Here is a pretty cool pinball game based on the new MINI Clubman - “Clubmania Pinball”. Targeting online gamers and users of the Nintendo Wii, MINI USA’s advertising agency, BSSP, is using this game as an opportunity to showcase the uniqueness in the Clubman design. MediaPost.com has a full write-up on the background of the game’s marketing strategy. Enjoy!

[ Clubmania Pinball ]

If you are planning on coming to MTTS 2008 - Miami for the weekend of June 13-15th and you are driving down I-95 or Florida’s Turnpike, you may want to check out Sunshine MINIs‘ website for information on a caravan that is taking place down the state on Friday the 13th (hmmm just realized that date). A caravan is starting in Jacksonville, FL on Friday morning and heading down south, picking up MINIacs along the way. At lunchtime, the caravan will make a stop at the Queen Mary British Pub in Jupiter, FL for some great food and stretching of the legs. I plan on meeting the group at the pub and driving down the rest of the way to our hotel in Homestead (the majority of the Sunshine MINIs club is staying at the Travelodge in Florida City which is right around the corner from the Homestead-Miami Speedway). Hope to see you there!!!

Finally getting through all my e-mail from when I was out of town… MINI USA sent an update on the Miami MTTS 2008 kick off. In case you did not get it, here is what they have planned as of now:

Friday, June 13th, 7:30 – 10:30 pm
Bicentennial Park, Miami FL

Kick-off the weekend amongst friends with a fun evening and a movie under the stars in beautiful Bicentennial Park. Be sure to bring your blankets and lawn chairs for the movie, and your MINI key fob to get you and up to 3 friends into the fun.

7:30 MINI Owner Meet and Greet
8:30 Movie Under the Stars (brought to you by Fade In magazine)
10:30 Movie’s over. Head back to your hotel or go out for a little taste of Miami night life.

Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend I had the pleasure of hanging out with JAMM - the Jacksonville Area MINI Motorers while I was up in the St. Augustine area. We had about 20 MINIacs take over the Prince of Wales British Pub off of St. George St. in St. Augustine on Saturday. What a great group of people! We had people from as far north as Georgia and also a few from Orlando come out for some great food and good times. A huge thanks to all who came out and showed me and my family a great time. It is so cool that you can go to almost any city and find MINIacs willing to come out and hang. We have the coolest group of people .

[ Photo Gallery ]

WOW! That is almost all I can say about this past weekend. I had sooooo much fun out there, which is quite a switch from last year’s Homestead event. While I still had fun last year, the frustration level was pretty high due to the fact that in 2007’s event, it was my first time going out there solo. Passing higher horsepower in student classes is one thing, trying to pass higher horsepower in the solo group when the other cars running with you are being driven by instructors, well, that is another story. The point-by’s just don’t come as easy since the cars, not only have more power, but they are being driven by people who know how to use it!

This weekend was all about taking my driving to the next level for me. Applying some skills I touched on at Daytona (and some skills I observed while watching Randy Pobst toss my MINI around the track), I was able to shave 6 seconds off my lap times from last year!! In 2006, which was the first time I had ever been on the Homestead track, I was running 1:59 lap times. In 2007, that number decreased to 1:56. This weekend, I was clicking off 1:50 laps!! Granted, I was running shaved Toyo RA1’s and Hawk HT-10 race pads this time around, but a lot had to do with some new skills I was trying to master, specifically trail braking and modulating the throttle through the turns to make the back end come around just enough to point you in the right direction so you can stomp on the gas and go. What a rush! Needless to say, the point-by’s are starting to be received again, rather than given. Don’t get me wrong, there are still cars running out there that will kick our little MINIs arse out there, but it does feel good to not be the slowest thing out there.

I want to give a huge thanks to my “track junkie crew” - Jamie and Greg - you guys ROCK! To our newest track junkie, Daniel - hope to see you at many more events dude! To Minis of Miami - AWESOME show of support gang - thank you so much for coming out and cheering us on! To our resident MINI instructor, Bill, glad you came to hang with us out there - it sure was fun battling an instructor who drives a MINI! And to Jeff and Phyllis - even though you brought the Porsche instead of the MINI - we’ll still let you hang with us (by the way - thanks for taking the photos! I’ll be posting them soon). Thanks to the entire PBOC/PCA staff for putting on a safe weekend. And last, but not least, a HUGE thanks to Pete over at Minspeed for keeping Team Minspeed flying!

Phew! What a week! I feel like a chicken with my head cut off, running around trying to get stuff done lately. Just glad it is finally pretty much over and I can now relax and head down for a weekend full of fun at the Homestead-Miami Speedway! I like to think of this as the MTTS 2008 preview party! I will be joining the usual suspects down at the track event being put on by PBOC and PCA. I can’t wait to give my new brake pads a run (I have moved up to the Hawk HT-10 compound for some added grip without a BBK). I also recently swapped out my spark plugs for some JCW plugs, thanks to Pete over at Minspeed for offering these to the MINI community for $49 per set. The dealer charges upwards of $55 for ONE plug!!! I’ll let you know how things go when I get back! Enjoy your weekend!

Most of you will remember the Daytona track weekend I participated in back in December. Well the time has come to register for the next track weekend at the Mecca of Motorsports, Daytona International Speedway! On October 31st, I will be heading up with the rest of my track buddies to tackle the high banks of Daytona for 3 days with PBoC of Florida. During the weekend, there will be a few actual races, in addition to HPDE lapping sessions. Our friends over at Redline Performance (Pompano Beach, FL) have shared the exciting news that one of the competitors will be running a JCW MINI Challenge car during the weekend!

So what are you waiting for??? Here is your chance to not only drive at over 135mph on the banks of Daytona, but actually get to watch one of the first US races featuring a JCW MINI Challenge racer! Sign up today because slots are filling up FAST! HPDE run groups will be limited to Advanced and Intermediate run groups (sorry, no novices). Solo run groups and Super Solo run groups will also be running during the weekend. Check out PBoC’s website for more information! See you on the track!

[ PBoC of Florida ]

This is an oldie but a goodie. So even if you have seen this, I think it still deserves another look because this is one SICK ride! To do this without a helmet either takes some serious stones or a lack of brain matter . Enjoy!

It appears our friends over at OutMotoring.com have decided to bring their hood stripe and vinyl sticker production in-house. This should put them in a position to provide the MINI community with quality custom vinyl work with less turn-around time! Looking forward to seeing their creations!

[ Full story @ OutMotoring.com ]

MINI USA has opened up registration for MINI Takes The States 2008. Here’s what is posted on the registration site so far:

- Children under 12 are free and do not require registration.
- All net proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to charity through MINI Motoring Hearts.
- Event registration is $20 per weekend ($80 for all 4 events).
- MINI Owners can register for Friday “Owners Only” Meet and Greet and Rise and Shine Saturday Rally Drive.
- “Future” MINI Owners can only register for the “festival weekend”.

So what are you waiting for????? Get REGISTERED!!!

UPDATE: Looks like MotoringFile.com has finally put up some information on this as well. You can get some more info here.