My experience with a Lotus (mine was a Europa S w/webers) is that they are wonderful driver's machines. But they require you to have lot of friends so that you will have someone to call to come get you.

But with a Lotus, you will find lots of friends and you will love the car. I drove mine across the country - LA to DC. That trip is still one of the high points of my life.

Good luck with your new toy.

 

Are you sure it's not the vw tdi that is making you move ? I would love to have one myself . Tuned with egr and dpf deletes. Ha. If you do a best of the best I would like a Alta psrs on the r56s post. The thing about the r53s I miss is the steering. I might move on next year to a golf tdi myself four door offcourse. My needs are changing too but I still have a few more mods to do. Good luck to yah and enjoy all your rides maybe I will see more of you on the tdiclub . Ps how's the mpgs

 

Nice choice Mr. Ryephile! is this a daily driver for you????

 

Ryan,
Just wanted to say "Thanks!" for being the first one to respond to my Mod Questions back in 03 when I was waiting for my MCS to arrive. (now at 196,000 miles!)
There were many times when our "gang" got together, the conversation turned to Mods and someoneone would say "Well, Ryephile says..........."

Enjoy the Lotus!
Jim

PS: Did you and Dad complete the Street Rod? Did I miss it?

 

That's one cool-looking Lotus!

At least you will be continuing your motoring enthusiasm, even if it's with a different vehicle.

 

Ryan,
I have only been a MINI owner for a short time, and had already gotten advice directly, and read many of your postings in assisting me with my mod trip. Thanks again, and that is a BEAUTIFUL car

 

Ryan sorry to see you are selling the MINI & that talk about turning 30 had me worried you were going to do something like buy a sensible car. Now that I see you fell for Elise I understand. Good luck with your new Lotus & stay in touch.

 

Very nice choice of car Ryan.
Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!