04/12/03 I've had a deposit down on a Mini for two years now. Finally my turn came up and I ordered it about a month ago. Got an e-mail from the dealer today that the car was manufactured on April 11th. Delivery should be some time late May or early June, my annual birthday present to myself (it joins all my other current vehicles and my first house in this tradition). If I don't spoil myself a bit, who will - right? ;)

It will be all black with clear taillights, and should look something like this:

If it looks as sinister as I think it will, the nickname will be 'Meanie'. Of course I will get my favorite wheels for it and some sticky tires. Aside from that, I'll be looking at aftermarket upgrades to boost the power to a bit over 200 hp, because that is what the car really needs. In stock form it will be my only vehicle that takes longer than 5 seconds to accelerate to 60 mph. Can't be having that now, can we? But then it will also take the crown of being my most practical car away from the M Coupe. So I guess there are compromises to be had.

Really looking forward to its arrival.....

05/23/03 Couple days ago I got word that the MINI might be arriving shortly, perhaps as soon as this weekend. So I ordered the wheels and tires for it - SSR Comp wheels in 7.5x17" and Kumho MX tires in 205/40-17. Well, those arrived today....

I came back from a track day and there they were, all stacked up outside my door. Pretty lame of FedEx to just leave them like that, actually. The wheel/tire combo is very light - only 33 lbs combined according to my scale. It will be interesting to see how much the stock items weigh. But that will have to wait since the car is not here yet, and even if it showed up tomorrow I won't have it for another 4-5 days. The waiting is the hardest part.

06/05/03 It's still 5 days till my birthday, but my present is here so happy birthday to me. Picked up the Mini this morning. Walked down to the dealer and drove it home via my local twisty road. I normally don't listen to the radio, but the service guys had it on I guess, so as I turned the car on I perfectly caught the start of Metallica's 'Enter Sandman'. A great tune and somehow fitting. So I turned it up and took off. Just as the song was ending I arrived at the entrance to the twisty bits. 'We're off to never-never land'. So radio off, and onward. Cool.

I love the interior. A neat mix of tech and cool. Switches have nice feel to them.

First thing upon arrival at home, change the wheels and tires.

The wheel/tire combination saves 8 lbs per corner, despite going from 16" to 17" - a total of 32 lbs of rotating, unsprung weight. And I personally really like the looks. When I ordered the clear taillights I wasn't too sure of how it would look... Turned out OK I think.

For its first trip, stopped by the track. There is a private test day today and I was hoping the Enzo would be there. The owner was, but he had his 360 Challenge there instead, along with a couple other cars. Turns out he has already put about 1,000 miles on the Enzo and had it on the track yesterday. Damn, I missed it... He promised to let me know the next time he brings it out.

It's a hot day today (90F) and the AC is working quite well. Cool. Literally. Oregon's rough freeway pavement tends to bring out any buzzes and rattles, and unfortunately the Mini has a couple. Will try to track them down, if not then might have the dealer do it. On the way home took a detour and ran the twisty road again on new wheels and tires. Huge difference! Turn-in is much sharper, ride more controlled, a lot more grip. Once the break-in period is over this car will be a whole lot of fun! Looking forward to taking it on the track later this month... Back home, it even fits under the Westie. Just.

06/08/03 In trying to reconcile the clear taillights, my sense of aesthetics and the law, I bought some red reflective tape and made a couple reflectors for the rear bumper. Looks OK, I think...

I'll keep it this way for a while and see how I like it over time. At the moment it looks better to me with than without the reflectors.. Certainly more legal.

We'll see if I still feel the same way a month from now. It's only tape.

Went driving around today and got a number of unsolicited comments on how cool the car is :)