Shooting Spree

Well since this past Sunday was such beautiful day, I decided to take MINI Dee out for quick photo opportunities. I first went out to the old 3com building in Schaumburg. This is a rather odd looking building but I managed to find a good spot to shoot some pictures. I then stopped by Patrick MINI to snap some picts of Randy's new MCS along side MINI Dee. I then headed up to my old high school stomping grounds and snapped some cool photos. Just after I graduated, my high school proposed a massive addition which actually turned out pretty nice. Also note the new grille badge from toddsmodds.com.

Curb Rash [UPDATE]

Well, I spoke with several body shops and even my dealer and they all pretty much said the same thing; Just leave it alone. Its hardly noticeable, unless your looking for it, and there is no concern for rust since its an alloy wheel. I also asked about this DIY fix using bondo and everyone said that it was not a good idea to use this on the wheel itself because of the amount of vibration at the wheel.
So to fix the wheel properly would set me back anywhere from $120 to $175 but that included sandblasting a smooth finish and repainting the entire wheel surface. Since the rim itself lists for $250 it hardly seems like a smart idea to get such an insignificant rash fixed. I am just going to keep it as clean as possible and leave it alone. And since I just had my wheels rotated, I would not be walking passed the scratched wheel as much. I'll just consider that one wheel now has more "character" than the others ;-)

Off Topic - WRR

I was listening to WhiteRoofRadio Podcast #50 yesterday and Todd mentioned someone had asked him about the clicking R98 web spokes. Todd then mentioned my trials with these otherwise very cool wheels. Thanks WRR for keeping the masses well informed.

As far as I know, nothing specific has been done to remedy the clicking from the web spokes other than the onset of cooler temperatures. With summer right around the corner, and more web spoke owners, I think more cases would probably surface. I have since ditched the web spokes and opted for the R99's double spoke wheels.

If anyone has any questions about how to identify if your web spokes are clicking, feel free to email me. It can be a bit tricky to hear them because and its not always consistant.

Not sure what wheel you have? Check the MINI wheel guide. It has proven to be quite useful for newbies... including me!

Otherwise, here are some related links regarding this issue:
Web Spoke Issue @ dcmini
Clicking Web Spokes @ Motoringfile
Calling All Web Spoke Owners! @ Mini2
R98 Web Spoke Wheel Problem @ NAM

Ouch! Curb Rash

Well, it finally happened. After being so careful thus far, the one time I wasn't paying 100% attention, a darn curb jumped out of nowhere. :-( I am contemplating fixing this one myself but it might be more trouble than its worth. Here is a DIY to fix a scratched wheel that I have been studying, but I might just live with it for now.

MINI Dee's Birthday

Today marks the one year anniversary of MINI Dee's completion date, and it couldn't have been a better day. Although technically still winter, today was rather spring-like with hardly a cloud in the sky and sunny. I even had a chance to open the sunroof, but that was short lived because it was still in the mid 30's. So to mark this joyous occasion, I took her out for a car-wash and a quick wax job. She was looking good today.
And to top it off, she just passed her 7000th mile today with no major problems to date. I'm sure there will be many more (s)miles to come.

Trip to Wisconsin

I decided to go on a little MINI adventure this weekend up to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. We designed a vacation home for a client and I thought it would be a great opportunity to see what I have drawn up in real life. This is probably the most contemporary house we have ever designed and it is coming along great. It is located in a secluded part of Door County right on Lake Michigan. The front of the house faces the lake for an awesome view. Not only is this going to be a nice place to relax, it is also going to be built with all the bells and whistles of environmentally friendly building materials. Overall a very cool house.

On the way back, we decided to swing buy Milwaukee for a quick photo opportunity with the Milwaukee Art Museum. This is probably the only building worth a second look in Milwaukee. No offense but its not the prettiest city, and they know it. A few years back they commissioned a world famous architect, Santiago Calatrava to help remedy that by designing an addition to there lakefront museum. I am not a huge fan of his work but I can appreciate his extraordinary effort towards the revitalization of Milwaukee. The building is a great place to see in action. The city in general is going through a major reworking of their expressway system so there was a ton of construction activity. Hopefully they will be more sensitive with making the lakefront a little more accessible for the public. They have such a great lake front and its a shame they don't use it to the fullest. Chicago is a great example of how to incorporate a big metro area with the benefits of a lake front.

After a long drive, what better thing to do in Wisconsin, than get a quick car and pet wash. What a combo! Although, I could consider my car as my pet, this seems to be a weird pair of activities yet oddly popular.

