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Kim’s MINI…..En Route! Jun 17, 2005
You can color me excited. I've been checking the MINIUSA website on a daily basis for a status check on our MINI. Today it switched from "Awaiting Transport" to "En Route" Woohoo!
Kim and I are pretty excited about its impending arrival. We've ordered 215/40R16 Kumho ECSTA V710s and some 16x6.5 Rota Slipstreams for autocross use. I've also got a second set of the stock sized 15x5.5 wheels (and tires!) on the way as I want to do some experimentation with the 15s vs 16s. The 15s with 205/50R15 will make good local autocross shoes.
Kim and I are debating whether or not she can make it out to Topeka for this year's Solo II Nationals. She's very excited about going, but she recently started a new job and her vacation time is a little sketchy. So, I do have a ride lined up in another H Stock MINI. My good friend Greg Lee from Alabama is bringing his Cooper to Topeka as well.
MINI Status Jun 30, 2005
I just looked up the status of our MINI, it's at the distribution center! That means we'll probably have our car by next week. Woohoo! Kim's getting a little tired of driving the SE-R and we haven't decided on a second car (or third) car yet.
It also looks like I won't be able to make it to the Peru Tour this weekend. Too much stuff to do around here! I've already been to one Tour this year and I'm actually co-driving another car at Nats, so it's not important enough for me to blow off stuff around here, drive 18 hours each way just to autocross a car that's being sold shortly. That said, I'll missing seeing my friends from CenDiv...have fun out there!
Kim’s MINI…..in the garage. Jul 1, 2005
Kim's MINI is now in our possession. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to the dealership. I'll snap some pictures over the weekend.
We really like a lot of the detail changes that MINI made for 2005, the car feels even more solid and well-built.
It's also amazing how much better these cars feel on the dinky 15" rims with normal tires than the 16"s with runflats. The 15" wheels also suit the MINI retro look better.
Pics of our new MINI Jul 5, 2005
So, this is probably getting boring for the Blog readers....but hey, it's my blog and this is what I'm excited about....here are pictures of Kim's new MINI. We'll be autocrossing it in a few weeks!
We've got about 400 miles on it and it's still on the original tank of gas. 36 mpg is pretty darn nice!
More Pics of the MINI Jul 13, 2005
At some point, this is going to become more of a project car page, and less of a blog. I don't know, maybe that's just the way I am. I mean, really, do you want to know about every time I cut the grass? (it's Florida, every 3 days) or how cute my dogs are? (actually, they're smart AND cute).
Anyway, the MINI is all set for its first autocross on Sunday in Deland. We're going to run it in STX, even though it will be stock, so Kim can get a few more event's worth of points for the year-end trophies. We've got a second set of 15" "holeys" that we can mount up some Falkens onto.
I checked the camber, we're at about 1.5 in the rear and .2-.6 in the front, which is very normal for a MINI. We can even out the front, but it's so minor, we might not even bother.