Well I think it has been at least 4 years since I have said or posted anything on here! I was in the garage working on my MINI and was reminiscing about the good ‘ole days of MOM. We had some great drives and oh man the times down at the Dragon! Not sure if anyone is still around, but it would be good to catch up with old friends! Back in January I decided it was time to get back into a MINI, well kinda…drove out to VA to purchase a 2015 JCW Countryman. These things are hard to find in JCW trim. Anywho, feels good to be back in a MINI type thing.
It’s not bad. I wanted the most powerful in the R60 line with the added weight and AWD. It’s like 3300 lbs but doesn’t feel it. I think the sport suspension, lower ride height and stiffer sway bars help. I mean it’s no R53 or R56, but with a family it’s more fun than most anything else on the road.
Hello Jason, long time no see. Glad you are doing well. With you here that brings the active member count to 5 or so.
Jason I have no idea. Since I bought my GTI I haven't heard a peep out of the local MINI folks. My friend Metalman is the only person from that old group who stays in touch.
Fair enough, but you brought the GTI to lots of breakfasts unless you got a newer one. Are you still doing the RiverRun? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I thought for a while we were going to have a non-denominational group of car men & women. Turned out I was wrong, guess some un-named folks thought non-MINIs were polluting the gene pool. I'm driving the same GTI. I do tend keep my cars a long time. Yes Riverrun is still happening. I stepped back from doing it a few years ago, then my friend Bill stepped up & is continuing the tradition. He does one heck of a great job of it. I'll let you know when it's happening. It isn't Memorial Day weekend. I think it has been moved to around Labor Day.
Yeah I’m sure some folks got snarky about that. I kinda fell out when I no longer had a MINI. But yeah I’d love to know about the RiverRun it has been ages since I have run it!
Hi Jason... I remember your Mitsu... I'm still rocking my 14 YO MINI.... Most fun/lb of any car I've owned....
Hey Chuck! Good to hear from you! Yeah the Mitsubishi is long gone…I’ve had a few cars since then. Think I’ve had 2 MINIs since then…both also long gone! But now I’m the Countryguy. We’ll see how long this one sticks around!
Hi and welcome back, the 2015 is a good JCW CM year, looks excellent too. I still have our 2011 Countryman, but have sold the 16 CM Parklane and have sold the 2020 JCW Clubman, I do miss the Clubby a bit, raw power and low to ground. Had a loaner when I had some repair done on the 2011 CM, loaner was a 2023 Clubby JCW sadly I have heard they are killing the Clubby line (Thanks BMW). Take care and enjoy the countryman, makes a nice road trip MINI. Don
I wanted an LCI R60 and I’m weird, but still wanted a MINI that mostly rode on a unique MINI platform and not a BMW Platform. It is a blend of an R56 and the BMW X1 so not completely unique to just MINI. I know the F series are much more powerful and I think the BMW power trains are more reliable, but the N18 isn’t a bad engine. I’m still impressed how much more powerful the N18 JCW feels. I had a 2014 X1 for a while and while it had a bigger engine, these feel very comparable. The R60 handles way better and is a comfortable road car. I plan on doing some track days and probably AutoX with it.