A quick wrap-up of MTTS, some audio from the east coast rally, and I hit a cat. We aren’t quite done with MTTS either. I’ve got my write-up going up in multiple parts this week, plus there is still some video coming to the WRR YouTube Channel.

Don’t forget, Todd and I will be at MINI of Allentown this coming Saturday from 9AM until we’re done and think it would be keen to see as many of you as possible!

Woofcast 348: Download audio file (mtts2010wrap.mp3)

Download | WRR @ iTunes | 28.9MB |1:03:02

Today is Thursday, August 12th. I’m in Grand Junction, Colorado and have spent the last 5 days motoring from Los Angeles to get this far and we arrive in Denver tomorrow.

So far the trip has been fantastic! From the pool party at the Valley Ho, the Ice Lounge at -5 in Las Vegas and Quincy’s in Grand Junction, it’s been non-stop awesome. Sure it’s been a ton of miles, but it’s been a ton of miles in MINIs with some of the greatest folks you’ll ever meet; the MINI Cooper Enthusiast!

The MINI I am driving is a 2010 MINI Cooper, Chili Red/Black Top and JCW Aero Kit. I must say that when I first saw this car I was scratching my head. I mean, who would think to put an aero kit on a car without the Sport Package bits, right? The more I live with it the more the look with 15″ wheels really grows on me. I’m even starting to not mind the automatic transmission, kinda.

So far this has been an epic journey through the deserts of the Western United States. Everyone coming from this end is excited about MINIs in the Mountains and MTTS. Personally, I can’t wait!

Wait…. WHAT?!?!

Don’t forget, you can play along with the home game at the WRR Facebook page and YouTube channel.

We have been working very hard behind the scenes to bring you the level of coverage that you expect from us and will be kicking it up a notch or 50 this time around!  With Todd starting in NY (driving a JCW convertible), Chad and Gabe starting from Chicago (driving an All Black MCS with JCW Body Kit), db starting from Southern California (in a Chili Red/Black MCS with JCW Wheels),  and Michael on the 1′s and 2′s bringing it all together, White Roof Radio is going to hitting all the stops!

Photos?  Check! With the Motoringfile and db’s stream, it will be a like live stream of photos, all of them, of course, coming back to WRR and Motoringfile for your enjoyment.

Twitter?  Check!  db has created for you a list of all of the WRR/MF fellas for the trip to make it easy for you to follow them all!  Check out this Twitter page and start following! 

Facebook?  Check!  The White Roof Radio page will be buzzing and humming with updates from the road!

Video?  CHECK! That’s right!  For the first time ever, White Roof Radio will be producing video while on the road.  And, not just YouTube videos.  Expect live check-ins from the east and west twice daily or more!  Watch the uStream.tv viewer (top left of your screen) for movement in the mornings and late afternoon.  Handy if you follow along at Twitter, since we’ll be letting you all know when that happens (Facebook too, so don’t fret).  Of course we will also be filling the WRR YouTube Channel with goodness from the road and Denver as often as we can!

Audio?  Check!  That’s what we do, and we will be recording from the road and Denver for you!  You know we will be talking to the who’s who at MINIUSA all week and all of the MINI Cooper Enthusiasts we can!

Check out our previous coverage of MTTS, MINI United 2009 & 2007, AMVIV and The Dragon if you are unsure about the amount of awesome White Roof Radio is about to unleash onto the internet! 

Check back!  All of the action starts this Friday!.  Most of that action is will brought to my our generous MTTS sponsors: Cravenspeed.com, MINI of Allentown, Baron MINI and MotoringBadges.com.   Remember the rule; tell them White Roof Radio set you!

But, not your normal sort of reminders. This one done up by friend of the show Bruce Nelson, My Geek Odyssey style. Above is a small chunk of awesome that Bruce is doing for MTTS. You can follow along at mygeekodyssey.com.

Download the full pdf of the strip here.

And, yes. Don does, in fact, say check your oil!.

Going on MTTS? Looking for something to get you even more excited about it while you wait for Woofcast 346? Have an iPhone/iPad/Android device and can’t access the MTTS website? Well Ladies and Gents, We’ve got you covered.

I have set up a page for MTTS Updates that is mobile friendly! It’s the same pages from the MTTS site, so when they update them there, they will update here as well. Go ahead, check it out. NOTE You will have to switch the mobile theme off for the page to display correctly. Once you do that, it should show up on your mobile device.

A few more pre-MTTS notes for you. If you are using an iPhone, open the app store and download the MINI Link app. If you are using any smart phone, now would be a good time to embrace Twitter. Once you do that, you can follow all of the WRR boys here. You can also get updates for MTTS from MINI USA by following @MTTS2010, @MTTS2010_east (if you are coming in from east of the Rockies) or @MTTS2010_west if you are coming in from west of the Rockies.

Woofcast 346 will be ready later today.

With less than a month to go, our friend Gina Koutros from MINIUSA took some time from her hectic schedule to give us some updates about MINI Takes the States, which is shaping up to be the largest MTTS to date!

If you haven’t decided if you are going yet, don’t forget there will be a Countryman (R60) at each of the kick-off cities driving to Denver. If you wanted to see this MINI in person, now is the time to do it!

Once in Denver, besides all of the regular festival fun and games, there will be the MTTS Music Stage featuring local talent during the day, headlined by Blues Traveller! For those of you that caught them in ’08 during the Chicago leg of MTTS you remember what a great show they put on.

Finally, do not forget that MINIs in the Mountains has some cool stuff planned for us as well! And to make sure that you get all of the cool stuff available, you do want to register! It’s for a great cause and ensures that your goodie bag is waiting for you when you arrive. If you are planning on attending both events, make sure to get over to the MitM website and get registered.

If you aren’t able to attend any of the legs or the festivals in Denver and Winterpark, don’t sweat. White Roof Radio has your covered! We will be updating Twitter as we go, plus posting to the White Roof Radio Facebook page. If you want to make sure you are getting the good information, then you should also follow @MTTS2010 on Twitter too!

MTTS Update:Download audio file (mtts2010july.mp3)

Download | WRR @ iTunes | 5.8MB |12:35

Here we go! Get out the calendars and mark the dates! The rally will begin in San Fransisco, Southern California, Chicago, New York and Atlanta and head to Denver. From the West, the rally heads south from San Fransisco to meet up with the Southern California Rally. From the east, all Rallies will meet up in Indy before heading west. Full details after the jump.

MINI Takes the States Release On Your Mark! Get Set! RALLY! The 2010 MINI TAKES THE STATES route is official. After motoring across the country and leaving no stone unturned and no road untraveled, we are pleased to announce the official rally route to Denver for MINI TAKES THE STATES 2010.

In each of the 5 kickoff cities the festivities will begin with an exclusive MINI owner’s only MINI Countryman preview party, and other exciting activities as we rally from all points to the middle of the country (kinda’ sorta’). This summer’s event will not only bring the community together to celebrate owning a MINI but will also give owners and future owners the opportunity to preview the all new MINI Countryman, along every route.

Check out the routes by visiting the MTTS2010 on Facebook.

Get ready to rally.

IT’S A BIG COUNTRY. BE MINI.

West Coast

August 6-7, 2010 - San Francisco, CA to Los Angeles, CA

August 7-8, 2010 - Los Angeles, CA to Phoenix, AZ

August 8-9, 2010 - Phoenix, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

August 9-10, 2010 - Las Vegas, NV to Salt Lake City, UT

August 10-11, 2010 - Salt Lake City, UT to Grand Junction, CO

August 11-12, 2010 - Grand Junction, CO to Winter Park, CO

August 12-13, 2010 - Winter Park, CO. to Denver, CO

East Coast

Start NY – August 5-6, 2010 - New York, NY to Washington, D.C.

August 6-7, 2010 - Washington, D.C. to Pittsburg, PA

August 7-8, 2010 - Pittsburg, PA to Columbus, OH

August 8-9, 2010 - Columbus, OH to Indianapolis, IN

Start Atlanta – August 7-8, 2010 - Atlanta, GA to Knoxville, TN

August 8-9, 2010 - Columbus, OH to Indianapolis, IN

Start Chicago – August 8-9, 2010 - Chicago, Il to Indianapolis, IN

August 8-9, 2010 - Knoxville, TN to Indianapolis, IN

August 9-10, 2010 - Indianapolis, IN to St. Louis, MO

August 10-11, 2010 - St. Louis, MO to Kansas City, KS

August 11-12, 2010 - Kansas City, KS to Dodge City, KS

August 12-13, 2010 - Dodge City, KS to Denver, CO

August 13-15, 2010 - Denver, CO

Lots of news this week from MotoringFile and we go into quite a bit of detail about most of it.

