See if I can remember what are we doing? Why are you afraid? I think I’m gonna do this. Let’s see It’s been a while the shuttle cast you’re listening to the world famous white roof radio with cast number 695 recorded April 29th 2024 Listener supported. Thanks so much Come on this is funny Everybody’s DB in Arizona check it out brand new episode of world famous white roof radio. I think we’re still world famous You just heard three straight minutes of beeps Todd’s Todd’s here Gabe’s here to Gabe say hi. Hello We’re talking about mini Cooper stuff for you on a Monday night oddly enough like we like to do no Chad tonight Chad Lucky bastard. What’s he doing on his way the dragon loaded up for bear the Detroit van Detroit tuned van and the the clubman on the way to the dragon Somebody’s gonna get hurt that he’s got a clubman was like, I don’t know 490 horsepower or something right? Perfect. Yeah 55 just keep that in mind and you guys sent us we I saw the picture of this He’s got a turbo on this on this JCW Clubman the size of a gallon paint can it is this is This image the image that he posted in slack will be this week show art thank you Chad for that we appreciate it Unlike like a locomotive is what it looks like, you know Anyway, we’re talking about me Cooper stuff Gabe’s all this Gabe’s been going to all the places and doing all the things Todd’s here and he’s been not going to all the Places, but he’s actually had hands on the new countryman Yeah, the big beast of a countryman. So we’re gonna talk today. Yeah, and then Gabe you went to Portugal Or something Gabe and you’ve been to Germany or London when was the Like I’m trying to like what was the last time we we haven’t done a show since December. Oh, yeah So I went to Portugal. You’re in Portugal. So I went to Portugal and I drove the countryman JCW and I drove the electric countryman Se so okay. Well, yeah lots of report there for sure so Where do we want to start should we start there because that’s kind of where things I guess could kick us off I could do that real quick. We could do that really quick. I guess that’s kind of makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. All right, let’s do it. Yeah, so DB and other news I Successfully turned off some of the ads Figured it up so so I was able to I was able to Pop a flight over to Portugal and spend some time with our friends at mini global Talking with many designers engineers executives about all of the new cars Really, you know everything they’re they’re they’re releasing but really was predominant there to drive the countryman JCW and the countryman Se the electric one Got a chance to drive these cars through some incredible roads in Portugal on the west coast In Portugal on the west side of Portugal a little bit further north near that area where if you Google Portuguese surfing you’ll see some of the biggest waves in the world. Mm-hmm and You know, you can read the reviews and watch the reviews on motoring file. I Hope you all have if you haven’t go do that, but I can summarize it to a degree I mean these cars they’re big, you know, they’re bigger. We all know that they represent a very new philosophy for many in terms of Design You know even some of the materials inside very very new very different but you know what many didn’t forget about was making a Let’s just call what it is. It was a small crossover making a small crossover fun to drive and This new small crossover and I can only speak to JCW form on the petrol version not the Cooper S Yeah, we talked about that a little bit. I’m sorry the countryman asked It is it is Hands down it is a you know a more engaging drive than the previous one if you On on public roads, I can say that because I have not driven on track yet Okay, public roads the steering is quicker like literally ratios quicker It’s more fluid the feedback while it’s not amazing that there is actual some elements of feedback in there that weren’t really there before Suspension is much again much more fluid. It deals with body control so much better More comfortable along the way the DCT is not as fast as you want it to be Mm-hmm. Actually, I’d say it’s not as fast as the Aston 8-speed that was in that car Wow in sport mode, but it’s much more again I go kind of theme here fluid and it’s gear changes It feels more natural low speeds when you’re shifting manually feels much much more natural So it just feels like a much more sorted package all in and Ultimately was an absolute blast is it as fast to the tenths of a second zero to sixty old countryman Jsw it is not okay. It’s certainly not as fast as my club in but it’s quick and You know for what it is and the exercise you get I think it’s a great product. It doesn’t doesn’t feel bigger driving It doesn’t you know, but it it was it was a it was a great drive the SE the electric which won’t be on sale here until September late on August September Was pretty interesting because that car has more power 313 versus well the the countryman I drove had 300 because it was the European version the countryman Jsw were getting will have 3 12 or 13 depending on your horsepower Same exact as the SE you you would think like, okay the SE Wow must be must you know? There’s gonna be some similarity there totally not same horsepower is where the similarities and The NC is not a Jsw product. So, you know you hustle it and it’s fun, but you immediately feel the weight You know, this is a car that is We don’t it’s it’s it’s heavy. It’s almost a thousand pounds more than the Jcw It is it is almost a thousand pounds more and you in an even though that that weight is all down low You feel you a hundred percent feel that weight when you push it hard, which as you can imagine I did So, of course, you know you’re you definitely do that now that said It’s still like It’s a fun car to drive for the majority of people out there that aren’t gonna be ripping through the back roads of Portugal Commuting it’s a great car. I mean, you know the of course the the range is is good I wouldn’t call it great, but it’s good. I actually did a whole report on Various weather scenarios and how they would affect the range so you can see as much as you know Low 300s in mild city driving in that car really 32 is as high as they estimate. This is an independent Kind of group that does this sure down to highway cold weather what you’re only gonna get like a hundred and seventy miles of range so You know really is gonna depend on what you’re doing how the weather is etc But key point there is it’s got real range and so for the majority of people unless your job is to drive on The highway all the time like we’ve talked about in the past those people go Well, I can’t drive that car because I have to drive 1200 miles a week. Well, yeah, okay Yeah, you should and you shouldn’t buy an electric car. I mean, I think that’s fair Don’t do it. Yeah, just don’t do it Yeah at some point they’ll make sense for you, but I think you know, so all in you know I think I think it’s a it’s a good first step good first Electric countrymen We’ll talk about how they’re gonna change it in the future and other podcasts because they’ve got big plans for it But I think it’s great and I think it’s gonna make a lot of people happy getting into an electric mini with real utility So yeah, I think it’s I think it’s gonna be a winner both of them are Good, but you have the two that are on sale now In the United States, of course and just recently that the cars arriving to dealers like today Last week are the countrymen JCW and the countrymen s So I want to know Gabe no, I’m just gonna interrupt you here because this is kind of the important part of this the countrymen s Has gained quite a bit of horsepower for the for the s model. It used to be at what 189 I think was the was the Cooper s yeah, depending on how you measured it. It was yeah roughly that yeah And then now we’re talking like what is it 41 to 41? So you’re approaching it. You’re not you’re not near the JCW the 300 horsepower there, but I think bang for your buck Well, but you are at the torque. Yeah, you are with the tour You actually maxed the day JCW with torque for with at 295, which is crazy, right? Right? It’s not as fast as you wrote a 60 But it’s probably gonna be as fun and I’m kind of thinking in the back of my mind, you know for bang for your buck You know save the five grand