UKPylot’s MINI Blog

Subject to some, er, financial review this weekend, here is the spec of the new MINI I hope to order from MINI of Pittsburgh next week. They have quoted a 6 week delivery time and free delivery to my place in Brawley, can’t beat that!

Dark Silver/Black Top MCS/C
Body Colour Mirrors
Convenience Package
Front and Rear Fog Lights
Xenon Headlights
On-Board Computer
Security System

Pretty much what I have now bar the DSC, auto a/c and the 17″ wheels. Oh, and the roof, of course Feel free to tell me if I should have included something else, and why, in the comments.

I will add stripes once it arrives. I’ve even come up with a decent new vanity plate but shall keep it quiet lest one of you buggers orders it ahead of me

I called yesterday to rearrange my windscreen replacement and to my amazement they gave me a next-day appointment so Sarah is back at Brecht getting an oil change and a new windscreen (her third). I even got a BMW loaner, which is a first, though its an X3 SUV, very different from the MINI.

Whilst waiting for the X3 to come out I took a look around the lot. I didn’t see any MCS convertibles, only MC ones. Every car now had a $2400-$2700 markup so it looks like I won’t be getting my next MINI at Brecht. I did however see an MCS soft top waiting at the service dept that looked awesome: it was charcoal grey, blacktop and a black/silver stripe. That may be the combination I have to go for.

Been talking to people about the idea some more. My wife likes the idea, even my dad has given his approval! Every few months I toy with selling my Jeep but never do, despite the fact that its been driven no more than 200 miles in the last two years. So…. the Jeep is going to be sold and then I’ll be able to sell/trade-in Sarah to buy….

the final spec (probably)

Now who can I sucker into buying the Jeepster…..

This actually happened very late Sunday night, the odomoter rolled over the 50,000 mark close to my house. I’ve been carrying my camera with me for the last 1000 miles so I could take a picture but having only got back from England a couple of hours earlier, and not expecting to have to cruise the streets late at night, the camera was not in the car to capture the moment.

So Happy 50th Sarah, may we have many trouble-free motoring miles together.

Saw plenty of MINIs in England this past week, more than I could have shaken a stick at, in fact. Interestingly to me, there were way more MCs than MCS’s and the few MCS’s that I saw were almost all JCW-badged. So this got me thinking again about trading my MCS in for something new.

Given the environment I live and work in, it would be great to have the convertible but I highly doubt I could afford the MCS version. I wonder just what it would be like to go ‘down’ to the MC, financially it would make great sense, cheaper to buy and cheaper to run with my monthly 1600 mile commute. I do love that sixth gear though on the MCS, and I know I would miss the whine of the supercharger when the engine takes off.

Anyway, seeing all those people happily buzzing around in their MCs over in England has me thinking again.

Went to Brecht’s this morning to pick up my car, it was ready but the paperwork was not. I loaded my things in the car and then noticed that the windscreen had not been replaced. My service advisor was not in so the front desk lady (who turned out to be from Brawley!) did some investigation and found out that the advisor had told the tech to put it in the body shop today, so I would need to pick it up on Saturday. Well, two problems with that – one, I’m going home to England this weekend and, two, he never called to tell me. In the end the manager agreed they would replace the windscreen as if it was under warranty at my next visit, and provide a free rental car for the overnight. Maybe I should have pushed it and got the oil change free, too?

But everything else got done: driver-side air bag cables and connectors, new rear wiper blade, emissions recall, rear wiper fluid sprayer was unclogged and the brake fluid flushed.

142 miles to go before the big 50,000, probably not going to hit that before I get back from Blighty.

So recently I asked about holding the car on the clutch rather than using the brakes and the response seemed to be overwhelmingly against it, even though I and almost everyone I know was taught to do that. But, times and techniques change, I am trying not to do it so often.

Today’s driving technique question is: engine braking, good or bad? This is something I do a lot, especially in slow traffic, but I know people who say that its plain wrong and bad for the engine. A mechanic friend of mine once told me “brakes are for stopping, the engine is for moving” – if you don’t plan on stopping, use the engine to adjust your speed. A generalisation, of course, but one that I invite the MINI elders who read this blog to give me their thoughts.

In MINI news, heading north from Balboa Park last evening I saw two brand new convertibles, one in purple (which looked very cool) and one in black. Both had their tops up despite it being quite nice, though.