Rocketboy's MINI Blog - Archives

And you thought your neck of the woods had confusing roads? Check out this highly confusing (but like most roundabouts, rather safe) roundabout.

Erik...

To the idiot who signed me up to f.r.e.e.i.p.o.d.s.com (name changed so as to not pop up in search engines), sorry, but they do send an e-mail to confirm. So, the attempt didn't work.

Also posted up by Jack07734 from, eh, you know where:

The registration is almost full for the SCCA solo II event at Batavia Motorsports park on Sept 18th. The limit is 200 and there are 190 signed up so far.

Unlike most events this one is being held on a Go-Kart track.

Erik...

Posted on the MINI Club of WNY message board by Jack07734, who just so happens to be the other half of Team No Name:

Hers is the early schedule. I'm sure it will change.

Friday April 29: Registration, drivers meeting, and Welcoming party.
Saturday, April 30: Wet Skid Pad Challenge at Tire Rack, South Bend, IN
Two road course events at Indianapolis Raceway Park
Sunday, May 1: Two roadcourse events, including the yet uncompleted extra mile at Beaver Run
1/2 Mile Oval at Lancaster Speedway under the lights
Monday, May 2: Two roadcourse events at New Hampshire International Speeday
Tuesday, May 3: Two roadcourse events at the new track at Summit Point, Shenandoah
Wednesday, May 4:Two roadcourse events, perhaps more, at Virginia International Raceway
Drag race TBA
Thursday, May 5: Two roadcourse events at Roebling Road
Friday, May 6: Two roadcourse events at Nelson Ledges
Saturday, May 7: Dry Skid Pad Challenge and Finish at Tire Rack.
So what does this all mean?

First off this year it will be a east coast event.
None of the places listed so far are more than a days drive from here.

And the most important thing 3 of the venues
Beaver Run (Pittsburgh), Nelson Ledges (Ohio near Pittsburgh) and Lancaster (Buffalo) are day trips so that if they wish our WNY and SOMC MINI friends can come watch and cheer us on.

Erik...

Posted by Bagpiper on the MINI Club of WNY message board:

I have put together a scenic fall fun run for Sunday, October 17th. It will start at EASTVIEW MALL Rt. 96, Victor, NY just off exit 45 of the NYS thruway. Registration is at 12 noon with first car off at 1:01 pm. Questions and "stops" along the way to pick up cards for your poker hand on the most twisted roads in our area. $10 per car will cover pizza and pop at the end of the run. RSVP if you are interested. See you at the Finger Lakes fun run this Saturday!

Info can be found here.

Erik...

Well, my MINI's back from the dealership (actually, I had it back on Friday), and I'm very happy with the service this time. Why? They fixed everything (almost)! The leak in the boot was actually due to a broken third break light, which was replaced. I received the official fix for the paint rubbing issue, and of course, I had a new set of wiper blades installed. I also have a new coolant overflow bottle. The only thing that they didn't find was a high pitched rattle that my MINI has when I go over big bumps. But that was fine by me, because I know the general rule of thumb that strange noises that your car makes go away when it's time to take in for service. And they did check all the standard rattle problem areas (suspension, firewall, etc...), so they did try.

On the down side, I did get stuck with a Saturn Ion for a day.

Erik...
(PS. If you have an earlier model MINI, make sure to check under the bonnet once and a while to look for a leaky coolant overflow bottle. It's a common problem that's easy to spot.)

Adding to the (getting longer) list of links are Todd's Blog, a fellow MINI owner who also has a thing for the Scion xB, and GoMotoring, where you can get your MINI fix in one place...

Erik...

By popular demand, I've added XML feeds. The first one is Atom, which is the standard that Google behind. The second one is a SmartFeed(tm) from FeedBurner.

Let me know what one you like, or if you'd rather have a specific RSS feed, as opposed to the generic SmartFeed.

Erik...

With the 2005 MINIs slowly appearing, it looks like the time is up for the standard rear break light modification. But the important question for those with the (now) old style un-modified break lights, why haven't you done it yet?

If you don't have rear fog lamps, just connect pins #1 and #4 on the plug that goes into the assembly with whatever you wish. Wire, splice connector, paperclip, whatever you want to use. (I'm using the paperclip and electrical tape method, and it's been working fine since October 2002). You can see the thread on North American Motoring that helped to start the trend. (Yes, it was me who started it on NAM, or MCO as it was at the time). If you want a much nicer looking set of directions, there's a How-To PFD on Motoringfile. Just click on 'Extra Breaklights' to download.

If you have rear fog lamps, or plan on getting them, use these directions posted up on Motoringfile.

So what's stopping you? Get out there and make sure that everyone knows when you're hitting the breaks.

Erik...
(Side note... Jack07734 from the WNY MINI Club pointed out that according to NYS inspection laws, cars with non-working bulbs (due to not being wired, or blown out) are illegal.)

The latest on my list of minor modifications is a recent upgrade to my headlamp bulbs. Last week, I had another dead headlight bulb (the highbeam this time) and I figured it was a cheap excuse to move up in the bulb world to something a little nicer. So I picked myself up a set of four (headlights, and highbeams) Silverstar bulbs.

So, how do I like about $80 worth of bulbs?

Nice. Very Nice.

The lowbeams have a nice pure-white look that, although it does not cause a huge difference in the area of the road that's lit up, it does light up street signs much brighter and from much farther away. And when the highbeams are on, wow. It really lights up the road and the shoulders. Just the thing for deer spotting along the side of the road.

