Tag Archives: Cooper

Sometimes weird/cool things just happen!

Posted by Steve on June 4, 2012 No comments

This weekend was a pretty productive weekend. We had a great “Guy’s Night” where we introduced @NeuralClone to [amazon_link id=”B0051E9INK” target=”_blank” ]Highlander[/amazon_link], since he had never seen it. (I know, right?) After which we watched Iron Sky. You know, the Nazis on the moon movie. Seriously, go watch that. It’s one of the funniest movies I have seen.

Saturday the weather was amazing so I spent the time outside replacing the thermostat on my truck. This is a big accomplishment for me since I am still convinced that the engine in most cars runs on magical wishes and unicorn dreams. Now if I could just get a starter that works when I shout “ENGINUS COMBUSTUS!” So you can understand that doing any sort of work on a car is a big deal for me. Having finished up this feat of manliness, I decided to take Sarah out for dinner for a nice evening.

This is really where the weird/cool stuff happens.

We drove down to Old Town Manassas to go to a small restaurant called City Square Cafe. It’s a nice little place with outdoor seating. Dinner was good, the company was great. (But then, that’s why I keep her around right?) After dinner we thought we would try our hand at a few GeoCaches that were close by. It made for a good excuse to walk around and enjoy the evening.

No luck on those, by the way. It was dark and we just couldn’t find anything.

When we returned to the car we found this note on the windshield.
Now, you probably know this, but I wear my geek on my sleeve. The back of my MINI has the plate “WIZ-POD”, since my truck has “W1ZZER”, and I have lots of stickers of geeky things. This would have to be one of the first time I have ever been hit on due to my car being geeky.
Sarah and I had a good chuckle about the event and, while I thought it would be weird if I emailed her, Sarah took the initiative and sent off a note to say “Hi!” Clearly it takes a lot of Chutzpah to drop a note like that to meet someone so, you never know, she may be a cool person to know!

Sadly, as of today, no reply has been seen.

Life is short! Make new friends! Say hi to people! You never know who you may meet!

P.S. the car behind me was a PT Cruiser

10th annual MINI’s On the Dragon 2012

Posted by Steve on May 8, 2012 No comments

I am beat.

Last Wed. I set out for the MOTD event in Deals Gap NC. It was a good 9 hour drive from Manassas to the Tail of the Dragon. Since I was going by myself there was no real need to stop aside from emergency bathroom breaks (3 total). I made great time and arrived at around 2:30pm to the event, which was well underway. Over 700 MINIs signed up and just blanketed the area. Driving around with lodge was like I had visited MINItopia, with a MINI in every driveway.

I finally met up with Clint (my buddy from Vegas) after wandering around in a cell dead zone with no internet access either. It was amazing being so disconnected from everything. We were relying on the FRS radios I brought with me. It’s amazing being as internet connected as I usually am to go to nearly black out comms. I am still slowly getting used to being connected again.

Overall I had a blast! Lots of great driving, hanging out with incredible people, enjoying the great outdoors! I had a bunch of stuff done to the POD including, Pulley wheel reduction for the supercharger (I hear that’s a rite of passage at the dragon), new brake handle, [amazon_link id=”B0073XO404″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]stubby antenna[/amazon_link], [amazon_link id=”B002VB8TIG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]chrome bonnet scoop[/amazon_link], and a LightInSight.

I even got to practice some photography tricks. Check out my gallery for all the pics I took. I am really looking forward to attending next year!

MINI Photoshoot

Posted by Steve on February 6, 2012 No comments

This last Saturday we scheduled some time with the MINI club (DC Metro MINI’s) to get a bunch of us out for a photo shoot. Turns out a lot of the MINI folks are really into photography as well! One of the folks found a really nice parking garage and we line up about 15 MINI’s to start taking pictures. After we spent about 3 hours shooting in the garage we headed out to Wolf Trap in Northern VA for some outside shots. Unfortunately it started to rain so I ended up putting my D5100 away (no weather sealing). Thankfully some of the others had the right equipment and we got some great shots.

You can see all of the shots at these flickr links, below is just a few of the shots:

My new Ride

Posted by Steve on October 28, 2011 1 comment

We have been toying with the idea of buying a new car, but not a car of necessity, a fun car to take on quick trips.

Well after much research and hemming and hawing, here is the new toy:

It’s super nice and fully loaded. We got a great price on it and I am very happy.

