As my MINI gets a little older, I tend to take the car out more often. Baby-ing the car has been lacking lately since the it becomes more and more difficult to make the time. So I decided that I would try driving the MINI on a more daily basis, even in the winter months that are approaching fast in Chicago.
I had my brakes redone at 37616 miles. I didn't go with any performance rotors or pads, just a stock rebuild kit from MINICarParts.net. They had a good deal with the entire kit, free shipping, and an additional 10 percent off. It's been a couple weeks now and the brakes feel good after starting out a little mushy.
In another effort to get ready for winter, I needed to replace my Kumhos badly. Although they were a great summer tire and were considered an all season tire, they are really not. In fact in any snow, they are down right dangerous. And at the last rotation, I had some serious road noise issues. I think being a very sticky tire also makes them wear a lot faster too.
I decided to go ahead replace those with a set of Bridgestone Potenza G 019 Grid. The ratings on the winter performance were considerably better than the Kumhos so we'll see if that is the case this winter. So far, after having them installed and aligned at 37659 miles, the ride is very smooth now.
Oh yeah, I also changed out my battery just in case with a battery from Autozone. So far everything is fine.