because that’s basically the difference between these you know why that’s a bad idea though. Oh tell me This is gonna now now we’re gonna we’re gonna we’re gonna get right into this go so There was a there was a decision made and I and I’ll say this this at time recording I haven’t had it completely confirmed, but I but from official channels, but I’ve had it confirmed through some unofficial channels The mini USA Rightfully, so told mini global. Hey, we’re not gonna take the JCW trim because it kind of devalues the JCW Right that we’re going to sell of course, you know, because it looks just like that car So you’re talking about the JCW trim on a Cooper s countryman on a countryman s we’ll just talk about the country right now Okay, right. So the the JCW trim on the countryman It comes with a bunch of stuff. It’s not just you know plastic Cladding right you also get shift paddles hmm and They made the decision that the global level at the at the product level which is kind of hard to unwind So quickly that the shift paddles would only be available on the JCW trim or the full JCW so you can get the trim on a Countryman see which they don’t even sell the US right? It’s essentially the old Cooper countryman s and You know, of course the JCW just comes with it So you can get the shift paddles and everything but coming back to the United States where they said hey We don’t want to offer that because that seems disingenuous, which I agree with It doesn’t seem like you know, just it devalues the whole concept of a JCW if you literally can make any car look like that well Unfortunately in that in doing so from what I can tell they Eliminated the chance for anybody in the United States ordering a countryman s to get shift paddles, which means that You have no ability to manually control You know, you’re shifting in a country mass, which maybe for most people that’s probably not a huge deal for me like I personally I Continuously shift in my in my cars just because I enjoy it. I also have these giant metal shift paddles But but I just I just I just love it and I’ve driven a lot in a not, you know in a in a f-56 Cooper over the winter and I same thing would slot that that gear lever over to the left and shift in that thing too Just because it was fun, you know, well, you know, there’s no shift paddles There’s also no gear lever anymore, right? Which means you have you’re just a passenger at this point So you just you just drive now So that’s that’s the the big that’s the big rub in my view of Todd. I did drive a countryman s this weekend and It was it was the iconic package with the small wheels which looks strange Yeah, it was good. I mean the standards we’ll talk about the seats in a second the transmission was good It was quicker. No question about it Putting it into L which I don’t know why it’s called L, but it’s essentially sport mode Crisp’s up the shifts shift points. It’s quicker. This transmission is well judged. Everything about it is really good But I have no way to manually override Shifting in the last in less I pull the secret shift mode, right? Which we discovered a motor file which you should go check out which allows you to shift We got a little tiny button tiny buttons on this on this steering wheel which doesn’t work and I did a lot right right It’s ridiculous Yeah, so anyway, that’s my long answer to that. I don’t know. I think that enthusiasts are gonna miss that But oh my god, they’re gonna be pitchforks man. Yeah, I’m not pitchforks. I have a JCW I’ve got the shift paddles and I use them. I’m saying but if you ordered one and you didn’t know that yeah You know, you’re throwing down 40 Let’s say 45 grand for a pretty loaded country and that’s like hey, this is great. I’m gonna get a sporty small crossover I’m gonna say 95% of the current customers aren’t gonna give a crap about shift paddles. Yeah That’s just me. I mean I might be completely wrong. I guess I find out I guess we’ll find out we will I don’t maybe that’s right I do think though. There’s going to be a very very vocal Group that is going to be up in arms. I’ve yet to write about a modern file because I hadn’t had it confirmed yet Yeah, but like I mean, you know, listen, you’re changing a lot and you have to be able to center a core a core group of enthusiasts into Like very like, you know brand centric products. So, you know, they’re gonna show off the new Cooper JCW as a great great. That’s awesome Won’t be a manual but it’ll be a DCT with shift paddles. Okay, great. It’ll be fine. It’ll have to be exposed Giant exhaust pipe out the back Like so it’s gonna kind of have the nods to the things you want, right? But when you take it away from the the Cooper s and that’s the other thing everything I just talked about with the shift paddles is applicable to the f66 Cooper s as well. Yeah, so that means I go again. I go buy this small little sporty car. Awesome, right? This is great Well, it’s got a weird gear lever. Well, that’s fine. I still have the shift paddles. No, you don’t got nothing little You just Hands on the wheel you just Well yourself asleep and this is one of many things and if we think about this from the engineering design standpoint Think about this and this is just my theory and you can tell me whether I’m right or wrong Gabe This car was pretty much designed as an electric car. So basically took the electric base car and then Designed the gas car around it because the original plans for many were to phase out gasoline cars within the next year Not necessarily. So what they what they did and actually I did talk to some many folks off the record about this. Yeah so what they what they did was they had they had always intended to Stretch the f60 when they made the sort of the plan to say hey, we’re gonna go all-electric by 2030 Yeah, so that was the original intent and There was debate. Do we just kill the the petrol powered? Cooper with the J01 coming and they decided, you know as they made that decision. No, we’re not gonna do that We’re going to just take the f56 and we’re just gonna evolve it right into the f66 and they forked The Cooper into two completely different products the J01 which is like literally has nothing to do with the F66. I mean it shares the badge. I think that’s a little bit only thing it has in common and then the f66 so The f66 is enough 56. That’s all it is I mean you could and this is where things are gonna get interesting in the next few years I’ll bet you money that somebody’s gonna do this. You could probably do a manual conversion on that car because it’s the same engine Right small small tweaks You could alternatively probably if you had a lot of time in your hands and you had a code you could probably get that Giant circular screen to work on an f56 as well Hmm because it’s working on the same Wiring harness it’s working on the same with the same inputs. Yeah, you know, it’s a chassis essentially So so those cars are the same under the skin in a lot of ways I mean structurally speaking now the many will say this rightfully so the only thing that’s shared is like the the glass And the sun roof I think but right You know other than that though like sure but there’s a but there’s a lot of stuff like way down deep that are the same So anyway, so that’s that and then the countryman is the same the countryman was like, okay, so we’re gonna do We’re gonna do one more gen and we’re gonna do we’re gonna use BMW’s Philosophy which is power of choice, which by the way I’ve written about for years on Bimmer file and motor file as well At the time I was like wait You’re gonna make one chassis and you’re gonna cram in batteries Into a internal combustion engine chassis and then you’re gonna make that also work for an internal combustion engine car. That seems insane Well, they did it and now that we see like the EV market kind of wavering which is not unexpected It kind of seems like the right decision. Well, yeah, it does until you look at something like Is it Toyota that is banking on hybrids now? Mm-hmm that they’re kind of going they’re going all in on Hybrids, which I think from a consumer standpoint a lot of people are going. Yeah, that’s what I’d rather have America for sure Right, right You know the people who have range anxiety and say I just want to be able to like oh I forgot to plug in My car last night. Yeah, I agree. I can just go to the gas