Just because you decide you don't need it doesn't mean you get rid of it

 

i got our brand new 04 srt-4 into the 12's with $800 in mods, pt is a but heavier but it would be a fun car

 

what year/motor on the mini, ill dig up what i can find from our distributor for the mods, i know you wont leave that car alone!

 

Rob, don't they make side cars for them? Maybe training wheels....OH, I know, a grab handle for the drivers side, heavy duty of course...he has to pull himself up and out of it somehow....and without the training wheels, it might roll over...OK....I'll quit...my son wanted one of those...and it was a fun car to play with....and I could drive it on the sidewalk too....

 

I don't believe it!! Mine is the same blue - or is yours black, it's hard to tell - with white bonnet stripes and chrome mirrors!

And we both have black Crossfires...

Great minds think alike.


And there's no worry of me dropping out of the Crossfire circuit. I'll always love my SRT-6. But I gotta drive something when I'm hiding from the federales!

 

LOL, Rob, you know me too well. I'm already scoping out a pulley and a CAI for it. The parts are pretty reasonable too. I just have to read up on them and see what's best and why. There seems to be a lot of competition between vendors. I haven't looked that hard and I've already found four different pulleys - ranging from $75 to $140.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find ECU tuning gear for less than $600, and it wouldn't make sense to put a CAI and pulley on it without tuning it too.

Oh yeah, it's a 2005 Mini Cooper S - which all the sites refer to as an R53 which seems to be a model code or platform code.

 

Training wheels?!? Take it easy there Doc. I'll put those training wheels up against your Jeep any time.

 

Hey FP, does this mean I can date one of your daughters?

 

the jeeps a hemi....lol...you don't think I would drive something slow would you....

 

Hey Rick, I'm just glad my Wife feels that way about me.

 

Haha.........

And my Mini is Black. The mirrors are now black. Traded with someone who wanted the chrome ones. I've also modded it with ECU mod, CAI, and "S" suspension.

 

FP:
Wait a second!!! FP actually took chrome OFF a car?!? I don't believe it. Who are you and what have you done with the real FP?


Doc:
You might get me right up to the first curve. Then it's all over.

 

Huh?

 

you'd be under my jeep by then....you be careful with that go-cart...remember I also drive 18 wheelers during the week...lol

 

You would be surprised. I removed the chrome grill as well. As much as I love pimptastic chrome, I believe you have to be strategic as to where you place chrome. I thought the black grill and black mirrors would compliment the car. But, I did add plenty of chrome accents in the interior...

 

I think I might be able to drive the Mini UNDER your 18 wheeler... I tried it with a Mitsubishi Eclipse a few years back, but it didn't fit.



Whew! I'm glad to see you're OK FP. You had me worried when you started talking about REMOVING chrome. I was gonna have to send Tony over to your house for an intervention!

 

Well, I drove through a TON of snow to get my new supercharged baby home. Here's a pic of my first fill-up. I drove over 100 miles on a 1/4 tank of gas. Something tells me "Mini Me" isn't as thirsty as his big brother.



Now Mini Me is washed (no, I didn't clean the pipes!) and tucked away in the garage until I shovel out my drive and then go take it out to show all my buddies tonight.

 

Darn I got to this thread late- I was going to suggest looking at the SRT4 Caliber. At 285 hp (stock) it certainly isn't underpowered. I'm looking to pick on up as a daily soon- not to mention give Rob more of my money for "SRT" mods.

 

Hey Tom- what did you end up paying for it (vs what they were asking), how many miles on it, and where did you pick it up from?

 

Well, the dealership I bought it from is very different than most. They post their prices on the internet (www.blueknobauto.com) and that's the price. No haggling. They also evaluate your trade and make you an offer - no haggling. You can either take it or leave it. They very friendly about it, but they don't budge a millimeter.

That said, their prices are consistently below blue book. And their trade-in offers are fair. They came in about $300 below what I wanted for my trade, but to be honest, my car simply wasn't worth it. By contrast, earlier in the week, a dealer offered me almost double on my trade, but he was screwing me on the price of the car. So who wins? LOL

I paid $15,498 for my Mini. It's a 2005 Mini Cooper S, with only 8,300 miles on it. Yeah - five years old and only eight thousand miles on it. It came in off a lease, which a lot of their inventory does. With the options on my Mini it's blue book value was over $17,000. So I wasn't going to quibble over the $300 less for my trade. I feel I got a great deal, and I didn't have to go through all the bull of dealing with a normal car sales team.

Their inventory is HUGE! Look at the photo of their lots on their web site. I asked their finance guy how many cars they sell a month, and he said at least 900 - every month. They had about 15 sales people working, and they were all busy. This was on a night when the weather was terrible, and most people stay home. But the dealership was hoppin.

Oddly enough, this dealership is in the middle of nowhere - Altoona, PA, which is about 1.5 hours east of Pittsburgh. The staff there was telling me that it's nothing for people to fly into Pittsburgh from all over the country just to buy a car and drive it home. They were completely nonplussed at my 3 hour drive to them.

All in all, I would recommend them to anyone interested in buying a used car. Check their web site, give them a call and they will hold a vehicle until you get there. They hand you the keys and send you off for a test drive. When you come back, they've evaluated your trade and will give you a price and you can decide if you want to buy, want to test something else, or want to leave. It's completely no-pressure.