Krispy Kremes! That could truly be a mess... You could put a sticker on your window that says "Hot now!" :D

Heated seats are essential for open-top motoring! Used them yesterday at elevations above 4000' - nice n' cozy! Also highly recommend the wind deflector... With it deployed and the windows up, it is extremely calm and quiet in the cabin with the top down.

One area that needs work for open motoring comfort that hasn't been addressed is the breeze on the back of the neck. In cooler temps, it can be dsitracting and result in stifness later. Judy and I have taken to bringing along a hooded sweatshirt or something equivalent, so we can bunch up the fabric behind our necks when it gets cooler.

_Dave_

.....poking my head up over grading final papers to say that the heated seats are a great way to keep hot Krispy Kremes from getting cold on the way home...yummm


(in the box..NEVER directly on the leather seats)
Now THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is called thinking outside the (Krispy Kreme) box. Pure ingenuity folks. I'll take this practice a step farther and say it would work equally well with take out Pizza too.
Kudos to you Ken!

Randy

am0eba,

Great pics Dave! I'm jealous since I live in Illinois and for as far as the eye can see, we have flatland. (and for many miles beyond I might add) We hope to be able to take a trip this summer to anywhere that will provide some nice scenery like what you have there and maybe we can go nuts with our camera too. In the mean time, thanks for the pics!
Randy

Speaking of heated seats - do the seats in your cars get excessively warm on the High setting? Mine are OK, but certainly not to the point where I start looking for a puddle to dip my rear.

Thanks.

Speaking of heated seats - do the seats in your cars get excessively warm on the High setting? Mine are OK, but certainly not to the point where I start looking for a puddle to dip my rear.

Thanks.
I hate to admit this, but I think it depends on the individuals butt. I think the high setting is too high for me (for more than a couple of minutes anyways) while the wife could leave hers on high for a LONG time. We took the car to show the kids at school (almost an hour away) and she had hers on the entire time. (on high!) That length of time would have sweated 2 pounds off of me but she loved it. Go figure.

RF

..... the heated seats are a great way to keep hot Krispy Kremes from getting cold on the way home...yummm


(in the box..NEVER directly on the leather seats)

Hell, they'd stay warm between my legs even without the heated seats! :D

Zip

I hate to admit this, but I think it depends on the individuals butt.
RF

Hey !!

Maybe this explains why I find the MINI's ride to be so smooooth.

I've been meaning to ask but keep forgetting.

Would anyone like a G-mail account? Gmail is a free email account offered by Google. One of it's attractive features is that it offers at least 2 GBytes of storage. The downside, such as it is, is that you get presented with small ads targeted to the topics in your messages.

At this point I believe Gmail is still only available by invitation. I have 50 invites to send out. If interested, please contact me at Pamlico@gmail.com.

- David

I'm taking my (five day old) MCC back to the dealer tomorrow to have a couple of minor issues addressed. One of them is the "passenger airbag off" light, which seems to have a mind of it's own, regardless of whether there's anybody in the passenger seat or not.

Questions for somebody who's light is working properly:

1. If there's nobody in the passenger seat, is the light illuminated (ie, does the passenger airbag not arm unless there's a person of sufficient weight in the seat?)

2. If there's a passenger of suffucient weight in the seat, how long does it take after startup for the light to extinguish? Seconds, or minutes? I ask because mine sometimes stays lit for a minute or so, then turns off. Doesn't seem right, but then I thought maybe it takes that long for the sensor to kick in...

They worked on this on the day of delivery, then said there was nothing wrong with it-- but on some trips the light never goes out, so something's not right. It's a new feature to them, too, and I'm not so sure they understand the way it's supposed to work either!

Thanks,

Denny

Assuming no one or someone > 70 lbs is sitting in the passenger seat, the lamp should go off a few seconds after the car is started. Quoting directly from the owners manual (the shiny book in the black vinyl case that's sitting in the glove box):

"The lamp illuminates briefly during startup and then goes out if the seat is empty, or if an adult or child of sufficient size is recognized.

The lamp remains illuminated when a child in a rear-facing child-restraint system is recognized, indicating the fromt passenger airbag system is off."

Does the main airbag warning lamp stay on continuously?

The section on airbags begins on page 77 of the manual.

Speaking of heated seats - do the seats in your cars get excessively warm on the High setting? Mine are OK, but certainly not to the point where I start looking for a puddle to dip my rear.

Thanks.


I agree, I leave mine on high almost all the time but everyone in the passenger seat always turns it down to low or off because it gets too hot. I do not have a big bottom by any standard either. But I also like my apartment to be about 80 degrees in the winter. I get cold so easily and even on my parents cars I've never gotten sick of the highest setting for the heated seats. So I think it depends heavily on what your heat tolerance is...

I've been meaning to ask but keep forgetting.

Would anyone like a G-mail account? Gmail is a free email account offered by Google. One of it's attractive features is that it offers at least 2 GBytes of storage. The downside, such as it is, is that you get presented with small ads targeted to the topics in your messages.

At this point I believe Gmail is still only available by invitation. I have 50 invites to send out. If interested, please contact me at Pamlico@gmail.com.

- David

I have a billion too. I love Gmail, i have had it since the beginning. It is the best email system i have ever used...

I've been meaning to ask but keep forgetting.

Would anyone like a G-mail account? Gmail is a free email account offered by Google. One of it's attractive features is that it offers at least 2 GBytes of storage. The downside, such as it is, is that you get presented with small ads targeted to the topics in your messages.

At this point I believe Gmail is still only available by invitation. I have 50 invites to send out. If interested, please contact me at Pamlico@gmail.com.

- David

Thanks, I have a gmail account. If you run out of invitations to pass out, I'll throw mine out too. :)

Spent the afternoon motoring around LA today, with my wife Judy navigating. We stopped for chilli dogs at the Tail O' The Pup in Hollywood:

_Dave_

Nice pictures! I want to take my MINI on a trip. It's been to the beach, but not really my idea of a trip. I want to go to places where the ground isn't flat and the roads are curvy! My MINI would have so much fun! No offense to anyone who loves SC, but aside from Charleston I've really not been too impressed. I want mountains and curves!

Debbie

Nice pictures! I want to take my MINI on a trip. It's been to the beach, but not really my idea of a trip. I want to go to places where the ground isn't flat and the roads are curvy! My MINI would have so much fun! No offense to anyone who loves SC, but aside from Charleston I've really not been to impressed. I want mountains and curves!

Debbie


Iowa has lots of mountains... come here... barely any straight roads at all...

...... I want mountains and curves!

Debbie

Your wish is my command (http://tailofthedragon.com/). Check here (http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/motd-home)as well. Not all that far from SC either.

The section on airbags begins on page 77 of the manual.

Oh, I know what the book says, but I've found a couple of discepancies between what the book says and the way things really work. I'm was just trying to figure out whether this is another such case.

Turns out, a trip to Wal-Mart today made it kind of a moot question: on the way there, the light went out shortly after starting (with my wife in the passenger seat). But on the way back, both the light and the master airbag caution stayed on all the way home. Definitely a problem that needs to be fixed, so I'll have that done tomorrow.

Definitely a problem that needs to be fixed, so I'll have that done tomorrow.

Good luck....

Your wish is my command (http://tailofthedragon.com/). Check here (http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/motd-home)as well. Not all that far from SC either.

I heard something about that a while back, but I didn't realize that it was this weekend. That would be so much fun! Probably too short of notice for the weekend, but that has to be an awesome MINI road...anytime! I think I (uh, I mean my MINI) would really like that road!

Thanks! Debbie

Nice pictures! I want to take my MINI on a trip. It's been to the beach, but not really my idea of a trip. I want to go to places where the ground isn't flat and the roads are curvy! My MINI would have so much fun! No offense to anyone who loves SC, but aside from Charleston I've really not been too impressed. I want mountains and curves!

Debbie
With due deference to bt's offer for Iowa, I have a feeling if you head east a few miles, those Appalacians will provide more hills and twisty roads than anything we have in the midwest here. (in fact, I'm jealous of you for being close enough to those mountains to go there and back in a day) I crossed those "hills" a couple of times while seeing my son at Cherry Point NAS a few years back and I would have LOVED to have had our MINI back then! Those mountains were the most beautiful things I have ever seen and driven.
Now if you wanna see corn for as far as the eye can see (until you go blind!), then Illinois is your state. :rolleyes: Having grown up here, I'd much rather be where you're at any time though! (love those golf courses!)
Randy

Your wish is my command.
I don't suppose you could teach my wife to say that, could ya? :p

With due deference to bt's offer for Iowa, I have a feeling if you head east a few miles, those Appalacians will provide more hills and twisty roads than anything we have in the midwest here. (in fact, I'm jealous of you for being close enough to those mountains to go there and back in a day) I crossed those "hills" a couple of times while seeing my son at Cherry Point NAS a few years back and I would have LOVED to have had our MINI back then! Those mountains were the most beautiful things I have ever seen and driven.
Now if you wanna see corn for as far as the eye can see (until you go blind!), then Illinois is your state. :rolleyes: Having grown up here, I'd much rather be where you're at any time though! (love those golf courses!)
Randy

Ah, the golf courses. Yes, the people here do seem to love the golf courses. We had some nice mountains and curves in Virginia too. Now that I have my MINI (actually before that), I wish I were back there. What fun we could be havin'.

