Black leatherette vs. Lounge Redwood. I'd be getting sparkling silver btw. I know the leatherette looks great and will last longer, but damn that dark red leather looks sooooooooooo good. I've seen both in person, I've read all the posts, I just need more input.

 

I would go for the Lounge Redwood. Very classy look.

 

Redwood Lounge hands down. There's honestly no comparison... Only reason I'd say to even consider the leatherette is if you're on a budget or plan to have pets/kids in your MINI. The lounge leather is so comfortable, looks amazing, smells great and you get lumbar support with it. I've seen an SS MINI with the redwood and it looked great! The two colors complement each other because of the brownish tint which redwood has.

I actually specced carbon lounge in my previous SS/B MINI and it was quite striking as well.

 

See...that was easy!!!! It does look great...and I think it'll wear fine.

 

Great choice for SS/B. Leather is great.

 

Thanks for the responses! I will feel a little guilty though about removing the back seats...gotta make room for the new full-size spare and all. I'll put 'em back in should I ever have kids though.

 

Yea, as useless as the back seats are, that's my reason for hesitating in taking them out as well. Especially since the back seats are the same spec as the euro LL, which means they look even better than the front ones!

Which aftermarket tires are you switching to?

 

I went with the Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 at Costco. Drove from the dealer, to home to Costco. Sold the Dunlop Runflats for $500.

 

We have lots of back seat room in my wife's Impreza SE wagon. Kids have let the nest and I have no need for back seats!
My nice new leather back seats are safely stored under the bed in our spare bedroom. And now I have a secure space for all my camera gear under the flat platform:
http://johncameron.ca/mini/index2.html

BTW why do you want to carry a full size spare?

 

215/45/17. I'm thinking about the Team Dynamics 1.2 in flat black in 17x7's.

 

Because I don't want run-flats and I don't want to be stranded! Of course if I ever wanted to go motoring for pure performance I'd leave the spare at home. Also if whatever wheels I chose became discontinued I'd have an extra. That and it'd give me some time to get a new tire if given a flat. I'm looking at putting on the Goodyear F1 dsg3's or whatever they're called.

 

How are you liking them thus far? I'm thinking of going with the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. We'll see

Sweet setup and very nice pics. I actually saw your website awhile back before purchasing my first MINI. Seeing your MINI pretty much sold me on SS/B and the LL with piano black and interior chrome.

One thing I always wondered, which floor mats are those??? They look great!

 

Well the upside is that those rear seats would look great in your living room!!

 

Sounds good, very good call on ditching the RF's! I'm considering the TD 1.2's as well, but in gloss black with the chrome lip. Also leaning towards the GS-D3's for tires. Contemplating between 215/45 or 235/40 though... We'll see.

 

Why would you think 215's or 235's? What happened to 225's?

 

Wanna stay as close to the OEM wheel diameters as possible. Minimizes speedo era, potential rubbing and other issues. For OEM 16's (195/55) the diameter is 24.44" while for the 17's (205/45) it's 24.26".

215/45/17 is 24.61" and 235/40/17 is 24.40". 225/40/17, on the other hand, is a bit small at 24.08" and 225/45/17 too big at 24.97". Other thing about 225/40/17 is the only tire available in that size, from the vendor I'm considering, is a Hoosier competition slick.

 

Definitely redwood leather. If you take the back seats out and store them properly you can put them back later.

I went with two sets of wheels -- one for comfort and one for canyon carving.
Michelin Pilot Exhalto PE2 205/45-17 handle well and are quieter and ride better than the runflats. However, they are still pretty loud.

Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S 205/55-16 are quieter than the Michelins, but don't have quite as good grip. They are a compromise between handling and comfort. There are other quieter tires, but they handle much worse. They are on 16x7 wheels and are about 0.4" oversize, but don't rub. The do reduce the built-in error of the speedo.