Here are the stats on the internals:

Exterior

Fully automatic electro-hydraulic black convertible softtop-inc: stepless sliding-roof function, remote open/close feature, easy-load function
Front apron w/enlarged cooling air inlet
Body-color air inlet integrated into engine compartment lid
Body-color sport bumpers
Chrome-plated side air inlets
Black exterior trim-inc: side sills, bumper edges, wheel housing
Integrated mudguards
Chrome bezels-inc: rear lights, headlights
Chrome-plated window trim
Body-color grille
Integrated low/high beam auto-leveling headlights w/follow-me-home function
Rear center fog light
Body-color pwr mirrors
Heat insulated green glass
Speed-sensitive intermittent windshield wipers
Tailgate w/low loading sill
Chrome-plated door handles
Anti-corrosion protection system-inc: partial galvanization, phosphate treatment & cathodic dip bath, cavity sealing underfloor protection
The features and options listed are for the 2005 MINI Cooper Convertible 2dr Convertible S and may not apply to this specific vehicle.

Interior

Leatherette front sport bucket seats-inc: manual seat adjustment, fore/aft adjustment, driver seat height adjustment, backrest rake, seatback easy-entry, manually adjustable headrests
50/50 split-folding rear seat w/fixed headrests integrated into roll-over bar
Center console-inc: (2) front & (1) rear cupholders, central locking switch, switches for pwr windows
Driver-side storage compartment underneath steering column
Brushed stainless-steel door sills
Sports leather-wrapped steering wheel w/column height adjustment
Aluminum alloy driver footrest & pedals
Instrumentation-inc: tachometer, outside temp gauge, speedometer, LCD odometer/tripmeter, fuel/engine temp gauge, warning lights
Service interval indicator
Check control vehicle monitor with pictogram display
Bezels around instrumentation
Flat tire monitor
Pwr front windows-inc: open/close feature, automatic window lowering when door is opened
Remote keyless entry-inc: central locking open/close, tailgate unlock feature, open softtop
Central locking system-inc: open/close feature, softtop open, convenient open, tailgate/fuel filler cap release
Pre-wiring for alarm system
Engine immobilizer
Air conditioning-inc: pollen micro-filter, air recirculation button
Rear window defogger
AM/FM stereo w/CD player
Pre-wiring for CD changer
Digital clock
Lockable climate controlled glove box
Smokers pkg
Storage compartments in front door trim panels
Alloy patina interior surface
Mechanical anti-dazzle rearview mirror
Front sun visors w/illuminated vanity mirrors
Side sun visor
Lighting-inc: map/reading, front footwell, theater dimming, luggage compartmen
Leather-wrapped shift knob
12V auxiliary pwr outlet in luggage compartment
The features and options listed are for the 2005 MINI Cooper Convertible 2dr Convertible S and may not apply to this specific vehicle.

Mechanical

1.6L supercharged SOHC 16-valve 4-cyl engine
6-speed manual Getrag transmission
Drive-by-wire electronic throttle control
Traction control w/automatic stability control (ASC)
Front wheel drive
55 amp/hr battery in luggage compartment w/safety terminal clamp
105-amp alternator
MacPherson front sport suspension w/single-joint spring-strut front axle
Multi-link rear sport suspension w/multiple-control-arm rear axle
Front/rear anti-roll bars
P195/55VR16 all-season run-flat tires
16” x 6.5” 7-fin spoke alloy wheels
Electro-hydraulic pwr steering
Ventilated front/solid rear disc brakes
Electronic brake force distribution (EBD) control
Rear park distance control
Corner brake control (CBC)
4-wheel anti-lock brake system (ABS)
13.2 gallon fuel tank
Body-color fuel filler cap
Twin-pipe exhaust system-inc: intermediate silencer, (2) rear silencers, chrome covers
Steel car jack
The features and options listed are for the 2005 MINI Cooper Convertible 2dr Convertible S and may not apply to this specific vehicle.

Safety

4-wheel anti-lock brake system (ABS)
Corner brake control (CBC)
Driver/front passenger airbags w/sensor to prevent unnecessary deployment of passenger airbag
Driver/front passenger side-curtain airbags
Driver/front passenger side-impact airbags
Front/rear automatic seatbelts w/front pyrotechnic belt buckle tensioners
Traction control w/automatic stability control (ASC)
Side-impact door beams
ISOFIX child seat attachments w/(2) rear anchorages
Crash sensor (fuel cutoff, activate hazard lights, interior lights-on, doors unlock)
Front/rear crumple zones
Roll-over protection system
Twin horns