MOT2003 video

MINIsOnTop 2003 was a long time ago! 70+ MINIs had gathered for mid-summer at Mount Washington, from a forum discussion on MINI2 – I remember talking to someone afterwards who said that they had seen the discussions, and sent a check off to someone called Steve Barnatt, with no idea who Steve was or if he even existed. They figured, worst case they had lost the money and would have a nice weekend in New Hampshire!

As it turned out, all of us had a fabulous weekend, with spectacular weather and when we finally reached the summit of Mount Washington, clear sky, warm air, and an amazing sunset. Few of the 2003 attendees are still present so for everybody new to MINIsOnTop, here’s a quick video edit of that first year, courtesy of Animoto and YouTube:

Hmmm … video capabilities like this were non-existent in 2003; how curious will our MOT2011 activities be in another decade?! Hopefully at least the cars and the camaraderie won’t have changed too much.

Averages

I was wondering today what the Audi Q5 average MPG is – recently it’s on-board computer has been showing figures as high as 27mpg for my easy drive home from work (a bit lower to work in the morning, when the engine is cold).

So … on 2,305 miles at 111 gallons, the Q5 averages 20.8mpg. Not great, but comfortable!

And seeing I have spreadsheets for my MINIs too (except GBMINI#1), let’s compare:
GBMINI#2: 28,676 miles, 1058 gallons -> 27.1mpg
GBMINI#3: 23,803 miles, 902 gallons -> 26.4mpg (not so much of a hit, really, for an automatic!)
GBMINI#4: 28,599 miles, 1049 gallons -> 27.3mpg (I always claimed GPMINI was more economical, there’s the proof!)
GBMINI#5: 716 miles, 25.2 gallons -> 28.4mpg (Of course an average on so few miles isn’t very indicative, but 4% better than my GP isn’t close to the claimed improvements of the “Prince” engine, and no way justifies the downsides!)
GBMINI#6: 6,747 miles, 256 gallons -> 26.3mpg (not much of a hit for the convertible, either)

I know other MINI owners get much worse mpg (and doubtless some get better) – but these figures are pretty comparable since it’s the same driver doing largely the same driving on the same routes!

In memory of Diane

Today I received the sad news that a wonderful friend and MINI owner, Diane, has passed away. Diane had been fighting cancer for some years, and while it appeared that she was winning when we saw her last year, in the end you can never win 😦

Before Diane’s struggle, she regularly attended MINI events, driving hundreds of miles from her home in Maine to attend events as far away as New York! Here are some pictures from events that both she and I attended …

 

 

(obituary can be found here)

[Years later], prompted by a Facebook post from Diane’s family, I put together this short video sequence of photos of her and her MINI …