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MTTS 2008 - LA Day 2

August 2, 2008 on 11:00 pm | In MTTS_2008, Recent Posts |

Got Blue Bear situated in his seat and picked up Robert prior to driving down to UCLA for the ‘Morning Rise-n-shine’ where some 400-500 cars gathered.   It was definetely more cars then they anticipated as they ran out of room in the allocated section and wound up shifting some cars to other areas.  It was really a great to see so many MINI’s. 

Lots of cool looking cars in attendance…

and 5 1/2 GPs. Joel in GP0056 who we met in ‘06 during the GP early delivery in Monterey, Amil in GP0193, GP1333, Mike in GP1405, and GP1297 who had its roof number removed and had different wheels and can you  spot what is different about this blue S?

 The Mini’s came in all sizes. Classic, Fluffy and hairy. 

Then it was off on the morning rally to the Rose Bowl.  After being escorted by LA’s finest out towards the PCH we got behind Joel GP and followed him up to our first stop at Topanga State Park for the Suprise and Delight stop.  It was comical, the Cooper Convertible could barely get out of its own way.  Made my Cooper Sport feel GPish..  It was probably filled with 87 where it could have used some 93 octane.  Had to turn the AC off so it could make it up some of the steep points.

The first half of the leg was scenic and fun but after we left the Topanga State Park we were supposed to make a right turn but were directed left because of some supposed accident later in our scheduled route.  That was unfortunate because we had to back track the long way back to the Rose Bowl through a lot of traffic.  When they say LA traffic is bad… take their word for it… It can be.   

We eventually made it to the Rose Bowl about 2hrs late but still with plenty of time to enjoy all the activities.  Present was the new Crossover prototype and FireBall Tim had a booth with several of his works.

Was a little disappointed that more than the handful of Classic didn’t attend as there is a rather large community in the area but the handful was enough to put a smile on my face.  Just glad I made it through the day without another acquisition.

After getting our log book stamped, having some ice cream and dropping our bags off in the car we headed over to the auto cross and took the new JCWs out for a spin… well several spins.  Was able to get back in queue and wound up driving both the JCW S and the JCW Clubman several times during the afternoon. 

I do have to say that once you get beyond the slight turbo lag and the power kicks in it kicks in with a major thrust!  It seems slugish off the line in a similar way as my ‘02 was when I first got it that was eventually resolved with a programming update so wonder if the off the line lag might be resolved.   

I keep reading how the new JCW with the added torque does not suffer from torque steer but evidently they never drove the car on heavy acceleration in a straight line or in and out of turns as it is present.   

The gear box is smoother to shift but find that you’ve lost the steering feedback and would have prefered it a bit firmer.  

What is the best thing about the new JCW?  The brakes! The four pot Brembos and larger rear brakes are really a great improvement over the older JCW brakes and I would definetely be looking to upgrade to these on the GP.  You can never have too much stopping power.  

The new JCW is an impressive car and the engine is a great forward evolution and exhaust in Sport mode sounds great.  If you plan on getting a new JCW I think it could benefit from the JCW suspension as the rear felt twitchy when pushed through the turns.   

Although the new R56 JCW is more economical then the GP and could probably give it a good run for its money in performance I’ll be sticking with my GP.

It was a hot day and did not stay for the concert but instead went back and changed and I went out with Robert and Kittie for a nice dinner at Houston’s.  Thanks Robert and Kittie!

For all the day’s pictures