Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

June 24, 2005

MINIsOnTop Summary

Filed under: — Josh Wardell @ 2:48 pm

I’ve been busier than expected this week so I’ve been slow to edit and add photos from last weekend, but I have some of my favorites done.

In case you were locked in an american econobox and missed it, last weekend was MINIsOnTop, the biggest MINI event of the year here in the Northeast. It’s a day long of meeting and motoring, concluding with an exclusive drive up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, to view the latest sunset of the year at the highest elevation in the eastern US.

20050618-111559
After a meetup in the morning at the Loon Mountain parking lot, we headed out to drive the Kancamagus Highway, a road with great curves and great scenery. Unfortunately due to the traffic caused by 200 MINIs the speeds were a crawl at some times, and due to the constant rain there wasn’t much of a view either. The confusion also spawned several of our infamous U-Turns.


Lunch was enjoyed in parks after driving the Kanc, and we were blessed with an hour of warm sun. Unfortunately the rain returned for the rest of the day. After a break to check in to our hotel and borrow their hose for a quick car wash, everyone met up at the base of Mt. Washington:

20050618-154406

At the base we had a wonderful catered dinner and tons of door prizes and raffles were given out, including a free 2-year MINI lease. Before they could even finish giving out all the giveaways people’s impatience got the best of them and MINIs started heading up the auto road:

20050618-183017 20050618-193135

The Auto Road consists of 8 miles of hairpin turns, super-steep grades, immediate dropoffs, and amazing views. Then 220 MINIs fill all the parking lots at the top of Mt. Washington in the rain and fog, where you can then head into the observatory tower, and climb the rocks to reach the summit.

20050618-145638 20050618-201826

In all it was an incredible day, and despite the constant rain everyone had a great time. The weather still wasn’t nearly as extreme as last year, but we certainly hope for a nicer day in 2006! There are literally thousands of photos taken by everyone there. For a sampling, or to upload your own favorites, visit the MINIsOnTop Photo Pool on Flickr.

June 19, 2005

MINIsOnTop 2005

Filed under: — Josh Wardell @ 7:01 pm

20050618-145658

Despite more nasty weather this year we made it to the top of Mt. Washington! More details, photos, and video in the next few days.

June 15, 2005

One Year

Filed under: — Josh Wardell @ 2:26 pm

One year ago today, I received my MINI. It seems almost unbelievable that it’s been that long, as it often still feels like I just got it; the excitement is still as strong as ever. Looking at the accomplishments, in one year my MINI has had more experiences than most cars have a lifetime; MINI events, competitive motoring events, an accident, and a ton of new friends made.

Let’s rewind the clock a bit. I previously owned a Ford Focus. I was not much into cars when I bought it, but a combination of its great suspension for the price, along with a great online community quickly got be interested and modding things in ways to improve it. I created a web site with guides for others to follow which quickly became popular. After paying off the car, I by no means needed a new car but the desire grew to move things up a few notches. I really enjoyed autocrossing and loved the styling of the MINI, and frequent visits to miniusa.com‘s excellent build-your own site I constantly had my favorite MINI specced out and growing on me.

I didn’t seriously consider buying a new car till the beginning of 2004, and honestly a big reason was simply because almost everyone I knew was buying great new cars. Still without much intention to buy, I made the mistake of taking a test drive just for fun. We all know at that point it’s all over. Within one week, my order was placed! In addition to my impatience, impending exterior changes to 2005 models drove me to place the order immediately to avoid them. I followed what seemed like an infinite number of recommendations and went to MINI of Peabody.

I was so tired of having a silver car, which in my eyes never stood out, never looked dirty but never looked clean either. My next car was going to be black no matter what it was, after already knowing the power of Zaino I knew it would look its best as often as possible. The MINI works great with the black-and-white theme and that is what I went with. I’m a big fan of a ton of power out of a small engine (having your cake and eating it too), and after reading the first review of the JCW kit I knew all along it was exactly what I wanted. Being a gadgetholic I naturally ordered the comfort and premium packages. I did not get the sport pack only because I wanted 16-inch rims to deal with the Boston potholes, and DSC was added separately.

While friends had blindly ordered their cars and waited months with nothing but vague statements from their salesman, I went through MINI’s industry-leading ordering process. Calling every day for the nine days of production, tracking the MINI for nine days across the ocean, then a quick trip to the dealership where it spent a few days with installs…as we know it is one of the most suspenseful times there is! But 41 days after ordering, on June 15, 2004, I was finally driving away in my own MINI!

Just in time, too–three days later was the biggest event of the year: MINIsOnTop. What a way to introduce a MINI to the world, among 161 of its fellow family members. Although not exactly what is recommended in the MINI Owner’s Guide, apparently ascending a 5,000-foot mountain is perfect for break-in, that tank mysteriously remains the best milage I’ve ever had. Ironically, here I am a year later, again looking forward to MINIsOnTop 2005 in three more days.

