Two year MINI lease for $25!

I’m pleased to announce the second major raffle prize for MINIsOnTop 2006 – a two year lease of a MINI Cooper from Herb Chambers MINI of Boston:

For MINIsOnTop 2005, Herb Chambers MINI of Boston made a similar generous prize donation, and we are thrilled that they were again able to offer such a great raffle prize!
The specifications for this years raffle prize donation are:
2006 MINI Cooper Hardtop (5 speed manual transmission)
Solar Red / Silver Roof
Black Panther/Black Leatherette
Cold Weather Package
Anthracite Trim
15″ alloy wheels, 5-star rocket
Rear Spoiler
Silver Stripes
Moonroof
Sport Seats
(MSRP: $20,150.00)
To quote from Azi Parvez:
Herb Chambers MINI of Boston is thrilled to be donating a MINI Cooper to MINIs on Top for the second year in a row. This year, a 2-year lease of a 2006 Solar Red MINI Cooper will be given to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts. The winner of the lease will be chosen by a raffle drawing (conducted under the auspices of the MINIsOnTop organizers) to occur on June 17, 2006 at the MINIsOnTop event. The terms provide for a 24 month – 10,000 miles/year lease, and do not include insurance, tax, title, or license fees. The winner must execute and terminate the lease at the Herb Chambers MINI of Boston location.

A maximum of 250 tickets will be sold for this prize, at $25 each – or buy 5 tickets for $100.
The drawing will take place at MINIsOnTop this summer, June 17 2006.
All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to The Make-A-Wish foundation of Massachusetts, our chosen charity for 2006.
Tickets will be available for purchase at Herb Chambers MINI of Boston, or you can contact me.

You can see the full list of MINIsOnTop sponsors on this webpage.
Details of the other raffle prize, a John Cooper Works upgrade for a MINI Cooper S, can be found here.

New tires for GBMINI#3

I finally decided this week to order new tires – swimming against the tide, I chose 205/55WR-16 Avon Tech M550 A/S tires.
I was swayed by the excellent ratings on TireRack across the board – traction in wet, dry and snow conditions all rate well, as does comfort; the tire is not available in 205/50 so I chose the 205/55 in the belief that there won’t be an issue – I can’t imagine a tire diameter about 0.3″ bigger than stock being a significant difference, and opinions on the NAM tire forum confirmed this.

The tires arrived today, so I headed down to MINI of Peabody to get them installed (an extra benefit of having MoP do the work – as well as my confidence in them – is that GBMINI#3 is once again clean!)

 

I took some old and new tire comparison shots, to see if the wheels were significantly bigger – and I really don’t see any cause for concern! Remember also I was going from an undersized tire (205/50 is smaller diameter than the stock 195/55); the change going from a stock runflat 195/55 to the 205/55 would be even less significant:

If you want to compare different wheel/tire sizes, a great website is the Wheel & Tyre Bible which has masses of information including a calculator that shows the 205/55R16 being 5mm radius more than the 195/55R16 (the Indycar team partly owned by David Letterman! Good luck Bryan – though I’m sure you won’t need it 🙂

MINIsOnTop 2006 sponsors #5

Time once again to thank the generous sponsors of MINIsOnTop 2006!

Firstly, thanks to Concord Motorsport for the donation of a DINAN Strut Tower Brace.
Another local company, Bavarian Autosport, has donated two $50 gift certificates – thanks.

Thanks also to OutMotoring; they have sent a whole package of stuff to MINIsOnTop, including Tshirts, a MINI storage unit, and a pile of window decals.

Finally, a huge THANKS to SSG Precision Optronics; this company does not make MINI-related products, but employs MINI owners – they have sent a $250 check which will be included in the charity donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts later this year.

Remember also that MINIsOnTop is raffling a JCW upgrade, donated by MINI of Peabody – the sale of $25 tickets has raised almost $1000 already.

Next week we will be formally announcing a SECOND major raffle prize from Herb Chambers MINI of Boston similar to their huge donation last year – watch this space for more news, and contact me if you are interested in raffle tickets for either major MINIsOnTop prize.

Previous MINIsOnTop sponsor shout-outs:
Prestige MINI, GBMINI circuits, North American Motoring, and John, Gayle and TiNY
The major raffle prize from MINI of Peabody
National Motorists Association, SooperCoopers, Chip and Derek
OceanStateMINI club, WebbMotorSports, Bentley Publishers
Oxford Motorsports, Miniature Trailers, Pete, Becca

Many thanks to all MINIsOnTop sponsors!