Every year, the Southern Ontario Mini Club organizes two charity drives – one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Over time, the event has grown from a handful of participating cars to over 30, and as such, this year the organizers let local law enforcement know where the caravan would be and when it would be there as a courtesy. So far, so good, right? Not exactly.

During the first part of the drive, the convoy ran into a few members of the Ontario Provincial Police without incident. One officer even went so far as to tell the organizers that there was only one other patrol for the rest of the route. Turns out that wasn't quite true.

Instead of providing an escort for the convoy or thanking the organizers for a heads up, the OPP set up a speed trap along the route where the limit changes from 100 km/h to 90 km/h. When the parade of Minis came past, officers pulled over the whole lot, and cited three cars for going 121-123 kmh in a 90 kmh zone, or about 76 in a 55. One driver was also cited for having a radar detector and had his equipment confiscated.

Yes, setting up a speed trap on a charity drive is a prick move, but it gets worse. The OPP evidently called the local television station beforehand so they could film the whole sting. Once the station had the film, they broadcast a story claiming that 11 of the Mini drivers had been arrested for doing 50 kmh over the speed limit and that they had their vehicles confiscated as a result. Even worse, the story claimed that some of the Mini drivers had their children with them and that the OPP had called the Canadian equivalent of child services on the parents.

Members of the Mini club complained to the station, and the video was taken down as a result, though no apology or retraction has been issued so far.

Maybe they shouldn't have been speeding. I mean wouldn't that have solved the whole problem? Why were they going 75 in a 55 during a charity event? Makes no sense.

Last week we told you about Hennessey's dyno test of the Ford Raptor with the new 6.2-liter V8, which yielded 326 horsepower and 343 pound-feet of torque at the rear wheels. That's a 19.5 percent drivetrain loss from the 411 hp and 434 lb-ft Ford tells us we can expect at the flywheel. We'd typically only post one SVT Raptor dyno post, but our friends over at Pickuptrucks.com also dynoed Ford's off-roading superstar, with substantially different results.

Mike Levine and company traveled to K&N Air Filters in Riverside, California to dyno the Raptor, and came away with totals of 344 hp and 361 lb-ft. at the wheel. That's 18 more ponies and pound-feet than the Hennessey dyno run; an increase of about six percent. Further, Pickuptrucks.com says it ran its tests on 87 octane, which reportedly lowers the 6.2's flywheel power numbers from 411 hp to 401 hp. K&N's dyno showed a drivetrain loss of about 16 percent.

from my friend...

"in that woman driver video

there is a picture of a suv stuck on a rock

and my roommate is watching it now

and she goes

WHAT

that really happened to me in my red bug!"

still my friend...

"she said in her defense the rock was in a ditch.. surrounded by high grass

my question is, why was she in a ditch

in a red bug.."

Pulled tires on the truck, checked the brakes, greased the ball joints, and the steering linkage, trying to figure out what to do about my front sway bar since the lift puts the down links in a bind and sheared a grade 8 bolt. Thinking of making a pair of custom plates to extend from the links to relieve the tension.

Considering buying a hydroboost to help braking with the bigger tires. Going to see if I can find a junk yard around that I can buy from. A guy is selling the hydroboost and power steering that accepts it for $200 on the net, but all you need is a T fitting for the low pressure return line to make it work with the regular pump, and he doesn't have any lines which is expensive from the factory so I might as well get it all from the junk yard IMO. May try to find some SS braided lines as well that fit better with the lift.

Good weekend, hopefully fixing the Saturn soon...

WTF? 19 hours with no post in the h0p?

i was teh out of town

Where is M5 lol...

Germany on the 30th.

Pulled tires on the truck, checked the brakes, greased the ball joints, and the steering linkage, trying to figure out what to do about my front sway bar since the lift puts the down links in a bind and sheared a grade 8 bolt. Thinking of making a pair of custom plates to extend from the links to relieve the tension.

Considering buying a hydroboost to help braking with the bigger tires. Going to see if I can find a junk yard around that I can buy from. A guy is selling the hydroboost and power steering that accepts it for $200 on the net, but all you need is a T fitting for the low pressure return line to make it work with the regular pump, and he doesn't have any lines which is expensive from the factory so I might as well get it all from the junk yard IMO. May try to find some SS braided lines as well that fit better with the lift.

Good weekend, hopefully fixing the Saturn soon...

Did I miss something? What truck are you working on?

