Some answers from the New York City autoshow

[tommy]

OK, in no particular order:
the 17" minilites are optional for the S; 15" are standard on the Cooper, 16" standard on S (not 100% sure on that one). The tire size on the 17's is: 205/45.
Orange has been withdrawn for N. America; it may be replaced with another color before introduction.
The toggle switches are for: left and right windows, fog lights front and rear, power door locks, and one is open.
The knob to the upper left of the speedo is the interior dimmer. The panoramic sunroof is really impressive in person; I'll definitely be getting one.
Perforated leater seating was on all three cars (gotcha red, cloud 9, and whatever the silly name for silver is), in black. But, black/tan and black/green will be available.
Dealers should be announced by May 1 (where have we heard that one before?).
She didn't know about option packages like England (salt, pepper, chili), but she was cute, so I didn't say anything. She also doubted that Mini would have its act in gear in enough time to offer European delivery at introduction.

All three cars were locked, so I was unable to check the gas pedal, or the shelving underneath the glove box (though it did look big enough for cd jewel cases). Obviously, I was unable to sit in one, but a friend of mine went to press day, and he sat in it. Of course, he's 5' 8" and 100 lbs, but he said that there's plenty of room for larger people. All in all, I was very impressed with the car, but still not impressed with the lack of dealer info. On a related note, I drove by Park Ave BMW (in Northern NJ), and the building they are putting up has walls. I think that that's their Mini showroom, if they get the dealership - I also checked, and www.parkavemini.com is already reserved - hope those are two good signs.

[MINIAC]

Quote:

All three cars were locked, so I was unable to check the gas pedal, or the shelving underneath the glove box (though it did look big enough for cd jewel cases

This if off topic, but I found a cool product for carrying CDs in a car without their jewel cases. It's called a Fischer C-Box.



Pictured above is the Universal C-Box which comes in either a 6 or 4 CD storage model. Just push a button and out pops a CD for insertion into a player. So much easier than trying to open the jewel case and remove the CD with one hand!

They also make one (4 CD capacity) that fits in a DIN sized hole. I have one of these in the center console of my BMW 2002:



I hope that one of the Universal models can be mounted on the underdash shelving of the new MINI.

The US distributor for this product is Vehicle Controls.

I am in no way affiliated with this company.