Woodsy

At 48101 miles the S finds itself lurking behind trees and carving twisty mountain roads laced with, er, potholes. Loads and loads of potholes. The scenery was great but I don't think I made it out of second gear.



The rain was more of a mist that has been hanging around for a couple of days. I love the temperature -- in the low-50s -- and with the sky overcast, the road looks damp and sharp. Although most prefer sunny and clear, a drizzly day calms my soul more than any other weather. It's as if I get a head start while everyone else hibernates, and indeed the road was only mine today.

Thanksgiving cycling

At mile 48044, the MCS found itself a couple dozen miles north of the city. The day started cold but warmed quickly, perfect for a couple hours of pedaling. It may not be exotic, but it is definitely more exciting than work.

Working Late

My MCS just passed 48,000 miles on the odometer. I've decided to count down to 50K with flair by documenting the different spots my MINI sits. My goal is to make it interesting while keeping in mind that as my daily driver most of the miles will be spent between home and office.



At 48005 miles, the MINI finds itself working late. Desolate in the parking lot, it blends in with the red brick and leaves. And it dreams of the long weekend ahead.

Non-Detroit Geese

These geese flew over my house this morning, flapping and honking like they were going out of business.



From all the honking I'm led to believe they were cars. However, I could tell they weren't from Detroit because they weren't using their corporate private jets to travel.

Many people much more educated on the subject than I am have weighed in on the auto companies bailout. There is a lot to discuss on tax incentives, steel costs, labor contracts, nationalism, efficiency standards, and out-of-touch distribution models. The bottom line is that the free market should run its course.

The free market only cares about one thing: Sell me a product that I want at a price I can afford. I'm not talking about features of quality, power, or sturdiness. It's not about my generation versus my father's or my children's. It's about the fact that Detroit churned out massive amounts of vehicles during this decade and still lost market share. If we carry the domestics through this recession, they'll simply fail on the other side.

I have no desire to see tens of thousands or even millions lose their jobs. I have no desire to see competition diminished. I do think splitting the 3 companies into 5 or 10 or 15 that are independently profitable is the way to go. The great thing is that although bureaucrats are completely incapable of doing much at all, the free market is really good at determining what is sustainable. So split them up, parcel them out, and create smaller companies that focus on cars that are affordable during a recession.

2008 MINI on loan

The thermostat went out on my '06 Cooper S this week. The local service department, much to my delight, gave me another Cooper to drive (as opposed to some Enterprise Rent-A-Cruiser). So for one day I drove a new 2008 Cooper.



Part of my morning routine is driving the kids to school. More than two years after my Chili Red Cooper S came to live with us, my oldest is still stoked about any chance to ride in it, including this particular morning. Standing at the door he asked, "Can we take Red?"

"No." I reply. "Green?*" he asks.

"No." I reply. He looks stumped.

My daughter pushes past both of us, sees the Sparkling Silver Cooper (a color also known as beige), gasps in delight, and immediately exclaims, "Can we call it 'Emily?'"



The name isn't the only thing that delights my daughter during the 5-minute ride. She loves the way the two colored spotlights in the headliner change between red, purple, and blue. In general this turns out to be the most impressive new feature from the 2007 redesign.

From my perspective, I felt as though MINI was trying to turn me into an 18-year-old girl. All the buttons and gauges got really big. The speedometer—already a distinct feature because of its size—has swollen way too much. The computer showing temperature, speed, and gas consumption has more than doubled in size. The buttons felt softer, rounder, and brighter because of the light gray plastic. Toggle switches that used to all hang out together are now spread throughout the cabin. Like domestic autos, the buttons now have names on them. These changes, I'm sure, are welcome by an increasingly female clientele, but I feel a lot of the unadorned enthusiast roots have been cut.



In an effort to make everything digital, MINI has swapped the usefulness of two gauges: instantaneous fuel economy and remaining fuel. The instantaneous fuel economy is a digital-to-a-tenth display of what your gas mileage is right now. And now! And now! It updates two or three times a second like a flashing light that serves to annoy more than inform.

The fuel gauge is set up like most are: a gas pump icon surrounded by a circle of tick marks. In the '08 MINI the tick marks are little candy corn-shaped lights that animate when the car starts. But they're not terribly informative. When I picked up the car, all the lights were lit—indicating a full tank. I drove 44.5 miles at 34.5 mpg (the mileage computer is indeed accurate) then topped off the tank by adding 4.5 gallons. So the tank was at 2/3 but showing only one candy corn low. I expect this of my analog gauge, but I don't understand the point of creating a digital gauge that isn't accurate.



To sum up, the car is fantastic. It's a MINI. It handles like a go-kart, has a decently matched engine (although the S makes the power curve enjoyable), and is really comfortable. The amenities are nice, the paddle shifting works, and Sport Mode really is sporty. Everything that carried over from the original 2002 design is great. It could just do with a little less cute.

*Green refers to my wife's Honda Pilot. Although it was supposed to be black, the salesperson pulled a last minute bait-and-switch on my wife, who took the bait. Even though the color is a dark, dark green, I've made it clear that it isn't black. This is a reminder for next time.

What to do if even clearance sales can't move 'em?

Oh yeah, it's that bad, like drinking corn syrup.

A MINI Vote

And then there were Two

I came up to the light by my office the other day and stopped behind, er, me! The plate is different, but everything else matches Red to a "T."



Looking at the split of my red hood on the bottom of the pic and the back of what my S must look like on the top reminds me of when our black-and-white TV used to scroll vertically until it warmed up.