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Winter Driving Tip

Nick Walsh — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:10:36 +0000

Make sure that your tire pressures are at the recommended settings. This will give you extended tire life, better fuel economy as well as help the car move easier on snow. This is important as the temperatures drop because the change from heat to cool may make your tire pressure light pop on!

2011 Mini Cooper Countryman S ALL4

Nick Walsh — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:44:06 +0000

Under the Countryman S’ stubby hood lives the 181-horsepower, 1.6-liter twin-scroll turbo four-cylinder found in the rest of the Mini lineup. Non-S models employ the naturally aspirated 1.6-liter mill making 121-horsepower. Regardless of trim, the 2011-spec engine deploys Valvetronic (a valve timing technology borrowed from parent company BMW), direct-injection, and electronically activated oil and water pumps.

Once the engine is urged to its 5000 rpm sweet spot, a torque surge gently pushes us back into the leather-wrapped buckets. As the velocity builds, the chassis responds without distress. Depressing the throttle past its normal limits initiates an overboost function good for a 9-second stint of 192 pound-feet at 11.6 psi of boost pressure beginning at 1700 rpm (up from the regular 177 pound-feet at 1600 rpm and 8.7 psi). Every time we put the spurs to it, the Countryman S responded with a calm, collected, and smooth rush of giddy-up that’s been exorcised of Mini S-like torque-steer.

MINIMALISM

Nick Walsh — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:46:32 +0000

See a breathtaking race between David against Goliath and find out what MINIMALISM really means.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is your favorite MINI ad?

Cincinnati MINI Parts and Service

Nick Walsh — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:16:55 +0000

Go over to our parts and service facebook page and “like” it!Â Keep checking back in to find out when our fall service clinic will be.Â More details to follow.

Cincinnati MINI Parts and Service Facebook Page

Increase your MPG by keeping your MINI in shape!

Nick Walsh — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:41:47 +0000

Keep Your Engine Properly Tuned

Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4 percent, though results vary based on the kind of repair and how well it is done.

Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40 percent.

Fuel Economy Benefit: 4%

Keep Tires Properly Inflated

You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.

The proper tire pressure for your vehicle is usually found on a sticker in the driver’s side door jamb or the glove box and in your owner’s manual. Do not use the maximum pressure printed on the tire’s sidewall.

Fuel Economy Benefit: up to 3%

Use the Recommended Grade of Motor Oil

You can improve your gas mileage by 1-2 percent by using the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil. For example, using 10W-30 motor oil in an engine designed to use 5W-30 can lower your gas mileage by 1-2 percent. Using 5W-30 in an engine designed for 5W-20 can lower your gas mileage by 1-1.5 percent. Also, look for motor oil that says “Energy Conserving” on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives.
Fuel Economy Benefit: 1-2%

Estimates for fuel savings from vehicle maintenance, keeping tires properly inflated, and using the recommended grade of motor oil based on Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc., Owner Related Fuel Economy Improvements,* Arlington, Virginia, 2001

Nowack Motors Tunes MINI Cooper S and JCW to 260-HP

Nick Walsh — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:23:26 +0000

3 new tuning kits for the Cooper S and the JCW have been released from Nowack Motors.Â Nowack Motorsâ€™ N260 kit tosses in some internal engine work including a new cylinder head, high-performance camshafts, custom downpipe, upgraded intercoolers and a performance air intake.Â Check it all out here!

Countryman Sized Up!

Nick Walsh — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:23:25 +0000

MINI has released some of the sizes for the newest member of the lineup, the Countryman.Â It looks like they are trying to keep curb weight around 3000 pounds, which is only a few hundred more than the other models.Â This will help keep the performance up with the increased size!

As far as size goes though:

R56 Hatch: 145.6â€³
R55 Clubman: 156â€³
R60 Countryman: 161â€³

This car is truly still going to be MINI!Â That is an increase of a little over a foot compared to the normal hatch, and only a few inches on the Clubman.Â This should be a very fun car to drive!

MINI COOPER NAMED TO TOP 12 GREENEST CARS!

Nick Walsh — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:08:08 +0000

CNN MONEY has named the MINI Cooper to its list of top 12 greenest cars for 2010!

Check out the gallery here!

If you look at the rest of the cars on the list, you can see that the MINI is definitely the most fun car to drive too!

MINI Boutique Coupon!

Nick Walsh — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:39:14 +0000

We are taking 15% off of our accessories in the Boutique for this next week only!Â You need to print out and bring in this attached coupon to get the discount.

MINI Service Updates!

Nick Walsh — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:14:04 +0000

I just wanted to let everyone know a few new things going on with MINI Service this year.

First off we are introducing a new pickup procedure for your MINI once it is done in service.Â The “express vehicle pickup” option should make getting in and out of here a much quicker task.Â We are giving out cards with tag #s and the phone number(513-648-2690) on them when you drop off your MINI for service.Â The cards explain the process but basically you call the number and put the tag number in and it will page our cashiers your tag number.Â They then will bring the car down and have it parked outside before you arrive.Â You will see these signs for the express pickup.

Next we have a small change for our service drive and where we want to have cars pulled into.Â In the past we stated either the service drive or the courtyard outside our doors would work.Â The dealership and especially MINI is getting so busy that the courtyard option is no longer working well.Â It is bottling up the washbay, service drive, MINI sales, and pre-owned sales.Â We now are looking to have everyone pull up the service drive at all times.Â Â This will allow all of our drivers to take the cars right up to the hill and avoid the large traffic jams that we are having.Â Here is a quick photo for those of you possibly unfamiliar with the service ramp.

We will be getting new signage at some point this year to indicate BMW/MINI Service.

The last update is about our shop.Â We are now have recieved our own tire mounting and tire balancing machine down across from our bays. We used to have to cart four new tires and four rims upstairs to the tire room there, so this is a huge change for us.Â We should now be able to get tire installs done quicker since we can roll everything a few feet and be able to work on them.Â Also along with this, we have four of seven technicians trained to do alignments.(All seven are trained to mount and balance)Â The store used to have one alignment technician for BMW and MINI, so again this is a big change for us.Â This is going to allow us to provide alignments on Saturdays and much quicker ones during the week.

We are also adding two more technicians and a third service advisor starting February.Â Some of you may have already worked with Chrissy if you own a BMW or happened to come in on a busy Friday or Saturday.Â Â She has been here helping out on the “dark” side for awhile now and recently starting to hang out on our side.Â She will lead a third MINI team and allow us to have two advisors here everyday, and at least one staying until 8:00 Monday through Thursday.

Please let us know if you have any questions!