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Journal Oculus Habent's Journal: MINI: Arrived (Yes, it's a week late, I'm a bastard) 10

Journal by Oculus Habent

MINI Cooper!

I drove down to Massachusetts with a friend of mine to pick it up. The dealer is some 200 miles away from me. Before we went through all the paperwork, Vinny handed me a key and said, "Go take a look and make sure it's what you ordered."

Ohhh, shiny.

This process has the dual purpose of making you happy to sit through paperwork, and catching some serious issues. While I was singing paperwork, a woman who was there to pick up her new Mini didn't get the automatic transmission she thought she ordered.

The cockpit and the console.

Did I mention? Shiny.

The drive back was smooth. And quiet. Sooo quiet. I kept it under 95, as the manual tells me to do for the first 1000-1250 miles. It handles beautifully. The acceleration is a little strange, because between 15 and 50, the tach hangs around 2750. Continuously Variable Transmission. I haven't played much with the Sport mode, other than to note that low-end acceleration is smoother, and not really at all with the Steptronic.

I kept catching myself at 80 on the highway, and having to back off. At first, I thought the speedometer must be wrong, because it felt too smooth and too quiet to be 80. After counting dashed lines on the highway -- 4 per second is 90 mph on every major road I've checked -- I had to keep a close eye on my speed.

The trip was nice. The seats are comfortable, the AC was cool and very quiet on 1 or 2. And the music was exceptional.

I was a bit disappointed by the iPod interface. You don't have the ability to use the iPod directly when connected to the MINI. You don't have the ability to browse the iPod from the stereo -- you can select from five playlists and the entire song list, and choose random or no. Most disappointing was that it doesn't display the song title or any track information on the screen. It's actually the interface used for the CD changer option -- it says CDC and gives errors like "Check Magazine". But, since I tend to listen to a few playlists and/or the randomized full catalog, it does what I want.

After bringing it home, it was painful to leave it in the driveway -- I only had transit plates, not temporary registration. Fortunately, I have a man on the inside, and so I had a transit plate for some purposed motoring. :)

Tuesday, I registered and payed sales and excise taxes.

My MINI now has 750 miles on it. It's still junk-free, which is saying something given my track record, but has a bit of stuff in the boot. Jumper cables and my backpack, really.

All in all, I'm really quite happy. It's new and quiet and comfortable and zippy and tiny with huuuuge doors, and it's all mine.

Well, and the bank's. :P

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MINI: Arrived (Yes, it's a week late, I'm a bastard) More

MINI: Arrived (Yes, it's a week late, I'm a bastard)

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  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Thanks. I'm still quite jazzed. I'm put over 800 miles on it already -- just 1 week of driving -- and it's lots of fun.

      I think AWD would be a nice addition, but I don't know where they would put it. :) I understand there will be a major change for the next model year, but I doubt that's it.
  • Congrats on the baby. ;-)
  • ...has a high refractive index.

    Looks sweet. I’ve never bought a new car and don’t think I’m going to this time, but damn those things are tempting. What kind of mileage does it get? I didn’t know they were available with an ECVT; I’m a Clutch Snob, but I suppose I could accept one of those depending on how it drives and what it does for the mileage.

    • I'm pulling about 31.2mpg right now on pretty varied driving -- major & minor roads, hills, curves, mountains. I'm making an effort to pay more attention to the momentary mpg to see if I'm using more gas than I need to at times. MINI lists fuel efficiency at 28/36 for the manual and 26/34 for the CVT, so I'm seeing right around appropriate for my driving mix, I think. I am paying for premium gas, but I'm getting eleven miles to the dollar instead of just under nine with my previous car. Though the S tak
      • MINI lists fuel efficiency at 28/36 for the manual and 26/34 for the CVT

        Hmm. I would have thought the CVT would get better mileage. Of course an automatic transmission saps energy and therefore mileage, but I would have thought that having the car spend most of its time at an optimal gear ratio would more than offset that.

        Oh well, fine by me. I prefer a stick anyway. I was kinda distressed there for a moment to think that the most responsible thing to do might be to forego a clutch. What a relief. (Not that
  • Glad you got what you wanted. Looks like a load of fun. Enjoy the mileage, especially now that the price of gas is going sky high. I'm still debating over what car to get next, which is partially dependant in my immediate future employment. I'm hoping to get a job with AOL for significantly more money, so if I do, I may have to make a tough decision between the Mercedes 350 and a Dodge Magnum (wife and I are considering a second child atm, so I need something bigger than my two Civics).

    Grats again. I l
    • I Magnum looks really nice. I think that it's a great kick back against SUVs, which seemed to replace wagons for a while. Nice to see them making a comeback.
  • In Colorado, the stripes are 10 feet long with a 30 foot gap. So if you counted from the beginning of one stripe to the end of the fourth, then you're at 88.6MPH, so pretty good rule of thumb there.

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