Mine is a daily (I use that term loosely as my only real commute is driving back and forth to the post office to drop off orders) and lives outside everyday. I'm up in the snowbelt .....none of this sissy Columbus "winter" stuffrrr::lol: Currently covered in a haze of salt and grime, but i went out for a shoot the two days it freakishly went above 40 degrees.
There is a chance we may get some snow flurries Sunday night into Monday. My MINI and me will be home. Not because we are afraid of snow, no, we love snow and miss it. We will stay home because it snows so rarely here that there is no equipment to remove it and the local drivers have a penchant for playing bumper cars when it snows.
Mine lives in a heated garage with background music, night lights and pictures of the "Twins" on the walls for company.rrr:rrr:rrr:
RDNZL stays in the garage from the first salting of the roads until the first good rain in April. I drive it every day from then on, but once the salts down, it's nap and modding time So it spends the winter with the TR6. That's why i have the Land Rover, or "the Beast" as it's affectionatily known.
If the roads and the drivers get stupid, I can drive the wife's Audi allroad quattro the 40 miles I have to get to work and back, but I like the MINI in bad weather, it's sort of a bonding thing - and it always gets me home, regardless of the conditions.
Rally-Yes our winters are not bad in comparison to yours in the great white north. What we do have is idiots who simply can not drive when there is more than 3 flakes in the air. I love the snow & driving in it. It's fun passing SUV's in a MINI. MM Chuck- Do you sit behind the wheel in the garage & make motoring noises?
What's a little snow, ice, and frigid weather?? The first Minis ran at Monaco in the snow, ice, and firgid weather, and beat all the competition until the Frenchies DQed them on a technicality...damned Frenchies...who cares about them, anyway? The "new" MINI, like the old one, plays well in the weather. Well, at least mine does. The only thing I fear besides the nutwits in their unstable 4x4s is the oversalted and potholed Ohio highways. My S is my daily driver...no, I don't like to see it all dirty, but, I trust the car to get me to where I want to go and home again, safely.
In other words you have a spoiled, pampered MINI. Does she hold up her bumber and squeal, as she tiptoes through summer puddles? :cornut: Just kidding. I pamper mine as much as I can too. I even talk to her and pat her hood goodnight. Jim
My 03 used to motor over 600 miles every week, for it's first 3 years, living outside 24/7. Weather was everything from 100F to -45F. It did have a carport to live under for the last few years, but until this #$%(/! garage:mad2: gets built, it's living unprotected again. Oh well, it still goes like a scared rabbit, and under all that dirt, there is a very shiny MINI:lol: Mark
Are you sure about that? I read somewhere where BMW and Citroen have parted ways, with regard to engine manufacturing. Not that I mind, though...it's the Frenchie officials who spoil everything they cannot win [ex., think Tour de France], and resort to all despicable means to get their way.
Positive, if you look at the sticker on the window. It has origins of the major parts, engine France, transmission Japan for an autobox. I believe the next generation MINI will no longer use the Peugeot/Citroen Prince engine. There has been talk about 3 cylinder engines in the future MINI's.
Good to know, I guess. Probably a good reason why I won't be getting car serious for another year or so, though...or until our "problem" here is cured.
If you are referring to the timing chain issues I believe that one has finally be solved. That only effected the turbo engines. The jury is still out on the PCV rerouting/change that has been made on the 2011 turbo engines. The non-turbo engine has been pretty reliable. It will be interesting to see how these engines do once they get a lot of miles on them. There are MINI's with Brazilian built engines with very high miles. Hope the same can be said for the Prince of an engine they use now.
That wasn't the "problem" to which I was referring, but I appreciate your interpretation and explanation of it, nonetheless.:cornut: Even with that said, it will be awhile before we can think of getting something new, though. Oh well, dreams are cheap, just not very fulfilling.
A guy has to have a dream. Nothing wrong with that. I'm dreaming of a warm spring evening drive with Babs in a clean MINI on the back roads to the ice cream mill. :smile5: