WAY, WAY, WAY overpriced for what you get. BMW, can you spell P R O F I T ? I am personally very disapointed in what BMW gave us. It's a poser only. Only value would be a possible collector car WAY down the road. What SHOULD BMW have built?
If they consulted ME, the 2004 MC40 would have been a performance car like this;

-Carbon fiber hood
-Carbon fiber mirrors
-Carbon fiber door handles
-Carbon fiber wheel flares
-Custom shift ****
-No power windows, locks, radio, or A/C
-A custom mixed exterior paint color, NOT Chile Red (to match carbon fibre look)
-4-point harness
-180 hp 1.6 L Supercharged Tritec
-Eliminate rear wiper
-Larger 4 wheel disc's w/red calipers
-Sportier exhaust
-MSRP of $24,995



Fellow NAM members, what do you think? Yes, I know my dream Mini Cooper has nothing reflecting the race or history of the car. It is the year 2004 and we have landed an the planet Mars and sent back photos !!!! Damn, that race was 40 years ago!


_________________
2004 MCS - Pepper White/ Black

 

The Mini Cooper that won the 1964 ralley was basically a stock car with some stickers on it. The reason they made it that way is to keep with the heritage. Also it does have a special shift ****.

 

I agree up to a point. I'm not crazy about CF everything, as I think it could take away from the MINI's classic look. What I would have liked was something more along the line of Porsche's Clubsport (et al.) models that they've done in the past where there's no A/C, no power anything, no sound deadening, no sunroof, and generally nothing superfluous at all, with limited edition lightweight wheels (instead of the attractive, but HEAVY BBSs), short shifter, sport exhaust, sport intake, perhaps beefier brakes, reduction pulley (!), maybe adjustable shocks. Basically, make it into an actual track car, instead of just a neat-looking car. I'm sure the CF dash looks cool and all (I'll check it out tomorrow), but IMO it's nothing but rice to have a JCW badged CF dash--all show, no go--I mean, are you here to tell me that the dash is the most important point of weight reduction on this car?

But hey, with only 1,000 of these rolling out, at least it will be a truly limited edition car, unlike these silly "Limited" PT Cruisers, which I think are only limited by the number that they can convince people to buy.

 

>>
>>Fellow NAM members, what do you think?


I think you should build Honda Civics !!

 

>>The Mini Cooper that won the 1964 ralley was basically a stock car with some stickers on it. The reason they made it that way is to keep with the heritage. Also it does have a special shift ****.

Okay this is a good point. The car that won the Monte back in 1964 was a stock Mini Cooper S. Repeat those words stock. Now to celebrate the anniversary of this event MINIUSA rolls out a stock MINI Cooper S with some well done additions giving a tip of the hat stylistically to the original (chrome pack, darker wheels, chili red/white top etc etc). They price is $500-750 above a regular MCS with the same options. Of course this isn't to mention the carbon fiber dash which could easily cost $500 - 750 dollars. And now what do people do - they complain.

And Coop - I'm all for a clubsport version - I love the idea. But that's not what this car should be. Make that the next limited edition MINI - but not this one. Oh and the dash has the JCW logo on it due to the fact that it is in fact a JCW piece - we'll be seeing more of that type of stuff later in the year. MINIUSA may even drop those logos from the final piece since it's plans changed for more JCW accessories on the MC40. Check this article out for more info: http://www.bridger.us/mini/?Y=2004&M...yBehindTheMC40

 

I would have been interested had they just included a limited slip. Heck, I'd have popped for the JCW kit had that been one of the features, no interest otherwise.

That and add in some informative gauges (boost? oil pressure?! )

 

>>I would have been interested had they just included a limited slip. Heck, I'd have popped for the JCW kit had that been one of the features, no interest otherwise.
>>
>>That and add in some informative gauges (boost? oil pressure?! )

The MC40 comes standard with auxiliary oil pressure and volt meter gauges.

 

>>-4-point harness

Not to nitpick, but if you're gonna put a 4 point harness in it, BMW would have to include a roll cage, and I don't see that happening.

 

>>WAY, WAY, WAY overpriced for what you get. BMW, can you spell P R O F I T ? I am personally very disapointed in what BMW gave us. It's a poser only. Only value would be a possible collector car WAY down the road. What SHOULD BMW have built?
>>If they consulted ME, the 2004 MC40 would have been a performance car like this;
>>
>>-Carbon fiber hood
>>-Carbon fiber mirrors
>>-Carbon fiber door handles
>>-Carbon fiber wheel flares
>>-Custom shift ****
>>-No power windows, locks, radio, or A/C
>>-A custom mixed exterior paint color, NOT Chile Red (to match carbon fibre look)
>>-4-point harness
>>-180 hp 1.6 L Supercharged Tritec
>>-Eliminate rear wiper
>>-Larger 4 wheel disc's w/red calipers
>>-Sportier exhaust
>>-MSRP of $24,995
>>
>>Fellow NAM members, what do you think?
>>
Me thinks you work for a carbon fiber manufacturer.

Regards,
Red

 

I think you're absolutely right, Gabe. I totally understand what the "point" of the MC40 is. It's a nifty take on a stock MINI, celebrating the 40th anniversary of a stock car's win. And that's fine. Further: I don't think that it's overpriced at all considering all of the extras. I think that a sub $1K premium for what should prove to be a very collectable car is completely acceptable.

