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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
With the rainy season upon us here, I spend more time for other pursuits, including cooking good food. I perfected my interpretation of cheese and pepperoni pizza. Instead of greasy pepperoni I use home made char siu. My pizza is all homemade with love, down to the tomato sauce. Alas, with this recipe down the pad, Mini will have one less excuse to go drive on the backroad twisties to visit Escape From New York pizza. That's alright. With the money saved, more toys for Mini.
Escape From New York pizza
My all homemade char siu pizza - no grease
I finally got around to Escape from NY, it was pretty good, needs some olive oil to grease it up a bit, needs some flop. I also checked out http://www.tastebudpdx.com in Multnomah Village and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Everything but the long Friday Night wait. I used to have an outdoor oven that I could crank to 1000F, that was some great homemade pizza, unfortunately don't have it anymore.
I finally got around to Escape from NY, it was pretty good, needs some olive oil to grease it up a bit, needs some flop. I also checked out http://www.tastebudpdx.com in Multnomah Village and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Everything but the long Friday Night wait. I used to have an outdoor oven that I could crank to 1000F, that was some great homemade pizza, unfortunately don't have it anymore.
It's a nice ride down Scholls Ferry.
Thanks for the tip at tastebudpdx. You must be a real foodie to have a outdoor oven. I make my pizza in a convection oven with pizza screen. Then I crisp up the crust in a cast iron skillet. A two step process that works very well.
With the rainy season upon us here, I spend more time for other pursuits, including cooking good food. I perfected my interpretation of cheese and pepperoni pizza. Instead of greasy pepperoni I use home made char siu. My pizza is all homemade with love, down to the tomato sauce. Alas, with this recipe down the pad, Mini will have one less excuse to go drive on the backroad twisties to visit Escape From New York pizza. That's alright. With the money saved, more toys for Mini.
Busy day! Good job! I remember getting all that done. I bet your Mini feels completely different and tighter now!
Busy week! Had this past week off, so went at it in a relaxed and controlled manner, cleaning everything in there as I disassembled.
Most of the original suspension components were somewhat greasy as past oil leaks had made a mess of things - especially on the passenger side. I've since replaced all the oil-related gaskets and seals inside and outside the engine, so it's clean as a whistle and dry as a bone. Now that the suspension components have also been removed and cleaned up, the car looks new above and below.
Yes, the car is so much tighter now, reacts to the road instantly - without that bone jarring shudder that I used to experience with each bump. C/A bushings made a big difference (the originals were totally disintegrated), and the new (OEM) upper engine mount really smooths out whatever drive-train vibrations it once had.
I also got the top engine mount replaced! I added the supper pro bushing.
It feels way different but in a good way.
That's is most interesting product. I a kind of like the idea. The company sure think out of the box on this one. Does the engine place load onto this spacer? How does the NVH compare to the OEM mount alone?
Interesting... I literally just swapped mine out on Friday while I was off on holiday.
How is this different? I am curious as well.
It piqued my interest so much that I ordered one right away. I really like the idea that it uses the stock mount beefy stainless steel casing to support it. If it share some work with the hydraulic damper/spring I think it will significantly increase the longevity, as it should also reduce the horizontal movement. The Aussie is up to something good.
You will see less engine movement and I also hope it makes the mount last longer.
The downside (at least in my case) is that you will have some minor vibrations going up through the front pillars. This happens at low rev's (around 2500).
You will see less engine movement and I also hope it makes the mount last longer.
The downside (at least in my case) is that you will have some minor vibrations going up through the front pillars. This happens at low rev's (around 2500).
I notice you OE mount has ground out partmarkings. I bought a Lemfoerder which is similar. For the sake of expanding the list what brand did you buy as I suspect there is more than one?
I appreciate you say "at least in my case" as different car with different configuration and mods will result in different increase of NVH. I track my car but I treasure the Mini's civility on public road. I am willing to have slightly harsher ride from suspension improvement for handling, but much less so with drivetrain stiffness/tightness. The stock mount gets a lot of bad raps but most don't realize there is a lot of engineering that has gone into that "unreliable" part. It functions very similarly like one corner of a wheel suspension.
I got the one from REIN. I've been using some of their components lately to replace the old parts in my car and so far so good.
I wish I can tell you how the top mount bushing helps by itself but I also replaced the lower mounts bushings with power flex ones. So when I drove my car it was a completely new feeling. In the end I think you will like the upgrade when you get to the track!
Originally Posted by pnwR53S
I notice you OE mount has ground out partmarkings. I bought a Lemfoerder which is similar. For the sake of expanding the list what brand did you buy as I suspect there is more than one?
I appreciate you say "at least in my case" as different car with different configuration and mods will result in different increase of NVH. I track my car but I treasure the Mini's civility on public road. I am willing to have slightly harsher ride from suspension improvement for handling, but much less so with drivetrain stiffness/tightness. The stock mount gets a lot of bad raps but most don't realize there is a lot of engineering that has gone into that "unreliable" part. It functions very similarly like one corner of a wheel suspension.
Hmmm, tried on some new shoes today, what do you guys think, too much? Gonna wrap the roof, mirror caps, and headlight surrounds gloss black, and swap for an Aero grill. Yeah, another black trim Mini... I like them.
XXR 0 offset 16x8.25 with 225/45/16 Nexen something or others. Damn they sit wide.
No rubbing at all? If so where and what did you have to do
Took Egan out for its second to last drive before I put him away for the winter. With my GF riding shotgun, we evidently got some air, had to dodge lots of metal on the highway, spotted an Ariel Atom V8 while going to get some Frozen yogurt, and had lots and lots of fun all doing it. I got one more drive tomorrow, in which case I hope to surpass 162k miles. :D
I have some major stuff happening this winter for Egan, so stay tuned.
