Live Chat with ALTA MINI Performance – February 22, 2007 9pmEST

Just a reminder that TONIGHT, February 22, 2007 at 9pmEST/6pmPST, we will host another Motoring Fun MINI Club Virtual Meet in the chat room. This time we are happy to announce that ALTA MINI Performance will be our special guest. Make sure you come out to hear the latest news from ALTA as well as to get your questions answered. These monthly events are really turning into some nice Q&A sessions, giving folks a chance to chat 1 on 1 with vendors and other celebs in the MINI community. Make sure to post your question in the comments section of this post so they will get answered. Hope to see you there!

ALTA MINI Performance

[ Motoring Fun Chat Room ]

A Sneak Peak At The R56

Tonight I got my first look at the R56 in the flesh (or sheet metal as the case may be). And yes – I did get to drive it 😉 Special thanks to Burton Levine of Vista MINI for taking the time out of his busy schedule to give me a personal tour of the new MINI. I must say that when I first walked into the showroom tonight, I almost did not notice the new car at all. The staff at Vista MINI cleverly parked an R56 Cooper alongside a 2006 MINI Cooper and, at a quick glance, you really can’t tell the difference. If it was not for the enlarged fog lights I never would have picked it out without really looking hard. The beltlines are slightly higher and the side markers and side view mirrors are larger as well. But again, none of these details will be apparent to the casual passer-by/non-enthusiast.

R56 Sneak Peak

Continue reading A Sneak Peak At The R56

MyMini Dyno Day – Part 2

If you have not had a chance to check out “MyMini Dyno Day – Part 1“, make sure you take a few minutes to read over it. In today’s article, I compiled all the data from the various cars that attended the MyMini Dyno Day, including mod lists, to give you an idea of what you can expect from certain mods. Unfortunately, I don’t have baseline data for the modded cars (except for mine) so there is no way to tell where they started from. Regardless, it should provide an interesting read. Please note that some runs were done with the famous blue wind tunnel contraption and some were just done with a large fan. If you see a car with one run higher than the other, chances are that run was done with the blue wind tunnel on the intercooler. Make sure you also check out the pictures in the gallery from the dyno day as well. I am working on a short video compilation of the various dyno runs and hope to have that posted soon too! Well enough of all that – now onto the results….

Continue reading MyMini Dyno Day – Part 2

New Sponsor Product Spotlight Section

I am happy to announce a new addition to MotoringFun.com – Sponsor Product Spotlights. I would like to direct your attention to the left sidebar, under the category listings. Here you will find a special product that some of our sponsors want you to know about. We want to thank all of our sponsors – without them, MotoringFun.com would not exist. Take a moment and click on the Product Spotlight to go to the sponsor’s website for more information on that particular product. Make sure you tell them MotoringFun.com sent you!

Mickey and MINI In Modern MINI Magazine

If you recall, back in October, I helped organize Mickey and MINI – a yearly MINI meet at Walt Disney World in Florida. Well, it looks like our little event got published in the March edition of the UK magazine, Modern MINI!! My son actually got featured (see picture below) as well as Scooter. The magazine is set to go on newstands on February 11th, but reports have come in that some stores already have them.

Mickey and MINI 2006
Photo Credit: Steffi Barnett

[ Modern MINI Magazine ]

Hammer and Coop Trailer

MotoringFile.com just posted up a link to a hysterical trailer that appears to be for some Knight Rider knock-off featuring an R56 version of KITT. Set to launch 2/17/2007, the date coincides with the MINI USA launch of the R56, screaming that this is a clever marketing campaign and not a real movie trailer. Check it out!! UPDATE: MotoringFile.com posted it up on YouTube as well (very cool!):

[ HammerandCoop.com ]
[ Hammer and Coop @ MotoringFile.com ]

MINI Clubman Transport Catches Fire!

According to Auto Express, the truck carrying the Clubman prototypes broke down in some Artic conditions and actually caught fire! As a result, they unloaded the car and had to drive it the rest of the way WITHOUT any tape!! These are some of the best pictures yet of the MINI Clubman. Check it out at the link below (you may have to register to free log in). Thanks to Pete for sending this in!

[ MINI Clubman Unmasked @ Auto Express ]