Hope I'm not jumping in to unfriendly waters...
 

Hi there everybody!

I'm a proud owner of a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T with a few mods...


My girlfriend whom shall be henceforth be lovingly referred to as SWMBO(She Who Must Be Obeyed) is looking at ordering a 2008 MCS.

We went for a test drive this past weekend at Patrick MINI in Schaumburg, IL. What a blast that car was and I wasn't even the one driving! :thumbsup:

If I didn't like RWD 4-doors and OHV V-8's so much I would definitely own a MINI for a small zippy car as the comparable Asian competitors don't appeal to me at all. Heck I might even look at picking up an MCS after I get the Charger paid off in a couple years as a commuter car (especially if the Cooper D comes to America).

I'm looking forward to learning about turbo 4's and the MCS, and hopefully SWMBO will get bitten by the mod bug(she plans on staying stock for now :no:).

Happy Motoring!

SWMBO has good taste in cars.:nod: :grin:

My name on an email account used to be 'She Who Must Be Obeyed', I'd forgotten that and so I sent off a resume from that account.

They were quite amused by my name and had to hire me -- after all, I must be obeyed. :lol:

That Charger looks mean and aggressive, (a good thing). I like the Charger, but I wish they offered a true manual transmission. The autostick is in my humble opinion no substitute for a manual tranny.

I'm sure it's still really fun to drive, all those HEMI horses going through the rear wheels!:grin:

Welcome to NAM. Keep us up to date with SWMBO's MINI.

For a straight line run, there is no replacement for displacement.

But so few roads are arrow straight.

Your R/T looks dang sharp. Wish MINI had that color.

Welcome to NAM!

I remember once when a charger with HEMI size of my car showed up the autocross once :lol: If your girlfriend gets the mini don't take her to an autocross because shell be faster than you:eek: Handling doesn't even come into factor those things are enormous and so is the wheelbase. It was painful and funny to watch at the same time.

R/T is doomed, you will be assimilated.:lol:

That Charger is SWEEEET! You'll like the Mini too. :)

Thanks for all the compliments everyone! I really appreciate it :nod:. I wasn't sure what kind of reception a big honking V8 would get on these forums. I've had her a little over a year and my heart still melts every time I look at her. I can't wait for it to warm up so I can clay bar and put on a few coats of Zaino.
jonnieoh...
Well the Challenger is getting the Tremec 6-speed from the Viper in 2009 (along with a supposed bump in displacement from 6.1 to 6.4 for the SRT flavor). The Challenger, 300, Magnum (no longer in production), Charger are are built on the same platform (LX) so it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that the 6sp manual will be offered in the other models especially with the Pontiac G8 (direct competition to the LX platform) offering a manual.

ChiliXer...
Yeah I know the Charger isn't a corner carver but it still handles really well for a 4100lb RWD car, which is amazing considering the fairly crappy crappy tires they come with from the factory, I'm looking to upgrade to some summer high perf SUV tires when it's time for new rubber (yeah we have large wheels). The Chrysler modified Mercades E-Class suspension (previous gen) provides a good platform for upgrades. We've just got the attention of Pedder's and they have created an entire bushing and suspension replacement kit which will probably be pushing LX's into the area of .9 G's on the skidpad.

So enough about my car I came here to talk about yours....

After a little reading around here a little it seems that the general consensus that the factory recommended 12K oil change interval is a pretty bad idea. Regardless of the fact that its synthetic, does the MINI have a special oil filter or a really big oil filter? I would want a 10qt crankcase and an oil filter the size of a 1 liter bottle before I even would think about going 12k without at least a filter change.

Does anyone here get oil analysis done? A lot of the serious lubrication junkies on my respective forums use Blackstone labs to test their oil.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/what_..._analysis.html
The findings seems that with a hi quality filter (WIX, KN, Mobile 1) that standard synthetic oil (i'm not talking about AMSOIL here) is really only good for 4-5K miles in a 7 qt crankcase. I'm sure the mileage on a MCS will vary.

Also, I've been reading about the auxiliary water pump that runs on vehicle shutdown to cool the turbo down. Has it proven to be pretty reliable alternative to turbo cool down? SWMBO doesn't seem to be thrilled and the prospect of having to let the turbo cool down for a a minute or two after a typical drive. Although I'm sure I could convince her to let the car idle after a particularly spirited drive, or is it not worth it. She plans on keeping it a while so good longterm driving and maintenance habits are important. And may God forgive me for what I might do to those who abuse machines (of any kind) in my presence.

