Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

Keep checking prices, and be flexible on flight schedules. Prices often go down as you get closer to your travel time. Airlines want full planes.

CD

 

I bought a set of these for my MINI in 2015, and have been very pleased with them. They were rated second to a set of Michelin all-season performance tires by TireRack. I'm a Michelin guy, and I am very happy with these. I haven't driven them in snow, but they are awesome in the rain.

CD

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I drove it in snow. Okay, a very light dusting of snow. I didn't drive far enough (to get fluids up to temp) to go play in the cold air, like I wanted to, but it is just as well. There were random patches of slick roads. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and dry.

The big driving danger here comes from the nimrods who don't manually turn their sprinklers system timers to the "OFF" position in freezing conditions. It's not as bad in my suburb, where the city turns your water off if you ice-rink the street, and charges you 300-bucks to get it turned back on sometime in the next week -- as they should. People generally don't do it more than once.

CD

 

Installed the parts I mentioned I bought previously. Replaced the valve cover gasket and sparkplug tube gaskets, installed new coolant overflow tank, replaced serpentine belt, replaced oil pressure switch, tightened up slowly loosening lower O2 sensor, adjusted parking brake.

Other than oil changes, I should be good for another year. .... I hope.

 

Yesterday, took advantage of the temperature warming up to a balmy 47 and cleaned my wheels and tires. Should have waited until today as it was 58.


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I'm new to the Mini as a very special friend pasted last month and left me his 6700 mile 2010 Clubman S that he bought new.
Since I'm as old as dirt I changed the title and ordered Veteran Plates which will be here in X weeks and since I'm an old hot rodder/drag racer/SCCA driver I decided to make some changes...bought ALTA turbo blanket, oil line blanket, AEM intake and Magnaflow cat back system, 19mm rear sway bar and a Craven dip stick since I couldn't read where the oil level was...I just put this in today. Within the next few weeks I'll install them one at a time to see if they make any difference...then go from there.
It has the R94 16" Bridge Spoke wheels with 195/55/16 run flat tires and I'm thinking of getting some OEM 17" wheels and tires although I'm not sure what to get.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend. If you're an old drag racer/hot rodder/SCCA driver you'll be a bit underwhelmed with the torque but very happy with the way she handles. Sounds like you've made some good purchases minus the Alta stuff, but thankfully the parts you got aren't anything critical. I'm in the 17" camp and have some Pilot Super Sports, but there are all kinds of good tyres out there. Welcome! :cornut:
Oh, drove my MINI into work today. For the first time in my life I work for a company that not only pays for my parking (N'er needed to pay for parking at work before either) but I now have covered parking for Bitsy Mae. No more baking in the sun during the work day for that b*tch.

 

Olerodder, lose the run-flats. 17s and some decent performance-oriented tires will make a world of difference.

As for my MINI, it is what I did NOT do that I have to report. It really needs to be washed, and it was 80-degrees today. But, it is supposed to rain the next four-to-five days. I know I can't stay home that long. I'm going to have to drive it in the rain.

CD

 

Today I washed the winter alt and crud off my car.

Friends don't lets friends buy ALTA CRAP parts.

 

Yes I will use the run-flats for the winter only. What kind of 17" wheels would you recommend?

 

I have factory 17-inch two-piece wheels that I like, so I haven't changed them.

Keep weight in mind, and pick wheels that you like the looks of. The lower the unsprung weight, the better your MINI will ride and handle.

The big problem with run-flats is that they are heavy and hard. With a car as light as a MINI, lighter is better. You can also go with a softer rubber compound on a light car, and still get decent wear.

I keep a tire plug kit in my car, and figure I can have it towed if I blow one out. To me, that is better than getting beat up daily by run flats.

CD

 

I would choose ones that are lighter than the offered stock ones.

 

My track car was a Miata, too. I had 15X7 BBS wheels that weighed something like 11 pounds, IIRC. I don't remember the tire size at the moment, but is was the same as the Spec Miata's used at the time.

I have 215/45 ZR17 tires, which is pretty common among MINI drivers. Mine are Hankook VENTUS S1 NOBLE2 tires. My MINI is a daily driver, so all-weather tires were a more practical choice, and I've been very happy with them. I am also a Michelin fan, but I can't complain about my Hankooks.

CD

 

These wheels are lighter then any of the POS OEM wheels.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/results.jsp?&autoMake=MINI&autoModel=Cooper+Clubman&autoYear=2010&autoModClar=

 

I had some OZ Superturismos on one of my Audis. They were 18-something pounds, which isn't bad for a car that size. I liked them. They were definitely high quality. It didn't hurt that Audi used similar looking OZ wheel on the Lemans winning race cars.

CD