Edge

+1 to what Jim said. In actual fact, the Smart car is much safer than you'd think. Ali... don't fall into the same trap with the Smart as other people do with MINIs! Small doesn't automatically mean unsafe... engineering matters! Here is the video that Jim talked about, although it was from "Fifth Gear" not "Top Gear". It's eye-opening, to say the least! The real limitation in their extreme example isn't the car, it's the occupants - regardless of what car they drive. ...that all being said, the problem with Smarts isn't their safety, it's that they are boring to drive. Bert - the best solution here is to have Anne-Marie test drive both a Smart and a MINI. Even a base model Cooper will still run rings around a Smart, in terms of both performance and sheer "fun to drive", while also being way more practical... and the fuel efficiency between the two won't be as far apart as you might think! I also agree with Jim though, if the MINI really doesn't speak to her (can't imagine why!), even a Fiat 500 is a better choice than a Smart... and it now comes in a higher performance model (Abarth) that starts to compete with the Cooper S... kinda.

I also agree with everything said above. The Dragon is no joke, there are LOTS of blind corners, and some vehicles, especially sport bikes, can show up so quickly... you need to be darn sure you stay on your side of the double yellow! Bottom line - if you aren't comfortable taking the corner and not crossing the double yellow... then you are driving beyond your limit and you need to slow down. It's not a race, it's not an opportunity to show off, and everyone needs to get home safe. If you're worried that you're slowing down the vehicle behind you, don't. Just go at your own pace until you come to a shoulder pull-off (there are some dispersed along the road), then pull over to let them pass. REAL drivers don't cut corners! :motor: ( especially in a MINI!) ...and, to repeat some good ones that our own Coop(eration) came up with: DON'T BE A PASS ASS BACK OFF SPEEDRACER DRIVE FRIENDLY and WITHIN THE LINES DON'T BE THAT IDIOT DO NOT CROSS YELLOW LINES - BLIND TURNS KILL BE ALERT FOR SLOWER TRAFFIC NO PASSING // BLIND CURVE AHEAD ...although they looked much cooler on the bumper stickers he designed. :angel:

Only by marriage.

Bummer, sorry to hear that! In light of this and one other cancellation that I was PMed about, I have re-opened the RSVP for last minute changes. If any folks who can't make it could please update your RSVP now, that would be awesome. By my calculations, we now have room for 2 more people in the "actual" count.

Dale, don't be silly! We're doing just fine - join us for lunch! My only concern (expressed on FB) is that for any given event hosted by a particular club, it's important to remember to RSVP directly with the hosting club. You did that, and we're happy to have you! See you Sunday. :top:

Registration closes tomorrow, and it's only $5. Come on man, no excuses... register already!

RSVPs for this event are now closed. I already heard back from colejd via email earlier, and promised him what was to be slot 60 for lunch (since FUNN SIZ + guest aren't attending lunch), but one last RSVP (SJDiv) just made it in under the radar, pushing us to 62 for lunch. :s: Oh well, we'll make it work! :dontknow:

Hey everyone - the Spring Fling has become a victim of its own popularity! We're currently at 53 people and 33 or 34 MINIs who have RSVPed "Yes"! :hmmmm: So... we're going to have to implement some contingency planning here: I've spoken with the Griffin Tavern, and they are OK with the number we have, but they'd like to set a cap of 60 people. Therefore, once the "Yes" RSVP list reaches 60, it will be closed. At that point, "Maybe" RSVPs will be removed from the RSVP altogether. Sorry, I hate to do this, but we need confirmations, not fence-sitting! _ We will be breaking the MINIs up into 3 subgroups: Subgroup A - New members & first timers (also includes all non-members) Subgroup B - Veteran members who prefer a "casual" driving style Subgroup C - Veteran members who prefer a "spirited" driving style We are going to travel together in one large combined group, but between each of the subgroups (and at the very end) there will be a designated "relay" person who will serve as the sweeper for the group in front and the leader for the group behind. They will also be responsible for ensuring that all important messages are relayed forward and backward to me and the other relays. Either Laura (GreenCactus) or I will be contacting some of you over PM to inform you which group you will be in, and the relays will also be contacted. If you don't hear from us, we'll be sorting you into your groups in the drivers meeting on Sunday morning. We can make this work - we've done it before! It just takes a little coordination. Thanks everyone for your patience as we get this sorted out.

