Archive for March 2003

Yes Virginia… there will be an MCS Cabrio

Sections: MF Feature Mar 21st, 2003 1 Comment

Was there really any doubt?

The April Indy MINI Rally

Sections: Uncategorized Mar 20th, 2003 4 Comments

Here's another event that's taking place in Indianapolis. This one is set for April 27th and you'll need to e-mail from Rich at rubin@ccrtc.com to RSPV.

The INDI MINI RALLY will be taking place April 27th, 2003. It will begin at 9:am up at Dreyer & Reinbold BMW-MINI. We will have a short coffee and donut breakfast up at the dealership and head west then south on 465. We pick up 37 south to 252 south and then 135 south to Nashville (Brown County). There we will have lunch at the Brown County Inn and look around town and see if there is something there that we can not live without.

From there we head off to Bloomington on 46 west and then on up through Spencer. From there it's North bound on 46 and through the back roads of Owen County stopping at the old Cataract country store and Indiana's biggest water falls. Then a straight shot up to Greencastle, home of DePauw University and dinner at the Walden Inn.

After a friendly meal, we head back to Indianapolis on 70. I have devised this route to take us through a limited amount of highways, and tried to make it through as many twisty turn back roads as I could find. The ones to Nashville are some of the most scenic you will find in Indiana and the ones from Spencer to the north are through country lanes that go up and down and around, but none of the course is on gravel. You can either pick half the course, which will turn to go north from Bloomington, or select the entire one that ends up at dinner in Greencastle. The short one will end at about 3:30, or so and the long one at about 7:00.

It looks like they have at least 30 MINIs signed up for this drive already.

Have you ever wanted to drive at the Indianapolis Speedway?

Sections: Uncategorized Mar 20th, 2003 6 Comments

I got this from The Mini Cooper club of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana (MINIOKI). It's an invite to join them at a very cool event this June 15th and then on the weekend of Sept. 27th and 28th at the Indy F1 race:

We would like to extend an open invitation for a major meet we are currently preparing. I am currently working with the personnel at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) to work out the details, but here's what I can disclose so far.

On the weekend of September 27 and 28, the IMS will hold the Formula 1 US Grand Prix. People who purchase two tickets to this event will be given a special pass to bring any car they choose to the Speedway, and take one lap around the F1 track, on June 15th. The track that the F1 cars (and the special pass holders take in June), includes the front straightaway, the start/finish line used by Indy and NASCAR vehicles, and the strip of bricks that gave the track the nickname “The Brickyard” so many years ago.

Each race-day ticket costs $40 – $85. BUT, that's not all! In addition to an afternoon of special club-only events on June 15 (yea….that's Father's day), Car Club members will also have special events on Race Day itself.

At last year's event, members of 5 car clubs received a special pass to drive their cars during a morning session, then attend special events in the afternoon, as the general public drove their cars in the afternoon session. This year they are adding more clubs, and with the co-operation of MINIOKI, Mini owners will field a fleet of cars along with car clubs such as Ferrari, Corvette, Mustang, BMW (they get their own club), Jaguar and Viper, to name a few.

Questions/Answers

By ordering a minimum of two race-day tickets through www.imstix.com or by calling the IMS ticket office at (317)-492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, and stating that you are with the Mini Car Club, you will be sent a special pass with your (minimum) two tickets. This pass will allow you to join other Mini owners to take two laps on the F1 circuit of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sometime in the morning of June 15, and attend special Club- only events on the race weekend, September 27/28. We are opening this event to anything Mini, including classic Mini Cooper vehicles, so SPREAD THE WORD!

What happens on June 15th? At a time yet to be assigned (but before noon Central Daylight Time), all Mini drivers will meet at the north side of the track with pass in hand (no need for the race day tickets on for the June 15th event). We will take two laps around the F1 track. IMS rules state clearly a speed limit of 20mph, single file, with a few seconds between each car, so there will NOT be any racing. A professional photographer not employed by IMS will be on the track to take a picture of your car. Once finished, we will be directed where to park. We will have the rest of the day for special club member only events, including a tour through the 2nd floor (timing and scoring) of the pagoda and then into the new media center. Also, there will be an F1 car for picture ops, and other things yet to be disclosed. There will also be large outdoor televisions with live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix, and a major lunch buffet (I was told $12 per person, but there will be other food stands throughout the infield).

Is that it? Can I visit the museum? MINIOKI will be working with IMS, the Indianapolis Mini dealership, and Indiana members of MINIOKI to arrange other events. This might include a Saturday (14th) morning and/or Sunday (15th) afternoon tour of the museum, and perhaps a Saturday drive in or around the City.

Ok, so what's the story about Race Weekend? They are still working out the details, but from what I have been told, there will be special club-only events on Saturday. On Sunday race-day, we Minis will meet in a yet-to-be-determined location, and will receive a police escort to the track, where we will be assigned a place in the Car Club Corral, along with the other clubs. After a breakfast buffet, some of us will stay with our cars to chat with owners of the other cars in other clubs, and with the general public who will tour the Car Club Corral.

Another great Autoweek column

Sections: Uncategorized Mar 19th, 2003 3 Comments

From last weeks edition of Autoweek and my favorite columnist Cory Farley:

FARLEY’S FIRST RULE OF AUTOMOTIVE Enthusiasm is this: Never Advise Friends about Cars. They’ll ask, of course. They figure you like cars and read about them, so you’ll know what’s best.

If you protest that “best” is relative (do they want to drive two miles to work or 200 miles to Sunday brunch?), they’ll wheedle, “Tell me what I need. I won’t hold it against you.”

Two lies in the same statement: Nobody wants to hear what he needs, and if you give in, anything that goes wrong, from a blown transmission tomorrow to a blown tire at 75,000 miles, will be your fault.

You can read the whole article here. I won't spoil the rest for you but needless to say it's quite an unexpected and MINI related ending.

New colors for the MC and the MCS

Sections: Uncategorized Mar 18th, 2003 3 Comments

According to someone who works as the MINI factory (via MINI2) the MC will be available in Electric Blue and the MCS will be available in Pepper White as of September builds. Also mentioned the soon to be revealed Cooper Cabrio will be available in Dark Silver which is traditionally MCS only.

The First MCS John Cooper Works Review

Sections: Reviews Mar 17th, 2003 4 Comments

From this week's edition of Autoweek:

The John Cooper Works performance pack for the Cooper S arrives Stateside in April, offering 200-hp and 177-lb-ft in exchange for (gulp) approximately $4,500 when you include installation cost. Other Mini tuning kits exist, of course, several of which promise the same (or more) power for less cash. But the 'Works' package is the only one that comes through Mini dealers, with factory approval and full manufacturer warranty support.

…The JCW Cooper feels only marginally different to the standard Cooper S in urban crawl. Its exhaust note is slightly raspier'a pleasing 'bup-bup-bup' on the overrun' and the supercharger's whine marginally more nasal. The throttle response?already attack-dog keen on the S' is sharper still. Other than that, you?ll wonder if the hole in your account has been worth it.

That is until you get onto empty country roads where this Super Cooper's case improves dramatically. In the middle of the rev counter, a fat seam of can-do torque makes for serious, any-gear overtaking punch (bringing to mind the '60s British bumper sticker: ?You've Been Mini?d!?).

…At the top quarter of the rev range the JCW is better yet, losing the standard S's slight breathlessness. Acceleration has an addictive exponential feel: it pulls harder and harder all the way to redline. With the quick shift of the six-speed transmission lending support and the supercharger's charismatic wail shouting encouragement, it's not long before you've hit 100 mph'and the very real prospect of a night in the gray bar hotel.

The standard chassis bits are more than up to handling the 37 extra horses. Torque steer isn't an issue, certainly without ridiculous first or second gear acceleration over big bumps. The extra power helps to balance the chassis on faster corners if you adopt the age-old front-drive technique of fast-in, fast-out: throw it in at an optimistic speed, accelerate until the front starts to nudge wide and then throttle back into a big, fat zone of exploitable neutrality. It would be an exceptionally well-driven Porsche Boxster that manages to pull ground over the Works S through a sequence of bends.

There you have it. The JCW isn't the right choice for everyone, but if you have the green it's a supurb package. One note, desptite what Autoweek says, the JCW kit for the standard Cooper will not be available in the US.

You can download the MCS JCW brochure in the files section of this website.
Here are the specifications I've heard (note Autoweek's pricing info is different):

ON SALE: April
PRICE: $4500 (plus 8-9 hours of installation)
POWER: 200hp+, 177lb ft
CURB WEIGHT: 2700 pounds
0-60 MPH: 6.3 seconds (est.)
TOP SPEED: 141 mph (mfr.)