Took delivery today of my first car at 5:30; my new MINI Cooper S. Details are:
PW/PW with Black Stripes (not bonnet stripes)
6 Speed
Sport Package
Cold Package
Black Webspoke Rims
Hi-Fi
Cloth Seats

Car looks as good as it drives. My first day with a stick shift was today, let alone a 6 speed and a pretty fast car to start on, but I only stalled it a few times, all because I put him into third and not first. I'm ecstatic about my new car.
Pics coming soon!

 

Congratulations on your first car and your new MINI. I still remember my first car - it was a French Simca that I bought for $300 from a friend of my Dad. Chrysler imported them for a while in the sixities and it was already old when I got it. I had never driven a straight shift and had to learn on the Simca that had all of 50 HP - on a good day. i stalled a lot more times than a "few"

I have had experienced straight shift drivers accidently put the MINI if 3rd the first few times they drove it. You will get used to it very quickly and the MINI's hill hold feature is great. We used to have to use the parking break to keep from rolling back on hills.

Enjoy your MINI. I have had my '09 MINI convertible since June and really enjoy it.

 

Very cool! Congratulations!

Especially if you're new to a stick / clutch, there's some threads on here about clutches you might want to take a look at. Certainly not wanting to freak you out. I subscribe to the idea that knowledge is power. I've had no trouble with my non-S, 6-speed MINI at ~23,000 miles (yes, it's been a fun year (almost)).

Keep us posted on your adventures, and welcome to the club!

 

As of last night the car had 299 miles on it...in 24 hours. Jeremy also just got his first fillup from Resse's gas station in Huntington, pure 93 octane goodness.

Thoughts so far:

The car bucks you alot more than I thought it would (which I love, but my father seems to think his neck will break from the car bucking).
-Solution: He's not allowed in the car.

The two speakers on the inside of the A-pillar vibrate at about 70 which is annoying, but not the end of the world. Adds personality right?

I still have some practice to do with the 6-speed. I didn't get to really talk to my MA when I picked it up. He had somewhere to be and his shift was over so he just gave me the key. I was afraid of stalling on a busy road and not knowing what to do, but it was almost like the car worked me through it. I just love the stick shift.

 

Congrats! Post some pictures when you get a chance!

 

Malteseracer,

Congrats on your new ride. Little tip on the manual tranny to avoid the 'bucking', be sure to get the tach/revs above 3K before you press in the clutch. MY MA said these engines like to run/rev high and to be sure to get it near 3K before shifting. I've found that he was right in that shifts done @ 3K or above will not result in bucking, however, allowing the revs to fall down into the 1.0K - 1.8K range when releasing the clutch back out can result in the bucking motion. Practice makes perfect, so I'm sure that you'll be zooming along quite smoothly in short order.

 

malteseracer - If I recall Jeremy is a S and while the added torque of the turbo makes it a pretty forgiving straight shift it still takes a bit of practice to get the hang of smoothly launching 2700 pounds of fiesty steel from rest . I get smooth starts by reving the engine up to over 1500 RPM and going easy on the clutch release as I add more throttle. Left foot is coming out slowly while right foot is going in slowly.

I also find that I have better control of the clutch if I let my heel 'rock' on the floor as I let the clutch out. This makes it much easier to release the clutch without popping it out too fast. Popping it is easy to do if you just let your foot press on the clutch pedal without touching the floor when you let the clutch out.

If you are describing the hopping that happens when you let the clutch out too fast without the engine RPM's being high enough this can be eliminated by increasing the engine speed a bit before letting the clutch out AND letting the clutch out a little bit slower. It is a fine line as you don't want to slip the clutch too much or it will shorten the life of the clutch. The other extreme is letting the clutch out too fast and doing the bunny hop through the intersection

If, after you are moving you shift into the next gear and you are thrown forward this is because the speed of the enigine was too low when the clutch engauged.

Keep working at it and in no time you will be making smooth shifts where the engine speed is about where it needs to be when the clutch engages for each gear - takes a lot of practice and no one nails it every time no matter how long we have driven straight shifts.

Enjoy!!!

 

Finally found out how to post pictures



Blacked out the headlight and taillight rings since photos.

Future:
-M7 front splitter in the mail
-Body color trim/black out trim ; some sort of balance of the two, done in plasti dip of course.
-Body color or painted grill (Grill trim in black)
-I really want to lower it, but with the front splitter that could pose a problem on speedbumps and the like, and suggestions?
-Alta CAI in the mail
-Alta Boost Tube in the mail
-Thinking about making the wheels sportier, but not sure if that would hurt my wheel and tire warranty i paid for. Id like to do a red line on the chrome part, but only if I removed my stripes.
-Possibly remove stripes. I do like them, but I also don't like how narrow it makes the car look and how it takes away from the visual appeal of the car itself.