The Wintry Driving Refresher has been moved to Sunday, February 27 from 8:00am to 3:00pm at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, PA. Another change is that the event is being totally sponsored by MINI of Pittsburgh!! So that means that the event is totally free to the first 60 people who sign up. Included in the rock bottom price of free includes all day instruction and a boxed lunch. (If you already registered and paid for the event before these changes, you will be refunded your entry fee. See one of the club officers at the event or send us an e-mail). No studded tires are permitted at BeaveRun. Register for the event at the PittStop MINI Club website at www.pittstopmini.org. Space is limited at for this event, so sign up today!

 

Signed up. I bought my MINI from MINI of Pittsburgh and just joined PittStop MINI club on Wednesday. I am excited to meet some fellow MINI owners here in Western PA. Oh, and that winter driving thing too lol.

 

Looking forward to seeing you and your MINI there!

 

Thanks for joining the club, murdoc. Look forward to meeting you there!

 

Thanks Amber and Fast. The only part I am not looking forward to is having to leave the house in Erie before 6 to make sure I get there in plenty of time lol.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I'm going to have to leave by 6:30 to get there from Latrobe. Going to be an early day! Unless I can convince some Pittsburgh friends to house us.

Anyways... wonder if we will even have snow? Been looking pretty spring-y outside lately. Tempting me to get the MINI back out of the garage early.

 

Any of you "locals" want a wakeup call when I leave Ohio at 5:30?

 

Uh, that would be no. The wife and I may just grab a hotel for the night and stay down there so we don't have to wake up so darn early.

The closer it gets, the more excited I am getting.

 

I will have an early start as well. I am trying to not think about that part of the day.

 

We are grabbing a hotel Saturday night, it will make for a not quite as early day Sunday. But according to the weather forecast (at least in Erie) there will be plenty of snow for the weekend.

 

It'll be a close one. I just checked the weather for Wampum, PA. Our snow might be melting on us on Sunday.

Friday: 1 -2 inches snow accumulation
Saturday: High of 37 with a low of 32, 30% chance of snow showers later in the day.
Sunday: High of 43 with a low of 42, 40% chance of snow/rain early in the day.

 

I still have my studs on , so no driving for me. Its great the dealership picked up the cost. I have plenty of snow here and I am 15 min from Beaverun, so they should have the snow, about 9 inches here from the other day.

 

Haha. Studs on the convertible?

I'm surprised, I'm only about an hour and a half away and our snow is almost completely melted - Just patches left.

 

Up, grabbin some breakfast, then off to Beaverun! Woot!

 

Wow. Thats all i can say! Thank you so much to everyone involved in making this happen. It was my first MINI event and i had a great time and met some great people. I think i found a new addiction lol.

 

Glad you had fun! We did too. (We were in the Saab.) can't wait to get my MINI back out for spring next month. We always have lots of fun!

 

I've been organizing these for the last 4 years, and that was the best Wintry Driving event ever! BR really pulled out the stops for us this time, glad y'all had a good time. I was able to take one of the Countrymen out with the dealer's family on North, the "woots" from the back seat were Legendary. Loads of (very safe) fun...

 

I got to drive a Countryman on the track too - the All4 S. I was actually kind of disappointed. It was my first time actually driving a turbocharged car and it seemed like 'sport' mode did nothing on it. I can really tell a difference in sport mode on my justa. I won't be trading in my hardtop for a countryman anytime soon.

 

I am pleased to hear from the attendees that it was a fun time. I had a blast as well, even though my MINI is is storage...

I thought the instructors did a wonderful job and many thanks again to MINI of Pittsburgh for all of their support in this event!!

 

Well, as a new PittStop member and a new MINI owner, I have to say if this is the quality of the events that PittStop puts on you can count me IN for as long as I own a MINI!
Thank you again to everyone that was involved in making this happen, my wife and I had a great time. Now I think she wants a Countryman .

 

I also had a fantastic time at the Wintry once again this year! The driving exercises were great. I used some of my time on the snow covered north course to experiment with how the DSC reacts (in past years I've mostly drove with the DSC off all day). I was actually impressed with how well it helps keep things under control, even when I tried things that would otherwise lead to a big off!

Another thing I tried different this year; I spent a bit less time driving and a bit more time socializing. I had a lot of fun talking to different people about MINI's, cars in general, life, and whatever came up!

Thanks to MINI of Pittsburgh for sponsoring the event and for all the nice items they gave away!

Jason

 

Jason, could you fit all that schwag in your little car?

FUN TIMES!!! I also spent more time socializing, a lot of time in Countrymen's passenger seats, and some really FUN time on North Track driving Countrymen. They're really capable vehicles, very "Mini" considering their size, and the turbos are quite powerful. I mainly agree with Amber, that the Sport mode doesn't make as much a difference on the C-men as it does on the Coupes, but I think there are two things at play there:
1) The non-sport mode is relatively tighter (sportier) than the non-sport mode in the Coupes
2) The C-man is heavier, so the "improvements" (changes) are more subtle

The Sport mode did make a noticable (but subtle) difference though, especially in the transient maneuvers (that back--straight lane change and slalom, when taken at a "sportier" pace).

FUN TIMES - thanks you guys for making it so much fun... we're working on more of that stuff.

HEY - if anyone knows of a Large Parking Lot near dahntahn where we can hold our OWN autocross, let me know... I believe there may be one near Ross Park Mall where a furniture store is closing...

 

Bringing the summer tires along ended up being a mistake.....I ran out of room and couldn't cram it all in the boot, so I had to start giving stuff away!

Jason

 

Yep, and I love the floor mats. Thanks a million for those , I don't have to worry quite as much about getting mud and stuff on the carpets.

 

You are very welcome! Glad to see them go to a good home where they can help keep that brand new Cooper in showroom condition!


Jason