It's just not for me. That's all. I guess I shouldn't have posted in this thread necessarily. When I heard that a special addition was coming, I was hoping for something like a Clubsport--not necessarily full JCW package, but something different, to keep the for what it is, but to make an alternate option for people who like to take their cars to the track. Think about it: a non-JCW MINI that has some of the features (forget the headwork, and even forget the exhaust--but keep the pulley maybe), but shed some weight, throw out some creature comforts, add in serious adjustability to the suspension, lightweight wheels, and maybe (a big maybe) beefier brakes. That's what I'm looking for--not in the MC40, but in a future addition.

I think that having MINI introduce a cool factory limited addition like the MC40 is helpful to let us know that MINI is trying to keep interest up by offering special editions from time to time. It also gets my creative juices flowing as far as what *I* would like to see in a special edition. :smile:

 

>>I think you're absolutely right, Gabe. I totally understand what the "point" of the MC40 is. It's a nifty take on a stock MINI, celebrating the 40th anniversary of a stock car's win. And that's fine. Further: I don't think that it's overpriced at all considering all of the extras. I think that a sub $1K premium for what should prove to be a very collectable car is completely acceptable.
>>
>>It's just not for me. That's all. I guess I shouldn't have posted in this thread necessarily. When I heard that a special addition was coming, I was hoping for something like a Clubsport--not necessarily full JCW package, but something different, to keep the for what it is, but to make an alternate option for people who like to take their cars to the track. Think about it: a non-JCW MINI that has some of the features (forget the headwork, and even forget the exhaust--but keep the pulley maybe), but shed some weight, throw out some creature comforts, add in serious adjustability to the suspension, lightweight wheels, and maybe (a big maybe) beefier brakes. That's what I'm looking for--not in the MC40, but in a future addition.
>>
>>I think that having MINI introduce a cool factory limited addition like the MC40 is helpful to let us know that MINI is trying to keep interest up by offering special editions from time to time. It also gets my creative juices flowing as far as what *I* would like to see in a special edition. :smile:


Agree 100%!

 

(Look at the time! We're both Auto Show dorks!!! )

 

Eliminate rear wiper? How are you going to see behind you? I can barely see out of the dirt in the back even WITH the rear wiper!
Oh yeah - that carbon fiber thing...I know it's light and everything but it's WAY WAY WAY ugly. CF should be limited to parts you don't see (or under the bonnet). :smile:

 

As Dot-Scott said yesterday:

"It's wicker. Really expensive wicker!"

 

Strong, light in weight, and beautiful stuff in my opinion. Change your opinion after seeing this hood?




_________________
2004 MCS - Pepper White/ Black

 

If you want all that CF, I wouldn't count on a sticker of under $25k... my Mini's MSRP was $24,615... with just the cold and sport packages, and leather.

CF does look great, but that hood can't be cheap to make. Right now as it is the Mini hood has more curvature and depth to it than any other vehicle currently produced.

 

Your car sounds cool but it would really have nothing to do with the 40th anniversary of the MC victory. I also think the MC40 is overpriced.

 

Damn! Do you want carbon fibre underware too? That's a lot of expensive carbon fibre components. And you want it for less than 25K? Hmmmm, me doubts it.

 

I'm not denying that there are valid uses for CF out there--I just think that in a lot of applications, it is nothing more than fluff, and doesn't offer much bang for the buck.

Examples:

Good use of CF: The Porsche Carrera GT's frame is built almost entirely out of CF. It's much more rigid then steel or aluminum, and it weighs nothing. Very, very nice.

Bad use of CF: In the beautiful new Ford Cobra concept, the body skirting (roughly equivalent to stock MINI skirting in size) is made out of CF, while the rest of the car is made almost entirely of aluminum. Are you telling me that the only place to shed some weight off of this car was to trade the plastic skirting for CF? No thanks.

 

>> I also think the MC40 is overpriced.

Why? You're getting factory-added BBS wheels, shift ****, seats, CF dash, driving lights, gauge cluster, badging and other miscellaneous bits, not to mention a truly limited-edition collectability. I think that the price is quite fair.

 

I have no real opinion on your proposal or on the '04 MC40 but I do like the hood a lot :smile: ...

Cool, speltzer

 

>>-Carbon fiber hood
>>-Carbon fiber mirrors
>>-Carbon fiber door handles
>>-Carbon fiber wheel flares
>>-Custom shift ****

Seeing that you are into CF, why not go all out and get the CF seats! The stock must weigh a ton!

 

LOL, all that carbon fiber stuff would maybe save 20 lbs. at the very most, you could accomplish the same with driving around with 3 /4 full tank of gas. And I hope you want that carbon fiber painted, because unpainted carbon fiber that serves little to no purpose on a street car = rice IMHO (flame suit zipped up).

 

I knew this post would gather many varied opinions. When I first saw this material in person and held it, I was blown away by the beauty and light weight of it. I am also in awe of the technology behind the product. Thanks you aerospace !!!!!!!!!

 

Well, after reading the MC40 description again, the CF dash actually adds weight. It's just the stock dash clad in carbon fiber. :smile: