Archive for November 2004
Nov 30th, 2004
This news comes from Crash.net:
Following its elevation to 'promoted series' status by the MSA, the John Cooper Challenge has been confirmed as the primary support race series for the British GT and British F3 programme in 2005.
Next season will be the highly successful one-make MINI racing series' fourth, and will comprise six double-header race weekends selected from the GT/F3 calendar between April and October. As in 2004, the championship grid will comprise both the Cooper S and Cooper categories and, with a total of 30 starting spots available, the split is anticipated to be twelve 'works' Cooper S models and 18 'works' Coopers. Despite having only recently informed this year's competitors of the changes, 18 places have already been filled by drivers returning to the series next year.
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Nov 29th, 2004
From frequent contributor Ian Cull and gbmini.net
In the early days of the new MINI, with CD-based navigation, you could have directions spoken with a British voice which seemed to many owners to be rather appropriate. Later releases, and the DVD-based version, dispensed with British accents - supposedly because American drivers could not understand!
Today at MINI Peabody, I mentioned this to Brig and he very helpfully took me through the Navigation setup in a MINI Cooper Convertible in the showroom:
In the setup screen (above right) you'll notice we were able to select “GB” as the voice, instead of “USA”. And then the car was speaking with a female British accent - I recorded a few seconds of “her” saying “louder” and “quieter” to give you an idea!
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Nov 29th, 2004
Fox News (of all places) has a short piece on the MINI's popularity in the US. Here's are a few excerpt:
The Mini has shown carmakers that small cars can do well in the U.S., if they are properly conceived and properly marketed,” said Joe DeMatio, senior editor at Automobile Magazine. “They have to have character, personality and performance.”
…The response to the Mini has other carmakers scrambling to follow suit. In the first half of 2006, Daimler Chrysler's Mercedes-Benz will roll out a compact, 13-foot SUV version of its Smart city coupe called the Smart Formore, starting at about $20,000.
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Nov 29th, 2004
The 2005 North American Motoring Calendar is out and available over at the NAM store. Like last year the 2005 calendar is a collection of black and white photos from MINI owners throughout the US.
Mark Ferguson, founder of NAM, was nice enough to send over a pre-production copy for a full MotoringFile review. But that got me thinking… how does one review a calendar?
The first thing you notice is the size. As you might expect from a MINI calendar, it's fairly small. Then you start flipping the pages - the photos are just fantastic. The black and white look gives a classic a feel to the whole package and the MINI related history within every month make it feel… well… very MINI.
The NAM 2005 Calendar is certainly a smart addition to any garage, den or office. Go check it out.
[ North American Motoring Store ]
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Nov 26th, 2004
For those that like to get hands on with their MINI and have the previous John Cooper Works kit for their MCS we now have the official install PDF instructions on the 2005 upgrade kit. The kit retails for $525 and typically requires an hour of dealer labor for the install. You can expect that dealer installation to increase the price by at least $100 when it's all said and done. However even if you do the work yourself the MCS will need to be reprogrammed by the dealer to “activate” the improved injectors. So don't think of this as a huge money saver… it's more of an opportunity to spend some quality time with your car. Grab the PDF below
[ JCW 2005 Upgrade PDF ]
See related stories: “JCW Upgrade“
Nov 24th, 2004
AutoExpress has some news on the next iteration of everyone's favorite small car. Mechanically speaking there's nothing really new from the article that we haven't heard on MotoringFile many times before - including the new engine range. However it's the possible new look that may surprise some. Here's an excerpt from the article:
It's a MINI invention! BMW has already started one of the toughest design jobs of the decade, and this week's magazine has got the pictures that prove it! And you're in for a shock, because gone are the single round headlamps, replaced by controversial twin lenses. Gone, too, is the clamshell bonnet, in favour of a conventionally hinged one.
But there is good news for diehard MINI traditionalists - the new grille is getting bigger and will echo more closely the look of the original Mini, introduced 45 years ago.
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Nov 23rd, 2004
Dension has made a key upgrade to its already popular Ice>Link iPod adapter (reviewed last spring). For those that don't know the Ice>Link was the first to integrate the iPod and the MINI's radio controls (including the multi-function steering wheel) in simple yet effective process.
But this new version has several key improvements over the previous version. The Ice>Link not only has all of the functionality inherent in the iPod (being able to choose any playlist, album, artist, etc directly from the iPod) but now also takes on the functionality that the official MINI iPod adapter delivers and more. Dual mode operation (as Dension calls it) means that you can use your radio or iPod user interface to navigate through playlists, albums and songs. The Ice>Link Plus translates your vehicle's head unit commands into iPod commands emulating a fully loaded CD changer with advanced features.
