Well I guess I'll have to resign my membership to the Chile Red Club and request a membership to the Laser Blue Club. Dealing with the traffic in Honolulu with a manual was driving me crazy so I traded my manual for an automatic. This one is optioned out very similar to my old Mini; no packages, no sunroof, multifunction steering wheel, but now dark Grey color line with piano black, anthracite roof liner, automatic transmission and what really makes the car stand out, John Cooper Works 18" black wheels with run flat Pirellis. The Pirellis are great, they're so quiet and much smoother than the standard 17" run flats. Did I mention the auto is marvelous! It's like it reads my mind, it downshifts when I think it should and the paddle shifters are so much fun. I'm glad I stayed with another Mini and didn't go to another make!

 

congrats and i am sure u wiil love this ride as muhc

 

Congratulations

 

Love the color scheme...hadn't seen that one yet.

 

Boo for automatics! But beautiful car.

 

congrats... i've got a laser/black too, but I'm manual... it's kinda interesting with the hills, traffic, and traffic on hills here in Seattle, but the hill assist you get with DSC is amazing. I've now got it down to the point where the car doesn't roll back at all, even on the steepest of hills around here...

 

I love those wheels!
and to be honest- pictures do no justice to em. everyone always says my car looks much better in person than it does in the pictures i show em.... even though i've only owned the car for 5 days =p

 

Benibiker great color choice and it really pops with the black JCW 18" wheels added

Automatic is the way to go in a lot of stop and go driving so a good choice on that too.

 

Congrats on the MINI! and great color choice!

 

Very nice!

 

Great color (except I got a white roof) And different wheels, and different stripes and different mirrors...well, okay, almost the same but different...lol.



But it is an automatic though...

 

Thanks for all the comments! The color is very refreshing, my chili red always made me feel tense, now I'm all chilled out especially being able to just sit back and step on the gas and not worry about the clutch. I'm sure I'll eventually miss the stick but I'm good for now.

 

Great color scheme, I picked out the same with black bonnet stripes too.

 

Those wheels rock! And it's a great color. I'm sure the AT is just fine. Noone has complained about it that I've heard from. Performance is just as good, less hassle shifting. Good choice of a different MCS.

 

How did the color make you tense? Just wondering......

 

I'm sure a lot of people would naysay about having an automatic. This is my 3rd mini since March (don't ask) The first two were sticks and though I love shifting, I live in Charlotte and the traffic and be a PIA, it gets old.

The final killer was when I was at the beach and got stuck in traffic for 2 1/2 hours. Clutch in, clutch out, keep the seat forward enough to push the clutch all the way in (I'm short as it is) Gotta wear shoes...

I was actually on my way to buy a clubman. While I was waiting for it to return from a test drive, I asked my SA if we could take an automatic for a test drive.

I hadn't gone a block and had this sh*t eating grin on my face, I looked at her and she said "yeah, I know, everyone says the same thing when they drive an automatic". I couldn't believe how peppy it was. I was expecting a slushbox but they scream and I wasn't even using the paddle shifters.

Now I don't have to shift all the time (when I'm feeling aggressive, I manually shift, not quite the same but...) I can slide my seat back because I don't have to push in a clutch, I can relax much more and since I have this wierd habit on hardly wearing shoes when I drive, (around here, I wear flipflops most days...NC) I can drive around in my bare feet.

I love my automatic... who woulda thunk?

Mark

 

Red is mentally an aggressive color, that's why prison walls are usually a softer color, pastel blue, yellow, etc....

So they say....

Mark

 

I think that's what it was, I subconsciously felt aggressive or something . I've owned 2 other red cars and I always felt that way in those cars too. Don't get me wrong, I love Chile Red Coopers but I just feel strange in red cars ...