ChrisTKD

OK, I see one downside to being at the Lodge - no refrigerator or cooking facilities. I'll have to think of something. Does anyone else drink bourbon or are you all scotch only?

I just asked Rich the same question a few days ago. He's not doing it at the moment but may look into it again in a couple of months. I picked up a couple of parts at Mach V today and they are going to start doing walnut blasting probably as early as next week. They are still testing the equipment and seeing how much time it takes before setting a final price. I'll post an update when I find out how much.

Good way to stock up on some needed T shirts for the summer.

Looks good. Do have any expectations regarding accuracy of sizing and shrinkage, i.e., are you getting these from a vendor used in prior years? The non-DC Metro Mini ones sold by the Dragon sponsor run small and shrink.

Good advice on the PM. We made the arrangements. Thanks Kirby.:rock:

The Microtel in Robbinsville is currently full for this time period. I know they get a lot of cancellations though.

Looking for space at Fontana as well. I don't have any furry co-pilots.

If anyone has extra space that they need to fill in their cabin, please let me know.

I need to sea-foam an R56 as well. I have the foam but I'm a nervous nellie about taking off the vacuum hose and getting it back on again. I don't care about smoking out my own neighborhood but I'll drive to the experienced folks to make it easier.

@Stephatron - Thanks for the info on the Toyo Proxes - - I hadn't considered them because I was only looking at Tire Rack. I'm assuming the slightly wider Toyos will fit on 7.5 rims. I see that PTuning carries the Toyo, was that the reason you went with the Toyo's over the Contis? I won't be using PTuning since I plan on getting rims from MachV but I could always have them shipped to MachV. @DBeest - good to hear. I know a few Bimmer owners who were very happy with the Conti non-runflats. @TGGRRR - I know that tires often wear out faster than the hypothetical longevity under ideal conditions. But, 2 years for the Contis is surprising. If you told me to expect 2 years for the Kumhos I guess I wouldn't be as surprised but that's based on my lack of knowledge of the Korean tire mfgrs.

Ok, I read through the old thread on tires but it looked like it was getting cumbersome with the 63 responses. I'm in the market soon for 205/45-17 non-run flats. I can't do summer tires as I'm sure to have some trips in below 40 weather prior to the time to switch to winter tires. So, all season will be the way to go. The tires will be for street use and twisties - - definitely good in wet weather and able to handle light snow. I've looked at Tire Rack and these two appear good possibilities: Continental ExtremeContact DWS $468 or Kumho Ecsta 4X $342 (net of rebate) I'm sure you can't go wrong with the Continentals and I'm willing to pay the small extra. The Continentals are supposed to wear longer (540AA versus 420AA) but I'm not sure how they last in real life. It would be nice though to save $120 but not if it's going to cost me in traction or real life longevity. Are there any fans out there for either of these two options?

Yes, and the drip gets worse in hot weather until all of the excess cosmoline is out of the nooks and cranies. Try to wipe it off as soon as you see it because the staining will only get worse. Mine are pretty bad so I cover the stains periodically with any of the various products designed to protect plastic trim from sun fading. I haven't tried black wow yet but may do so down the line. At one point, a dealer mechanic suggested that I could have the fenders replaced under warranty. But, when I asked them to do that the story changed - they might discount the fender somewhat but I'd still have to pay for it and installation. All they really do is coat it with trim protector and buff it out. It looks good for a while and then the stains start to show again.

Wow, that countryman really went over the lines! I kept myself in-lane for the pictures but did have one fail on my fourth run. I had completed a long loop into Tennessee and thought I was coming back to the base of the Dragon instead of having to go through it. Long story short...don't drive the Dragon when you are mentally tired. I took my eyes off the curve to look at an on-coming loud Mini....it doesn't take much on the really tight curves to stray onto the double yellow. I got the honk and the shame.

Brake fluid and front pads are only a few months old but the OBC now says my rear pads have 4100 miles left. Should I be looking to get the rear pads replaced prior to Dragon? Fronts are OEM but I could use anything on the rear (e.g., Hawks) correct?

Any Saturday is fine.

Torx bit would explain why I was having trouble with the allen wrench. I'll have to look through my toolbox. It's not easy to see up in those holes. It would have been nice if Mini had stuck with the plastic flaps on the R53 model. Thanks for the replies.

On an R56 do you use an allen wrench to open the cabin air filter housing? I've been trying all sizes but they don't seem to fit right.

Does the run still have to be in the right lane?

You need to find your small local hardware store - - they provide a greater level of service, e.g., they'll cut the bolt to length for you.

I can't make it on Wed evening due to a class I'm teaching. Of course, making it up route 7 during rush hour would be a nightmare, so perhaps this one is okay to miss. :laugh:.

During the first part of the drive there were a series of roller coaster hills. How many drivers felt like they caught some air? I could have sworn that on one hill both the driver ahead of me and I had the front wheels off the ground.:rock:

The festival was a venue for for Scots to celebrate their heritage. There were lots of guys walking around in skirts. But if you aren't Scottish, there wasn't enough to maintain your interest for very lo

Thanks for all of the information. It was very helpful

I received an email from the British Car show organizer....he said try to arrive at GATE 2 before 9 am, if possible. If you arrive after 9am then call 571-277-7357 to be escorted in to the games and the exhibition. :motor:

According to the Scottish Games timetable (added recently) the British Car show is only on Sunday. I don't know why the registration allows you to sign in for either Sat or Sunday. When I registered and hit the send button I got an automatic thank you