Joined again by Chad Miller from Detroit Tuned. If you are in the greater Detroit area and looking for an independant shop to work on your MINI, check ’em out. And if you are still suffering from the stuck air bag light, check with your dealer. Chad thinks they extended that warranty again, so it’s worth checking out.
We talk about Todd’s experience with the new iPhone/iPod touch app Dynolicious which told him his GP has gone from 13hp to 590hp. In fairness, he hasn’t been able to fully test it yet. Of course, that led to us talking about dynos in general and what kind of tuning Chad has been doing to the R56.
Otherwise, a little sales talk, a little dealer talk, Todd’s Honda Del Sol (again), and parts stock, among other things.
As I mentioned during last nights show and tonight, I have started a new show with Fireball Tim called The Hollywood Car Show where we talk about upcoming movies, cool cars in movies and in television. I think it’s a lot of fun and think you might like it too. Find it at thehollywoodcarshow.com.
Contest? Been a while since we did one of those. Remember, you have to leave a comment in the show notes at WRR to be able to play along. Oh, and you have to listen to the show to see what it is. Winner gets a free WRR T-Shirt! If you work at a MINI dealer in any way shape or form, you can’t play along. Sorry.
Finally, Todd and I both use Twitter. I’m dbwilldo, Todd is Toddsmods. Follow Mr. Cone too.
Woofcast 265:
Download | 21.1MB | 45:50 | WRR @ iTunes | WRR@Facebook
The Dynolicious website says it supports the iPod Touch. I’ve gone one but no Dynolicious. If anyone wants to donate the $12.99 I can give it a shot. 🙂
899 refers to the color code of MINIs with white roofs!
Wow, that was fast! Show’s barely been up for an hour and we already have a winner! Nicely done!
I’ve got one more shirt I can give out. I will give it to someone who comments here on WRR, chosen at random by Todd. So, lets see some impressive comments!
I should be ashamed for begging….but I would love me some WRR shirt.
thanks!
Begging works! 1 free shirt will be coming your way as well.
Watch your emails later tonight. I will contact you for specifics.
Thanks fellas!
woohoo!
Hmm. My post didn’t appear. Must need to be moderated because of the link.
BTW, I like the Chad, but no hosting for 1-year for being a Cooper hater. LOL!
R50s FTW!! 😉
Also, (I just finished listening to the show) I enjoy watching the videos, but won’t cry if you stop posting. Maybe if you limit them to events and hot babes, you’d get fewer complaints.
I would much rather have a service center than a dealer. Thanks Todd for representing my delima. I live in Wichita and drive 3hrs for service. I am just this year out of warranty. I would prefer to go to the dealer for repairs and maintence. For example, alignments, apparently you need a special tool and only dealers have this tool.
The #1 concern that I hear from people interested in my MINI and buying a MINI is the service. They almost always ask about service and driving 3hrs for service for non-enthusiasts is not even a reasonable option. It seems to make alot of sense to me to offer MINI service at BMW dealers.
I would think that they could just have a traveling MINI tech that works a region, and if demand warants a full time MINI only tech. Parts can be distibuted easily within the BMW distribution network. Also, people like myself who simply do not trust an independent mechanic to get things done right on a car they may have never worked on before are willing to pay a little more for a job done right.
Dynolicious Works! My first few runs averaged out to 167 wheel HP on a stock R56, top speed of 96mph and a 0-60 of 6.9 sec. (I’ll get better, honest!). My power numbers and quarter-mile times came very close to the ones posted by Gene’s Garage419 R56 though my starts could use some work 😉
So, the issues you’re having are simply fixed:
– check the vehicle weight carefully since the program uses full gross vehicle weight including passengers. I found that with a lower weight, my HP went through the roof. So, I went to MINIUSA.com and pulled the GVW from the specs page.
– position really matters. When my iPhone was even a little bit sideways in the cupholder, the readings went off. Now I jam a rag behind the phone to brace it better.
– when the run says “go”, you can sit there as long as you like. There is a “Trigger” you can play with on the settings page that literally triggers the run to start. Until you hit this G-number, nothing happens. Pull up to the stop light and right away press “start run”, then wait for the light to change!
Hey db,
Can I apply to be the official WRR videographer? Here is a quick video I made of a recent MINI event here in NE Ohio. http://2ndmileproductions.com/blog/131/minis-at-the-pub/
This was without any pre-planning. I was just going to the event and decided to take along my camera.
Here’s something I saw on the way home while listening to the podcast. It was right after Todd was talking about his del sol:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dickdavid/2801446765/
sorry if this ends up being a repost.
@Brian…I was trying to check out the video, but I got ‘file does not exist’ errors on both. Do you have another link?
And, watch for an email from me later in the week.
@dickdavid niiiiice.
Brian’s video worked for me yesterday and it still works – just now checked. (I think Db tends to drink a little).
dickdavid – I don’t see that many del sols on the road anymore. It’s good to know there’s still a few out there.
Sorry db.. server weirdness.. fixed the link for the 720p version. If you click on the image right above that link it will play in the browser.
BTW.. Chad and Tori are going to be here in NE Ohio this weekend for a Mod Party. It was great to hear him on the show. I am finally getting a pulley!!!
It seems pretty obvious to me that it’s more important for MINI to arrange for more authorized service centers than more dealers. I also live over 3 hours from a dealer, but there are many BMW dealers closer. I live in Virginia within 8 hours of New York and 8 hours of Atlanta – there’s a lot of population density (as opposed to the west and midwest where things are more spread out), but I’m still 3 hours from a dealer.
Enlarging the dealer network would be great, but perhaps not as beneficial because the inventory of cars is so small. If we’re going to custom order the car, the location of the dealer isn’t very important for the initial purchase. It’s the service that’s a hassle.
Great shows this week.
I want a service center nearby. Period. My MINI dealer is 250 miles away in Albuquerque. It’s a day off of work and nice motor so I’m not complaining necessarily but it’s a pain and it takes some organization. I need a dealer once but I’ll need service a couple times a year, easy! I’ve had my MINI for 8 months and already need five different things looked at under warranty.
Heaps of folks ask about my MINI and a deal breaker has been the fact that service is a day away.
If the MINI dealership network is already strained to meet the buying public’s demand for MINIs, then the likelihood of adding more dealerships is very low. Maybe MINI can build a manufacturing facility here in North America to keep up with demand, (even though that is also highly unlikely).
The most realistic solution is to arm and equip some, if not all, BMW dealerships to also service MINIs.
I’m certain this is easier said than done; as most BMW dealerships would probably claim that their service departments are busy enough with their own cars, thank you very much.
It’s a real hum-dinger of a problem…
Hey, Todd – still wondering about the phrase “stick a pin in it”?
Actually, the correct expression is “put the pin back in it”, and it refers to the pin in a hand grenade. So, you were kinda right in thinking the expression had something to do with saving something for later.
Hope this helps!
still hoping for a tshirt