After three months, finally picked up Mia last night! She seems to be the first Nightfire Red on NAM thus far, an honor I humbly and excitedly accept! She was named by her godmother, my jealous aunt.
Not much to add about the general experience that others haven’t said many times, except WOOOOOO!!!!!
Without further ado,








The rest for now are here
http://flickr.com/photos/rooandren/sets/72157600192328353/detail/
(click towards the top on "detail" for a better view of the set of my unskilled pics)

The color does change dramatically in different lighting. These are in very bright light and the orange comes out. The last darker photo is not inaccurate. At twilight last night, it was almost merlot. Compare with some MINI2 photos collected here,

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t=94717&page=8

I do have two quick Q’s

1) Paranoid Q: Should I be concerned that after 30 minutes of easy-going city driving, when I turned off the car the engine fan ran for several minutes? That just feels odd for its first significant drive.

2) Off-topic Q: Is there a proper name for the instant drop-off in speed when you stop giving it gas under 20 mph? Meaning, when driving at low speeds, like 10, 15, 20 mph, there is little coasting effect and the car slows down dramatically. The same always happened in the several R53s I’ve driven. Is this just an engine behavior I’m not accustomed to driving Civics, Saturns, etc?

YIP, YIP, YIPPIE!!!! My best wishes to all the NFRs who are expecting!

 

when i drove the S I noticed that...it was wierd and I didn't like it...but i thought that was just the S...
so it doesn't drive smooth and glides????

eeeek...not good...


also i am so happy for you...is the orange ok or is it a downfall for you? tell me eeeeverythiiiing.....

 

Congratulations! Mia is a beautiful MINI Enjoy many many hours of happy motoring in your new baby



In the meantime, I'll try to provide some comfort to poor Skuzzy. He'll be thrilled for you, Roo - but this is going to be tough for him ya know.

 

I am interested to hear what others have to say about the technical aspects of the "drop off", but mostly I think it is a driving style you just need to get used to. My only concern is it does seem wasteful for gas.

I really do love the color. If it were always too dark and wine colored it wouldn't be jazzy enough. It's just always changing and different, and I think that's great! No one pic does it justice, but you get an idea looking at all of the available ones. Actually, I think the configurator pic is pretty good, except for the orange tones that come out in bright light. You are going to adore it! What else constitutes "everythiiiiiing"?

 

Is this an automatic? Dont they shift down when you let of the throttle? That could be what's causing it. Try driving in the manumatic mode I'm guessing that it shouldn't do that then since you're in control of shifting, but I don't know for sure.

 

Oh, very silly me, yes an automatic. (as are the R53s I drive through Zipcar car sharing program). That still seems very odd, and different than any automatic I have every driven.

 

I really like that color and I think it was cool that they offered it only on the MC, giving it some exclusivity for you guys

 

Looks great!!! congratulations...MIA is my little chihuahua's name. Great Name!

All MIA's are beautiful:

http://flickr.com/photos/dccxlix/482369398/

 

Congratulations rooandren! I would have been here sooner, but I just got out for a lunch break from jury duty!

And here is your number 1 tag. Reserved for the first member of NAM you got the first Nightfire Red Cooper delivered! Congratulation! I cannot think of anyone (except myself of course) which deserves it more.

 

OMG Rooandren.....it's ......a piece of art....

Labor pains have eased a little, but the drool factor is significantly increased. I have to sit leaning away from my laptop so the gobs of drool don't foul up the electronics! Thank you so much for the pics. If the paint comes through as orange, I'll be more than happy with Winnie when she comes.

Winnie will have black bonnet stripes, driving lights, retro gas cap, sport package and the chrome package. It will be interesting to see the subtle differences. I'm guessing as soon as you can, you'll be on the road! It was nice talking to you....maybe we'll meet one day at the NFR Mini Meet. You won't have time for us on NAM anymore!

 

Romi looks just like Mia.

 

Thanks so much everyone. I certainly didn't do much to "earn" the honor, though I think I was the first here to order.

Skuzz, thanks so much for the tag! I was going to ask you personally, but let's have a poll. If I use that in my sig, do I sound like a jerk who is claiming fame and accomplishment based on luck, or would people understand that it is a little tonge in cheek pride? It is so easy to misinterpret things, but hey, I'M #1!!!!

 

Rooandren....you are #1...wear the badge with pride....I might want to borrow it sometime...as I'll be #1 in Canada! Hehehehe...

 

Very cool MC! Nightfire Red Really Rocks.

"This quick message brought to you by, Alliteration." ah thank you. *bow*

 

You are only claiming what is rightfully yours rooandren. All the rest of us get to wear the tag without the "#1" in it. It just means you got there first.

As NAM's first NFR arrival, I cannot see anyone having an issue with you wearing the tag.

In the end, it is up to you. I would not have a problem wearing it if Romi had gotten here first, but then,..I am pretty self-absorbed.

 

Normally automatics shift up when you're coasting. Hesitating to shift up would be a more sporty behavior since you can accelerate without waiting for a downshift. If it never shifts up that's strange.

Did you perhaps have "Sport" mode on at the time? Could you have accidently have manually selected a lower gear rather than full auto (no idea if MINI auto allows this).

If it's very noticable and it's not one of the things above it may be an actual problem with the transmission.

 

I'm quite sure it's the regular transmission behavior. I'm sure it sounds much weirder to those that are used to it then it really is. I just don't know what it's called, and why/how it's different than what I'm used to. It's definitely not sport button related, cos the R53 didn't have that and felt the same. And the MINI doesn't have low-gear auto (I think?!?) but it has the clutchless manual option.

 

you know what, I'm looking at these pics on a different computer now, and now I say they do look toooo orange (different than reality). Hopefully everyone will just get to see for themselves very soon, but the orange is a "hint", not blatant. Just keep adjusting your screen until you like the way it looks!

 

engine cooling-dont worry about it

 

Beautiful car! You and I have something in common....yours is the first NFR on NAM and mine was the first oxygen blue.

Regarding your two questions, my car does the exact same things...the fan running after I turn off the car and the slow down after I stop giving it gas. I asked my MA about the fan and he said it's normal for the fan to run for several minutes after you turn the car off. My car does it often, but not all the time. I didn't ask him about the slow down after I take my foot off the gas. My R53 CVT did this as well.

Enjoy your new beauty!

 

Oops, except Romi has 16" bridge spokes.

 

Rooandren,
Congrats on the arrival of the new MINI and THANKS for all the great pics!

 

Great color...good to see it in person.
Now for my obligatory half-hearted SSOW effort...where's my week 16 car?

(What do you know, it does feel better...)

 

Wow...that is a very nice color!!!!!

 

Beautiful!!