Motoring File just posted the same info (cities and dates).

+1

This might be a rash judgement, but Chicago (closest city for me, but ditto on the other 3) hardly comes to mind as a great place to spend a weekend with a bunch of fellow MINI fanatics.

 

Yeah, Personally not too thrilled with this choice, I was looking fwd toward a true road trip where i could see the US with other MINIs in a short amount of time...like the 06 MTTS...

 

That Miami date is the same weekend as the planned Guinness World Record attempt in Virginia. Pretty rotten planning.

 

The whole thing is bollocks.

If they truly wanted to have a fun series of regionals, it needed to get locked in looong before now. And certainly better locations. They want regionals? Then how about Laguna Seca, Road America, Limerock, and Road Atlanta. Tracks and fun roads all around them.

 

Well I guess I'll make my own drive across the states.
I'll start out in Key West with some Rum Runners then make my way up to Miami for some Cuban coffee,
then up to Boston for some Labsta's and over to Chicago for Pizza then top it off with some Borritos in LA.

Now all I have to do is take a month off from work.

 

Talk about the four corners of the Earth. That pretty much screws anyone in the middle of the country. The closest location to Memphis is almost 600 miles/9hrs away. The choices suck.

I feel sorry for the Texas groups...talk about a drive. They are looking at a minimum 17 hr drive to get to any of the locations.

 

Yeah this is what I was thinking, the closest to us is Chicago
I was really looking forward for a cross country road trip, I bet the people that voted for the regional events didn't go to the first MTTS.
Oh well, I think Miami would be interesting, I doubt that anybody from Texas will drive that far, flying out is not the same.

 

Think it's bad for texas? What if you lived in the Seattle area?

Hey Suji! LTNS!

I just can't understand what they were thinking! Why big cities? They're the antithesis of driving enjoyment.

 

Like all major corporations they probably paid some marketing company millions of dollars to come up with this lame idea.

MTTS should have encompassed many MINI events throughout the US in a ZIG, ZAG and ZUG fasion from one coast to the other.
Maybe even incorporating some sort of Amazing Race type format.

Well under its current format you can count me out.

Ironic that I live just around the corner from the BMW plant in South Carolina and they couldn't think of having some sort of track day/event there.

 

I was chatting with SDMike, and he had a good point. It's probably all based on exposure and marketing for MiniUSA. Not a thought for the Mini owners.

 

I would be so there if they got Phil to host!

 

well, since I have to drive through chicago to get to any points south, it isn't too bad for me.

My guess is they tried to find cities with a high population density of MINIs. Not sure about the Miami pick, as somewhere like Charlotte or Atlanta would have been a LOT closer to a LOT of folks.

Remember that they did MINI United in Amsterdam, not exactly a rural location - although there is a world class racetrack there!

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I hear what the agenda for the event is.

 

I know Gromit...this was my first post in months, have been busy with work.

Yesterday I got 2 bad news, this whole MTTS event planned so far away from me and my favorite Hockey player being trade to Tampa...

Life isn't fair to me

 

Any Boston people care to speculate on the location? A stadium parking lot perhaps?

 

Don't sweat the MTTS locations being so far away. I honestly believe that some of the stuff closer to you will prove to be a LOT more fun, like AMVIV or MITM.

 

Hey, what were they thinking ???

I did the whole MTTS in 06', but why would I want to drive 1200 miles to LA???
For what?? I don't get it .

Just my 2 cents,
Keith

ps... Hey, Shots, can't wait for Vegas, Baby !!

 

Yeah, MINI blew it on this one. They left out 2/3 of the country with these cities.

 

It would seem the whole point of this, is marketing and advertising for MiniUSA. And anyone who participates is just giving their time away to MiniUSA for free. That's why those four cities were picked, and it has nothing to do with the number of Mini owners there. It has to do with media markets. These are "events" for MiniUSA... not us.

 

I disagree. They've picked cities where there are a high concentration of MINI owners, or urban centers that can attract many MINI owners.

Think about Chicago for instance. Pretty reasonable driving distance from the entire midwest. Could they have had it at Road America? Sure, except it adds 2 and a half hours to everyone's drive, and there aren't any hotels within an hour of the track, and NOTHING else to do up there.

Now LA. You get all the LA people, plus the San Diego people, and Pheonix and Vegas aren't far away either. Surely a greater number of MINI owners around LA than around Norcal.

Boston, same thing. The entire Northeast. I am puzzled a bit by Miami, as I think Atlanta would have been a better pick. But, then, wouldn't it be fun to go to Miami?

Owners voted for four individual events over a national event or a cross country drive. They had to pick four locations, those locations have to be able to get a lot of MINI owners to attend, and it has to appeal to more than just track junkies. I think they did pretty well. My guess is if the events are a success, the next time they do it (2010?) they'll do the pacific northwest, texas, the southeast (but not Miami) and somewhere like DC. Just think of it like a national car club convention. They usually move around from year to year.

I think these events will be great fun. I can't wait to go.

 

In the state of Florida, Orlando would have been a better choice for everyone concerned.
And if I'm not mistaken, there are more MINI owners in Central Florida and Georgia than South Florida.
For the Southeast it should have been at the BMW plant in South Carolina, at least there they have
a track and a very interesting museum with great driving access via I-85.
Well I have said more than I thought I would on this subject, I have no plans to go to any of the
MTTS events as they presently stand.
I will however go to MOTD and the Guinness World Record Challenge at Virginia Beach.

 

Yeah we complain because we are far away from the events, I bet people around those cities will get exited and praise MINI USA for hosting them close.

 

As a NYer, I expected somewhere in the NY metro area would be a obvious choice. But Boston is fine with me.

Now that I think about it, if MINI USA picked the NY metro area, it wouldn't be much of a road trip. I probably could take public tranportation .

I wonder which event all the Mid-Atlantic people would attend.

 

Sorry, I am in complete disagreement. Maybe because I'm in a media related business. MiniUSA picked four of the five largest media markets for exposure. I can't really imagine what kind of fun events there will be for drivers, in big cities. Driving does not come to mind.

If they wanted a large number of Mini owners, then SF would have come before LA. You can't walk two blocks in SF without passing three Mini's. But LA is the second largest media market in the country, behind NY. But it's inconvenient for most of the western US as far as distance goes.

Chicago is not that convenient to the midwest. It's in the northern end of the midwest. Boston is tucked way up in the north east corner of the country, and Miami is all the way in the south east corner.

No, I don't buy it at all.

This time it is a media stunt, pure and simple.

 

I'm with Gromit801 on this one.
These locations are NOT cruising friendly destinations but on the other hand News from all of these markets makes the national and sometimes world news.

Corporate Puppets

 

The choice of destinations seems more for maximizing attendance than providing exciting driving excursions. That having been said, I'll still more than likely attend the Chicago event, but I want to see what they have planned before committing.