station and fill up, you know I I wrote about this last I think it was like last Monday, right? Many has the platform they decided not to use it Yeah, and that’s what I think I’m not sure it’s a smart decision in the long run and we won’t know we won’t know for a Few years, but I kind of think Leaving that slated in there probably would have been a good idea Because the hybrid it’s a fine car there’s there’s nothing wrong with it But the reason I think many you know decided to go now We’re gonna scrap this because most people who have the hybrids and the countrymen is the only car that many ever had that had a hybrid it was a plug-in and Also had gas and it only had about what 18 20 mile range You know somewhere between 16 to 20 miles on the full electric, but anyway people loved the car But they never plugged them in well, yeah Well, yeah, so Critical critical to the difference in this new one is it doesn’t have 14 miles of range It has like 55 miles of range, right? Yeah, it makes a lot more sense because it and it will recharge the battery on the on the fly, right? So nice it really does You still should charge it but it really does change the way you use it and in a lot of ways it’s kind of going It’s almost like the flip of the old i3 where the i3 would have the you know The first first first ones had like a hundred miles of range right and you had a little tiny Motorcycle engine basically producing power to charge an electric engine This still this this is not quite like that because you could you actually do use the engine to motivate the car But it was also charging the battery so it it does do a little bit of all those things I think it’s a great system Yeah, and when you look at you look back and see you remember the first hybrid we ever were made aware of was the Toyota Prius Which came out literally 20 some years ago. I want to say 22 years ago was the first sound first pair sounds, right? Yep, and It was you know, they nailed that and it was a very popular car as ugly as it was the new one 97 Prius landed in 97. So we’re talking 20, you know what 28 years almost years It’s insane to think about and the new Prius actually looks good. They actually it looks really good Yeah, it’s it’s a decent looking car for a small car And I think you know consumers who do the research and educate themselves a little bit might lean towards that for a Majority of people’s lifestyles it gives me your range anxiety. It’s a dependable car. They’ve been making it for 25 years So it’s not not new technology. So it’s it’s pretty dependable I know people who’ve had them hell I worked on one that was 20 years old like a Prius for an automotive museum and I had it for about a week or two and You know the battery didn’t hold the charge because it’s 20 some years old but the car still worked It’s her we drove it across town So it’s it’s dependable and all that and and I just think I don’t know we were all like gung-ho about it’s all electric now. It’s all electric we’re all going electric and everybody’s kind of pushing forward on that and There’s still a lot. There’s still 60 70, you know, probably 70% of consumers out there are going. I’m not so sure You know, yeah And also when you see a large automaker like Chevrolet just completely shit the bed trying to get out your cars out the door Right, right I could tell you so much about well I mean and that’s the kind of stuff that people that’s all they hear that could because they don’t hear the good news They don’t hear all the good stories about somebody who managed to get a EV blazer and they just love it to death Internet or something, you know, yeah, I mean it’s it’s a I mean it’s it’s the product of a company that you know can design You know a car an engineer car but can’t code the software Right because because you know, oh by the way you you can talk about how you want to become a software company But if you’re not or you have you know a complete organization that doesn’t understand that or you Know then you should stick you should just stick to build thousands of years and you’re you know Thousands of employees entrenched and doing you know, somebody the opposite way like it is a million reasons why it doesn’t work It can work like I mean, you know, you can Shit can 20,000 people and buy a company You know what I mean like it’s it’s hard and then the hard stuff is not the stuff you think the hard stuff’s the software And so huh? Anyway, I mean whatever I can talk about it forever. I had a lot of lot of insight on that one, but it’s a You know, it will be figured out. Here’s the thing EV sales aren’t like tanking I know look at BMW there they’re on the rise last year They sold more than ever, you know, I mean he and Hyundai are selling the hell out of their so they’re not tanking and I mean I You know, I just I just played with a lucid for a little bit I mean, I saw a loose I saw the other day on the in the wild. It was crazy I I bought when I bought the club and I was back and forth between those two cars and Which I know are insanely different. But yeah, you know that they I mean they’re you know, giving so Since you were looking at lucid I have to ask the question that everybody’s now It’s on everybody’s mind is how come the cyber truck wasn’t one of your choices I don’t want to accidentally sweater Child I’m telling you you don’t want a car that looks like a dumpster with a license plate parked in a parking space I I’m glad that it exists in the world because I think we need to have divergent thinking and design Rather I would rather have a Pontiac Aztec in my driveway Than a cyber truck, dude, I’d rather have rather a PT Cruiser. I would rather have a unicycle I saw one today for the first time on the road a unicycle for the first time No, I saw a cyber truck on the road today Yeah first time on the road and I was not prepared for the absolute hysteric Ridiculousness of it. Oh, it is absolutely I was not prepared for the scale the enormous scale of Absurdity that is that car and yeah, you know we can move on but you know, and really quick Todd I don’t know if you saw but on the Facebook’s our pal Jim Gallagher posted a picture of Said dumpster with a California license plate. I’m like scrolling through my Facebook feed I’m going why the hell would he post a picture of a dumpster? Wait a minute. Why is your license plate on that dumpster? Oh, wait, that’s a cyber truck For reals that look like a dumpster Didn’t we all draw pictures of that like in kindergarten when we were doing cars like oh, yeah This is a cool like feature. They’re like, oh yeah, that’s Gabe. Sorry. I distracted us, please Yeah, let’s bring us back. Won’t you? No, no, it’s all good. I mean, I think Yeah, so we’re I mean we’re you know, we’re talking about the you know, the the shift paddle thing So yeah, it’s a small thing with the with these cars, but it’s you know I think it’s indicative of some of the changes they’ve made that You know Let’s talk about the exhaust, you know the exhaust on the on the on the Cooper which the small car is now called the Cooper You mean the one that you can’t see you don’t know where it is What’s that? You mean the the one yes, you can’t see so many Again, this is I would say this is a decision made by people, you know in Germany who are trying to you know Design and think for a global audience and their thought process was we want to Reduce the obvious sort of emission of these cars. So it’s not you know, you’re not reminding continuously This is emitting co2 and at the same time we want to visually move these cars closer to each other So it’s barely noticeable You know, which one is the electric versus the the the the combustion mini? Okay, so they decided they would talk the exhaust under you know sort of behind the balance of the back like a like a like a Like a drag queen, right? It’s time. I mean German cars. I mean the Lot I don’t know what’s I’m not gonna go there Makers did this in the early 2000s because there was a United States automakers did this in the run for on for on late 50s early 60s with a lot of cars as well So that exhaust wouldn’t dirty or soil the gentleman’s pants or the ladies dress, right? Well, right that was when they were actually meeting like straight up like, you know black charcoal. Yeah Yeah And raise your hand those of us who’ve been around minis for 20 some years Raise your