Jun 30th, 2008
While at MINI Takes the States in Boston, I had the opportunity to crawl in, on and around the JCW Challenge Race Car with camera in hand. While I was taking photos, I also got some great information.
Mechanically, this is a Factory JCW MINI. The engine, transmission and clutch are from the Factory car you’ll be able to buy later this month. The brakes are the same 4 piston brakes of the JCW car. The wheels are OEM JCW wheels that you will be able to order with your Factory JCW car.
Once this car is built, it’s sent out “body in white” for it to become a race car. The interior is completely stripped except parts of the dash and the emergency brake boot (which is odd) and all of the safety equipment is installed. One feature that I wasn’t familiar with is the air jacks. There is a quick-release air jack in the boot where you plug in an air hose and the entire car raises. A nice feature for a race car to be sure.
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Jun 30th, 2008
CNN Money, as they like to do, has compiled another list of cars. This time based on JD Powers surveys taken within the first 90 days of ownership of a car.
Buyers are surveyed within 90 days of purchasing their new autos. They’re asked about 80 different vehicle attributes. Historically, cars that score high on this survey tend to sell well without needing heavy incentives, according to J.D. Power.
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Jun 29th, 2008
News of the week from Motoringfile.com, but since it was mostly MTTS related, we recapped the week instead.
We had a great week and you’ve seen most of it. To recap, we posted over 700 photos, over an hour of video and almost 2 hour of audio! Thanks everyone for checking it out or coming by to say during the event. It was great to meet you all!
Planning to attend Chicago or LA? Don’t forget to register. They also posted quite a few updates during Miami and Boston that you can see here.
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Jun 28th, 2008
With more and more people trying to get into more fuel efficient cars, resale values of used cars is going up. From Forbes.com.
It’s not just used hybrids seeing a price increase, however. This year’s Mini Cooper buyers expecting to find a lower-priced used 2007 Mini were in for a big surprise. They paid, on average, $2,300 more for a used Mini in mid-June, a 12% increase over the average transaction price on Jan. 1 of this year. The car has proved its value during the past six months; it gets an average EPA estimated 29 mpg. continued →
Jun 27th, 2008
You heard the audio and read Todd’s thoughts about it, but I also got it on video! Enjoy.
Updated by request. This version has no music. Enjoy. continued →
Jun 27th, 2008
Another great event put on by MINI USA! This time, the venue changed to the campus of the University of Massachusetts.
It was kicked off Saturday morning with a meetup and drive starting at Pier 4, up to Gloucester and back to the UMASS campus. I think there were over 300 MINIs for this run, so traffic was a little slow. But, surrounded by MINIs, it wasn’t so bad. continued →
Jun 26th, 2008
The 135i may not be a MINI, but it’s one of the most talked about cars of the moment on MotoringFile and our sister publication BimmerFile just wrapped up a full week’s worth of driving it. A highly recommended read if you’re at all interested in the smallest of BMWs and (dare we say it) the most MINI like.
+ BF Review: BMW 135i Auto
