myMiniCooper

We are sure that you remember the MINI Challenge Safety Car, right? The tricked out neon-green-and-black JCW Clubman we posted about a few months back.

Good chance none of us will ever get to ride in one, so here is the next best thing. Enjoy!

Argh!

So I’m doing the 4 hour drive home last night after a day of business meetings on the road. My friends who have spent time in Germany always lament at the sorry excuse for drivers ed and driving standards we have in this country, and I emphatically agree. Last night, I witnessed MANY examples of asinine behavior…

My least favorites:

One: The jerks in large trucks (big rigs or panel trucks) who feel the need, in a 65mph zone in a congested section of I-85, to pass another truck at a speed of 67mph, because the other guy was only going 66mph, thereby occupying the passing lane for 2 minutes to make a single pass… while the prevailing speed in the fast lane in that area is 80mph+…

Two: The complete idiot in the Chevy Cavalier who was employing the exact same passing strategy, except they were passing an “undocumented Mexican immigrant” in tiny pickup truck, in a 55 zone, in an entirely wide open and deserted area of divided 4-lane. I patiently waited behind them until they were several car lengths in front of the pickup. Still cruising maybe 2mph over the posted limit, in the “fast lane”… I quickly and politely flashed my lights once in a courteous request to pull over. Instead they shot me the bird, and SLOWED DOWN to come back beside the pickup, where they maintained their position…

I flashed again. They shot the bird again. At this point I turn on several hundred watts of high beams, xenons, and rally lights, and leave them on, illuminating the interior of the POS Cavalier like a magnesium flare… they turn on the bird, and leave it on, and maintain pace… then they slow further (to about 40mph), allowing the pickup to overtake them on the right… I drop back a bit, they anticipate my move, and they move into the right lane to block… doofus… I instantaneously kick in 15psi of boost and overtake on the left, then move back into the right lane like a courteous motorist when it is safe to do so.

Mind you, I have NO interest in “racing” a teenager in a POS bone-stock Cavalier on ANY day - there’s no sport in it, and I don’t want even idiots like this to kill themselves when I’m nearby… and I have even less interest in it at the end of a 12 hour workday in my last hour of drive home. I just want to motor. But this nimrod moves back into the left lane behind me and takes up the chase. I resume my V1-aided cruising speed and watch the Cavalier in the side mirror. Eventually, fear of losing their license if they were to happen upon a state trooper overtakes their testosterone level, and they slow back down to something approaching their original speed, as me and my blazing rally lights disappear up the road.

WHY do kids feel compelled to behave this way? I was just driving, minding my own business, and they decided that the left lane was somehow their God-given property and I was unreasonable to want to make use of it for a moment or two… Argh… Back 20 years ago, a buddy and I fantasized about the ultimate automotive accessory, the “Asshole Missile”, that, once launched, would seek and destroy such wastes of oxygen. I went so far as to figure out how to make PVC launch tubes for Estes rockets to fit on my roofrack… I’m about ready to revive that design effort…

It really wasn’t drastically cold this morning - 13f - but GPMINI didn’t like it!
I loaded some stuff in to the trunk and when I closed the hatch, it didn’t feel properly closed; it rattled slightly and when I re-locked the car, the alarm didn’t “beep” - which indicates that not all doors are closed.

When I started the car, the hood/trunk warning light was on. I had to open and close the hatch quite a few times before I got the light to turn off - basically by giving an almighty slam to it, which is scary! It was fine after re-opening it at work, so apparently it was just unhappy with the cold weather.

The engine & gearbox didn’t like the cold either … the engine turned over really slow and sluggish for the first couple of seconds, almost but not quite stalling; and I had to push hard to get in to first gear, both the cables and the box itself seemed stiff. Again, the gear box was back to normal after half a minute or so.

I don’t remember having trunk hatch issues in much colder weather before (although the engine/gear box has been stiff) - but I suppose I don’t often use the trunk so I’m not likely to notice.

Jason - if you’re reading up there in Burlington, VT … how does your R56 MCS in cold weather compare with your original R50?

We are big fans of Winding Road. But even one of the better auto publications out there sometimes can get it wrong. In reporting on the new JCW factory MINI, not only do they get some key facts incorrect about the previous JCW kit, but they can’t seem to get their figures right on the new car either.

For starters they claim the new JCW kit will be retrofittable at dealers for around $5000. We can report that this is 100% incorrect. We can only assume they got confused somewhere in between the prevous JCW kit (which originally was just over $5K retrofitted) and the current JCW dealer installed kit which is $2100. (more…)

MINI was looking pretty rough the other day, then I remember I work for a car wash company! And, since it rains mud at el casa, I was way past due. So, to the car wash Roxy went!

And, when she was done?

Not bad, considering this.

Cool new features might be coming to dbmini very soon. Check the ‘other’ blog to see what it might be.

As quite a few may have noticed, MINI debuted a set of new JCW wheels with the launch of the factory JCW MINI. The 7×17″ R112 (as it’s code-named) should weigh in at around 21lbs and come standard on the factory JCW. It should also be available from MINI dealers around the world.

Some of you may have noticed the R112 looks somewhat like the already available R90. The R90 was created to be used with the original John Cooper Motorsports program in the UK and it seems only fitting that the new series (and the road car the series has spawned) will be using somewhat of an updated version. (more…)