What did you do with your MINI today?

Drove it for the first time in over two weeks. I was out a Ft. Carson, CO for work. But... while I was out there, I did manage to take the 'awesome' Hyundai Elantra I had at my disposal, up to the summit of Pikes Peak.

That elevation is a real kick in the chest. Once I cleared the tree line (between 10k - 11k ft, I believe), I could feel myself gasping to catch my breath. Needless to say, I didn't hang around long up at the top.




The road up, is mildly terrifying. It's not like the Tail of the Dragon, and its false sense of security due to the tunnel of trees. It's just mountain on one side of the road, and sky on the other.






It is definitely worth the drive up if you ever get the chance.

 

Nice trip up the mountain Savvy.

I've found that it takes me a good 3 days until I acclimate to the altitude. Love Colorado, but hate the 3 day headache each time I climb in altitude. I'm sure your Korean ride did well. Back in the old days I had to stop halfway up & lean out the carburetor so I could make the summit. The road was better IMO before they paved it. Old fart memories, yep I got em.....

 

Put the suction cups for my Zippee sunroof shade in boiling water to rejuvenate them.
Every few months, they stop sticking, and this does the trick for a while.
I like the fact that you can leave the rear one on and still open and close the roof.

Anybody know of a better product for a removable sunroof shade (double glass one like in the R55, R56, etc.)??

 

I just had the sunroof limo tinted.

 

My dog is sick. I have to take him to the vet every 2 days for shots. Each way is about 20 miles. On today's trip, I noticed squeaking/squawking from the rear of my S. Since the car is lowered, do I need shocks or struts? This has been happening all through the winter and seems to be getting more pronounced over every bump in the road, no matter if I try to evade the bumps or not.

 

Sorry about your pooch. Hope he gets well soon.

Yes you need struts front & rear. Yours are very old with lots n lots of miles. As far as the squeaking goes, hard to tell. Might be the struts or something else.

 

Crashton gave me his old shocks when he went to JCWs for his S. the way he drives, I've been lucky to get this far with the replacements. My question is, do I need shocks or struts? Is there a difference? Does the rear have struts and shocks? I just don't know. If it is shocks,

For now, it's the rear struts that are being noisy..the fronts will get done later this year, though.

 

Hope your dog gets better...and your MINI also.

 

Actually they were his OEM shocks, I think. That's why I am confused. He never told me they were struts or not, so I just thought they were shocks. as you can see, I am pretty much brain dead when it comes to mechanics in cars, especially mine. However, I am well-schooled on cigars and Spanish.

My dog has doggy form of intestinal bowel disorder. He is getting injections at thevet to try to get some weight back on him. He weighs under 17 lbs., wayyyyyyy down from the 25-30 from 5 years ago. It's been an on-going problem..massive diarrhea is done and he has normal bowel movements, but his intestines are thick and they will not allow for the proper digestion of food. So, he is not putting on any weight but is losing it, instead. The dog acts normal and his red blood cells have improved, as of today. everything else is normal. He is active, plays with his toys, loves to take walks with me and even tolerates my smoking cigars [GOOOOD DOG].

 

Thanks, teddy. My concern is for my dog. The MINI's problems are a quick, though somewhat expensive, fix. The problems my dog has are going to be an expensive fix.

 

It was cold today, so the MINI was feeling frisky. I got to open it up a few times on the seldom patrolled, high speed limit tollways.

I had a meeting with a customer, RAC Performance, and one of their customers had his new car delivered to them. I don't know why it didn't go to a Ford dealership for delivery. It didn't occur to me to ask. I was too busy drooling.



BTW, that highly polished concrete is their shop floor.

CD

 

Someone has got themselves a very sharp and stealthy ride.

 

If the floor is that shiny, I know that Dave O. was there a while back.

 

Call them shocks, struts or dampers. They all describe the same thing & do the same job. The OEM sharks I gave you had 95,000 miles of fun on them. By now they are well & truly toast. Your front ones are too. Driving on sharks that are that worn out puts a real beating on the rest of the suspension. I don't know for sure, but quite possibly that contributed to that rear lower suspension arm breaking on your MINI.

Park this MINI & use your other one now. Get your pup well & then your MINI.

 

So what did you give me...struts or shocks? Everywhere I look, there seems to be a big difference in each, costwise.

 

I gave you a rear set of dampers. Damp it all anywho justa call Chad & have him send you a set. He will know what you need. To further cornfuse things I'd call the rear ones coil over shocks & the front struts, but what they are called does not matter.

Fronts cost more than rears......