Welcome to the DCMM forums, Brian! :wavey: We hope you enjoy it here (and at our events) and decide to become a full member. As Ali (TGGRRR) and Laura (GreenCactus) have mentioned, we have our first big driving event of the season, the Spring Fling, coming up this Sunday (the 15th), and the Saturday after that is the next monthly Meet N Greet, this time at MINI of Annapolis, as well as the BMWCCA autocross in Bowie, MD. Hope you can make it on out!

Yep! Thanks for helping Dale, Brian. I have gone ahead and added the address of the Sterling Wegmans to the main event post. It was already on the route sheet, but I should have put it in the thread too.

It should work now, sorry about that. :embarassed: Well, we're up to 21 MINIs confirmed, and 8 more MINIs that are "Maybes"... with over a week to go for people to sign on. That likely means we'll need to split into at least 2 groups, like we've done before. Relays and sweepers will be key! Thank for volunteering, Quitta.

Oops - correct... just non-member drivers. Fixed!

Hey everyone - I have updated the event details in the main post at the top, and I have also uploaded the route sheet for this year's event! In addition, I have attached the waiver form to this message (I'll also link to it in the main event post). All non-member drivers will be required to sign and submit this form before participating. We will have them at the event - I just wanted to provide the form in advance, so people can read it ahead of time, if they like... or even print it out and bring it along with them, already signed. Looking forward to the run - less than 2 weeks to go! Waiver - Spring Fling 2012.doc Waiver - Spring Fling 2012.doc

Yep! From an old post of mine (I updated the prices though):

I was just about to post that... awesome, isn't it?

I once gave a ride to 5 women at the same time, in my MINI. It was a relatively short distance in downtown DC until we dropped one or two of them off... but it was fun! Two women in the front passenger seat (one on the other's lap) Three women in the back, with the one in the middle leaning forward and squeezing between the legs of the other two Yep - 6 people in my R53. It was hilarious, but I probably wouldn't do it again... I'm thankful that DC police aren't usually too attentive or strict! :embarassed:

As for last Thursday (3/22), Ali does.

Oh, it is a thing here... or at least, it USED to be a thing here for the first 4 or 5 years that MINIs were around (2002 through 2005/2006). After that, MINIs started to take off as more of a mass market vehicle in the DC area, and the wave percentage started to drop. DC is full of them now - with 5 dealerships within driving distance of DC (if you count Annapolis & Baltimore), there's just so many of them here now. Still, some of us still try, with occasional success. :itsme:

Oops. Seems the forum problem we had last year (we lost some data and had to bring in an "expert" to help recover it) caused the route sheet attachments to be lost. Oh well, sorry about that. I have removed the links to the previous run sheets... and I will post this year's as soon as it is finalized, which will probably be next Monday. You can get an idea of it by looking at the 2010 Google Maps links - the route hasn't really changed since then.

More likely your current tires are 205/45R17, as that is the standard MINI size for 17" wheels. Run-flats are definitely a love/hate thing. I love mine... I particularly enjoy the feel of the razor-sharp turn-in, thanks to the uber-stiff sidewalls. I don't personally care much about the harsher ride. Based upon your posted requirements though, it does sound like you're a good candidate for non-runflats, and Craig's spent a lot of time researching non-runflats before, so his recommendations on tire brand and model are definitely worth consideration. My only "caution" would be to realize that when you stray away from the stock tire sizes, your speedometer and odometer readings will also stray, unless you find a close match in terms of overall diameter & circumference. Here is a direct link to the tire size calculator that Craig mentioned - it's very easy to use and I highly recommend it! Miata.net Tire Size Calculator Finally, here are the various stock/OEM tire sizes that MINIs come shipped with, and their corresponding diameters: 15" - 175/65R15 - 23.96" (608.5mm) 16" - 195/55R16 - 24.44" (620.9mm) 17" - 205/45R17 - 24.26" (616.3mm) 18" - 205/40R18 - 24.46" (621.2mm) (stock size info from the Wheel/Tire FAQ on MINI2.com)

Oops! You caught a small mistake in the event info. Fixed! The date of the event is Sunday, April 15.

