:cornut: Yeh Nathan, come on, tell us what registered on the Butt/Smile gauge? devil::devil::ihih::ihih::lol::lol: WOW! That could be 2 gauges or one:devil::devil::ihih::ihih::eek6::eek6Please compare and contrast old Gnat to new Gnat as per driving impressions. Jason (I got my 'Gnat Shirt' and am wearing it now. Whose ever idea it was, thanks!)
That's better than the University of Georgia, my Alma Mater. They must have received sizeable donations from someone with the last name of Mehre and someone with the last name of Butts to help build a new sports facility. Someone had the bright idea of naming it the "Butts-Mehre" building. No... I'm not making it up... [ame=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=athens,+ga&hl=en&ll=33.942256,-83.38137&spn=0.003418,0.004812&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.631106,55.019531&hnear=Athens,+Clarke,+Georgia&t=m&z=18]athens, ga - Google Maps[/ame] Oohhh... looks like they have expanded the Butts-Mehre since I was there! Just what I needed... an even larger Butts-Mehre! Google Image Result for http://www.redandblack.com/media/2011/01/110126_STaylor_MehreBuilding0098.jpg
Yea, it's pretty strong, any bets on how long it will take Nate to go from his "tune it ultra safe" mode to "Hmmm, wonder what it really do?" Mode? :lol:
Before the rebuild the car was no slouch, even low on compression it was strong, just not reliable. Every time I drove it there was always the fear of being stranded in the back of my mind. There were a few teething pains after the rebuild. First the timing chain tensoner went at about 500 miles. It was brand new, just a faulty part. It was replaced and all was good. In fact I gave the "bad" one back to Chad so he could parts warranty it, turns out that someone needed one at MOTD and Chad was able to bring the "bad" one back to life and rescue the other person. Then there was a MAP sensor that went bad one day on the Cherahola Skyway. Who would have predicted that? It was 1000+ miles into the rebuild. Hendricks MINI saved the day and brought a new one up to Fontana from Charlotte. Since then all has been fine. The car is very strong now, pulls very hard and is really fast. In fact it's like learning to drive a new car all over again. Mash the gas in the 3rd or 4th and the car leaps forward. Rolling on at 70 in 6th to pass others on the highway and the next thing you know 100+ is staring you in the face. The exhaust is very Jeckel / Hyde like. Tooling around town it is louder than a stock MINI with a very different note. But it's not in your face loud like it was before. But hit the gas and oh my, small children cower, animals flee, and I cackle with glee... Overrun sounds like small arms fire, it sure does keep tailgaters at bay. The suspension is softer now too. It's no longer the track beast it once was, but then again, I live in Central Ohio where the road quality is not like that of Dallas. For this part of the country it is a heck of lot more comfortable to drive. I'm very happy with the results of the rebuild. Chad and his Detroit Tuned team are to be commended for building such a fun MINI and delivering it on time and within budget. And for putting up with me and my sometimes whiny self.
Nathan, hate to break it to you, but it kinda is "in your face" loud. Thankfully, it's no longer "rip your face clean OFF" loud! :lol: When you're running it sounds cool, we voted yours "sounds most like a real race car". I agree - more than once I had to "Duck and Cover" when you pulled away! Small arms fire, indeed!
lol i can attest to the loudness of this exhaust as i was behind him during the Midnight run, and after reviewing the video from my gopro you can hear his exhaust over my car...at speed...over the wind...and i was using the sealed back not the skeleton back
Congrats Nate! I haven't spent much time here lately and just caught up on this entire thread. Glad to hear the Gnat is Back and better-n-ever thanks to Chad, Jan and local support.
Heh... if you trust Nate, you can use his downshifts as an aural indication of how hard the next bend is. I did a hard run down to Highlands when at MOTD a few years ago and a friend followed. When it got dark, I'd sometimes go into a turn too hot and get a bit squriley on the way out. He always seemed perfectly composed through the same turns. When I complimented his driving skill, he said that he was cheating a bit... when he heard me throttle-blip & downshift hard, he'd give the brakes a good squeeze to shed speed while in a straight line before the turn to go in slow and come out fast.
Update.... Now with a little over 2k miles and things are still perfect. The MINI brings a big smile with every drive. Has lots of power, handles great and just a hoot to drive.
I had a good chuckle on Saturday during the parade laps at Mid Ohio. We had just driven through the S's (Gnat is 3 cars behind me) and heard the loud rumble of exhaust. My son turns to me with a serious look on his face, pauses, and simply says.....NATHAN.