hand if you’ve never burned your shin on a mini tailpipe because I’ve never have no I’ve done it multiple times Really dude my Alex did it once I’ve never done it I work out of the boot of my car and always did and it doesn’t help that When I put the carbon fiber tips on all my JCWs I I jacked him out as far as I could and so they stuck out about six inches beyond the bumper That sounds like a you problem. Yeah, that definitely sounds like a problem They did tuck them in they did tuck them in a little bit farther in the later years Then yeah, well they did because of complaints Well, my point is though it’s like you so you’re taking this away This is this is the this is the you know, the mini fan talking now So you’re taking the exhaust away from that So now you’re making me buy the most expensive vehicle to get an exhaust Mm-hmm, you know so I can see it and then you’re taking the shift paddles away So you’re making me have to buy the most expensive vehicle to get shift paddles Which I used to be able to get on our Cooper, right? You know like what else what what else you taking away like you were taking away the fun, you know I know that’s you know, like I’m jumping but that’s what that’s but that’s why we bought many’s When we bought many’s originally we bought them because they were sold because they were fun And honestly the into the fun and I’m gonna say the a word here No, it’s not gonna be long until you start to see it in Commons motor file and social media. They are turning the mini into an appliance and again, like I’ll say like I just drove this automatic countryman s with no shift paddles and Come think of it. I don’t think I had an exhaust pipe sticking out. Yeah, and It was it was good. I mean I would I just I just Lived you know 20,000 miles in a countryman s for a year and What I just drove was better than that But doesn’t have shift paddles or doesn’t have a visual, you know Personally, I can see I am ready for our robot overlords to come and drive my happy ass to work in an appliance vehicle I really am I am ready for it But also I’m gonna have on another car that I have on the weekends. That’s fun to drive well and I think that’s kind of the mini Cooper and that’s that’s why people are upset about this because You know that the smaller mini Cooper is oftentimes a third car or a second or third car fourth car God knows his car whatever right and that’s exactly the point like it’s a small little car that people can drive around and have fun With it’s a little you know It’s a little fun run about and you’re taking away the little things that that make it different from other cars Right, and I think that hurts its perception and then ultimately hurts customer satisfaction I would probably agree with you. Yeah, I don’t know I’ve been in a lot of cars lately and other than you know, some of the higher-end electric vehicles The level of tech in the new many countrymen that just came out and that’s all I can speak of because that’s all it’s really Available right now. It seems to be head and shoulders above most other cars at this Yeah, I agree They kind of take in that leap and so the quirky aspect of that now granted 90% of the stuff that the mini does now most people are probably not even gonna have a clue how to how to get to it Use it And I’ve literally I’ve talked about this before on the show I’ve been in the in the dealership before where people come in and they go here. Can you just shut this screen off? That’s this big circle screen here. I don’t want to use it I don’t want to see anything that’s on there and my mind just blows because I’m like these people just they have a $51,000 JCW countrymen and they want you to turn the screen off because it’s distracting And I’m just like, oh man, this makes my head hurt, but I think that’s indicative of people so But on the same hand for people like us Enthusiasts car enthusiasts. I love to be able to access all of that technology to get to it And once you learn where it is, it’s fine. It’s like the remote control There’s 90 buttons on your remote control for the TV But eventually you learn what they all do and how to get to what you need to do And the car is gonna be the same way. It’s a learn. There’s a learning curve. It’s nothing like we’ve had before Which is totally agree with you. I think yeah Of that mini is now still kind of elevated itself at least in the technology aspect of it, you know take away No more paddle shifters. No giant exhaust. That sounds amazing like it did only a mere five years ago I’m still pissed about that But you know What can I do? Yeah, so so I think yeah, I think I Agree with you. I think you know the positives. I mean, I’m harping on the negatives which You know, I sound like people who comment on social media motoring files Things I mean you can read and you just heard me talk about these cars, you know And it really positive light so, you know, I’m I’m basically relaying like this is what people are gonna be thinking and Yeah, and I you know, exactly the alternative to that Of course is like my experience having driven these cars and been in them, right? I can’t speak to everything and I actually will not Answer for the ship paddle thing. I think it’s insane It’s it’s insane like the fact an excuse in Gabe’s words. That’s inexcusable It is an excusable should be standard on every single one of these cars like it like literally like Let’s be smart people make money in other places not that I get it Gabe And and but see my attitude was like well But the electric car it only has one gear. They didn’t even have a it’s like on or off, you know Yeah, they’re either drive or part. That’s how they have a paddle for boost which is Awesome. Okay, by the way, okay So and we’re kind of like pushing towards that I Yeah, I’m gonna talk about the se actually be really quick Todd before I forget go watch my review and read my review It still won’t do justice but driving that car hard and sport mode and the sound effects many has created And I know it’s not like the woohoo Garbage that they have when you turn on go-kart mode. It’s synthesized sort of you know engine sound if you will, but it doesn’t sound like a you know a combustion engine sounds like a You know, I don’t know what the spacecraft what video review we’re looking for this is me countryman SC The electric mini countryman s3s e big on power range on size. Yes. That’s it. That’s it. So Well, my partial noise is good or no, it is good My point is it’s awesome and I and I remember I remember driving this car was with I was with one of the editors of car and driver actually and I remember telling and looking at him like I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m this is an absolute blast and the sound That it’s making is making it more of a blast like it’s it’s fun I I you know, it was it was hard for me to wrap my head around because it kind of was it went against everything That I would have believed I would have liked and I recognize it’s fake I recognize it’s all programmed and sort of you know, like tied in with speed and you know the way I was using accelerator and You know other variables, but it was adding Interesting tangible things to the experience and I think at that moment was like, you know people are gonna love this People who are by this car gonna love this in the world of virtual reality that you know Where we live now I get that it’s like a video game kind of aspects to it The thought of it kind of makes me itch Yeah, I can see that to think about it But I think you’re right when you get into it and you’re immersed in that it makes a lot more sense You’re like, oh, this is cool. It’s like playing a video game or it’s like putting on VR goggles and whether you like that or not It is immersive. And so it is something they decided to do that Hey, this car doesn’t make the sounds that you’re used to so we’re gonna make it a little more immersive And so I get that it was probably a good idea. Is everybody gonna like it? No, probably not No, but I think the people who buy that and you can turn it off to These people are gonna buy that car put it in sport mode and drive it fast are probably gonna enjoy that So I think they like there’s certain things that they nailed, you know And I think back to your point like the the circular display nailed it, you know I are there some issues is it like certain moments where it’s a little laggy? Yeah, you know could be a little faster at certain moments. I’m told it’s you know future updates gonna make it even better It’s way better by the way than the original some of the early builds that I played with last year the JCW seats are Really good, even though they don’t have the thigh bolster They’re perfect. They only come in they only come in one you get them in black or black No, no, no, no, you get them in a lot of colors. That’s actually the shocking part of it the JCW. Yep. Yep Go when you go to the configurator Gabe you get one choice. No, no, I’m not talking about the JCW car they have the same seats and this is this is another thing I mean I started going to a complaint but this is another area where many is kind of messed up because You’re right like in the JCW when you order it. There’s only one choice of seats There’s only one option is black, but you can get JCW seats air quotes same design in the Countryman see which they don’t sell here or the US in Like a ton of colors. Yeah, and and so I you know like go to so the the the ordering guide I have Has has all of that on there. It’s it’s kind of shocking because it’s like, oh wow That’s cool. So speaking of speaking of seats Let’s go what let’s segue from there too Because I noticed the the countryman that I worked on today the u25 the new countryman Cooper s Had the what appeared to be ventilated massaging seats. Tell us about those gave well I I will they are They are Really really interesting. So for one You get a 20-minute limit on the massage which is sort of normal the massaging function is not a button which sucks but what you’re gonna want to do is you’re gonna want to Use use the sort of the the menu that you flip up from the bottom of the screen to create And create a seat massage shortcut on that so you can turn it on and off really easy So sorry had to say that protip But I’ll say that that when I when I feel them they are immediate and obvious Which is is the newer generation of and I think these are Ricardo seats I think they’re all made by Ricardo even though they won’t say that And it’s very similar to the new Generation in BMWs, which is a much more pronounced massage the previous gen which is still being sold in like x7s and and You know other other other vehicles like that X5s is a little bit more subtle. So these are these are pretty pronounced that said it’s only in the back So you only feel in your back not on your butt Which is a big bummer because like the bottom part like especially like like my thought like my my hamstrings like on long trips Like it’s so nice to have that So that’s one downside the other downside is only the passenger only on the driver’s side But we don’t care about the passengers anyway, so that’s fine But there’s three set there’s three settings. There’s three different massage settings And then there’s a slider bar for the intensity of it. Yes. Yeah Go go all the way to the right you can find you can fine-tune it. Yeah, you can fine-tune it a little bit Yeah, I know but it’s great. I mean honestly like I am saying all these things, you know But I think it’s a it’s a great option ventilation is is awesome. Like I am super impressed How do you turn that on like how do you turn on the so again it’s it’s buried so so vivid mode turns on the It turns on your seat massage So there’s that’s built into the the vivid mode you can go into seats and turn it on. It’s a it’s like a sub right It’s ridiculous, which is why it is Every and I mean, I hope some some folks and sales folks are listening to this every mini Salesperson who’s selling these cars selling them to customers please please Set that as a default shortcut and teach people how to teach people how to use it because they will never find it It’s one by the way the shortcuts like what we used to refer to you as the numbers Like what you used to think of oh my radio stations are here like one through eight No, those are not your radio stations on your on your like your existing like the f56 in the mini Those are shortcuts to other things right exactly So people that now just to get prepared for the idea. Yeah, that’s exactly right though, and I think that And that’s what they have to do. They have to they have to just like basically like lean into Using that and it’s easy to find. I mean, it’s you literally swipe up from the bottom of the screen and you get that shortcut menu but I do want to go back and talk about the seats briefly because It’s before but Gabe before you do I want to just register one more complaint before we run out of time and I know I’m the only person that’s complaining about this Okay, and this is about the us not getting that three-cylinder engine in the United States and no longer Oh, well, now you can continue we should we should talk about that Well, not to mention not to mention a three-cylinder engine DB. You can no longer get a front-wheel drive Countryman in the US every countryman will be all-wheel drive. No, that’s disappointing. I don’t really care much about the countryman I’m still a hardtop guy and the last new ish hardtop that I actually drove was the Cooper with the three-cylinder and a manual transmission when gave and I’ve met in Palm Springs a couple years ago Yeah, and that was the closest thing to driving an r50 that I’ve driven since driven in our food and it was frickin brilliant Yeah, so DB I it’s a bummer that they took it away. I agree. I mean I spent all winter with the three-cylinder Cooper bare bones like a great. I was just a great car. Um, so okay Actually, I’ll talk about why in a second on that on that part But I do want to get back to the seats as we’re talking about seats. Yeah, yeah, bear with us dear listeners So this weekend I finally got a chance to actually sit in or I should say drive The base sports seat so I’ve sat in them before I’ve seen him etc, etc I always thought you know, they seem fine and many was very clear to you know, was told me like they had widened the seats and So Driving the JCW seats and I sent you in chat I put that that image of the the seats so you can see how actually of the six seats that are offered Four of them are JCW seats. So that should kind of tell you something right what they don’t say is the standard base seats aren’t great and standard seats have never been really great in a mini again, like I just spent a winner and Pretty barebones Cooper as my like like urban daily driver a little run about. Mm-hmm. They’re okay These seats are the same but they’re flatter and they’re wider And so they offer you really not a lot of support at all The JCW sport seats though on the other hand are really good the the thigh Support is better than I would have expected side supports, you know deeper and in like a JCW seat that you know, you probably know and And the end of the vaskin like the leatherette the vaskin material feels great So I’m a big fan of them, but just make sure again Check the JCW sports seat box. Just make sure you get those seats because the standard ones are definitely you need to Just you see your clear So on the on the three cylinder so what was really fascinating when I was digging into some of the data is that? the Cooper see in Certain markets that follow the United States EPA rules like South Korea for instance are also ditching the three cylinder and The reason why is because I don’t think the way I’ve looked at it There’s no penalty in the US or other markets for the co2 that’s emitted from the four cylinder and it’s cheaper just to federalize one engine Instead of This is why it’s a good thing DB gets it in the second. So instead of offering two different engines right and federalizing to you know for one and just engineer it through software Sure down, you know 40 word now Yeah, which? Obviously begs the question. Well, can’t you just engineer it back up? To 204 horsepower, which is what the new Cooper s has which is I would think pretty likely so It’s it then I wrote about this and modern fall There’s there’s a there’s a there’s a real distinct possibility that you could buy a Cooper standard Cooper and In a couple years and they crack the code or whatever Just turn the wick up to you know, get that get the essentially the Cooper s-tune is this the same engine same mechanicals it’s not like you’re you know asking more from the engine the mechanicals and it should take and It’s not like you have to bolt on a supercharger or anything like that. It’s the same car Turn up the the boost on turbo But you know, they’re pumping out so much torque that the rest of the components weren’t, you know designed to deal with it Well, these components are all designed to deal with it, you know Not to mention we know BMW made that three-cylinder engine it went into the i8 and it got 300 horse Yeah, but that engine was quite a bit different. So it has a little bit. No that so that engine had 200 Was it 40 30 but so that was my that’s my point though Like there’s a lot of mechanical differences right like mechanical essentially components that were designed to Work with that output and way BMW does it is they design these these these components these engines to last Certain amount of miles. I mean literally like there’s some components that are hundred thousand mile Where there’s others that are hundred fifty there’s others that are you know, 200 plus and sure and so you do that And then suddenly you ask more of those components Then then you throw your hands up there There’s JCW brakes which lasts 8,000 miles Yeah, yeah, by the way, we I don’t think we’ve talked about that since the last time I had to put new brakes on my Jason you put on pads. I did I had to put front pads at no front pads at I want to say 11,000 miles. So chalk pads that that mini still makes that same as a Yeah, I’m not worried about Pat I mean that’s that’d be a fun little job but I gotta tell you my Sidenote my clubman. I swear like the brakes used to they felt better They don’t feel as good as I remember them feeling Enjoy them because they’re not gonna last that may have something to do with the fact I’m driving a ceramic brake Porsche everyone saw right right exactly. It’s a it’s a different in I drove so my in-laws have a 24 Countryman Cooper s that I drove yesterday quite a bit we were we took around town and Man the brakes in that car felt like way way more responsive than they do in my JCW Which I know is not possible, but man they were touching Yeah But I think it comes down to and this is where I’m like I was kind of questioning it almost to the point We’re like come on to check it like, you know even bleeding the brakes and you know, I was pretty careful in breaking them in but But anyway, and I haven’t by the way I haven’t even talked about my new car which at some point maybe another podcast I’d like to do that. Yeah. Yeah I was gonna see if we can just try to see if you can save like 30 seconds for that then okay Just like go it’s cool. It’s rad. Let’s talk about this for a minute and save it for the next year Yeah, great. So yeah, I mean, I don’t know like it’s it’s I’m thinking about everything else in these new cars that people are gonna Be interested in and hearing about Yeah, there’s just so much in there and it’s so much tech and Drivability that’s gonna be preferential like everybody’s a little bit different about what they want out of a car Some people are horsepower nuts. Some people want comfort Handling all of those things and many has always been good at all of those things Mm-hmm and sometimes you you slide that slider different directions from all the way from the the Cooper all the way through the JCW and even the countrymen and and Clubman JCW the all-wheel drive versions of it is like the extreme and has been Like the ultimate extreme would probably be the GP3 Mm-hmm, but still like many has always done all of those things and offered quite a bit of a range It seems now that they’ve kind of narrowed it down. You’ve got like a and B, you know Yeah, I got kind of got two choices here. I think it’s gonna be Yeah, we haven’t seen the JCWs Our suggestion with Cooper yet So that’ll be interesting. But yeah Yeah, I mean, I think that’s that’s kind of my critique is that I think you’re Losing some of that but also, you know, my bigger critique Is that you know the the standard mini? Cooper was just a great enthusiast car for fair money and You walk in the door and walk out with a manual transmission You know little car and so you’ve eliminated Kind of like everything that car used to do so well on paper, right? And so I think again I haven’t driven it I’ve been driven even the F-266 there many has not had any press program on those cars But and I’m happy to be corrected on this But I mean on paper a lot of times that’s all people care about because they won’t even walk in the showroom Right, right. Right. Well, let’s so we don’t go too long tonight And there’s way more to talk about the the new countrymen’s which are you know, just eating the the showrooms go out and see it You know go to your local mini dear dealer if you’re interested, they’re gonna be there in the next week I take a look at that. Let’s talk just briefly about the aceman Thank you. Yeah, it may or may not come to the US because I think aesthetically I like it better than the countryman Yeah, I totally agree with you. In fact, I looks better. I Yeah, I even said in a comment and I’m like, oh I should I should write that down It’s like the J01 Cooper, you know, the electric Cooper was a warm-up act for the aceman The the aceman looks like it’s like the the the next evolution of the design language They’ve created and and let’s talk people to because I think a lot of people might Incorrectly assume that this is based off the countryman, which it is not at all. Yeah Yeah, it is not based off the countryman. It is based more off of the J01 electric Yeah, that’s exactly what it is it’s literally a stretched version and that’s the thing that It’ll be live by the time you you hear this podcast but a modern file I go through detail on the dimensions of the aceman and it’s kind of fascinating because it’s it’s Smaller than the r60 countryman, right which is crazy, right? So it’s the smallest crossover minis ever made but the interior volume is Is pretty impressive like actually and this is wild there’s more There’s more first row legroom in the aceman than there is in the new countryman. Yeah, there’s more headroom in The new aceman than there is the countryman. Yeah So it’s really wild now that said there’s five more inches of rear legroom and the countryman than the aceman So, you know, there’s some differences there and that you know, it doesn’t win on everything But it doesn’t win on most things but the fact that wins on anything is pretty wild First so I’ll say this really quick like and this is the key the key stat The key difference is like the the shoulder room the width the countryman is like three and a half inches wider in shoulder room in just the driver’s side, so, you know There’s differences there for sure Right right and and the big question is do we know yet are we gonna get this in the US because is Is it gonna be built in Oxford? Yes, so it is It will be built in Oxford. They’re gonna begin producing the aceman and the electric Cooper in 2026 okay my now so this isn’t I’m not not to get to the US part yet, but it’s gonna be built in Oxford that will Theoretically clear the path have to have it imported. I think that the question I have is The Cooper makes all the sense in the world. It’s a halo car for the brand You have to bring to the US that’s gonna come I’m sure it will like I mean it hasn’t been confirmed and I mean I and I’ve I’ve you know talked to folks at many and They and they don’t know yet But I think they all feel Yeah, they haven’t told me this at all, but I sense that they I would assume they feel confident that I’ll be coming over So so iconic well, it’s a different story though because I think the question that a lot of people have is You know will the US well US customers even buy a crossover that size. Oh hell Yes, have you seen the number of like HRVs and CRVs on the road? And here’s my and here’s my challenge to that like this is the aceman is essentially replacing the five-door hatch So it’s it’s the same product I mean because the five-door hatch is a stretch version of the you know the two-door But this is a billion times better looking than the five it is. Oh my god So yeah, so I I would if I had to bet I was a betting man Which I’m not I would I would bet that it’s coming over and it’ll be 27 and it’s gonna be an Extremely popular car as long as it as long as they don’t do the stupid shit that they did with the Paceman Where they bring it along and it’s more expensive than a countryman. No, yeah Why you know it won’t be I’m sure that you know because it’s the paceman following the stupid like, you know Two doors cost more money than for BMW philosophy So the aceman works so fascinating about it is if you look at the range It’s so it’s it’s a bigger car than the J01. So it’s heavier, right? And I guess theoretically it’s like it’s a bigger car. So it shouldn’t be as aerodynamic But I actually think it’s more aerodynamic Which is crazy because it gets out of the same exact battery and same exact electric power plant It gets more range Not much, but it does so Kind of you know It’s not a wonder. It’s just it’s just front-wheel drive. Yeah, so that’s the that’s the other thing I’ll real quick on the range and this is WLTP, which is I’d say optimistic The J05 se the faster one gets 253 miles range the Just compared the the countryman se gets 267 so it’s less than the countryman, but then the the J01 Cooper se gets 250. So it’s very similar. It was a little more. Um, so on the on the all-wheel drive Yeah, so this is a J01. It’s just bigger right and the J01 was as a chassis was not engineered for a two-engine layout And in the world of electric cars to get all-wheel drive you need at least two engines You need a one on the front one on the back. That’s typically how it works. And so the way many is You know sort of engineered these cars. They’re they’re sort of keeping true to the mini concept, which is we’re gonna put an engine in the front and we’re gonna have a drive the front wheels and If we want to have an all-wheel drive, we’re gonna put an engine in the back and have that drive the rear wheels And so in this car, it’s just front because that’s what the J01 is. I think it’s a oversight I think the US everybody who buys this car in the US is gonna ask is it can I get a all-wheel drive? Yeah, right because they just and it’s not in it I think most people I think it’s saying how many all-wheel drive cars we have you don’t need it most of time In fact 99.9 you don’t only because it looks like an SUV, but it looks like an SUV Yeah, you want to make you want it you want to feel like it has a capability to Do a thing You know what I mean? It can I mean I God knows I’ve given every kind of car up mountains and you can do all sorts of stuff. But yeah Yeah, you know and even in the countrymen even the existing all-wheel all all four platform 90% of the time you’re driving the car. It’s front wheel drive. Exactly. Exactly and people just don’t understand that right, right And I mean, you know the I would actually I would argue that it’s probably more than 90 I would probably like more than 95 and so yeah, you’re right, especially when you’re you consider You know if you’re not driving in the snow like just simple rain like unless you’re just punching it, right? You’ll never use it. So, I mean I have mixed feelings on it because you know by going just front-wheel drive you are Assuring that the range is gonna be higher It’s gonna be lighter. It’s gonna be less complex and it’s gonna be cheaper And this is intended to be cheaper than the countrymen so that you know I can’t fault many for it, but I do consider like I do think it’s gonna be a bit of an issue for some folks Yeah, but it’s more of a You’re buying the space for the utility and I say that about my current countrymen a lot as much as I have a love-hate Relationship with this car. I absolutely love the space and the utility that’s in the car And I’ve got four or five people that you need to take somewhere. It is not uncomfortable. My car can fit five people extremely comfortably In the existing countryman platform, I don’t know if I’d say extremely I’m not talking like six five people in the back But five people can I’ve had five people in it many times and nobody’s uncomfortable. Yeah, so Yeah, and I think it’s that it’s targeted towards that My point is, you know kind of the aceman I believe would be targeted more towards the utility of like hey I need a car. I’ve got kids backseat dogs that kind of a thing It makes more sense for that kind of like the four-door does It’s the reason people bought the the four or five door Whatever you want to call it many now that exists because I think it’s impractical. I hit my head on the damn thing Oh god, I can’t I can’t go in that car I can’t either have to fold myself in half and I’m like, oh my gosh Every time I have to work on one I just cry a little bit But anyway, um I think the utility factor of this makes a lot of sense and it’ll be appealing on that level and the the Downfalls like you say the fact that it’s not gonna have a wheel drive I don’t think matters and the range I don’t think it’s gonna matter that much This is more of a runabout kind of city car if you will for kids and dogs and and going to Home Depot and Tossing, you know 20 bags of mulch in the back of it, but and talk about your range decreasing For things like that, I think it’s more of a utility issue than anything and somebody who goes I don’t want to spend the money for a countryman As much as I might like it this might fill that gap and it’s not gonna be a huge I mean we’re not talking about a huge seller, but I think I think it would be a decent seller in the US I agree. I think I think that if you sold this car and price it aggressively it would outsell the J01 Yeah, I think it might and I think that’s the that’s the struggle I have is Because you still got the two you got the two-door versus the four-door kind of aspect there and most people look at a two-door Car and they’re like I can’t use that Right, but then think about to the way people are today. I know more single people Than I’ve you know seems like I ever have and I’m in my 50s and it seems crazy How many people I know who would do just fine with a two-door car? Mm-hmm single person and 99% of the time it’s just them driving around town Mm-hmm, or then one other person so it makes complete sense Yeah, I didn’t know I was in his I didn’t know Todd was in his 50s man. He’s getting old We’ve been doing this show dudes for 19 years now, right I know crazy balls. Yeah, so sure give the 30 second on my we could talk about that Let’s do 30 seconds now, let’s be clear on what gave us gonna talk about now. This is Gabe’s new car This isn’t the new company car. Gabe’s paying for this one with his own money And it’s in his garage and he owns it. It’s now part of his collection. So, okay, please tell us about It’s not in the garage because I it doesn’t get it doesn’t get it But Yeah, so I award right now I mean you read about a murder file Hopefully you have I ordered what turned out to be the last delivered custom ordered Clubman JCW in the United States by the skin of my teeth, by the way, and it is Rebel Grounds It is Rubble green Multitone roof white in the front black in the back. Nice. Yeah, I love it to death I got I got the really really shitty leather, but I had to it’s malt brown and I just wanted that color in my life I had to You know, I’ve driven these cars a lot. I’ve had them I’ve probably put 50,000 miles on this exact same car is a course of two different two different vehicles So no, well, I know what’s wrong with it. What’s not what’s great about it And yeah, and I mean as an owner like you you feel it every day and like it’s it’s great I’ve immediately lowered it just did Lauren Springs didn’t want to get crazy. So it’s down an inch Space that a little bit kudos to our friends at motoring and Craving speed as well. I got the bracing from the from from craving speed The I think they call it the big pair I believe It is shocking and I’ll say the big pair to drive you need a big pair to drive this car Yeah, right. And so I did all these things I added I haven’t talked about it yet because it’s sort of still in development If you will, um, I added some not just stick-on but like straight-up replacement shift paddles from Auto Technic, which is here in Chicago. They specialize in mostly BMW stuff BMW stuff fits many stuff in a lot of ways mostly talk about more of that later Yeah, that is a game changer and I gotta say like the shift paddle like upgrade is something that needs to be a much bigger thing in the mini world because it The shift panels that we have are shit the little pieces of plastic they’re garbage You will replace those plug-and-play with something that’s that’s that’s big. That’s metal That feels great when you use it it changes your entire driving experience So, you know, we’ll talk more about that later, but did a bunch of stuff for this car And and I have a sway bar that still has to go on which is I just I need to find the time Oh, that’s gonna that’s gonna change it well I will I’ve had cars or sway bars before but the crazy thing is even before this sway bar and the Clubbing is a very neutral car. It’s the most neutral mini I’ve ever driven on a racetrack just stock but with the Spacers on the car lowered an inch and the bracing this car is it’s got the most crisp turn in of any mini I have driven Since I mean, honestly, the only thing I could compare it to was the pro suspension kit on an f-56 I drove a couple years ago on a racetrack It’s that good and I’m kind of shocked and saying that it doesn’t rotate yet. Like I will want With this way but The turn in is unbelievable. Like it feels like a small many. It’s it’s unbelievable Do you have 18s on there 19s 19s all 19s all day? Yep. Yep. So yeah, I mean I may with with winners I may I may pop back down to 18s, but Yeah, we’ll see about that. I’ve got I’ve got a couple different sets of tires I could use so I gotta figure that out. But it’s a I love it. I love it, you know, like I mean picking up my daughter from lacrosse taking my son to Basketball like so I’m doing all that stuff DB mulch in the back It’s a great looking car Home we were driving home from something the other day and there was a what’s it? Whatever the new color is it looks like makeup? I don’t know It’s that weird red color on a countryman and even when life goes well, that’s a good-looking car and I go Yeah, I know they don’t make it anymore though. It’s really nice, huh? I’m a club or countryman Sorry on a clubbing. Sorry. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it’s a great. It’s a great car. I’m so happy with it I’m thrilled. I managed to get it. Like I said, I was looking at you know, everything from lucid to a used Panamera and because I’m an idiot and Gabe I’ve looked at number 10. I’m right there with you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so there was an episode There was an episode those things drop in value like you wouldn’t believe I had a brown on Brown DB only I would it was it was a d6. It wasn’t anything special, but it was low miles It was brown on Brown. It was well specced for somebody who wanted to be comfortable and I thought That’s interesting I’m disappointed The mini wagon so you’re okay good job Yeah, but I did I did roll up next to one of those things the other day a wagon and Panamera wagon too Like you know what I could have had that car you could you could have been somebody you could have been a contender That’s all right, you got anything with a P in the garage so yeah exactly well not only that but he still got the M1 So yeah, you still play among the one. Yeah. Oh god. Yeah, I mean, I know you yeah, you’ll have that forever One ends not going anywhere. No, I’ve got the one. I’m I’ve got the 17 spider. I’m good This car is the perfect combo or the perfect. Okay. I love it All right, I’m gonna say one last thing and we can wrap the show here like one last thing about the at the new Countryman is an option here and the the greatest option I think mini has ever put on a car and I still stand by this is the heated steering wheel and Which yeah the new heated steering wheel in the countryman has three levels of heat Mm-hmm, you can change it to three different levels because I’ve found I’ve been in a bunch of different ones and mine is perfect My My wife’s JCW hardtop is way too hot. It gets so hot either there are a couple of areas We’re like, all right, that’s a little too warm to touch So I’m kind of pleased that they’re offering three different levels on the heated steering wheel now in the countryman So I’m excited to try that out. I mean, it’s summertime here now. So Who knows? Yeah, that’s one of the few options that just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. But no, it should not No They are blocked out the Sun Sun Sunroof, yeah, whatever it’s called. I don’t even know what it’s called. Yeah Yeah, you’re like you don’t have a sunroof. However, it’s good because you can’t knock it us on roof anymore Right, right another little night Another nugget. Yeah, that’s great. Perfect. Cool. Gabe. Thank you very much. We do appreciate it everybody really quick Remember motoring fall that come just click back over to motoring fall calm I’m linking everything up in the show notes But just go to motoring fall calm and if you haven’t in a while just read the front page and that will catch you up You guys have been good and have been staying caught up while we were not making shows So we do appreciate that Gabe has told us otherwise something I want you guys to pay close attention to and you might want to make sure you’re following Gabe and myself on the socials threads and Insta because Gabe wants to do a live show Which means he wants to do a show where you guys can come in and ask questions about the new mini Which would be super duper cool because Gabe as one of the few people that’s actually seen all the new stuff and like sat in It and driven it and touched it and talked to the people who build it, right? So we’re gonna plan this we’re gonna plan it very soon and probably like for a Saturday or something But anyway, keep an eye out on for that and we’ll post up everywhere when we’re gonna schedule it, right Gabe And if you listen a black roof you already knew that right did we lose Gabe already He went on mute. Oh Gabe you’re on mute Gabe’s Gabe sitting there. Gabe is that big corporate executive that hits mute and forgets. He hits me He’s just carrying on and on and on about who knows Day drop that’s too bad. It’s more fun to Drive it’s more fun to make fun of him. That was pretty good though for Gabe. I’m not gonna lie Yeah, he doesn’t listen to the show anyway, but we are done anyway, so thank you very much everybody for downloading this episode There is a new episode of black roof radio If you’re not subscribed to that click on over to black roof radio comm you can download it’s right there Just download it for free free of charge like your free if you’re offended by the bomb do not listen Yeah, don’t listen. No well because part of this show is gonna end up being at the end of the black roof radio Oh gosh, sorry. Yeah the whole bit in the mint in the beginning Yeah, I’m gonna put that with black roof, dude It’s good enough to keep but not good enough for the show I’m trying to think is there anything else motor you stripes calm motor stripes calm You have fun at the dragon if you guys are there have a great time Say chat say hi to Chad get your mini takes the states merch over it. Oh, yeah, many takes a stuff Oh, I totally forgot about me takes states. That’s coming up So yeah, make sure you click over to are you the official provider for me takes states? I have not seen anybody else selling anything yet. There’s a couple things out there, but for a majority of things No, we’re still go to motoring stripes for all of your unofficial official Many takes the state stuff Wow Oh wait Sorry my speakers went out that that was weird Sounded like it sounded like Todd was actually in your recording space cable but like sitting like 14 feet behind you Like when Todd recorded those those crazy interest for us back in 2004 and he was like outside the recording booth screaming in That was pretty funny stuff in a real studio. Yeah, in a real studio. Anyway Now Gabe’s on mute. Perfect. Anyway, we’re done. So watch out for a live show Go check out black earth radio motoring stripes calm get yourself ready for MTS there will be another show coming up. I’m hoping sooner than the next five months. So keep your fingers But I’m done. Yeah See you guys later I Got my I don’t know what happened, but I have no audio so here I am Yeah, we’re gonna talk about empty TS next time but for as long as nothing else I’m gonna go and shut us down. So Those are concerns go ahead click it click back over to white roof radio comm there You can leave us a note the show notes You can also email us feedback the white roof radio comm but until next time gang this DB. I am done. See ya Cheers. All right. Cheers guys