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Nov 23rd, 2004
What Car? (a UK car mag) shows that the US isn't the only place that has long wait times and high residuals for the new MINI. Here's an excerpt:
Waiting times (in the UK) are already as long as six months. Convertible buyers face particularly long delays because it accounts for just 25% of Mini production.
What Car's team of mystery shoppers is still unable to find any discounts, despite the fact that the Mini has been on sale since July 2001. Residual values are excellent, with Minis retaining between 66% and 71% of their value after three years depending on the model.
You can read the entire article here.
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Nov 22nd, 2004
We’d like to introduce the MotoringFile 2004 Holiday Gift Guide downloadable PDF. Instead of just posting a few gift ideas like we did last year we’ve created a downloadable PDF that can be read off-line, printed, or emailed easily. Of course the best part; it’s much easier to print out and hand someone for gift ideas!
Within the guide we suggest over 30 different gifts for the MINI enthusiast from $15 to almost $800. Like last year we wanted to keep our suggestions within reason for most out there while maintaining a wide selection of gift ideas. From apparel to cold air intakes we’ve tried to include many different aspects of the accessories available for the MINI and the enthusiast.
You can download the file by clicking on the image above. Please only download the file once.
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Nov 21st, 2004
For those that still haven't tired of reading reviews of the new MINI Cooper S Convertible (even after we posted our own) you'll be happy to note that the New York Times has finally weighed in with their thoughts. Here's an excerpt:
EVERY once in a while, I encounter a car so fun to drive that it demands I do stupid things, as if the remote clicker unlocks not only the doors, but also my inner adolescent. Before my rational side can intervene, I am throwing the car around corners, traveling at illegal speeds and shirking responsibilities to take impromptu drives.
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Nov 19th, 2004
Since the start of winter is almost upon us we thought it might be time for a little winter driving recap. For those in warmer climates you might want to skip this one. This is only for those hardy souls that can do snow induced hand-brake donuts in their sleep. The Tirerack has a series of winter driving articles for those that would like to know more about the wonderful world of oversteer and understeer. Here's an excerpt of one of the better ones:
To most effectively control your car on a slippery road, you should always use only one control at a time. While cornering, for instance, you should be off the brake and off the accelerator, coasting through the turn and using all available grip for steering. The proper way to negotiate any curve or corner is to brake on the straightway before the curve to adjust your speed; then coast and steer through the turn. When you start to straighten the steering wheel as you exit the curve, gently accelerate out of the turn.
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Nov 18th, 2004
Never one to rest on it's laurels, British magazine Autocar has a couple new photos of a testing mule that appears to be an early version of the R56 - the next generation MINI. This just a week after the previous photo and article. There's really no new info for the well informed MotoringFile visitor but the photos do give us a glimpse (you may need to squint) of the next MINI's overall shape. Remember… evolution over revolution. Here's an excerpt from the article:
With less than two years to go before the third-generation Mini is revealed by BMW, the first engineering prototypes are testing in Germany. Last week we ran the first picture of the next-generation Mini, but these new scoops reveal even more about the car.
The current car’s exposed wipers have been recessed to sit beneath the bonnet’s trailing edge. This is partly to improve pedestrian head protection during an impact, but required a major re-design of the car’s frontal structure.
You can read and see more from Autocar here. And you can read more on the R56 (the next generation MINI) in these previous MotoringFile articles.
Nov 18th, 2004
As several have commented recently it's been a long time since we've added anything to our desktop wallpaper section. I'm happy to say the wait is over. Dave Bunting, long a fixture at North American Motoring, has generously donated a fantastic photo he recently took for use as MotoringFile desktop wallpaper. So for those that need to spruce up the desktop a bit check out our wallpaper section.
[MotoringFile Wallpaper]
Nov 17th, 2004
[Update: Matthew was kind enough to substantially update his review with another day's worth of use behind him. Skip down to the end of this article for the update portion.]
For all of you patiently awaiting the official iPod adapter here is the first review of the actual MINI version of the product.
Installation:
The entire process was very painless at about 2 hours. (Bare in mind that this was their very first official 'consumer' install they have ever done aside from the demo MINI so they did spend time to make sure it was just right.) My guess is that it could be done in less than an hour if the glovebox & centre console area are already cleared. Wanted to do the install myself, but there isn't an install manual with the kit like many other oem parts.
The cable is just a bit over 62 cm from the interior glovebox gasket to the beginning of the dock module. Sadly, this isn't long enough to put my ipod in it's usual resting place below the e-brake.
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Nov 17th, 2004
Reports from a couple of people in the know indicate that the official iPod Adapter has just been released today and will slowly be making it's way out to dealers in large numbers by the end of November.
You can read the MotoringFile review of the BMW kit (which is identical to the MINI version) here.
We should have a review of the MINI kit very shortly.
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