A significant part of my MINI experience is the wonderful community. I joined MINI2 well before ordering to do research. In addition to great info I found my local New England members to be the closest-knit community I’ve every seen on an online car forum. They’ve formed several local MINI events, and I’ve made a number of great friends. I’ve attended as many MINI events as possible, yet there were so many there were plenty that I had to miss. Large or small, they make a great day of fun driving, discovering new areas, and meeting new people. I would encourage everyone to introduce themselves, if nothing else the online community is a priceless resource.

As you know this website is an important part of my experience. Like my Focus page, its main purpose is to document the specs and mods of my MINI. Most of the time I try to also write up how-to guides so others can do things on their own as well. Just a few months ago I switched to the blog format and I think it has been going well; it allows me to not only document modifications but the many more experiences of MINI ownership.

It’s great to be at the one-year point, and at the beginning of the summer, where activity picks up again. My weekends are very busy now that MINI events are being planned. Once a month, I also join with the Boston BMWCCA chapter and autocross. It’s an extremely fun and safe way to take your car to its limits and beyond, and hone your driving skills in the process. The MINI is just made for it, you’d be surprised to see the cars it embarrasses out there!

In one year I have had almost no problems with the car at all. It was my own fault back in November when I fell asleep and hit a guardrail. Because of it I learned first hand just how cheap BMW parts are compared to other brands, and made sure I did some of the repairs myself. The rest was expertly taken care of by Julian at Sublime who returned the car to me in better than new shape. The only warranty issue I’ve had with the MINI was my HK amp failing in extremely cold temperatures, and easily solved with a replacement. I can’t even complain about quirks, I still love everything about it. It sure helps to know that when making the car payment each month!

So here I am, a year down the line from a very exciting day, and I can honestly say that excitement has not worn off one bit! I even still look forward to my daily commutes to and from work…how can you put a price on that? My MINI mods and adventures have no end in sight, either. So stay tuned for Year 2!

June 9, 2005

Several things

Filed under: — Josh Wardell @ 9:44 pm

Nothing significant but plenty of things to update on.

First and foremost, MINIsOnTop is just over a week away! This is the biggest and best MINI event of the year, and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since braving the 90mph winds and below-freezing temperatures of last year! I will be heading up Saturday morning (please see MINI2 for times and locations for the several caravans heading up there). First thing in the morning, I am assisting with the R/C MINI rally–please sign up! I will then be attempting to organize a MINI group photo in the Loon lot when hopefully everyone is there around 10:30am. I will have two video cameras, one film, and two digital still cameras in an attempt to document as much of the day as possible, and hopefully beat my best photo from last year.

20050609-200549 I finally came up with a location to mount the G-Whiz and did so today, as shown here. I removed the adhesive on the back and replaced it with velcro so it can be removed when desired. This is a much better view for the driver and feels like a special analog guage–representing Fun Level! 😀

20050609-200831 Tonight I also quickly built a camcorder bracket, which I’ve been meaning to do for a while. It is simple and mounts between the headrests, I plan to use it to capture the trip up Mt. Washington. It will also hopefully have a good view of the G-Whiz Fun Level Meter!

20050609-201140A few new products arrived this week-it’s getting back to the season where I’m on a first-name basis with the UPS man! First, I had an idea to make the red S badges fit my black & white color scheme, and was about to attempt it with electrical tape or something, when I saw an ad for Bimmian.com that offered them in any color for $15. I went with Reflective White and (better photo soon) I think they look good–not to mention reflecting the S to anyone who shines their lights in my direction.

20050609-201033 I can never place an order for just one item, so I also ordered the Solaris Electrum Invisi-Bulbs for the front directional lights. I have noticed in several MINI photos the orange bulbs when unlit color the entire reflector orange and it doesn’t look right. As you can see the silver-coated bulbs, which still glow amber, now photograph great.

Wait, there’s more! I finally found the white R81 7-holie rims I’ve been looking for on eBay, and they arrived today. No, I’m not downgrading from the X-lites, one will be used as a spare, then they will be fitted with snow tires for next winter. I’m looking forward to that next blizzard! Also a new shipment of goodies from Autopia Car Care, the highlight of which is 303 Aerospace Protectant which I will use for the plastic fender trim and rims, along with a new wheel brush.

OK last thing: some site updates. Up top you may have noticed the new Google MINI search; use this to search the internet for things MINI related. I’ve tried to combine both their keyword searches and automotive category search to give somewhat more accurate results. Give it a try. Finally, I edited the page code to make this column slightly wider so the 500-pixel images from Flickr fit inside and should no longer cause issues with PCs and IE.

Stay tuned next week for a major milestone, and a major MINI event!

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress