Road America

Yes, this was the first weekend I stayed at my apartment. It was Road America time. Sully, Pinto, Breen, and J came up for a weekend of vintage racing. The event was pretty laid back, not many people and very relaxed. There were definitely some sweet cars, though. Some of the pre war stuff was amazing to watch fly around the track. There were also a heavy dose of 60s and 70s Trans Am Camaros, Vettes, and Mustangs, as well as Porsches, Alfas, Datsuns, and the ever present Brits. There were several sweet original Mini's tearing it up, with the number 8 car producing the most noise I've ever heard out of a Mini.


We also hit up the track touring session, so Breen and I got to lap the course in the Camaro and MINI, respectively. Wow, was that a blast. I've been come to Road America since I can remember, and it was truly amazing to get to see the course from the driver's perspective. They pretty much let us go as fast as we wanted, and I touched the S over a hundred a couple of times. The car was rock solid and performed like a champion. Breen had to take it a notch slower, as the brakes on the Mullet Machine faded like a pair of acid washed jeans. Apparently that made for a few "interesting" moments on the track, but he kept it tidy and brought it back in one piece. All in all an amazing weekend.

Bath Time

I spent a bunch of time with the MINI tonight. I finally dug into the iPod hookup to see if it is possible to hook up a regular MP3 player to the stereo. After some investigation behind the stereo and internet research I believe I have found the solution. Since there is no easy way to hook directly into the stereo as it uses some uncommon connections and also runs power to the iPod for charging, I'll have to utilize the iPod hookup. So basically, I would get an iPod shuffle dock adapter (adapts a male iPod connection (existing iPod cord) to a male USB connection (MP3 player cord). This way I'll be able to use the standard cord that comes with the MP3 player of my choice to hook into the MINI stereo. Not only will this transmit the music, but it will also charge the MP3 player. Sweet. Now I just have to invest in an MP3 player. Right now I'm leaning towards a SanDisk Sansa e series (either 2 or 4 GB).

I also gave the MINI it's first bath tonight. Unfortunately I spent a lot of time figuring out the whole MP3 connection thing, so by the time I was done it was almost completely dark out. I think the mosquitoes got about a pint of blood out of me by the time I was finished. After I filled the MINI up in Madison Monday night, I've been keeping track of the MPG on the onboard computer. After a mix of highway and city driving, I'm averaging 34 MPG. Thank you German engineering.

MINI Mania

Ladies and gentleman, the moment you've all been waiting for. I would like to introduce you to my Mini. The insurmountable obstacle has been overcome; I finally own a cool car. Wow, how exactly did this happen. The reality still hasn't quite set in. I have had a blast driving around all weekend; I've racked up 500 or so miles on it already. This thing is seriously like a go kart with four seats. Taking corners at speeds that would put the C-ride up on two wheels seem like nothing in this thing. Plus, this thing gets ridiculous fuel mileage. I averaged 37 mpg on the way home from Madison tonight. Pretty much superior to the C-ride in every way. Nic was even impressed with the size of the cockpit; no head or leg issues at all. Here is a starter picture right after I got it. More pictures to come..........