Picking up MINIs at MINI Peabody

Posted on by Ian C.

I headed past MINI Peabody today, on my way to Union Jack (the British shop just south of MINI) and dropped in – I had received an email from Dennis saying he was picking up his new MINI today; well his car was there, but I did not see him. I did see John, another of Steve’s customers, and thought he was Dennis – sorry John!
Then I also met Bruce, who was picking up his new MINI – Chili Red with all the gadgets including English voice navigation.

 

Dennis’ MINI ready for pickup
Bruce’s MINI
Bruce with his MINI

Bruce owns a garage in Rhode Island, selling & servicing European cars including the new MINI – his previous MINI was sold but he loves them so much he had to get another one 🙂
I met another Bruce inside, waiting for his MINI to be serviced – I knew this Bruce from NEMO and British Marque; and I met Heather, who I had chatted with at MINIsOnTop back in the summer …

Of course I also said “hi” to Chris, Gary, Joel, Brig, John, Hrach and Steve who work there. A real family style dealership!

MINIs (again) speak British English

Posted on by Ian C.

In the early days of the new MINI, with CD-based navigation, you could have directions spoken with a British voice which seemed to many owners to be rather appropriate. Later releases, and the DVD-based version, dispensed with British accents – supposedly because American drivers could not understand!
Some MINI owners wanted their British car to still speak British – see this discussion on MINI2 for example; more recently there was a discussion that suggested that the British voice might return.

Today at MINI Peabody, I mentioned this to Brig and he very helpfully took me through the Navigation setup in a MINI Cooper Convertible in the showroom; in the setup screen, we were able to select “GB” as the voice, instead of “USA”:

Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC

(note the software version 4-1/40)

And then the car was speaking with a female British accent – I recorded a few seconds of “her” saying “louder” and “quieter” to give you an idea!

 

So can you get this on your non-British DVD based Navigation system? Presumably – Scott at MINI Peabody tells me you can order the DVD (for $225!) but maybe you should instead make friends with someone with a very new MINI …

UPDATE: Scott at MINI Peabody has gathered some more info – he has been told that an update DVD won’t be available to buy till Jan’05, and that anyway it won’t provide a British accent … I don’t know if this is correct, but it sounds disappointing.

Thanks, Brig & Scott 🙂

Auto Front Fogs MINI circuit add-on

Posted on by Ian C.

After developing the modified MINI circuit that provided auto turn-on front fogs (discussed here “Do fog lights need fog”), I have designed a “piggyback” add-on to the MINI circuit which can provide auto-on front fog lights for anyone with a MINI circuit:

Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC

The “AFF” piggyback circuit is installed upside down on top of the MINI circuit, and the MINIs wiring harness (that originally plugged into the back of the toggle switch panel) now moves to a new connector on the side of the new circuit. When the driver turns on the cars lights (and the interior lighting), the AFF circuit sends a pulse to mimic clicking the front fogs toggle switch – the lights are turned on and the toggle switch tip lights up. The AFF does not change the functionality of the front fogs, so they still turn off with high beams and you still can’t have them on with no other lights …

UPDATE: I have set a price of $18.50 for this add-on ($4.50 shipping additional; combined shipping if ordered with a MINI circuit)