GTI Test Drive

Don't worry. I am not about to jump ship and buy a VW. But after Motoringfile posted a review of the MKV Golf GTI (w/DSG) recently, I decided to see for myself what all the fuss is about. I have to say the new DSG auto manual transmission is very smooth. I would shift to the next gear I did not get the usual lag in power between gears. It reminded me of a CVT transmission where there was no noticeable shifting going on. There was plenty of push but it was held at almost a constant that it was not obvious that shifts had taken place.

Depending on what you like, this is a great feature for such a powerful engine, rated at 200 HP, but for me I was a bit turned off. I happen to like the noticeable yet smooth shifts in a regular slush box transmission as in the MCSa. When I shifted manually with the DSG I had to look at the information cluster to make sure I had indeed shifted. And it did not seem to feel much faster than my MCSa, probably due to the considerable weight that the GTI has to lug around.

As in the MCSa, there are paddles on the steering wheel, but they are a bit awkward. The right one shifts up a gear and the other shifts down, so you have to be careful shifting while turning the steering wheel. Also, in the info cluster, the gears are listed (6,5,4,3,2,1) but the paddles are assigned to move the selector in the opposite direction. For example, when in third gear, a box graphic would highlight the "3" in the info cluster. To shift down, you would have to tap the left paddle and the graphic box would move to the right to highlight the "2". An obvious fix would be to list the gears in the opposite direction (1,2,3,4,5,6) to match which paddle you would need to tap.

One of the major turn offs was the blah of the interior. There was just nothing interesting to look at inside and was simmilar to every VW interior that they produce. I did not noticed any rattles in the sunroof or anywhere else, but engine noise was very noticeable inside the cabin. Infact, at higher revs the exhaust sound was a bit obnoxious for my taste but that might be of some interest to others.

Overall, I don't think I would like to buy the GTI, even with the DSG transmission, but it did get me in there showroom for a test drive. (which is half the battle for a dealer in February). What I would be more worried about is the clever advertising that is going into the GTI campaign. MINI's ex-advertising agency is now spinning its wheels for VW and its starting to show with their new ads. The ones featuring the drivers "fast" alter ego are especially entertaining. The obscure sometimes dry humor is reminiscent of what they did with MINI before. They also produced a tounge in cheek promotional DVD featuring the "scientific research" done to learn more about the "fast" in everyone. It showcased a German accented man who asked various psychologically revealing questions about one's "fast" to a number of control subjects. One of the scenes that was especially funny was when he asked a group of people where on the human body did they think their "fast" was located. The first said in his right foot which was an expected answer. The second person gestured that his fast was located in the general vicinity of his groin as he thrusted. The look on the German guy was priceless.

With that, It seems VW has their goals set on steering some potential MINI buyers in their direction. And with the solidly built and powerful GTI and some clever advertising, they sure might do that. Hopefully people will not do this in masses and realize that MINIs are more than just horsepower ratings. They actually look good both inside and out, and they turn on a dime. I couldn't imagine driving a car without the very distinct and unique character of a MINI.

Dcmini Now Linked @ GoMotoring.com

I was doing a little lurking about the MINI world and I came across a link to my own site via the Links Section over at GoMotoring.com. Thanks for linkin' me up, Mark. Its greatly appreciated.

Be sure to check out for all your MINI related updates. Its a real time saver.

Here's an updated list of sites that have linked me up:
dbmini.us
MINI links [GoMotoring.com]
mdsbrain.com
murmini.com

If you linked me on your blog/site, or know of a good one and would like it to be added to my list, just click be added and send me the link.

MINI Wierdness

I decided to take MINI dee out for a spin this weekend since the weather called for dry yet cold conditions. And a couple of things happened.

First, the airbag light went on for some reason. But then after turning the engine off and restarting it, the light did not come back on. Perhaps it gets a little confused when sensing a passenger, while the passenger is still in the process of sitting.

Second, while using the key fob to unlock both doors, I saw both windows start to go down and the sun roof start to open. Turns out, after a brief time searching the forums for an explaination, its supposed to do that. I guess I held the unlock button down too long which activates the auto open feature. I never knew it was a standard feature before and now that I think about it, it would have come in handy during the summer. Oh well, I guess I get plenty of use from this feature when summer decides to come back. :-)

Rumored "Actual Video" Ipod!

The new video iPods are great but there is a few things they need to work out. For starters, the actual screen size is way too small to watch video content for more that a few minutes. The obvious solution would be to increase the screen size but the problem is the over all size and form of the ipod is very well though out and lugging anything larger would be a cumbersome or awkward. Case in point, Sony's PSP is great for watching movies but I cant see myself keeping one in my pocket. And I'm not about to start carrying a man purse anytime soon ;-)
So it seems that Apple is working on a solution to incorporate a touch-interface screen for their ipod lines. Here is a image from Apples' patent application on how something like this would work with scrolling. Also, look closely at the first image of the rumored ipod above. At first glance it looks like a regular video ipod, but the scroll wheel is actually on the screen.... Very cool. I would imagine it would be like the dvd controls on your computer set to full screen disappearing when not used.

So yet again, the issue for those on the fence becomes, do I wait or buy one now. Although this is still in the very early stages, it seems that this might be a reality sooner rather than later, most likely end of March/beginning of April. Apple is known for constantly pushing the element of design and with that comes the fact that your hardware becomes fashionably obsolete rather quickly. My 3rd gen iPod is only 2 years old, yet considered a dinosaur next to the 5th gen. After I received my iPod, the updates were numerous, including more storage, new "click wheel", color screens, video playback with large screen, and now a soon to be even larger screen with touch interface wheel.

All images borrowed from macrumors.com, from rumored touch-interface iPods, and patent gesture diagrams

DSG Auto Manual Trans

Amongst MINI owners, why is the new Golf GTI that should be hitting the street very soon getting a lot os attention? Could it be its killer good looks?... its smile factor?...its overall charm?... or perhaps its world class handling?... No, don't be silly. All of these things are hands down automatically awarded to the MINI. So why is the new GTI possibly a worthy adversary to the MINI? Well, I can tell you what grabbed my attention being a MCSa owner, the available auto manual transmission.It seems to be our nature as MINI owners to tweak and fiddle with things to improve them or make them more interesting. What would make my MINI more enjoyable would be something like the DSG. The Volkswagen Direct Shift Gearbox puts an additional £1,260 ($2,200) on the price but that's not too much different that the extra $1350 I paid for the auto in the MCS.Although I am satisfied with the performance of the automatic transmission in my MINI, there is always room for improvement. Its very exciting to hear something like this will be widely available in a car that is comparable to a MINI. I am also hopeful for improvements on gas milage as the current auto tranny is a bit inefficient. Without the actual torque converter, perhaps similar figures can be achieved as with the MCS manual transmission.

In other news, they are still working on making the MCSa JCW available for the US market. More on that here from Motoringfile

Here's a Review of the MKV Golf GTI (w/DSG) from Motoringfile

Jeez, What's with Those Guys?!

It seems like when ever any news come to light about the MCSa, there's a slew of haters that surface. Calm down! Its just a transmission, nothing more. Its not going to replace all transmissions. It is just merely giving an opportunity to other drivers to experience what the MCS has to offer. The MCS has so much more to offer than just the type of transmissions. The autos are not here to compete with the manual but to co-exist with advantages and disadvantages on both sides.

So, all you manual drivers who are quick to criticize others' choice in transmissions, please consider that MINI is about having choices. To experience its world class handling and fun factor surpasses the limitations of the automatic transmission. It certainly does not mean we are any less of an "enthusiast"

Yes, there are limitations with the automatic compared with the manual, but there are also added benefits. All it comes down to is prioritizing these characteristics and making a choice that best suits you. A MINI is still a MINI. Enjoy and be nice. :)

Happy Motoring!

No Snow Tires

So far so good. I have survived without snow tires for the time being and I do not plan on getting a set anytime soon. Since my MCSa is only a leisure vehicle, I have the luxury of keeping her in the garage while it snows. I only take her out when it is completely dry or warm enough that it will not snow. That way she stays clean and out of trouble. Plus runflats are way too expensive. Ouch!

I have only taken her out once in the snow, but it was confined to the parking lot just outside my garage.
I do not recommend you keep the sport tires on all the time in wintery climates if its your daily driver. They will lose traction very quickly in the snow compared to the all seasons.

Kentucky in Chicago

Some of my girlfriend's buddies came from Kentucky check out what Chicago has to offer. So we headed downtown to check out the attractions.

We first went to see the window displays over at Marshal Fields. This was the last day the windows were going to be up and it was the last time the store will be called Marshal Fields. It will soon change its name to Macy's to many Chicagoans' discontent.

After that we headed over to Millenium Park, and checked out the Gerhy Bandshell and the "Bean" sculpture. Its always a good time seeing a distorted view of your surroundings and yourself. The best view of the city is right on the "Bean" as the face of Michigan Avenue can be seen, both ends at the same time.

Lunch time brought us to Giordono's for some chicago style pizza which was delicious. I will never pass up an opportunity for pizza.

After lunch, we then headed to the tourist trap known as Navy Pier. Its still cool to go for some quality "people watching" while sitting on a bench, and the indoor gardens were a welcome diversion to the relatively cold wind off the lake. Here's some more pictures of our excursion. Enjoy.

