[aussiesupermini]

Welcome to the Warm weather and the Mini 2 and all things mini. U will be more than welcome to come along to the Pits and hope to see u there and meet u at the Secret Santa too.

Cherers

Ann

[Gr1zzLy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nurton (original)

What's the deal with the Secret Santa? Can anybody come along. Even a pom? To be honest I'm still not sure about this whole 'Christmas in the summer' thing! Is there a date set yet? What is PITS

G'day mate,

Welcome aboard... I'll try and explain the Secret Santa the best I can... it's a thing we hold ever year around xmas time (it's a tradition now), where we try and all get together at PITS (Pie In The Sky @ Cowan). Basically there's a price limit of a gift that each person buys and wraps up, and goes into the boot of good ol' Poki's cookie monster mobile... then we all pick a number out of a hat, and then when your number gets called up, you pick a parcel from the boot. Sort of a Kris Kringle but less painful. Then afterwards we do a run to Wiseman's Ferry pub for lunch, followed by a drive through Galston Gorge, then we all separate and go home. It's open to all, so it's not anything exclusive, and it would be a good opportunity to put names to faces.

As for being a pom... well we won't hold that against you hehehe our Captain is a proud pom that I'm sure he carries a picture of the queen in his wallet

If you don't know where PITS is there's a few of us near your way... a few in Lane Cove, Cremorne, Gordon(me usually on wkends), so we can always meet up somewhere before hand and convoy it up. Also we use to go up every Sunday, but the past few months less and less with everyone being so busy.

[Magictux]

Welcome Nurton... I must say that is a beautiful looking car matey.. Very nice choice indeed!

[Nurton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gr1zzLy (original)

G'day mate,

Welcome aboard... I'll try and explain the Secret Santa the best I can... it's a thing we hold ever year around xmas time (it's a tradition now), where we try and all get together at PITS (Pie In The Sky @ Cowan). Basically there's a price limit of a gift that each person buys and wraps up, and goes into the boot of good ol' Poki's cookie monster mobile... then we all pick a number out of a hat, and then when your number gets called up, you pick a parcel from the boot. Sort of a Kris Kringle but less painful. Then afterwards we do a run to Wiseman's Ferry pub for lunch, followed by a drive through Galston Gorge, then we all separate and go home. It's open to all, so it's not anything exclusive, and it would be a good opportunity to put names to faces.

As for being a pom... well we won't hold that against you hehehe our Captain is a proud pom that I'm sure he carries a picture of the queen in his wallet

If you don't know where PITS is there's a few of us near your way... a few in Lane Cove, Cremorne, Gordon(me usually on wkends), so we can always meet up somewhere before hand and convoy it up. Also we use to go up every Sunday, but the past few months less and less with everyone being so busy.

Hi Gr1zzLy

Thanks for the welcome and the explaination! I will try my utmost to make sure I have sobered up from my work Christmas bash on the Friday night to be able to attend on the Sunday. But, unfortunately nothing has changed since I was at uni....free beer is still my greatest weekness!

I think I should be OK to find it. Have even found a road atlas at work that shows it (so it must be quite a pie shop!). General instructions seem to be... head north and sniff for pies. Not a problem, I've done this many times when leaving my native London!

Nurton.

[Nurton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mr G (original)

thanks for that short post.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mr G (original)

Welcome to Mini2, and Welcome to MINI, Nurton. You're gunna love that car of yours. If i was trading mine in now thats almost exactly the spec I'd want. except for the i-pod thingy. too new-fangled for me.

To be honest, if I could have spec'd my own car for build there would have been a lot less options on it, but as I wanted a new JCW I had to pick from a pretty small offering. Luckily the discount I got easily took care of the price of all the options, then plus some! And now I have all the toys, I certainly wouldn't want to give them back!

I totally agree about the ipod cable as I don't even own an ipod. I think I might invest in a small ipod for the car now, just to make use of it. But when the cost of the cable exceeds that of the i-pod, even BMW must realise they are taking the ****? The radio unit interface is a bit of a disappointment really. I have tried the ipod interface with a friend’s ipod and although it sounds great through the HK stereo, I wish it would display the track details on the display. I am forever forgetting the title of songs!
I guess I will have to get an ipod and live with it for a while, but I suspect it'll never be "worth" the money I *paid* for the cable!

The seats are great, didn't think I would like them so much.

Only option that I wish I had is a sun roof. Formerly being a Triumph Herald Convertible owner, I do some days long for the open air.

[St00ge]

if i could choose one option i couldn't live without, it'd be the sunroof. It is just awesome.

However, you pay a 60kg weight penalty, and you lose some stiffness. Just think of that every time you long for the wind in your hair. 60kg

[Gr1zzLy]

Quote: Originally Posted by St00ge (original)

if i could choose one option i couldn't live without, it'd be the sunroof. It is just awesome.

However, you pay a 60kg weight penalty, and you lose some stiffness. Just think of that every time you long for the wind in your hair. 60kg

Take out the rear seats, stick in front and rear strut brace... All good.

