Amen to that! I don't get excited over stuff like exhausts but man they're friggen hot!
So Tim, here's my official hassle because I know at least 6 people (probably more) who would like to have one!
Here's what it looks like for those who haven't seen them...not to hijack the thread I just think it's one of the sexiest exhausts I've ever seen.

Ok back to the wing talk!

 

see http://hotimportnights.com/

ehem... http://hotimportnights.com/

http://hotimportnights.com/

oh- you mean like http://hotimportnights.com/

I'm not necc. a "fan" of HIN nor the tuner-scene, however I gotta respect the fact that HIN and it's sponsors- make a LOT OF MONEY... *and* is one of the largest car show circuits in the U.S. *and* has it's own magazine *and* pulls in big name artists to their shows (and models! **purrrr**) . um, where was i? oh yeah- *and* a boat load of big name sponsors *and* started out small and eventually was bought up by big-name company... and sticks to it's "roots". However immature or fanboi or in-your-face glitzy as it may be, HIN is most certainly a "brand" (and makes money!)

I think it's fair to say we as MINI enthusiasts put ourselves on a higher tier than the [finger-quote] tuner-scene[finger-quote] (that's fair, right?), but you can't blame a guy for pushing the envelope or forging ahead into different territory...

Personally I think Tim is so far ahead of us with the Fireball brand, we can't even see it. (Oh yeah- did y'all know Tim has his own TV show? Yo? (had to do it! had to!) )

thanks for the air-time Tim... fwiw...

 

HIN? There goes the neighborhood

Once the Mini become HOT at HIN...that just might make me mothball mine...:impatient

 

Erm... yeah. Thanks for making my point for me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to wipe away this bleeding from my eyes.

 

This thread is more exciting than most comedy shows I've seen in years! Passion would be an understatement to describe you guys! It's all I can do just to keep up!

It's true that we'll ALWAYS push the envelope, just like many other Mini Tuners. (And there are really good ones out there like Alta.) But we may not always do what everyone likes, which is totally impossible anyway. But I'm just gonna do what Hubie and I think is cool and if people buy it, great. If not, we move on to other things. It's about having a good time, which is what we all want regardless of the opinions.

I just appreciate being in a position to be able to create fun stuff.

 

SID I woudl think you of all people would get this stuff... you had a turbo CRX... HIN is all about the hard core modders... I mean sure there are alot of kids and little girlies walking around... but so what... it's still the biggest world touring car show...

 

Well my initial impression was lukewarm, but after seeing the pics of the entire thing I must say I like it. This coming from a 41yo mom (NOT a soccer mom, Lacrosse is our thing ). I doubt I would ever do a mod like this (still saving up for the pulley, track tires.....), but I would love to see it in person.
Kudos to everyone at Fireballed, whether you love everything they turn out or not, you can't deny it's coming from people who love the MINI.
Annette

 

I'm half kidding Chris ...You know how it goes..."BTDT"...I do understand HIN to a certain level...But it just seems more like a PT Barnum than Cirque du Soleil these days...the models are waaaaay tooo young (Are they out of 6th grade yet? Not that there's anything wrong with that )and "most" of the cars there are like wild turkeys in heat....just so way over the top with too much flash that I find it hard to take seriously (making the 2000hp piece of engineering under the hood almost an afterthought)...But that's just the opinion of one conservative old fart

 

I was just over at the Fireballed! website. While looking at the list of upcoming projects, I was psyched to see the "Mach 10", Speed Racer being my all time favorite, I can't wait to see it. My plan when I got my PW was to do it up like the Mach 5, but El Kabong had other plans.
I did see that you are missing the Shooting Star, Racer X's LY would be perfect!!
Oh, and another great movie vehicle is "The Anti-Christ" from "The Gods Must Be Crazy", that I'd love to see .
Looking forward to all of them,
Annette

 

Wow...you are awesome, Tim. That's one of the best responses i have read in a long time. Props for being true to yourself.

 

Have you looked at your MINI lately?

 

People are very hard on new products here . Personally any products for a MINI are welcomed because their just not alot out their. Coming from the BMW side of things, BMW's have 10 times more aftermarket parts thanks to the E30 M3 craze.
How about what i have a MINI cooper convertible, heck no one makes any proformance parts yet, other then whats used on the MCS' and that its interchangable.
How about some parts for the Cooper convertibles?
Even though the market is small, you can't beat the miles per gallon
Great products.

 

the tips on the exhaust look like the tips on a new porsche cayman and on. But with another flare welded on the other side, custom no doubt.I would say thats the only manf. that has something similar.