Apple's At It Again

More new stuff is coming! Including a new accessory for the iPod. a remote control with FM Tuner. Well see what else they come up with very soon.

The apple store online is currently updating their site.

DanC

But I Don't Feel Older

I received my MINI2 reminder email saying I am one year older! Despite my age increasing, it seems not to affect me as much. Could the my MINI be a fountain of youth?... Nah... I think its more to do with my 19 year old girlfriend. ;-)
Thanks

Thanks for Linkin' Me Up

Just like to say thanks for all the other blogs that have linked me up from their sites. Much appreciated. Be sure to check out the other blogs I have listed to the right as well.

Here's a few blogs that have linked me up:
dbmini.us
mdsbrain.com
murmini.com

If you linked me on your blog, or know of a good one and would like it to be added to my list, just click be added and send me the link.

My Web Spoke Issue Ends

With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I almost forgot to mention that everything regarding reimbursement for the web spoke wheel exchange has been completed. I would like to thank the good folks over at Patrick MINI for understanding my frustration and allowing me to exchange the wheels for a different style. I am very pleased with my new R99 double spoke wheels.

I have not heard anything new regarding a fix for the clicking or a wide spread solution for current web spoke owners.

For more info, here are some related links regarding this issue:
Web Spoke Issue
Clicking Web Spokes @ Motoringfile
Calling All Web Spoke Owners! @ Mini2
R98 Web Spoke Wheel Problem @ NAM

Belkin Auto Kit (Review)

This was MINI Dee's first Christmas, and she made out pretty well. Not only is she fully protected with a new OEM Alarm, but her interior was cleaned up with the Belkin Auto Kit for the iPod. My girlfriend chose a great gift. Thank you, Katie.
Previous Setup:
I had previously installed the AUX input and used that to get sound from my iPod to the factory head unit. The problem was that my iPod's battery would die in about a half hour. Using a Belkin Mobile Power Cord to charge the iPod while connected to the AUX input would cause the AUX to temporarily stop working. It had something to do with isolating the ground loop, which required a ground loop isolator, but that seemed too messy of a solution. In addition to that, the entire set up was rather cluttered with an audio wire for the AUX input connected to one end of the iPod and a car charger connected to the other. What I needed was a simpler solution that took advantage of the AUX input and cleaned up the wires that were visible.

New Setup:
The install was rather easy: just plug it in and it's good to go. What was unique about this setup was that it had an integrated amplified audio jack output with adjustable volume, perfect for the AUX input jack. Now all I have to do is connect the iPod with the dock connection from the Belkin Auto Kit, and it draws the line level out audio signal from the iPod while it charges.

Other Added Benefits:
Every so often, I would forget I had the iPod in the car and accidentally leave it playing. When I would come back, I would find the Ipod's battery fully drained. With this new set up, that is a thing of the past. Now, when I turn the car off, it automatically pauses the Ipod and conserves the battery. What a great little feature!

Also, with my previous set up, the volume level of the Ipod was rather weak compared with the radio and CD volume levels. There was a possibility that you could blow out a speaker if you had the volume too high and then switched to the radio without turning the volume down. Not so with this new set up. Now the levels are comparatively matched, thanks to the integrated amplified audio jack output with adjustable volume. Another great little feature.

One last feature is the actual dock connector at the end of the charger. The fact that it is not symmetrical makes it very easy to connect the Ipod in the dark. Belkin seems to be good with things like this because the Belkin Mobile Power Cord also has a raised label indicating which side is up.

Some Drawbacks:
Overall, I am extremely happy with this new setup. It is much better than what I had, and the audio quality is very clear. There is a faint hum when listening at very high volumes, but it is hardly noticeable. Also, the overall price including the AUX input, might be a bit high. The Auto Kit is $40 and the AUX input is about $40. Some might be inclined to spend a little more for the OEM Ipod Adapter or the Ice Link Plus.

My Ipod Nears Its End

I have had a 3rd generation 10 gig Ipod since Christmas of 2003 and it has been great. No problems with it malfunctioning or anything rendering it unusable. Lately, due to the cold I suspect, my ipod has been having a little trouble lasting the full length of my morning commute. I timed it this morning and it lasted only 39 minutes from a full charge until it died on me. My commute is about 45 minutes, so I need to have the Ipod charged a bit to make it without it running out of battery power.

Back in September, I filled out the Ipod settlement. It had been delayed with an appeal of some sort from other "objectors," but as of December 22nd that has been dismissed. Hopefully I can get my $50 towards getting a new Ipod sooner rather than later. Any donations for my personal "ipod replacement" fund will be accepted as well. :-)

Hope everyone has a great holiday.