Allright, I haven't seen any one else reach this milestone with the new R56. After picking up my MINI on Feb. 24 and now having plenty of seat time, I should be capable of making a fair assessment of this car. Unfortunately, my mind is cluttered with visions of twisting roads and open sunroofs. When I see the recommended speed going into a corner, I know with confidence that I can double that. I find myself feeling sorry for those that have never had the pleasure of driving a MINI. I recently had the thrill of spending 12 days in the southwest with my car. TX-OK-NM-CO-UT-NV-CA-NV-AZ-NM-TX. 4,963 mile round trip. What a blast!!! A man, his MINI, a tent, a cooler and the open roads (camped out 10 of those nights). If anyone else has a new MINI and at least a week of time I highly recommend a road trip to the Southwest, awesome scenery everywhere and going up and down mountains seems to be what the MINI was made for. Came home to a set of HR lowering springs waiting for install. Now the car looks even better (for those of you knocking the 4x4 look of the new MINI, wait till you see one in person with the lower look. sweet!) I now have passed the 10K mark and no problems whatsoever. Well that is except for the adjustment period (put it in reverse once at a red light, won't do that again, and took some getting used to the turn signals, I now appreciate the three blink feature). I am now a MINI owner for life, unless they price the Porche GT3 or Vette Z06 for less than 30K, Ha! Gratuitous pics enclosed.

 

Awesome! Glad you're enjoying to the maximum extent!
Btw, are those ASAs??

 

ASA? are you talking wheels? Mine are stock 16" bridge spokes powder coated glossy black.

 

That's so great! Love the pics. I can definately appreciate what you mean about the difference in the lowered MINI. Mine blended in with the pack at a local ralley last month... to the point where there was a couple complaining they hadn't seen any new R56's there... all while standing right next to my car ! Again LOVE the pics and I'm glad to hear of your sucess so far. A great milestone, for sure!

 

You gotta be kidding!! I never recognized those stock wheels!!

 

Yeah, I went to a metroplexmini meetup Sat. and parked next to a R53. My car sits just slightly lower in the front. I assume R53 was stock. Forgot to take a pic with the camers in hand, doh! I used to be a little jealous of the older model's stance, but no longer.

 

I have a buddy with a powder coating business. He really hooked me up! I posted in an earlier thread that there was no need to have the wheels sandblasted before coating. After my little trip, I've changed my mind. I ended up with about 10 chips on the wheels, but there was abit of offroad driving involved. Do not try paint. you will definately be dissapointed. I've tried it on other wheels with bad results.

 

So, Cool only has a population of 238. I'm sure it's pretty tough to get accepted there.

Your MINI looks great, and I love the black bridge spokes.

 

Nice pics! I'd love to tour that area in a fun car too! I can't imagine the fuel light stayed that lit up for very long at that speed... Nice to know the speedo has full range of motion.

 

Yes it does. I don't have proof, no pic, but I ran a good 30 mile stretch with a '00-'04 Vette at over 150 mph. We both stopped at a store in the middle of the desert and he was pissed that the MINI could hang with him and for half the money.

 

Wow, great pics! Glad that you are having fun

 

Congrats on the 10k miles, and it sounds like your mega-road-trip was awesome! Thanks for sharing the story and the pictures!

 

What kind of mileage did you get with your...*cough* urgent driving over that kind of mileage? I'm going on a roughly 4500 mile trip soon.

 

total trip mpg was 36.8 I played around a little on the flats thru Nevada keeping it under 75mph and turned off the cruise and got 46.3mpg on one 60 mile stretch.

 

Beautiful pictures! Always good to see snow-capped mountains :-). Nice wheels too!

 

Thanks for the comments everyone!

 

Beautiful landscape!

 

I wouldn't be snapping picts at that speed!
Very nice pics.
Great thread.
Hope the mods don't lock it. You might want to remove the vette story and let everyone know there was a dyno in the middle of the desert that you were on when you took the pic

I noticed the cruise control light was on too hehe

 

Spectacular pics and I love those bridge spokes, underated wheel for the MINI IMO!

 

It was great hearing about your trip and your Mini, makes me anticipate my car's arrival even more (and here I didn't think that was possible). Always nice to see a NAM thread dedicated to the pure pleasure of the ownership and driving experience. Hope the next 10k are even better!

 

How did the mini feel at full speed. 140 to 150?

 

wow that is exactly what i would like to do. thats awesome you got pics of it all. it'll be something you'll never forget.

 

can you say, "photoshop!"

 

I can assure you none of these pics have been retouched in any way. If that is your assertion then you are mistaken my friend.

 

I'll just say the faster the better.