I'm leaving FL in mid October, and moving to Chicago. I lived in the city when I was a kid so it's a bit of a homecoming for me. We'll be living in the city (Wicker Park/Bucktown) so hopefully I'll get to meet everyone at the various events. If you see a DS MCSC tooling around the city, please wave. I'll keep the top down as long as I can take it (luckily I got the cold weather package )

I did quite a bit of stuff with the sunshine mini club down here in FL (track events, gtg's) and it looks as though you guys and gals are an active bunch as well.

 

Welcome to Chicago!! October is the best time iof the year.
Keep an eye on www.chicagominiclub.com for upcoming events.

 

Thanks ernesto - I definitely keep checking the CMC site regularly. I'm sure I'll love the weather. I've been down here in FL for 4 years now, and I miss the seasonal changes.

I'll have to get some snow tires for the MINI though, as I have the summer only RFT's - luckily I kept the R91 bullet wheels when I got my MCSC. I'd like to avoid driving it at all in really crappy weather, but I probably will need two cars as my wife will probably drive to work. Do most of you guys use winter tires, or are all seasons enough for the MINI?

 

I used my stock 15 Continentals for the past 4 years, and it was fine. Just switched to Goodyear Assurance Tripletreds which should hopefully be even better.

 

Hi V70R,
You're going to love the Chicago group. Plus there's more twisties, something I did really appreciate until I went to FL.

I used all seasons last year, and I'm currently debating wether I should do all seasons again or switch over to Snow tires, I've got to make the switch as soon as we go below 70 degrees so I'm leaning toward all seasons as I know the worked last winter while I was in town.

I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you, I'm probably the only other local MINI with an SSM grille badge.

 

Thanks Motor On - weren't you at the Phil Wicks (cough!) event at Sebring? I seem to remember your screen name from somewhere....

I'm leaning towards the Bridgestone Blizzaks or the Continental winter tires. I like the fact that they will work well under 45f, as both my cars have summer only tires. The MINI has the dunlop summer only RFT's, and my Volvo R has summer only Michelin PS2's (which are terrible in the winter - I got caught in 2" of snow last year in St. Louis over thanksgiving - and even though the R is AWD, I was sliding all over the place). Sucks having to buy two sets of tires, but I'll be able to drive to Wisconsin (or places like it) in the winter w/o worrying too much.

 

Yup, came out here about a month later, and looking to stay for quite a while.

 

V70R,
Welcome back to the Great Lakes area.

Good thing 'bout that cold weather pkage as I can already "feel" autumn in the air today. I'm just north of Chi-Town

Perhaps you will get up to Wisc w/ the Chicago group. I think there is an annual drive up to Wisc. for the fall colors.

 

Welcome back to Chicagoland V70R

I run on all season runflats too. Didn't have a problem at all last winter, even in a blizzard. Since you'll be in the city, you probably will not need snow tires, unless your job takes you out to the 'burbs that don't plow the streets... Hopefully you'll have a garage for your cabrio.

Definitely check out CMMC... as Drew and Steve mentioned already, great group

 

Thanks everyone for the welcome!

TwOMINIs - I'll definitely get up to WI on occasion - I love it up there. Especially Door County. I also have an aunt in Milwaukee.

I will have a garage, so the cabrio will have a nice warm place to sleep. My wife will probably drive the cabrio to work where she will also have a garage, so maybe all seasons would work ok for that - especially since her communte will be a whopping 3 minutes. I'll probably take my AWD Volvo wagon on longer winter trips out of the city (places like Ohio, St. Louis, WI), so maybe I'll get the winter tires for that car.

It sounds like dedicated winter tires might only be needed a few times a year, and for those days I'll just use the Volvo for the really deep snow.

 

Since CHGO tosses road salt around like table salt, the streets should be clear (especially if you're near a main street). What you'll need to find is a touch-less or hand wash place for winter washings Would hate to see a MINI turn into a salt-lick Not familiar with your part of town.. I'm sure another local can help

 

Welcome HOME,

Look forward to meeting you at an event soon. Have a safe drive and wave good bye to my MOM for me, she's on Marathon Key. I was born in Marco Island, before it was "discovered".

God Speed, Dustin

 

I'll be right off Damen, Just south of North Ave. so they should plow/salt those streets.

I did see a few car washes pretty close that I'll definitely visit - no more washing the car in the driveway in February for me!

ChicagoMini - I know what you mean about Marco being "discovered" - That's the thing about FL that I'll miss the least - it seems that just about the entire state has been "discovered". Everywhere I turn there is a new strip mall going up. I live in the most densely populated county in the state, in a new subdivision that used to be one of Pinellas county's last remaining orange groves - :(

I can't wait for the move - I just found out that I'll have a cool sushi bar right around the corner, not to mention many other restaurants within an easy walk -

http://www.bluefinsushibar.com/

 

Sure am happy Al Gore invented this here internet thingy, so we all could talk across the miles.

 

I echo the welcome! And.....I encourage you to join the club (literally) LOL.

 

I'll most definitely join the club. Can't wait to meet everyone -

 

Allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood. I don't live exactly in Bucktown, but rather what the real estate agents are now calling "West Bucktown" (California and Armitage), which sounds much nicer than the sinister Humboldt Park.

There are definitely plenty of MINIs in the 'hood, but seems like very little enthusiasm. I probably get about a 25% wave-back rate.

I've got a space in my alley to wash my car, so I haven't frequented any of the local hand car washes, but I have my eye on two, both on Milwaukee. One between Armitage and Bloomingdale (the RR tracks), which frequently advertises a $6.95 special, and the other just south of Grand, which has $10 washes every day from 6am-9am. Except I can't even get up in time to make it to work on time, let alone getting up earlier to wash the car.

Haven't been to blue fin, but Hachi's Kitchen on California just south of Logan was really nice. While on restaurants, Sultan's Market on North, just West of Damen, has the best falafel sandwiches in town, and pretty decent hummus, too.

 

Thanks again for the welcomes!

Quite a few people down here in FL don't wave either. Quite a few non-enthusiasts buy MINI's just for the cool transportation - imagine if all of them were active forum members! I would think Chicago would have it's fair share of MINI's as it's such a great city car. Too bad there is no dealer in the city.

Thanks for the tip on the car washes - I'll definitely check them out. Also a big thanks for the tip on Sultan's market - It's right around the corner from me and I'm a big hummus fan. Now I just need to find a place to get a good gyros...