UKPylot’s MINI Blog

Some time in the next few weeks we’ll see the official list of who stays and who goes in the Sirius/XM merger lineup. I’ve been a big fan of XM in the past and I wonder if I will like the results. My favourite channel, UPop, was taken off the air for a long time for no reason; it’s currently back but it’s owner, Worldspace, filed for Chapter 11 this week so I’m already resigned to losing it.

Since then I’ve been listening to XM Cafe, The Loft, Fred, Top 20 and some random button pushing to find something I like. The Loft is not bad and Fred is pretty good when they stick to the alternative music and not stray into rock. But I’m not feeling the love for XM that I used to.

Today I read over at DBSTalk.com that a great many program directors have been let go suggesting that a lot of XM channels are being axed, including many that I like.

So right now I’m thinking that I may return to CDs and the iPod in the MINI for my future commutes. I’m not fond of the Sirius stations, though if BBC Radio 1 is offered, that might be enough for me to keep being a customer.

From a twitter conversation, name redacted to protect the poor guy:

Test drove a MINI Cooper S over the weekend and it was aight. I expected more and the interior was fugly. Also saw a couple of REAL MINIs on the freeway and that was the coolest thing I’d seen all month.

@xxx don’t make me set my MINI-crazed friends on ya

@tendancer MINI-crazed enough to pay a $3K premium on top of the MSRP?

@xxx only 3K ? I remember when it was 5 or 6! I paid MSRP for mine.

@tendancer The S I test drove would have come out to $35K. That’s an R32!!

I’m behind the times, only watching Top Gear on the tele, so just recently got around to watching the final episode of last season. In the show they had a mini-awards segment where they announced “worst design of the year” to which Clarkson quickly said that the Clubman was so ugly there weren’t any competitors; the other two agreed. Next up was “worst car of the year” to which Clarkson again quickly said it must be the Clubman, but they eventually came up with something else.

So then I was reading that Top Gear gave it some kind of best car award so what happened? Did they subsequently have a big change of mind ? Or What?

More I see them, the more I like them.

Turning into the street outside my apartment I spotted a super shiny Clubman S parked on the forecourt of a repair shop (for convenience to the local hostelry I think) – my first sighting in the wild. I didn’t really get a great look as I crept by but I must say it looks a whole lot better in the flesh than in pictures on the web. Looked real nice.

Spent last night pondering whether to trade in my “gas guzzling” Cooper for something a little less thirsty. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, so let me explain…. my monthly commute is about 1600 miles, most of that highway miles. Unless I take a big cut in pay by working locally, or my boss decides teleworking is not evil, this isn’t going to change. So, my fuel costs:

In regular driving I can get 27 mpg, if I try real hard I can probably get 30, though I haven’t managed that yet. The Civic Hybrid claims 45 mpg but I figure 40 mpg is more likely.

Why did I use the Civic Hybrid as my comparison? I was looking at cars that I could trade in the ’05 and not spend much more to buy. This puts the Clubman or new MCS out of reach. An MC could be possible but I’m tired of driving to Escondido for servicing, and the outrageous costs involved.

Am I really thinking about getting out of the MINI? Not sure at this point, it’s possible. I’m depressed about the state of the convertible top, why keep a car that you can’t put the top down? I’ve heard a new top could be as much as $4000, I’d rather put that to something new.

The cost of (private) flying has risen worse than the cost of motoring. Plane rentals in my flying club are up to the $100 an hour mark, saving $1-200 on driving could mean the difference between giving up flying, and still being able to do it. As much as I’d hate to give up the fun of the MINI, high gas prices may mean that the auto becomes utility again.

I thought this was pretty good:

Load the car up this morning for the weekly commute to San Diego and the front tyre is totally flat. I’m sure it will be no surprise to hear that I have no source of compressed air (and not even a football pump for that matter) so I sit here waiting for the nice man from AAA to come help. The car hasn’t been moved since Friday night and it was then, wonder what happened to it. Ah, there is a big nail sticking out of it…

My first time in 4 years of MINI ownership I regret having an S. Nah, not really. Though I am now wondering about why I ditched the run flats….