DSG: Not Anytime Soon

All you MCSa heads out there, don't hold your breath waiting for a DSG type tranny in a MCSa. It seems that there just isn't any resources to develop this under the BMW roof. And nothing currently in development could be adapted to the new MINI. Here's an exerpt from Motoringfile's interview with MINIUSA product manager Jeff Stracco:

MF: A lot of posters want to know if MINI will be getting a DSG or equivalent.

Stracco Speaks: The only real manufacturer of Dual Clutch Transmissions right now is VW. They don’t have a supplier, they manufacture the DSG themselves. Their front wheel drive box is actually manufactured by VW under license from Borg-Warner. They can afford to manufacture it themselves because they have huge volumes with VW, Seat, Skoda, etc. But, as you could imagine they are not prepared to manufacture those for anyone outside the VW family.

Everyone else has a dual clutch gearbox “In development” or something like that. Or if they have one, it’s not appropriate for a MINI. So it will be a while yet.

I am not an expert in market feasibility but I would think the "business case" would be very strong seeming that the market would include everyone from a novice motorer to a well experienced driver. The fact that the DSG transmission could produce faster shift times and ultimately faster cars would get me (and many other enthusiasts) very interested.

For more info check out:
GTI Test Drive [ dcmini ]
VW DSG [ Carpages.co.uk ]
DSG Auto [ dcmini]
Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) [ about.com ]

Portillo's 7.11.07

Hot Dogs and MINIs, what a combo! For what seemed like a casual gathering of a few enthusists set up in a NAM thread, we had a very large crowd show up. I also met up with Juan, of blu-iguana.us fame, who happened to be in the area with his indi blue cooper with well over 100,000 miles on it. Wow! And he gave me a poster with a ton of his pictures! Very cool... I'm getting that framed soon.

I had a blast talking with a couple new faces as well as some passers by. I hope we can make this a regular event.

CMMC 4th of July Parade 2007

What better way to show off your MINI than in a parade! There was a total of eight MINIs that showed up to churp their tires, rev their engines and decorate their MINIs for the crowds at the Skokie 4th of July parade courtesy of the CMMC. My grandfather happened to be in town so he rode along with me and he said he had a blast. It was great fun and great weather. Check out the club post for more picts including mine or just enjoy the slide show below. Happy forth of July to all! Hope yours was as memorable. :-)