What did you do with your MINI today?

Those look like machine welds, nicely done. I hope you bought lug bolts and not lug nuts?

I like the adjustable control arms, but why didn't you replace the uppers too?

How does it ride now, stiffer? The same? Smoother? what were you going for?

 

Yes lug “bolts” lol

I only bought parts that was definitely needed for the conversion and/or replace worn parts.

Also mine has the leveling sensors attached to the upper arms so didn’t want to bother with that.

I’m comparing to a Mini that had blown shocks so the new setup rides much smoother and especially the compression is much better.

It used to hit the bumpstops but I don’t have to cringe when I go over potholes or bumps I can’t avoid anymore.

As an initial impression I would say it’s probably a sportier stock setup. It’s not any softer but not much stiffer either. At their recommended max ride height which is about 1” lower than stock the ride has plenty of travel and it’s not bouncy at all. But I will be going lower once it settles and go with 17”s

Don’t have any increase in NVH as far as I can tell. If anything it got rid of some from worn bushings and bearings.

I’m running Bridgestone RFT (195/55/16) right now but will be ditching those for Goodyear Eagle AS as soon as my new wheels are back from the powder coating.

Overall I’m happy with the end result. Both their customer service and quality of the parts seem equivalent to other high end coils.

For $449 it fit my budget to replace worn stock parts and for a secondary daily driver car the performance is more than enough as I was just looking more towards for oe replacement not performance.

Lastly these suffer from what all the coilovers suffer from, the spring perch/collar rubbing on the tires. Luckily I had 3 & 5mm spacers laying around.

With the stock 16x6.5 ET48 wheel a 3mm spacer will just clear it enough but 5mm would have been better but didn’t want to run stock lug bolts with a 5mm.


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Hey....MINIs are meant to be dirty. You wash them and then drive em and then they're dirty again. I wouldn't be too obsessed with washing them everyday. Been there already. It takes away from your motoring time.
Where are you? I'll pop by and wash your car. Then take it for a spin and give er back.

 

I flew back from Philadelphia today, got my MINI out of car prison (airport parking), and get to take it back there tomorrow morning to fly to San Jose.

My rental car in New Jersey was a black Land Rover with black leather seats. Thanks Hertz.

Nice to come home to my white roof -- if only for one night.

CD

 

1. Put Coverking seatcovers on Ron Swanson - I was looking at replacing the seats, but wanted to retain the airbags while my daughter is driving it.
2. Ordered an Alpine head unit for it so she can have her bluetooth.
3. Ordered a pile of parts for the TieFighter - Engine mount, tensioner, belt, and pulley, crank position o-ring, water pump, thermostat.

 

Took my 16 Countryman up to the Loveland (MOL) dealer for oil/filter and silencer (intake filter), all checked out for the rest of the summer. This MINI has a service package for oil changes until 2021 or 100K miles, I will not see either of those figures. I did look at the 2020 BMW X3 M Competion model today, very nice, 505HP, normal BMW M stuff in/on it. Did not like the $82,700 on the window sticker. Maybe my lottery car when/if/never going to win.

 

If I was gonna spend that much I think I'd go for a new C8 Stingray. Then I'd hire someone to ride with me to help me climb out of it.

 

I haven't driven it for weeks, except to move it around the yard. Yesterday, I wanted to go to the store and it wouldn't start, so I put on the battery charger overnight. The MINI is OK now, I drove it to town to check it out. 35 mph curves at 60, lots fun. On the way home, however, I got stuck behind some slowpokes, yawn!

 

I was hoping that they would go with a smaller, lighter DOHC V8 to go with the new mid-engine layout. I was thinking a less than 5-litre V8 with the same HP. It is being released as a 2020 model, and 100 HP per litre is pretty easy to do nowadays. Oh well, baby steps, I guess.

CD

 

There are two reasons I think Chevy would stick with the small block for their engine.

The Chevy small block is already physically smaller (read compact) than most other 5-litre V-8s from other manufacturers already. The pushrod head design actually has a lower center of gravity than any overhead valve or valveless design. The engine is relatively inexpensive to produce and makes great torque and horsepower without a lot of engineering or electronic trickery.

I've driven almost every generation of Corvette at one time or another in my life. I had a 78 L82 and almost bought an 86. In every generation of Corvette I have had the pleasure of driving, they all felt pretty much the same. Being cocooned in the driver's seat and the V8 rumble seeming surrounding you. If they had changed to a more "refined" engine, it would break the continuity of Corvettes over the generations. Here's hoping they did their due diligence refining that sound and feel inside as well as balancing the handling...unlike a previous mid-engine car GM made.

 

Also....getting back to MINIs. I waved at 2 MINI drivers going the other way on my way to the office this morning.
Both totally ignored me.

 

I give the two fingered wave when I'm driving my classic, most people either don't see me or don't know that it's a Mini, I think.

 

Said goodbye to my MINI today as we left in my wife’s SUV to go see the one and only Rolling Stones in South Philly tonight.

 

Ordered one of those Dimple magnetic manual trans plugs to go along with my fluid change this coming weekend. Can't hurt!

 

No more MINI? Why?

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My MINI does not go into the dump that is known as Philadelphia.