[St00ge]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gr1zzLy (original)

Take out the rear seats, stick in front and rear strut brace... All good.

oh don't worry, i will be. Rear seats going, and racing driver's seat and a big brace like the GP in the back

[AndrewH]

Quote: Originally Posted by St00ge (original)

if i could choose one option i couldn't live without, it'd be the sunroof. It is just awesome.

However, you pay a 60kg weight penalty, and you lose some stiffness. Just think of that every time you long for the wind in your hair. 60kg

The sunroof weighs 62 pounds in total not 60 kilograms The sunroof itself is therefore just over 28 kilograms. A Mini equipped with a sunroof is about 27.5 kg’s heavier than an equivalently specked hard top Mini.

Apparently just under 10 kg's of a sunroofs weight ends up over the front wheels while the remaining 17.5 kg's end up over the back wheels (helping to improve weight distribution)

http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-d...-revealed.html

Also, I remember reading somewhere that the aluminium cross members used in the roof when a sunroof is installed actually make it stiffer than a hard top

[St00ge]

Quote: Originally Posted by AndrewH (original)

The sunroof weighs 62 pounds in total not 60 kilograms The sunroof itself is therefore just over 28 kilograms. A Mini equipped with a sunroof is about 27.5 kg’s heavier than an equivalently specked hard top Mini.

Apparently just under 10 kg's of a sunroofs weight ends up over the front wheels while the remaining 17.5 kg's end up over the back wheels (helping to improve weight distribution)

http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-d...-revealed.html

Also, I remember reading somewhere that the aluminium cross members used in the roof when a sunroof is installed actually make it stiffer than a hard top

that is awesome news. never knew any of that.

well there you go. the sunroof is the bomb-diggidy.

I love the feeling of space that it creates

[Gr1zzLy]

Quote: Originally Posted by St00ge (original)

I love the feeling of space that it creates

Yeh funny that.... it actually has less head room with a sunroof, yet it feels like there's more space...

[St00ge]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gr1zzLy (original)

Yeh funny that.... it actually has less head room with a sunroof, yet it feels like there's more space...

it makes it more airy

[Nurton]

Don't suppose anybody does the sun roof as an after market mod?

Although, strictly I must remember that I don't have any money now and that I should be saving the white roof until I find a suitably cool sticker for it.

[robbo mcs]

Quote: Originally Posted by AndrewH (original)

The sunroof weighs 62 pounds in total not 60 kilograms The sunroof itself is therefore just over 28 kilograms. A Mini equipped with a sunroof is about 27.5 kg’s heavier than an equivalently specked hard top Mini.

Apparently just under 10 kg's of a sunroofs weight ends up over the front wheels while the remaining 17.5 kg's end up over the back wheels (helping to improve weight distribution)

http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-d...-revealed.html

Also, I remember reading somewhere that the aluminium cross members used in the roof when a sunroof is installed actually make it stiffer than a hard top

Hi,

I've seen these figures thrown around on the web, but I actually doubt them.

The difference in weight I have seen has been more like 15kgs. There have also been several people on NAM who have permanently removed the sunroof, and replaced it with a welded metal plate, and the weight savings have not been as much as 28kgs, or even 60kgs

However, it is all up the top of the car, in the worst place as far as COG, so it probably is worth 60kgs in terms of performance

Cheers

Robbo

[St00ge]

Quote: Originally Posted by robbo mcs (original)

Hi,

I've seen these figures thrown around on the web, but I actually doubt them.

The difference in weight I have seen has been more like 15kgs. There have also been several people on NAM who have permanently removed the sunroof, and replaced it with a welded metal plate, and the weight savings have not been as much as 28kgs, or even 60kgs

However, it is all up the top of the car, in the worst place as far as COG, so it probably is worth 60kgs in terms of performance

Cheers

Robbo

that just put a damper on my excitement over my sunroof. Damn!

[AndrewH]

Quote: Originally Posted by robbo mcs (original)

Hi,

I've seen these figures thrown around on the web, but I actually doubt them.

The difference in weight I have seen has been more like 15kgs.

The link in my post above is to a thread where someone was specifically advised about it by someone within MINI USA. Either way, it's not all that much and, as you say, it's even hard to imagine that a couple of bits of glass and some cross members would even weigh 28 kilograms - that's almost three quarters the weight of a bag of cement

When all is said and done, I'm not loosing any sleep over the weight of my sunroof

[swamos]

Quote: Originally Posted by AndrewH (original)

The link in my post above is to a thread where someone was specifically advised about it by someone within MINI USA. Either way, it's not all that much and, as you say, it's even hard to imagine that a couple of bits of glass and some cross members would even weigh 28 kilograms - that's almost three quarters the weight of a bag of cement

When all is said and done, I'm not loosing any sleep over the weight of my sunroof

Yep... if you want it enough to foot out for it you're not going to care and are going to love it.

They are one of those things you either love or hate...