I think that might be Horton High Test for Silverbacks.

 

I've not yet had time to get my photos off my camera, sorry - been out of town. I'll have something up soon, I promise.

 

Welcome home Matt. You disappeared after the parade.

 

Yeah, had to go to Oregon... It's sad that their weather was MUCH nicer than here (sigh)...

 

LOL... I'd like to say I'm sorry about ruining your Jetta, but I'd be lying. Hope you find something soon - you might wantnto ask mark (CHKMINI) about his car - I heard he was thinking of selling, and his car is one of my all-time favorite MODded MINIs. Might be a bit too "manly" for a chick... erm, a "lady driver", though.

Re: gas - As was said, you'll need Premium particularly if you get the supercharged Cooper S - the high compresison ratio, just like the turbo, means that you need the additional octane to avoid engine knock. You can put in Silver or Regular in an emergency, but you won't get as good mileage and it's simply not good for the engine over time. Don't feel bad though - my new Toyota FJ only takes premium as well because of its compression ratio - modern engines simply can be engineered to get more compression, even without the aid of a supercharger or turbo to force air into the chamber.

 

I use regular now and then in my MC, but put in plus when I go on trips. In twisties [like the Dragon], I bump that up to premium. My MC has 36k now and doesn't seem to show any engine maladies, so far.

In my MCS, when I'm on normal roads, it's always plus. At the track or at the Dragon, it's always premium.

As for mileage, yeah it suffers some, but only about 3-4 mpg in each car. Given gas prices, I GUESS that might make a difference to some people...maybe.

 

As gas prices go up the % difference becomes smaller and smaller. I ran one tank early on of the regular stuff and was about 5 mpg worse and the car did not feel right. After that I never put anything except the good stuff in it.

Mark's car would not even need new plates it is already a Chick Mini Where is mark by the way?

 

I always wonder how much difference there actually is in Octane from one pump to the other... you know the oil companies are such a trust worthy bunch it wouldn't surprise me if all the pumps were hooked to the same tank

 

I make sure not to fill up at Mom & Pop operations. They tend to have gas laying in their tanks for a long time. Stale gas = less octane?? All I know is whenever I've had fuel problems my fuel was from one of those places. If I need to get gas I'll put a gallon or two in at Pops & then fill up with some good stuff down the road.

I believe when you fill with regular the car retards the timing to keep spark knock at bay. You will lose performance.

 

The only thing I worry abut with this setup is that the degradation in mileage (from what I've read) comes from a knock sensor "hearing" the pre-ignition (knock). The sensor then instructs the ECU to cut the spark to one or more cylinders, which stops the knock. This not only leads to a reduction in MPG (un-ignited fuel is wasted), but also a roughness in the operation in the engine that just CAN'T be good. There's anecdotal evidence ("stories" to you and me - heh) of this causing all sorts of issues with the engines down the road. Persinally, given the $.10/gallon differential between Premium and Plus (less than $2.00 a fill up), I'll go with the good stuff.

 

Spark knock is bad jewjew bawana. Over a period of time it will damage your car.

Broken ring lands & holed pistonies.

Like Matt said the proper fuel isn't much more.

 

I don't buy off-branded gasoline, but I still watch my spending. Even a $2.00 [or more] savings per tank adds up over the year, and I hate to throw that kind of money away. Besides, I'm a silverback now...not a weedhopper. I don't HAVE the luxury of looking forward to "many more miles of driving", so I really do not worry about engine knocking and such...hell, I'll just buy another MINI! Our's is the "throwaway society", anyway, remember?

 

OK save $2.00 on gas & then have to buy a new MINI. Must be the new math. Now if you are taking that $2.00 savings & buying donuts & coffee, that I do understand.

 

Yeah, you gotta ask at that point "how much will the repair cost me"? $1.50 a fill-up seems like a small price to pay to avoid the... erm... (( checks earlier post for exact wording )) "bad jewjew bawana". (LOL, by the way).

 

I don't plan to be driving a helluva lot longer anyway. Besides, I was TOLD by someone at a MINI dealer that plus gas won't hurt the MINI if you occasionally run premium, too...and that's what I do. Also, I've noticed in Spain that the octane of their premium is the same as the octane of plus.

 

YOU WERE IN A PARADE ALL THE WAY IN OREGON...wow that is crazy

 

He must of made a wrong turn on Bridge Street in Dublin?!?!?!

 

Why is the Welsh guy getting his car advice from Spain?

And let me guess that Mini dealership was MAG

 

Dunno why you're so anti-MAG, since you live in the area and went to the Clubman expo there. As for my Spanish connection...I suppose it's because I'm fluent in the language, having taught it for 30 years and known it for another10. Or, maybe it's due to all the kids I've taken there on study trips, or that I did post graduate work there...twice. Maybe, it's because I have a lot of friends there who drive cars and whos cars I have driven. Maybe, it's because I visited BMW MINI in Madrid...and ASKED. Maybe, it's because my wife is from Spain. I dunno...YOU figure it out.

 

WOW Welsh guy really loves Spain, who knew? I thought your wife seemed more Portegees

And I am anti MAG via peer presure and by the lack of excitement there, Mini's are different cars and I feel they deserve a different dealership, not an automotive campus where they care more about the other brands and their employees do not get Mininess.

 

I knew, but I wasn't telling.

I have to somewhat agree with you Allen. MAG is just a car store, nothing more nothing less.

IMO they have been getting there act together. The last 2 services I'd had done there left me with a feeling that they did give a darn about me & my MINI. A welcome change from my first experience with them.

 

[quote=rigidjunkie;2111988]WOW Welsh guy really loves Spain, who knew? I thought your wife seemed more Portegees

I think that, after reading that crap, we have little or nothing more to discuss.

 

I agree. Yesterday my low oil light came on while driving on 270 at about 11:00 AM. I stopped, checked the oil level (full) and drove directly to MAG. With 82,000+ miles on CHKMINI, I obviously was a little nervous about the sudden light. Got to MAG, they took me in immediately, diagnosed the problem as a faulty oil pressure switch, replaced it and I was out of there at 12:15 PM. If someone can show me better service than that, then do so

I've bought cars and had them serviced there for over 17 years and have always had great service, buying experiences and overall respect granted me. I don't normally get on a soapbox about these types of things, but I feel that the other side of what has been a lot of MAG bashing going on, needed to be expressed.

 

I just left MAG... I've been there a couple times this week and over the last five years I've been there often, bought my Porsche there and have had it serviced there for the life of that car. My only issue with them to date has been on my current MINI deal in regards to my trade-in's value... I think I attribute this problem, like in the movie Cool Hand Luke... "To a failure to communicate!" I believe that was because of a series of somewhat unusual circumstances/events that left me with a moving target for a MINI Salesman. Eric Maxwell, the new Sales Manager, seems to have his arms around my situation now and is pulling the deal back on track and for this I'm grateful... I get this deal completed I'll be perfectly content with MAG.

 

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