Have you all found catch cans to be a necessary mod? It seems to be a pretty standard mod on most of the turbo 4's I'm familiar with.

Also, is the (checks MINI website for proper name) DSC intrusive at all? Can it be shut off completely or partially? (ie allow some wheelspin for getting moving in snow).

I have an oil analysis on OEM Castrol Syntec at 6K miles and every measurement passed with flying colors.

I use Amsoil in two other vehicles and it is outstanding. One of their best products is their universal ATF (no I don't sell the stuff). I suggest Redline MTF in the MINI gearbox.

Welcome!

The R56 [chassis code for current MINI] uses an auxiliary water pump for the turbo, so there's no need to let the car sit and cool off before keying off; the car does it for you!

Catch can; some will swear by them, and they may help, but in the end it's more cosmetic than anything, especially on a street car. If the OEM found them overwhelmingly advantageous they'd implement them.

DSC is a good idea, especially if you live in snowy area [I see you're in Chi-town, so it's a good idea]. It's much better and less intrusive than on previous generation MINI's ['02-'06], however it's not as fluid as the Corvette, or as "I'll just flash my dashboard light and not intervene" like Mopar setups. You can fully switch it off just by toggling the DSC switch. The dash will tell you that it's switched off. To be honest in wintertime you don't need to switch it off unless you have bad tires and it's deep snow. A set of snow tires is of course recommended, which means you can keep stickier summer tires for good weather!

Cheers,
Ryan
P.S. w00t! for Hemi from Motown :)

I got a Charger as a loaner last week while one of my MINIs was being serviced.
Your boat or her Jet-Ski ---- both are fun. Enjoy.

Manris, is your real name "Rumpole"?

SWMBO was one of his favorite expressions!

Just my anecdotal observation, but to me it seems that maroon/burgundy cars is an American phenomenom. I rarely see those colours in Europe or Asia.

I see youre from the area...

you and SWMBO should check out www.chicagominiclub.com to meet up with other MINI owners in the area should you choose to go for it. :thumbsup:

Ive seen chargers at autox events and it is definitely funny to watch them go at it through the cones, especially when i spank them :lol:

Im not sure how engine longevity is with the oil MINI uses (5W-30 i think) But if its a bog deal you could always buy the oil from the dealer, or whatever your preference is, and change it yourself intermittently.

DSC is definitely amazing. It has saved my life on more than one occassion. Its intrusive, but i can be switched off completely off for track days, or being stuck in snow.

Good luck choosing and hopefully ill see you around at an event one of these days :thumbsup:

Yeah, its a little like NFR through, but redder.

OT but I wish that NFR was available on the MCS

Hear that. It's a real shame NFR isn't available on MCS. Burgundy cars are (fairly) common in the UK though.

No... I picked up the expression from a friendly British wanker who bought a Go ManGo Daytona Charger while he was working in the States for a couple of years and then decided to rack up about 30K posts on chargerforums.com. He ended up taking the Daytona back to the UK with him... So if there are any Brits here who see a brightly colored Charger tooling around in England please call the driver a wanker for me. He'll understand :)

I love Inferno Red... The depending on the quality of light the metal flake makes the color vary quite a bit. In bright sunlight it's a nice bright red, but if there is any shade it begins to look burgundy. The color goes real nice with black. I'll be getting a set of aluminum 5 spokes with black pockets soon (think modernized Mag 500 wheels).

She's planning to get a Chili Red MCS with a black roof and black bonnet stripes. I'm gonna tease her as she's copying my color theme :grin:

SWMBO came with me to a mini car show/meet (not just chargers) of sorts once... she felt really awkward and out of place. She doesn't like meeting people from the internet. She's not a gearhead like me, so I don't see really going any sort of event.

I'll make you a deal... I'll come to an autoX and you can snicker and point at me if you come a 1/4 mile track while I point and snicker at you (that is unless you are running anything other than stock boost). :grin:

Seriously though I've been wanting to go to an autoX but I probably won't until I get some suspension upgrades (probably next year) and 20"s (which surprisingly look normal on an LX) but that probably won't happen as I love the look of 255/55/18's on the Charger.

I think the DSC will be good for her this will be her most powerful car to date. She'll be stepping out of a Ford Focus SE (four door) with a whopping 110 hp.

I'm gonna try and convince her to buy some steelies or take-offs from NAM to mount a good set of snow tires on.

Boat?! come on Buick's are boats... I prefer the term "speed boat" :)

sounds like a plan :lol::lol: The last time i went to a 1/4 mile track i got owned by a GNX. So ill be used to it :razz: