Don’t lie. Who among us has had the thought of actually racing a MINI in a sanctioned race after a few weekends at the track? I know it’s something I’ve thought quite a bit about. The problem that I always find is actually making that happen and justifying the cost. Not any longer. Continue reading “B-Spec MINI: Racing on the Cheap”
We all know that MINI and BMW have a huge part in this year’s Olympic games and are partners helping to support the USA’s Olympic efforts. Knowing that, it makes sense that the Olympic torch would actually pass through the MINI Plant in Cowley.
COWLEY, ENGLAND – JULY 09: In this handout image provided by LOCOG, Torchbearer 110 Michael Spicer carries the Olympic Flame through the factory at BMW Mini, on day 52 of the Olympic Torch Relay during the leg from Luton to Oxford on July 9, 2012 in Woodstock, west Oxfordshire, England. The Olympic Flame is now on day 52 of a 70-day relay involving 8,000 torchbearers covering 8,000 miles.
I originally shared this post on my personal blog and was reminding folks during MTTS 2012 to do this. I thought it would be a good idea to share this reminder with you guys too!
I’m a big fan of taking care of my cars. They cost a lot of money to purchase and a lot to repair. As a bonus, I’m a frugal guy, which means I like to do what I can, when I can. Things like, oh, I don’t know, checking my oil.
Oh, you say you don’t have a 2002-2006 MINI Cooper? You have an R55/56/60? Continue reading “Your Summer Reminder”
Twelve days, 4,482 miles, 17 states, 6,000 MINI friends and 46 and a half hours of top down motoring in a JCW Roadster. Those are just some of the numbers from my two week adventure on MINI Takes the States. There will be lots of reviews of the trip to come but, for now, I’m going to focus on my time in the Roadster.
In normal, day to day motoring, driving a JCW Roadster will get tons of looks and cause a lot of head-turns because its’ stunning in person. On MTTS, it’s hard to stand out in a sea of well appointed MINIs but the JCW Roadster did just that. Upon entering it, the first thing you want to do in put the top down. The, now standard, semi-automatic top is fantastic. A simple turn of the release handle and a slight push up is all it takes to get started. Press the toggle and the top goes down in just a few seconds with an audible chime alerting you when the process is complete and you’re ready to get moving. My biggest issue with this particular Roadster is the lack of the Recaro seats. This particular car was spec’d with them but a manufacturing hold up kept them from being installed on our test Roadster. Ok, we’ll deal. The problem? The substitution was the black lounge leather seats. While the lounge leather seats are very comfortable, they’re not aggressive looking enough for my taste and the leather is not a great idea in the summer in any drop top ride. Five minutes in the hot summer sun make the seats extremely hot so you really need to always remember to put the top up if the car is going to sit for more than a few minutes. The next problem with the leather is that while enjoying top down motoring in the sun, they don’t breathe and, yes, you’re gonna sweat. A lot. So my first recommendation is that you go for cloth or the amazing Recaros although those may even be a little warm too. I can only speculate. Continue reading “Todd’s Thoughts on the JCW Roadster”
