Another ‘blog
Posted in MINI blogs — by db on 02/25/06

Sweet! A classic Mini ‘blog!

Mini's on the 'ring

Yes, he has had his on the ‘ring too! Very very cool. You can check it out at http://h8bmwmini.blogspot.com/.

Thanks Keith!

1 comment

Humvee Hybrid?
Posted in Alt Fuel Cars — by db on 02/16/06

From Autoblog:

The current military-issue Humvee will be replaced by 2011, with contracts being awarded to suppliers sometime in 2009. At the moment the Army and Marine Corps are researching hybrid drivetrains for the Humvee replacement, with the Army conducting research on six different hybrid Humvees and the Marine’s testing the RST-V (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Targeting Vehicle) that employs electric motors in each wheel hub, just like Mitsubishi’s Concept-CT unveiled at the Detroit auto show.

The article goes on to talk about the possibility of Hydrogen Fuel Cell power as well. If you are interested, definitely worth the read.

Autoblog

(3) comments

An interesting listen
Posted in podcasts — by db on 02/14/06

The Discovery Channel is now podcasting. Or, at least they have been for awhile and I just haven’t noticed.

Anyway, there is one that I found particularily interesting about traffic. iTunes users can find the episode here. There isn’t a way, that I could find, to download direct from the site without subscribing to the feed.

Anyway, it’s kind of lighthearted and very informative (as any Discovery production would be). I think it’s worth a listen.

Download here if you do not have access to iTunes.

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Have a MINI One -D?
Posted in Alt Fuel Cars — by db on 02/12/06

First of all, I’m totally jealous! For the miles I drive on a weekly basis, the thought of only filling up once every week or week and half, even at higher prices is very enticing. That at the fact that torque = horespowerx2. mmmm….toooorque.

But I digress.

I came across this article about running a mix of diesel and vegetable oil in a standard diesel engine:

Using vegetable oil as fuel in diesel engines isn’t a new idea. Rudolf Diesel’s first engines were built to run on peanut oil for the developing world, which had no petrochemicals industry. Running your modern diesel car or van on veg is just going back to what the designer intended. But why should you make the change?

Knowing how particular we MINI owners are about what we put into our cars, I can’t image that anyone has done this.

Yet, I still have to ask, out of curiosity more than anything. Has anyone done this?

Full Story || via Digg

(6) comments

If I could do this today…
Posted in My MINI — by db on 02/10/06

There is a very good chance, if I could build and order a new MINI today, it would look a lot like this: db\\\'s next MINI?

With…

  • Cold Weather
  • Limited Slip
  • Everything from Sport except stripes and s-lites
  • Everything from premium except sunroof and auto A/C
  • Anthracite dash with chrome trim
  • Anthracite R99′s – maybe

While I would really like cloth seats, they aren’t available on the configurator, so I would probably have to stick with the leatherette. I’ve got the leather now, and I’m not a huge fan.

There it is, you know, if I could. ;)

(14) comments

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