That reminds me. We haven't heard from Ben lately. Maybe because he's up there in those VA mountains driving those twisty turns in his MINI!

The husand and I have been talking about driving to Tunica, but I haven't got the map out yet to see if there are any good roads along the way to make driving a better choice over flying.

Anyone else have any road trips planned?

Debbie

Anyone else have any road trips planned?

Debbie
We (the wife and I) are holding off any good road trips until we have passed our break-in miles just in case we find a nice winding road and forget our "limitations" for now. Plus, it should be better weather for sightseeing by then. We love going out and looking at all the spring colors when we get the chance, so we'll be doing that here real soon we hope.

Randy

Great drive home from Albuquerque today. Had a great dealer experience- none of the last minute pressure reported by others and the car was perfect. No problems or squawks so far, except the brake dust. Man, those pads are dusty. 500 miles and I had to scrub the rims when we got home. Looks like the first item on my list will be new pads ;)

My job was to read the manuals during the first half of the trip as passenger, and figure out the iPod adapter, cruise control buttons, HK enhancement modes, etc. We took it easy for the 450 mile trip, stopping a few times to take pictures and eat.

Anyway, here are some pics...

geotrash - it looks good. I like the roof decal.

Great drive home from Albuquerque today. Had a great dealer experience- none of the last minute pressure reported by others and the car was perfect. No problems or squawks so far, except the brake dust. Man, those pads are dusty. 500 miles and I had to scrub the rims when we got home. Looks like the first item on my list will be new pads ;)

My job was to read the manuals during the first half of the trip as passenger, and figure out the iPod adapter, cruise control buttons, HK enhancement modes, etc. We took it easy for the 450 mile trip, stopping a few times to take pictures and eat.

Anyway, here are some pics...

Very nice, the roof decal changes the whole look. :)

Anyhoo, I'm finally back from 785 mile journey, and everything seems to be in good working order. I did have a flat, though--after only 360 miles! I must have driven about 60 or 70 on the run-flat, though. Fortunately, I was able to get it repaired this morning at OK Tire in Winnemucca, NV. $10 and one small nick on the brand-new rim. Oh, well, at least I wasn't stranded in Winnemucca . . .

Hey JohhnyL Glad you are enjoying your Mini.

Did the tire shop plug the run flat? My dealer told me run flats can't be repaired - they have to be replaced. And yes they charge about $300 a pop here in Atlanta.

I'm planning on getting rid of the run flats as soon as I get a nail in one of them or they wear out - which ever comes first :rolleyes:

I got some tire goo from here (http://www.rspeed.net/mini/item.asp?dept=12&cat=10&prod=M20-890) and plan to buy a cheap compact spare for long trips :rolleyes:

Motor on everyone :D

am0eba, I also used to live in SoCal - The Mini Cabrio is built for that kind of weather :D

Great pix too :D

Hey JohhnyL Glad you are enjoying your Mini.

Did the tire shop plug the run flat? My dealer told me run flats can't be repaired - they have to be replaced. And yes they charge about $300 a pop here in Atlanta.

I'm planning on getting rid of the run flats as soon as I get a nail in one of them or they wear out - which ever comes first :rolleyes:

I got some tire goo from here (http://www.rspeed.net/mini/item.asp?dept=12&cat=10&prod=M20-890) and plan to buy a cheap compact spare for long trips :rolleyes:

Motor on everyone :D


Run Flats can be repaired, but the dealers who sell new run flats don't recommend it. ;)

Had a slow leak in a tire on my 2002 and had it repaired. No problem.

I love the run flats and have a spare set I bought on Ebay sitting in my garage. But I may have to sell or trade those, they are the 16" tires and I now have 17". :rolleyes:

am0eba, I also used to live in SoCal - The Mini Cabrio is built for that kind of weather :D

Great pix too :D


You got that right about the weather! :cool: I'm just worried about when it gets TOO hot and sunny for top-down motoring!

_Dave_