Motored on 66W and 495S for a little bit tonight with a 2002-2004 EB/W JCW MCS... once it eventually moved over and I passed it, I tried to give a :top: but it was dark and I'm not sure the other driver saw me. Pre-05 JCWs are not very common, so it was cool to see one in the wild!

Thank you! Yep - and 40mm in the front! Several reasons, actually: Solid is stronger. Yep - although slotted/drilled may look cooler, they are more prone to crack & wear than the solid ones. The added cooling benefits are really only useful on the track anyway... and in theory, solid will stop better because it's a larger contact area. The rears are not available in slotted/drilled. Only the fronts. To me, that just looks silly, because it doesn't match. Some people really like it though - to each his/her own. I like Mr. OEM to look slightly less "blingy". Yeah, there's definitely some "showiness" there (I love my GP wheels!), but there's a balance I'm trying to keep. Another example is that I went for body color roof, and I even had the carbon fiber JCW spoiler painted over in matching Hyper Blue so that it blended better with the roof and the rest of the car. The spoiler is already loud enough as it is without showing off CF as well. :laugh: Anyway, the kit itself comes with the slotted/drilled front rotors, but the factory JCWs come with the solid front rotors. So yeah, I actually have two brand new extra slotted/drilled front rotors that have never been used here at home. As for going with a BBK, doing what I did on an R53 is not a totally simple process, as I listed in the first post. If you decide you only want to upgrade the front brakes, you can skip the trailing arm conversion, but I suggest doing it anyway as it also benefits your suspension. Of course, there are plenty of aftermarket brake kits that are really good too. You may want to consider the Detroit Tuned offerings, for example.

As a follow-up, here are the OEM MINI wheels that officially fit these R56 JCW BBK front brakes without using a wheel spacer: 17" R97 17" R104 17" R108 17" R112 17" R114 18" R113 In my case, to fit my summer wheels (the GP 18" R107), I had to use a 5mm wheel spacer (and appropriate longer wheel bolts) to clear the front calipers. Oddly enough, despite not being on the "official" list, my winter wheels (17" R111) fit without the wheel spacers! This could also mean that the older design of the same wheel (17" R91) might fit as well... pics of those: 17" R111 17" R91 (All wheel images above borrowed from the Wheel/Tire FAQ on MINI2.com, except the R114 image, which I had to get directly from MINIUSA's own site)

Hey everyone - some of you have already seen my car in the past week, so the "cat is out of the bag" already... but just over a week ago, I finally completed the brake upgrade project on my MINI that I've been planning for a long time. Well, to be honest, I didn't do the work myself, but I researched and planned it out. Before I even took delivery of my MINI 7 years ago, I had the dealer install the 1st Gen JCW Sport Brake Kit. This was a very nice upgrade from the factory brakes. However, my 1st Gen MCS now has the 2nd Gen JCW Big Brake Kit (BBK), which technically isn't supposed to be possible. This is the same brake kit that comes on all 2nd Gen Factory JCW MINIs, and is officially available from MINI to upgrade all 2nd Gen MCs and MCSes. Why? Because I firmly believe you can never have too much brake. Why this specific kit? Because it's OEM. :laugh: A few technical details: OEM Brake rotor sizes (diameter: front/rear) 1st Gen (Cooper & Cooper S) 276mm/259mm (10.87"/10.2") ---------------------------- 1st Gen (JCW) 294mm/259mm (11.57"/10.2") ---------------------------- 2nd Gen (Cooper) 280mm/259mm (11.02"/10.2") ---------------------------- 2nd Gen (Cooper S) 294mm/259mm (11.57"/10.2") ---------------------------- 2nd Gen (JCW) 316mm/280mm (12.44"/11.02") ---------------------------- 2nd Gen (JCW GP) 330mm/280mm (12.99"/11.02") ---------------------------- 3rd Gen (Cooper) 282mm/259mm (11.1"/10.2") ---------------------------- 3rd Gen (Cooper S) 294mm/259mm (11.57"/10.2") ---------------------------- 3rd Gen (JCW) 335mm/259mm (13.19"/10.2") NOTE: All rear rotors are 10mm (0.39") thick, and all front rotors are 22mm (0.87") thick, except the R56 JCW GP and F56 JCW front rotors, which are 26mm (1.02") and 30mm (1.18") thick respectively. Interesting facts from above: All 2nd Gen Cooper Ses effectively come with the same brakes as the JCW brakes on 1st Gens, except for the red caliper paint and JCW logo All MINIs come with 259mm rear rotors, except the 2nd Gen Factory JCW and JCW GP which come with 280mm rear rotors The rear rotors on the 2nd Gen Factory JCW are the same size as the front rotors on the 2nd Gen Coopers! The 3rd Gen JCW has even larger front brake rotors than the 2nd JCW GP, yet it still has the smaller rear brakes! The other nice benefit of the upgrade for me, besides the significant increase in rotor sizes, is that the new front calipers are a "4 piston, floating" design whereas my old calipers are a "1 piston, fixed" design. The former is far better technology. The whole kit is actually manufactured for MINI by Brembo - definitely a well known brand in performance brakes. :top: Finally, the meaty details... Anyway, if you have a 1st Gen MINI and you're interested in this upgrade, here's the "unusual" stuff needed: You need to do the R56 Rear Trailing Arm swap first (except for the GP, which already has them). Without this swap, the hoses for rear brakes don't properly clear. The other alternative is to cut a small chunk out of your stock rear trailing arms, but that idea just sounds bad to me! The other benefit of doing this swap is that the R56 Rear Trailing Arms are notably lighter weight (they're aluminum), which benefits the handling. Note you'll also have to buy special bushings from Helix due to a change in the rear suspension shock mount design. You will need custom front brake lines, because the connector on the caliper end is different for 2nd Gens. The brake lines need to be 1st Gen on the car end and 2nd Gen on the caliper end. I have a contact who can get these made for you if you're interested (nothing in it for me). (NOTE: The rear brake lines are the same connectors between Gens - no problem there) You will need the R56 parking brake cables, because the connector for the parking brake is very different on 2nd Gens. The end that attaches to the handbrake is the same though, and they are the correct length. In order to fit the front calipers over your existing protection plates (the shields behind the rotors), a small amount will have to be cut/shaved off. The new calipers are just that big! Finally, the wheels you currently have may not fit over the new front calipers. They really are huge! If that's the case, you may only need a wheel spacer to solve the problem... but if the wheels really are too small (especially 16" wheels or less), you'll probably need different wheels. Beyond that, all you really need is the 2nd Gen JCW BBK itself. Here are the relevant OEM (& Helix) part numbers: R56 Trailing Arm swap 33326795659 TRAILING ARM, LEFT (R56 part) 33326795660 TRAILING ARM, RIGHT (R56 part) 33306772658 HEX BOLT WITH WASHER (QTY: 2) (R56 part) HMS 1080 HELIX R56 HEAR SHOCK BUSHINGS R56 JCW BBK install 34110432802 SPORTS BRAKE RETROFIT KIT 34406769955 LEFT HAND BRAKE BOWDEN CABLE (R56 part) 34406769954 RIGHT HAND BRAKE BOWDEN CABLE (R56 part) Whew... I think that covers it, but I'll come back and edit this post if I realize I left something out. I'm sure some are asking... how do they feel? They feel great! The nice thing is that for casual driving, they just feel "normal", like my old brakes. They aren't too "grabby" or anything like that. However, when you really need them, whoa does the car stop hard. Love it! Finally... here are some pics! Note that they were taken with a variety of different cameras, so the quality varies. Original front brake (1st Gen JCW) Front brake shield after being trimmed to fit new caliper New front brake (R56 JCW BBK) Parking brake cable swap Original rear brake (stock - painted red) New rear brake (R56 JCW BBK) End result - front wheel End result - rear wheel Finally, a BIG thank you to my tech for his help in pulling this off - there's no way this would have happened without him!