Where is M5 lol...

Germany on the 30th.

How was Germany?

Come on Friday!!! Oh wait it is my Friday. SWEET!!!

Every year, the Southern Ontario Mini Club organizes two charity drives – one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Over time, the event has grown from a handful of participating cars to over 30, and as such, this year the organizers let local law enforcement know where the caravan would be and when it would be there as a courtesy. So far, so good, right? Not exactly.

During the first part of the drive, the convoy ran into a few members of the Ontario Provincial Police without incident. One officer even went so far as to tell the organizers that there was only one other patrol for the rest of the route. Turns out that wasn't quite true.

Instead of providing an escort for the convoy or thanking the organizers for a heads up, the OPP set up a speed trap along the route where the limit changes from 100 km/h to 90 km/h. When the parade of Minis came past, officers pulled over the whole lot, and cited three cars for going 121-123 kmh in a 90 kmh zone, or about 76 in a 55. One driver was also cited for having a radar detector and had his equipment confiscated.

Yes, setting up a speed trap on a charity drive is a prick move, but it gets worse. The OPP evidently called the local television station beforehand so they could film the whole sting. Once the station had the film, they broadcast a story claiming that 11 of the Mini drivers had been arrested for doing 50 kmh over the speed limit and that they had their vehicles confiscated as a result. Even worse, the story claimed that some of the Mini drivers had their children with them and that the OPP had called the Canadian equivalent of child services on the parents.

Members of the Mini club complained to the station, and the video was taken down as a result, though no apology or retraction has been issued so far.

Maybe they shouldn't have been speeding. I mean wouldn't that have solved the whole problem? Why were they going 75 in a 55 during a charity event? Makes no sense.

Agreed. However it's still foolish. They basically waiting for a bunch of people who didn't know the roads to be in a place where they were not aware of a change in the speed limit so they could get a HUGE increase in speeding fines. If they caught them in the 100kmph zone it wouldn't have been nearly the percentage in over the limit. From 20% over to 33% over.

Then they lied to the media.

Catch speeders, fine. I don't agree with the law or the punishment but upholding law is important. Anytime the law stretches it's lengths though to spread untrue facts is expenonentially worse than ANY speeding.

Pulled tires on the truck, checked the brakes, greased the ball joints, and the steering linkage, trying to figure out what to do about my front sway bar since the lift puts the down links in a bind and sheared a grade 8 bolt. Thinking of making a pair of custom plates to extend from the links to relieve the tension.

Considering buying a hydroboost to help braking with the bigger tires. Going to see if I can find a junk yard around that I can buy from. A guy is selling the hydroboost and power steering that accepts it for $200 on the net, but all you need is a T fitting for the low pressure return line to make it work with the regular pump, and he doesn't have any lines which is expensive from the factory so I might as well get it all from the junk yard IMO. May try to find some SS braided lines as well that fit better with the lift.

Good weekend, hopefully fixing the Saturn soon...

Did I miss something? What truck are you working on?

Matt, so how much of the corn sugar and nectar should I consume post ride?

Where is M5 lol...

Germany on the 30th.

How was Germany?

Meetings with our CEO and Engineering teams went really well. Spent 36 hours in Paris on the way out which was awesome.

Oh, and Matt, I "luckily" was there on Labor Day so the kitchen store was closed. Knew that going in, but frustrated as I needed some things.

Pulled tires on the truck, checked the brakes, greased the ball joints, and the steering linkage, trying to figure out what to do about my front sway bar since the lift puts the down links in a bind and sheared a grade 8 bolt. Thinking of making a pair of custom plates to extend from the links to relieve the tension.

Considering buying a hydroboost to help braking with the bigger tires. Going to see if I can find a junk yard around that I can buy from. A guy is selling the hydroboost and power steering that accepts it for $200 on the net, but all you need is a T fitting for the low pressure return line to make it work with the regular pump, and he doesn't have any lines which is expensive from the factory so I might as well get it all from the junk yard IMO. May try to find some SS braided lines as well that fit better with the lift.

Good weekend, hopefully fixing the Saturn soon...

Did I miss something? What truck are you working on?

Sweet. How much lift? what year? Any other cool specs?

Where is M5 lol...

Germany on the 30th.

How was Germany?

Meetings with our CEO and Engineering teams went really well. Spent 36 hours in Paris on the way out which was awesome.

Oh, and Matt, I "luckily" was there on Labor Day so the kitchen store was closed. Knew that going in, but frustrated as I needed some things.

You are a pretty lucky guy, I would love to travel that much. Some day I might have to follow the tatt conventions for awhile so I can get so serious traveling in, probably once the kid is raised.

You sound like you like to shop as much as me, hehe, I shop more than my wife.

Matt, so how much of the corn sugar and nectar should I consume post ride?

Maltodextrin? 60 grams

and 30 grams of protein from nectar. (should be a scoop and a half)

Where is M5 lol...

Germany on the 30th.

How was Germany?

Meetings with our CEO and Engineering teams went really well. Spent 36 hours in Paris on the way out which was awesome.

Oh, and Matt, I "luckily" was there on Labor Day so the kitchen store was closed. Knew that going in, but frustrated as I needed some things.

SAD FACE!

It's all good. Drink some good german beer while in germany? I have a hofbrahouse mug from when roomie Sean went there.

Pulled tires on the truck, checked the brakes, greased the ball joints, and the steering linkage, trying to figure out what to do about my front sway bar since the lift puts the down links in a bind and sheared a grade 8 bolt. Thinking of making a pair of custom plates to extend from the links to relieve the tension.

Considering buying a hydroboost to help braking with the bigger tires. Going to see if I can find a junk yard around that I can buy from. A guy is selling the hydroboost and power steering that accepts it for $200 on the net, but all you need is a T fitting for the low pressure return line to make it work with the regular pump, and he doesn't have any lines which is expensive from the factory so I might as well get it all from the junk yard IMO. May try to find some SS braided lines as well that fit better with the lift.

Good weekend, hopefully fixing the Saturn soon...

Did I miss something? What truck are you working on?

Sweet. How much lift? what year? Any other cool specs?

2002 Chevy Silverado Z71

6" RCD lift, with traction bars

Volant Intake, OBX LT Headers (Cats replaced with resonators), 93 Octane Tune from Nelson Performance, E-fans

Optima Red Top, Big 3 done all 0 gauge, SAX 100.4C Powering SEAS Prestige ER18RNX mids and SEAS Preastige 27TDFC Tweeters and a SAZ-1000D Powering a 12" SSA Icon in 2.4 cu ft. ported to 33Hz

Multiple layers of Raamatt everywhere. Door panels fiberglassed to create sealed environmet, layers of spectrum in the door, ensolite, etc...

Matt, so how much of the corn sugar and nectar should I consume post ride?

Maltodextrin? 60 grams

and 30 grams of protein from nectar. (should be a scoop and a half)

lol, have to go look. I just ordered whatever you linked

top

Pulled tires on the truck, checked the brakes, greased the ball joints, and the steering linkage, trying to figure out what to do about my front sway bar since the lift puts the down links in a bind and sheared a grade 8 bolt. Thinking of making a pair of custom plates to extend from the links to relieve the tension.

Considering buying a hydroboost to help braking with the bigger tires. Going to see if I can find a junk yard around that I can buy from. A guy is selling the hydroboost and power steering that accepts it for $200 on the net, but all you need is a T fitting for the low pressure return line to make it work with the regular pump, and he doesn't have any lines which is expensive from the factory so I might as well get it all from the junk yard IMO. May try to find some SS braided lines as well that fit better with the lift.

Good weekend, hopefully fixing the Saturn soon...

Did I miss something? What truck are you working on?

Sweet. How much lift? what year? Any other cool specs?

2002 Chevy Silverado Z71

6" RCD lift, with traction bars

Volant Intake, OBX LT Headers (Cats replaced with resonators), 93 Octane Tune from Nelson Performance, E-fans

Optima Red Top, Big 3 done all 0 gauge, SAX 100.4C Powering SEAS Prestige ER18RNX mids and SEAS Preastige 27TDFC Tweeters and a SAZ-1000D Powering a 12" SSA Icon in 2.4 cu ft. ported to 33Hz

Multiple layers of Raamatt everywhere. Door panels fiberglassed to create sealed environmet, layers of spectrum in the door, ensolite, etc...

Looks clean!!! I bet its fun to drive? Are those 35"s?

Looks clean!!! I bet its fun to drive? Are those 35"s?

Yep, they measure more 33.5-34 now. They are old and REALLY need changing but I don't have the cash for it right now. I really want to step up to a bigger rim so I can have less back spacing and have the tires not stick out so far.

nothin like pissing in a cup to begin a new era in my life