cmcveay

Did you try scraping the chewing gum off the bottom of your shoe? Seriously though, it might "look" normal but it's rubber and it does stretch and lose it's elasticity with wear and over time. Look it up on realoem.com to see what it costs and just replace it. I can't imagine it being more than 10-15 bucks!

If anyone is interested, I'd like to run the Wegmans to Fburg route again on Monday. If you are interested, please email me or text me as I'm going to be away from the web most of Sunday. cmcveay@gmail.com or 305-712-0254.

Not sure who might be going directly to Fburg for this but it's also the day of our M&G at Sterling so I did a route check today to get us down there from MoS. Other than getting stuck behind a BIG tractor pulling a BIG tank for 4-5 miles, it was a nice trip down. For history buffs or those who just want to see some VA countryside, it's a nice drive!

My tire repair kit consists of plugs and a compressor. I do have a bottle of slime as an emergency. Picked it all up at Pep Boys for about $20. I think you'll be happy with the difference in ride comfort and noise with the change. We look forward to hearing how it works out and I know we all hope you get another MINI!

I'm planning on scouting a route on Saturday after my Tri training. I'll post whatever I come up with. If anyone wants to give it a go on Sunday, I can probably be talked into driving it again. Be warned though, I'm an early riser.

Mike, With the mileage, you have another option to consider, replacing the OEM struts. In July, 2009, I lowered Archi and I kept the OEM struts. I won't tell you what the ride was like but I think I'm shorter now than I was then... A few months ago, I swapped the springs out for NM Engineerings RS Alpha springs and I put in a set of Bilstein struts. Night and Day! I believe most of the ride improvement came from the struts though. They have much better compression and rebound dampening. If you stay with the OEM springs, you also have the option of Koni's different struts as well. So, if you still want the security of the RF tires but you want a better ride, that's one way to go. If you want to ditch the RF (which I did as well) and recoup some of that crisp handling, step down one "size" in the profile (from 50 to 45) and I think you'll find that the shorter sidewall doesn't squirm as much and you maintain most, if not all of that go-kart like handling. I made the leap down to 40's but I think I've also got the fattest tires on a MINI in the area with the 235/40R-17 Star Specs. If you go to non RF's, the other thing you'll notice is the difference in road noise. The noise level inside the car drops off rather quickly. How's that for options? P.S. Changing the struts can be a DIY job if you want to save a few $$$. Just make sure you get a good 4 wheel alignment done afterward.

Ishmael, Look forward to having you at the meet and greet. If you are interested, we'll be leaving the dealership to make a run down to Fredericksberg to meet up with the Hampton Roads MINIs group as they make a "pub to pub" run. We decided to make it two great events in a single day!

Just talked to the Sales Manager at MoB and they will be ready for us.

Lona and I were driving down Glebe Road yesterday and a really nice looking Spice Orange Cabrio turned onto Glebe a few cars ahead of us. I couldn't see the plates but the denim top gave it away. It was Jennifer in BENDER on their way home from work. Despite the nice weather, BENDER was all closed up, not getting any of that open air time... We were in Lona's car so we were "invisible" to Jennifer.

One of our vendors, Mach V is having their annual open house. Dan will be posting updates to the thread with more great information. Here are the basics: Mach V Colossal Open House 6 Saturday, July 30 10am - 4pm Mach V Motorsports, LLC 45690 Elmwood Court, Suite 170 Sterling, Virginia, 20166 (571) 434-8333 voice

Ali blames it all on you Q! She said you forced her into doing it.

minicarparts.net sells OEM oil filters (with the O-ring) and drain plug crush washers for less than anyone else around. They sells sets of 6 with the oil filter housing socket for less than $60. Pair up with someone and buy 3 for less than $10 each. Superbrightleds.com carries a great selection of LED lights for the interior and exterior of your car.

Ali - look at all of the places that sell aftermarket performance accessories and they have their claims about what different things will do for performance. Most quote an increase in horsepower or torque or both. Most offer no documentation to support that claim. Some offer a dyno sheet that suggests they've actually tested the components on a dyno and have proof. So yes, the "butt dyno" is what you perceive to be an improvement but without any documentation to back it up. Some "butt dyno" readings have stated that the are putting 500+ HP to the wheels and they find that a run on the dyno ends up deflating those numbers significantly.

Ali - there are times in life when ya just don't say anything... Stickier tires! My wheel spin issue went away with the Star Specs. I agree that 1/2 psi could be noticed (on the dyno) but the tune unlocks the boost map and you end up making much, much more.

Sevan, I had to chuckle at your reason for editing... I can relate. Like you, I don't put much faith in the "calibrated butt cheeks" dyno and Archi hasn't been back on the dyno since the initial tune so my "impression" of improved performance doesn't have any documentation, just sensation. I can, and do, watch the temps and the pressures so I know how that's changed with the different mods. Having the tune tweaked to take advantage of the better air quality certainly gives me the sensation of improved performance. I know that Gart has an RMW tune as well so I'm hoping he'll chime in with his impressions. I think the Turbo MINI (non JCW) sees an improvement with the larger intercooler because they are hitting 14-16 psi without mods so the higher pressure lets them fill that larger void quicker. You are right, the volume of the larger intercooler can have an impact upon the boost pressure, turbo lag and boost lag but there are ways to mitigate those things. The higher pressure we are running takes care of the first and a better exhaust and a few tricks with the diverter valve helps with the rest.

The larger/more efficient intercooler actually does help make more power. By cooling the pressurized intake air charge coming out of the turbo, you get a denser air/fuel mixture which then increases the potential of the engine. Yes, there are factors to consider such as the efficiency of the intercooler and the ability of the car to even take advantage of the new mixture but a more efficient IC can allow the engine to make more power. I had Jan (RMW) tune Archi last year and the one component that Jan suggested upgrading was the IC. About 6 months later, I installed an aftermarket IC (I went with the Forge), my tune was tweaked for it and yes, I noticed a difference in the "butt dyno". Not so much before the updated tune but definately after (as a result of the better intake air temp). Yes, I see/feel less lag and certainly no loss in boost pressure since I'm seeing over 20psi now. With the OEM IC, a functional hood scoop and a DDM Street works intake, I typically saw a difference of about 12 degrees between the intake air temp and the ambient air. When idling at a light, the intake air temp would start climbing immediately (sometimes to more than 50 degrees over ambient) and it would drop slowly once in motion. During autocross or other "spirited" driving activities, the delta would grow a bit, sometimes to 20 degrees and the cool down time was drawn out. With the aftermarket IC, the "normal" difference was roughly the same but the improvement came with how slowly the intake air temp would rise and how quickly the intake air temps dropped after being stopped. Also, autocross and those other activities didn't see such a large delta. The larger IC doesn't "heat soak" as badly as the OEM. Last week, I got rid of the DDM Street intake and installed a DOS CAI. With a little under a week of driving, one thing I've noticed is the "normal" intake air temp vs. ambient. Driving to work this morning (as the sun was coming up), the temp difference was 3-7 degrees. Sorry for the long reply but I felt it was appropriate for this thread.

And for the record, all of mine are for vendors. But, mine are under the hood where they make the absolute most HP possible. That, and they aren't out there in public...

Thanks Brian, I hadn't figured that part out just yet....

Yeah, it's a tight fit under there. A little custom bracket does wonders for it.

Headed home from work in the ridiculous traffic on the Wilson bridge and I spied a MINI up ahead. As I caught up (VA Plates PCOCBLU I think), the driver had her Phone at the window shooting video of Archi and I driving by. She waved like crazy at us. We played "tag" for the next 45 minutes in traffic on the bridge.

Did not!

DOS CAI.

Alan, you've got a great point there! I've got those decals and stickers under the hood and they work! That Way Motorworks decal added a few HP and I'm CERTAIN that the RMW decal added at least 15% all by itself... Good luck on keeping it as it rolled off the showroom floor though... I'm installing a new decal this evening when I get home from work. Mr. FEDEX brought me a brand new Defenders of Speed decal yesterday!

Please forgive our 1st generation brothers and sisters who run about screaming and praising the virtues of their almighty pulley as the "holy grail" of performance mods. The pulley they are talking about is an aftermarket pulley for their supercharger that spins the supercharger faster. 2nd gen "S" models are turbocharged so they don't have the mechanical connection like that. As far as other mods, it really just depends upon what you want to get out of your car. MINIs are like a Harley and in almost all cases, if you can touch it, you can change it. Do you want more performance, better handling, better stopping, different looks, different functions? Hit me up via email or if you can make it out on Saturday, we can talk about different things. You can go off the deep end like I have or you can be conservative like.... um, like... Um.. Yeah, you can be the first member with conservative mods!