New from SoCal

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Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

Hello everyone!

I just recently purchased my first manual car...and I can't see myself going back to a slush box haha!

It's a 6 speed Mini Cooper Coupe S. When I first purchased it I didn't even test drive it.
I know how embarassing :( . Drove the automatic but knew the manual had to be way better.
Still learning all the tricks and tips, I'm past the stalling stage, and still somewhat in the "paranoid about burning the clutch" phase.
Upshifts are pretty butter smooth, but I think I use too much clutch to create that effect? SC rev-match downshift are ok...have issues with the blip accuracy.
Sometimes its perfect, other times its jerky...might be releasing clutch too fast. IDK, but I'm loving manual.
I'm 22 and thought to myself, "Self, how sad would it be to never learn how to drive a manual transmission car!?" ....Something had to change hahaha
I have put 12,000 miles today and I got the car April 30th, 2012.

I'll try and post a picture of the car....keeps saying "Sorry, the board attchment quota has been reached." ??
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theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
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Re: New from SoCal

Post by theholycow »

Welcome. It sounds like you're doing just fine.

Attaching photos to posts doesn't work well on most forums. It's better to upload them to a site like http://picturehoster.info/ or http://photobucket.com and embed them here using the provided IMG codes instead.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
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potownrob
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Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:35 pm
Cars: '17 CX-5 GT
Location: Dutchess County

Re: New from SoCal

Post by potownrob »

bienvenido al foro :D

pics or permaban :o
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Shadow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 3384
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:51 am
Location: New York

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Shadow »

Welcome to the forum....so you've driven the car 12,000 miles in less than 5 months? Wow....that's a lot of driving.
Image
Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

I totally forgot about photobucket...haven't used that in a very long time.
Will post some pictures up when I'm by a computer. I'm not too sure it's
doable over an iphone.
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theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: New from SoCal

Post by theholycow »

You can send it as a MMS to an email address to get it into photobucket directly from your phone:
http://support.photobucket.com/entries/ ... ms-message

I now have a smartphone for which I'm sure there's a Photobucket upload app, but emailing it works fine for me.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
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Squint
Master Standardshifter
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Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:44 pm
Location: KY

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Squint »

Welcome! The Mini's are supposedly fun to drive. The only one I've driven was being turned in during a bankruptcy and had several things wrong with it (not to mention is was an auto.. who buys an auto Mini??).

Keep throwing questions out there if you have any.
'15 Mazda 3 iSport Hatch 6MT
'11 Ford Fiesta Hatchback SE 5MT
'14 Giant Escape City 24MT
'97 Honda Civic EX 4AT - Retired @ 184,001 mi

For Pony!
Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

Shadow wrote:Welcome to the forum....so you've driven the car 12,000 miles in less than 5 months? Wow....that's a lot of driving.
Yes I have! My commute to work one way is roughly 45 miles...so close to 100 miles a day round trip :|
It wouldn't be so bad if traffic wasn't always present.
Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

Squint wrote:Welcome! The Mini's are supposedly fun to drive. The only one I've driven was being turned in during a bankruptcy and had several things wrong with it (not to mention is was an auto.. who buys an auto Mini??).

Keep throwing questions out there if you have any.
Ahhh yes, the auto transmissions on these cars are very weird. It's like they program them to forcefully shift into gears.
The car is very fun when there is no traffic around and when it's on a twisty road...torque steer is crazy at times.
Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

Okay, hopefully this work.
Haven't really take detailed pictures of it, having too much fun driving :D

Image
Image
Image
Image
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RITmusic2k
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Re: New from SoCal

Post by RITmusic2k »

Greetings, also from SoCal!

My old roommate has a Cooper S - hell of a fun car to drive! Great transmission in those things.
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AHTOXA
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Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:31 pm
Cars: '19 4RUNNER TRD ORP
Location: Irving, TX

Re: New from SoCal

Post by AHTOXA »

Welcome aboard!
'19 Toyota 4Runner TRD ORP
'12 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

Sorry for the delay folks...says I have to wait for a moderator to approve posts before they show up in the thread.
It's a bit confusing. I reply back but then it appears out of order on the thread.


theholycow, the email to photobucket works like a charm, thanks for the tip.
94Corolla5Speed
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 6927
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:51 pm
Cars: 1994 Corolla, 1990 Miata
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: New from SoCal

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

Welcome! I'm the resident Miata nut, nice Cooper coupe!

If you had a JCW you could have a Cooper Cooper works Coupe :lol:
Gerard
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 62
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:52 pm

Re: New from SoCal

Post by Gerard »

94Corolla5Speed wrote:Welcome! I'm the resident Miata nut, nice Cooper coupe!

If you had a JCW you could have a Cooper Cooper works Coupe :lol:
Haha yea that's a mouth full....almost got one but
it still had the older engine, so I just opted for the S
which has the newer one....then just tune it and be faster
than the JCW :mrgreen:
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