Tricked Out – upgrading the MINI stereo

Posted on by Ian C.

I recently watched a great episode of Tricked Out where a MINI was worked on to improve the stereo system.
The actual work done on the MINI was nowhere near extreme – they just added an amplifier and subwoofer to the car, leaving the factory head unit and speakers. But the program goes into excellent detail on the work involved.

If you visit the Tricked Out website, you will find a detailed step-by-step photo sequence showing the removal of the MINIs head unit, connecting wiring adaptors and line level converters, running wires to the trunk and connecting to an amplifier, and finally installing the subwoofer.

The subwoofer is particularly interesting since it is custom shaped for the MINI and uses space behind one of the “cubby” storage spaces in the trunk to give extra resonance space with minimal intrusion into the trunk.
I could not find any reference on the Tricked Out website, but a quick bit of Googling found me this page which looks to be the same enclosure …

If you did not see the Tricked Out episode, and prefer a video guide to removing the MINI head unit, here’s a video that I captured from the broadcast:

Counterfeit MINI Coopers!

Posted on by Ian C.

This scary subject has been discussed recently on MotoringFile; there have always been counterfeits in the world (Pradha, Rolek, Ray-Boom) but now counterfeit MINI Coopers are appearing!

While MINI fanatics like myself can often spot the counterfeits, many people cannot and are tricked into danger – they might expect the same great looks, performance and handling as a real MINI Cooper, and they will be sadly and perhaps dangerously disappointed; for example the counterfeit cannot handle the slalom course like the real thing!

The Counter Counterfeit Commission is doing all it can to alert people to this problem and they need our help! Spread the word and save lives!

Tivo caught a CCC advert on ESPN2 recently; I captured it so that you can all get educated: