Feliz Cinco de MINI!!

Brecht MINI in Escondido had a neat little event for the area MINIacs, "Cinco de MINI @ Brecht". It was a full-on Cinco De Mayo Fest! (I got some great video footage, but too bad I left my still-camera in the car, so you'll have to use your imagination!)

The on-site taqueria dude broke it down with good ol fashioned downtown street-cart style chicken, carne asada, and bean tacos! Yuummm!! (my friend said, "I never heard of bean tacos" to which I had to reply, "you need to get out more!")...

I discovered that mock-margaritas are no fun- even w/o the Tequila I still don't like them!...

What's a Cinco de Mayo with out Ballet Folklorico and Mariachis?!...

The parts desk had all their MINI schwag on the counters for everyone to drool on (yes, I did get another hat)...

Time to play.... Beat The Pinata!!...

The Brecht SCCA car was prominently displayed...

They had several 2006s on the lot and even a few 2007s too! Well, they've got one less because the neighbor of one of the WCMers bought one that day (which, of course, makes Mr. Brecht very pleased!)...

After the food and festivities, WCM lead a short run through some twisties... It was so much fun, most of the group of 43 MINIs headed back to Brecht via the switchbacks. Me? I had to head off to the freeway and get back home...

Overall it was very much fun and I am glad Brecht sponsored such a great event! I should write them a letter and thank them! (Yeah- I think I'll do just that!).

Whenever get the video edited I'll try and post it back on this entry!

Lookie What I Got! H-Sport Rear Sway Bar!

Well, I can't really show photos of my latest accoutrement, since it's under the car, in between the frame and subframe, in the rear, connected to end-links and control arms. And I was actually involved in the (free) install (thats right- i actually got my hands dirty!) So I wasn't able to take 100 photos of the process. :)

The H-SPort Sport (19mm) Rear Sway Bar
"Does it make a diffference?" you say? I left the driveway, turned left, and at 20mph I could already notice a difference in handling. I wouldn't necessarily say a "stiffer" ride, since it's not a more rough ride. I can say that I don't know why they call it a "sway-bar", when it's actually and anti-sway bar!

(from the website):
"Recommended for street and track use, the Sport Rear may be used in combination with the stock front bar. All three settings on the Sport Rear are very useful if you attend track days, yet the bar itself is perfectly suitable for daily street use without any harsh ride effects of a larger bar."


Good times!


H-Sport.com


Update: I just noticed that there is a great review of this exact item on MotoringFile.com! (silly me for not checking first!)

MINI Run = MINI Fun!

Went on a ~150 mile run with my MINI club this weekend. Too much fun! Kinda hard to be taking pictures at 100 MPH while driving! (need... co-pilot... hint, hint).






more photos...

"Toy Drive" - Part Two - The Pics

Photos are starting to roll in from the Toy Drive.

(^^^there's mine! ^^^)

MINI Caravan



MINI Caravan



MINI Caravan



the fire truck parade/caravan


there were about 10 fire trucks!



Stoney and friends from K600 (KOGO-AM)



yeah, we kinda stole the show i guess.



20 or so MINIs (each full of toys!)



toys, toys, toys!



WCM Group Photo


Capt. Darren of the Salvation Army. (Cool guy.)


Special thanks to WCMers Chris and Sandy for the photos!

It's another MINI Adventure! "Toy Drive"

The West Coast MINI Club participated in thr Toy Drive for well-deserving "East County (San Diego) kids for the second year in a row. I'm not even from San Diego so that makes it even more exciting!













About a week beforehand I went shopping to pick up some toys and of course i call up my friend to boast- i mean share- the warm fuzzy feeling! First thing she says, is "oh no- i've got 100 toys in my car!" DOH! (The folks at her work did a toy drive and she filled up her trunk for me! How cool is that!)

Early the next morning (and I do mean early!) we emptied out her car and crammed and amazing amount of toys in the MINI! (and she still has some left in her car, simply because we ran out of room!) You'd be surprised at how many toys you can jam into a MINI Cooper, even with a driver, co-pilot, and a 3-foot passenger! 50-60 toys later we headed out!

The next phase of the adventure was to rendezvous with a one couple in a MINI at an offramp about 20 minutes away. They showed up like clockwork and we were on our way. I wasn't driving like maniac but they soon fell behind. (sorry?) We didn't worry because they knew where they were going.

We, on the other hand, followed Google's impeccable directions to the letter! We got the McD and I said "first one's here!" About ten minutes later, with no one else showing up, I'm thinking "um, where's the rest of the MINI's?" I called up MINI Steve- it turns out Google gave us excellent directions- to the WRONG McDonalds! (notice how I attempt to shift any fault away from myself!) No worries- we headed up to the right McD and there were about 10 MINIs waiting for us!

But wait! There's more!

We headed onto the freeway and about 5 miles down the road we met up with 2-3 more MINIs. We continued on to our next rendezvous stop- and guess what? 6 or 7 more MINIs! We waited in the cold and misty morning for what seemed like 30 minutes or so, and as we waited another 3-4 MINIs showed up. Each one packed with toys! (okay- "each one packed" was kind of an exaggeration, but still)...

"Captain Darren" from the Salvation Army showed up and he was obviously moved by the turn out (those Salvation Army folk- so passionate!)

About 20 MINI's deep, we caravaned about two miles to the drop off point (later we found out it's illegal to caravan in El Cajon! It's "right up there with street racing"? Who knew!?) I didn't know there was going to be a radio station there, but as we pulled up, we could hear them on the radio saying, "OMG- look what just pulled up- about 20 MINI Coopers!" (Insert every MINI joke you've heard 1000 times by now).

It was neat as we pulled out about 300-400 toys over all (probably more, but who's counting!) Everyone was really excited and appreciative and the radio station kept up the hype and MINI Steve got to plug the club for a couple minutes too! A local, non-WCMer in a MINI either saw the cars or heard it on the radio and pulled in to talk to us. (new recruit? mmmaybe!) About a dozen fire trucks showed up shortly there after with their toys and nice people and firemen, but personally, i think the MINIs stole the show (as they always seem to do!)

Next stop: Off to lunch with the MINI group where we took over 1/2 of an italian restaurant. Then it was back home in damp weather and a TomTom u-turn glitch, but of course, Mr. Bigglesworth handled it with no problems.

Now, for a well-earned nap, and to close the book on another MINI Adventure!

:bmp:

Giant Bat Terrorizes MINI Rally

I took this photo w/ my cellphone. My friend- an expert photographer, noticed something "odd" with the photo. He did some post-processing. Could this explain the incredible police presence in Old Town Temecula? CALL THE ENQUIRER!!!

MINI Run: San Marcos to Old Town Temecula

I didn't even know there was an "Old Town Temecula" ...


one from the Rebel...


one from the phone...

(I was too busy "motoring" to take more!)


About 20 MINIs on this run- not too shabby!