I think that when Kazzie arrives, I'll wind up draining the tank having fun with her. That makes me wonder, how many of you just drove around for a long time, enjoying the Clubman? How many miles did you put on it from the dealer parking lot to when you finally got home?
Oh, one last thing (stick shifts only) how many times did you STALL from the dealer to home?

 

I drove over 100 miles and found i love the clutch, no stalls at all.......

 

I left the MINI dealer lot in June of 2007 and I have not stopped driving my MINI yet...24,493 smiles later.I have never stalled the car but I did grind it into 5th while showing off infront of a bunch of BMW Roadsters (Z3/Z4).

 

I drove a bit over 3100 miles, seriously! I picked up my Clubman at MINI of the Hamptons in NY, took two FANTASTIC weeks to drive Edgar back home to Phoenix, AZ!

No stalls - absolutely LOVE the manual... but I did take some time to get accustomed to the brakes (a different kind of stall!)

 

I drove about 100 miles. Of course I live 80 from the dealer but I took 90% twisty backroads!

 

i will be picking mine up in about 2 weeks and have a couple hundred mile drive from las vegas to LA (no twisties on that route, unfortunately). I'm so nervous about not being able to even get off the dealer lot--this will be my first manual! I have practiced a bit on some other cars, but I think I should try to rent a manual next weekend before I pick up my Clubbie so as not to hurt the clutch too much.

 

Why did you buy the club here in Vegas? I was looking at the window stickers and they were adding $2500 to the price for market value thing???

 

Juiceman, ebh and I both recently ordered from DMLV. Speaking for myself it was because they had a build date available immediately, versus a predicted delivery date approaching nine months from my local dealer.

For a Clubman (JustaCooper or S) DMLV don't add Market Adjustment, just an aggressive "doc fee" - one of the many places dealers pack additional profit over and above MSRP. Even my local dealer adds a high doc fee - just not quite as high as DMLV.

For me it boiled down to would I pay an extra $200 to have my car in Sep/Oct instead of Mar/Apr? They answer for me was "Yes indeedy" so I have no complaints.

My ride home will be approximately 1,000 miles. I told my wife that to keep the revs varied I plan to take every exit along the way, even if to just exit, pause, and then get right back on the road. I'm not sure what the roads are like between LV and PDX. I think I'll go north to Twin Falls ID, and then west.

 

Barley,

If you go to maps.google.com - enter your starting destination, then the ending destination - Google will map the quickest method to get you home (but not necessarily what you might want for breaking in a MINI).

However, if you click on the "advanced" link near the from/to destination area, you can then choose "AVOID HIGHWAYS" and you'll automatically be taking the back roads. It will add some time to your travel, of course, but it will be more enjoyable and will better suit the break-in period.

I used "avoid highways" for the first 1500 miles and when I finally was able to take the freeway (I-40), I found myself wanting to get back on the back roads more and more!

If you can't get google to bring up the advanced options, let me know and I can take some screen shots for you.

Good luck on your new MINI also!

William

 

My mistake... they had a JCW Clubman and a regular JCW on the lot. They had the the $2500 markup.

 

We will be doing the same thing in about 4 weeks. You can go through Angeles Creast highway in Lancaster and end up on the 210 just before the Glendale Freeway. If I can convince my wife, we might do that. You could also cut through Apple Valley go through Big Bear and end up on the 210 also.


Hopefully after we get ours, we can start hitting some great drives in LA, there are a lot of Twisty rides in the canyons above Malibu.

 

Thanks wearlaz! I used google maps to figure out where to stop on the way home, but glazed right over the extra options available. That gives me a very different route indeed!

I also noticed that "street view" was available for the DMLV address - it shows the dealership clearly.

 

I was not as lucky to drive the tank out of the Clubbie. It was one of the busiest two weeks of my life and I drove her sporadically those weeks. I do remember that my Mini was shiny and clean for about 5 minutes when I drove her home from Moritz Mini, then it poured cats and dogs. My family got to see a filthy new Mini when I got home.

 

I get to drive my new Mini for 200 miles after getting it from the dealer. PA Turnpike to Harrisburg. I am going to have to really work on varying my speed. I usually will set the cruise at 74 and go.

 

I drove about 20 miles showing it to people before going home.

Stalls? Piffle, I have been driving a manual for 12 years!

I did grind it about a month later trying to show off from 2nd to 3rd.

 

I drove home from Charlotte to Asheville which is I think around 120 miles.

I didn't have any problems stalling at all, but a couple of times during the first week I went in reverse instead of first gear!

 

Left the dealer October 1,2007 and now have 43,000 miles.I put 1500 on mine the first week.

 

To OP: Loonnnnggggggg Time.

 

Yepper - I've had that problem too! Several times I've seen FRANTIC drivers behind me at the stop light when the light turns green and my single reverse light comes on!

I'm getting in the habit of shifting to 2nd and then straight up to make sure I'm in first and not reverse. All of the other manual autos I've had were 4 or 5 speeds with reverse right and down.

 

Dang! Do you commute to work between Mathews and DC?

 

I drove 10 miles to El Pollo Loco to have lunch. Didn't stall it; I've been driving stick for years.

 

3100 miles?! 3100!?!? Holy macaroni! Does this guy get the world record for the longest inaugural trip with a Mini of ANY model or year? Holy crap!

 

thanks for the tips. I will definitely check out some alternative routes. Once i get comfortable with the car i am definitely looking forward to some canyon driving (and perhaps some picnics or hikes along the way--the clubbie might help me get out and explore a bit more).

Juiceman, as Barley said, las vegas had a fast build date. yes, there was a doc fee, which was annoying, but otherwise it was MSRP (unlike many/most CA dealers) and i was able to get a 2008 model which saved me some money based on my package choices.

I think my wife and I plan to spend a night or two in Vegas, but I know I will just want to get my MINI and drive away! Maybe I won't actually take delivery until the day we plan to leave.

 

Man, I thought with 24k that I was putting too many miles on my MINI per year but you have me beat.

 

Stalled around 12 times on the drive home... I was still on my learners and was not used to the new clutch. Had never driven a mini before. My dad had to drive it part way then we swapped, for some reason out of just pure nerves couldn't get it rolling. I swapped back later and made it home from the half way mark, I got used to it very quickly