Highly recommended as a nice (and cheaper) alternative to Xenon headlamps.

Now I just need to upgrade the rest of my bulbs...

Erik...

Wow, surprise of all suprises, not only is my appointment just a a few days over a week away, the person I talked to actually listened to what I told them.

What a pleasant surprise.

Erik...

Wow, from a 'hey, anyone interested' to track time, a picnic, and a t-shirt, Yellowmininy has done a real bang-up job putting this thing together. Here's some updated info for you...

(For some reason, the links don't seem to work when I click on them in the blogger post, although they are the same exact links that are on the message board post. If you're having problems, check out the MINI Club of WNY message board for the original post.)

For anyone coming from the north, or east & west of Geneva & Waterloo, we will be meeting at 9 am at the Prime Outlet Mall parking in lot in Waterloo, by the Food Court. (On the right as you come in the entrance, 2nd cluster of stores.) One drawback I've discovered is that the mall doesn't open until 10 am. A plus is that we have the parking lot wide open, but there may not be restrooms available there. I have a short rest stop planned right after the start, but it will be short to make time to get some twisty roads in on the way to Watkins Glen. In order to do that, we will need to leave the Prime Outlet Mall by 9:15. I will try to be there by 8:30- come early if you want to 'meet & greet'.

If anyone misses us at the Prime Outlet Mall, we will be taking a more scenic route, but you might beat us there if you head back out on 318. Right at the light out of the mall, then down to 14 South-left at that light, then follow the 14 South Truck route (or the 14 South other route- are they trying to confuse us in Geneva?), and take 14 all the way down into the village of Watkins Glen. 14 is the main road of the village. 414 follows 14 from 4th St. south, and then splits off to the right after the Burger King. Follow 414 after it splits off (On the right, right after Burger King, also on the right). You will see signs that say 'Racetrack'. 414 intersects County Road 16, and take a right at the light there. After Meads Hill Rd, the racetrack is on the left. Meet us at the 3rd entrance at the Ticket Office.
Or, here are the Mapquest directions for that route.

If coming from the south, from Route 17, Horseheads is the town where Route 14 heads north to Watkins Glen. Here is a link for directions to the Watkins Glen Racetrack from Horseheads (you may want to choose your own start point for better info).

We will be meeting at Watkins Glen, 3rd entrance at the Ticket Office at 11 am.

So the schedule is, roughly:
8:30 AM Meet & Greet at Prime Outlet Mall, Waterloo. There are Mobil stations near the Thruway exit ramps on both Exit 42 Geneva, and Exit 41 Waterloo right near the 318 intersection. 318 is directly opposite the Geneva exit. From the Waterloo exit take a right onto 414 South, then right on 318. (Mobil station is at the 318/414 intersection.)
Mapquest link for the starting point:

Keep in mind there may not be restrooms open at Prime Outlets- there is a Thruway Service Area near the exits both directions- Clifton Springs from the west milepost 337 (Between Manchester exit 43 and Geneva exit 42), and Warners from the east at milepost 292 (Between Syracuse exit 39 and Weedsport 40)

9:15 AM Depart Prime Outlet Parking lot, next stop Geneva Wegmans, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts on 5&20
9:45 AM Depart from 5&20 for scenic route to Watkins Glen. The route I'm taking to the racetrack incorporates part of the village Grand Prix course, backwards.
11:00 AM Watkins Glen Racetrack- Get passes & sign waivers for track laps ($25 per car, optional)
12:00 noon Watkins Glen Racetrack Track Laps. We may want to have a small 'tailgate party' if there's room in the parking lot there, or people may want to bring a snack.
1:00 PM A Mini parade on the Watkins Glen Village Grand Prix circuit.
2:00 PM Picnic at Sampson State Park, Route 96A Romulus NY (Park Entrance fee is $7 but can be used at other regional parks on the same day. If you have a New York State Parks Empire Passport bring it along.
3:30 PM Optional afternoon drive- to Taughannock State Park, Podunk, back through Watkins Glen to Hammondsport, up to Canandaigua & back to Waterloo. This is about 100 miles, and will take 3-4 hours to drive depending on the group size. Anyone who wants to come along can drop out if they get close to home. I will have a printed route in the next week for anyone who wants to look it over before the run.

Bagpiper is working on a T shirt for the run (Thanks again!)

Of course, my house has really kept me from doing much MINI related things this year, so yet another event I won't have a chance to go to... Eh, there's always next year...

Erik...

Well, it looks like I'll be calling the dealership for an appointment. My MINI finally developed the dreaded coolant tank leak. It sounds like a good time to have them (try) to fix my rear window leak (they couldn't find it the first time, for some reason), apply the PROPER fix to the paint rub issue, and try to find out why I get rattles when going over bumps....

Of course, the appointment for service will probably not be until sometime next month.

Erik...

For quite some time I've wondered why we haven't seen any sort of branded MINI delivery cars. Well, OfficeMax Express decided to. It only makes sense as the OfficeMax Express store is a 'mini' Office Max.

...fast, free delivery with no minimum purchase via the OfficeMax Express MINI Cooper

Here's the full article.

Erik...

From Manchester Online:

LATE-night revellers in Manchester were treated to 30-second versions of blockbuster films as they spilled out on to the streets - all from the back of Mini convertibles.

Teams of actors in full costume performed the mini epics from a fleet of the new Mini Cooper convertibles outside clubs and bars across the city centre.

Full article here.

Erik...