 

one question: Does it clear the antenna when the rear hatch is opened.? if yes, why is the antenna removed the pics?

 

The "antenna" was not there when the pic was taken. It was not removed from the pic.

Have you ever seen a MINI with nav?

 

What? I think it's pretty conservative...don't you?

 

I didn't really like this (clickable) pic because of the distractions but it, at least, gives you an idea of what the spoiler looks like in scale to the entire MINI. (and for the person who asked for a shot from a higher angle)

 

I asked Tuls if he had a shot from above so I can see how the lines of the wing match the backlite...it appears to mimic the glass but not quite...picky, picky...

 

It looks from the first pics that it more or less follows the contour via angled bends rather than a smooth curve:



If you look closely you can see the light's reflection in the underside of the wing... the upper edge of the light on a hard top (if I remember right - I have a Cabrio personally) is curved IIRC while the leading edge of the wing here is STRAIGHT. But, at least the two angled, forward-sweeping angles outside of the brackets visually tie the wing in with the curve of the backside. The best LOOK would be a curved leading edge on the wing, but I don't know what the performance trade-offs for something like that would be - I assume they made the leading edge straight for a performance-related reason, but I may be wrong (I admit I'm not in-touch with the "big wing" aesthetic, being yet another "conservative old fart".)

PS - not to hijack the thread, but I saw this in Toys 'R Us yesterday, BoCRon and thought off you - you NEED this on your dashboard! :

 

Ahhh- More "Visual Horsepower"...

I've alway's been a believer in form following function, so I don't see the benefit of adding that much downforce/drag on the rear of a front wheel drive car.

 

Hi Tim:

I was speaking with Chad out at Detroit Tuned - subject was options for a new Head transplant - I mean the one for the MCS of course!

Originally, we were discussing the Pilo Head Race #1 or #2? Chad had mentioned to me that you guys were going to come out with a Fireballed Head that was promising to be very cool.

Can you tell me if this is a year out or 3 to 6 months?

 

Tim,

Looks like a neat product. I really think you are onto something here but I think a few changes or variables will help you sell them better to the majority of the MINI crowd.

1) I do agree with people that the sticker on the wing uprights is a bit much. It's definatly a tuner look but I think alot of people go for a subtle sleaper kind of look with their MINI's.

2) I think another good suggestion is with the fiberglass one. But I would take that one step further and make the fiberglass wing more subtle. aka) without the end uprights, make it follow the contour of the car a bit more and obviously glass so it's paintable not that the cf isn't but it's often hard to convince oneself to paint cf.

I think there are alot of nice things about your wing. It definatly is race/tuner inspired so you are on the right track here... haha that's a horrible pun. The brackets look really dang nice so no need for improvement there. I do however think you might be a touch more sucessfull on the marketing/sales side if you offered one race inspired wing like the aggressive one you have there and a street inspiried wing for about 150-200 bucks less that is more subtle and begs to blend in with the roofline/paint of the car.

Again I like the cf look however with a cr/bl like the one I have the cfiber will just turn out looking grey and nasty and the aggressiveness of the wing might make my subtly modded mcs look out of place.

Thanks for supporting the community
erik

 

Great points, Erik. We are taking good notes on all will keep it in mind as we develop further products.

The Fireballed Head is certainly tops on our list. It is currently in the race car as well as a few of our FTR Racers. Tuls car has one, too. (He's trouble, so watch out) But we'll be discussing a launch for it right after MTTS. Seems like there's a demand for a lot of things were doing, but it unfortuantely takes time. Wish I was a Genie and I'd have it all RIGHT FRIKKIN' NOW!

I do want to say that eveyone's input here has been overwhelmingly helpful. I admire and respect everyone's opinion, positive or negative, but most of all look forward to meeting all of you.

This is my last post here as we are getting ready for MTTS and there's craploads of things to be done before Thursday. Thanks to everyone and please come up to me on the trip and introduce yourself. (I'll have chocolate... (partial bribe.))

AND I WANT TO SEE YOUR RIDES!!! Point 'em out when you come up.

See you all soon, and thanks again!

 

The head will be out in your range of 3-6 month OR LESS. No promises on dates but this head is a serious performer !!


The sticker is easily removable if you dont want it and I understand some wont. If you ( or anyone ) places an order you could either remove it or request it to be removed and it will be taken off.

Thanks for your input and opinions, we apreciate the feedback !

 

Even if that's true (and who knows if it is), that just proves PT Barnum's theory of a sucker being born every minute, but it still doesn't make it a good product. Hopefully, you're not hoping people will look at your product in 6 months and say "Jeez, remember whan crap like THAT was all the rage?"