Oh yea, a little more information about MTTS. It’s going to be fantastic this year and we believe it’s an event you are definitely going to want to add to your calendar.

The Ask Chad Mailbox is all cleared out and ready for your questions! Send those over to askchad@whiteroofradio.com to get it into the queue.

Finally, MINI of Ontario is having their grand opening party this coming Saturday! Todd and I will both be there hosting the party and will follow it up with a White Roof Radio Listener meetup. There will be details by Thursday here, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Woofcast 327: [audio src="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/www.whiteroofradio.com/podcasts/woof327.mp3" options="controls" id="header-audio" format="mp3"]

Download | WRR @ iTunes | 19.9MB |43:32

MINI USA’s rolling festival of all things MINI is back for 2010. After sitting on lots of details over the past few months we can finally report what we know.

After much deliberation MINI USA has decided to combine the best parts of the last two events and combine them. The event will start with a handful of events around the country in major cities. From this point there will be a rally (aka a cross-country road trip similar to MTTS ’06) from the starting point to a central location. What we can finally confirm that that central location will be Denver Colorado. Once there attendees will be treated to a two day festival including many of the activities we’ve seen at both MTTS and MINI United over the years. We expect this to culminate in a headlining concert on the last night. This final festival will take place on August 6th through the 8th.

We’re still getting details on the starting points and their associated dates but rest assured you’ll hear it all here first.

And one more thing, expect to see something not seen on US streets before. Both on the rally routes and at the event.

As you would expect MotoringFile and White Roof Radio will also be providing exclusive daily coverage of the event starting with the kick off parties and ending in Denver. So, even if you can’t make it, we’ll have you covered.

If you have attended MTTS in the past you already know how cool it is. This years is shaping up to be the best yet.

Stay tuned to MotoringFile and White Roof Radio for updates as they happen.

For tonight, we covered a few of the stories from Motoringfile.com and close out MTTS.

Now that MTTS is finished, be prepared for us to focus our energy on MINI United 2009, happening in England. If you don’t have a passport, now is a great time to get that taken care of. And, as more details become available, we will have them first!

Woofcast 261: Download audio file (woof261.mp3)

Download | 15.6MB | 34:23 | WRR @ iTunes

If you missed any of our MTTS Coverage, you can find it all here, my photos from LA here and photos from the East Coast trip here.

it’s been a lot of fun this year and we hope you were able to join in on some of it! Big thanks to the folks at MINIUSA and RA Events for not only running such a great event, but for having us along and being so hospitable!

We are back tomorrow night with our first Woofcast in a while and normal service should resume this week.

Download audio file (MTTS08final.mp3)

Download | 25:30 | 11.7mb

Download audio file (MTTS-LA.mp3)

Download | 11.8MB | 25:39

To help celebrate, MINIUSA and RA Events went out and got us a cake. Then, brought us on stage Saturday afternoon before Vertical Horizon to get everyone to sing happy birthday. It was very awesome!

Thanks to everyone for listening and staying with us! Here’s to 3 more years.

Watch for the last of our MTTS coverage coming up this week.

Including an interview with Harold Stanfield, who has 281,000 miles on his MINI. And its Silk Green! He didn’t even replace and brakes until after 180K miles. Amazing. So concludes our Chicago coverage.

Only 1 MTTS stop left. Both Todd and I will be there and it’s looking to be a great party! Keep an eye out for 1 more update about LA later today.

Download audio file (MTTSchicago.mp3)

Download | 33:25 | 15.4mb

It’s a great conversation about a car we don’t yet get but everyone (it would appear) wants. Hopefully they will have it in LA for us to check out.

Watch later in the week for more from Chicago from Todd.

Bosch Interview: Download audio file (mttsBosch.mp3)

Download | 3.56MB | 7:00 | WRR @ iTunes

We got the chance to talk to some listeners and about the event. I think you’ll enjoy this. I have since talked to Todd on the phone and he tells me he has some great stuff coming up for you later in the week, including an interview with the man that has the highest mileage MINI in the United States. Should be awesome!

Don’t forget to stick around next weekend too for the last MINI Takes the States stop from LA! If you are going, be sure to look us up (details to follow later in the week).

Download audio file (mttsChicago2.mp3)

Download | 15:56 | 8.4mb

Be sure to stick around all weekend for updates from Chicago and Road America! Maybe even an interview or three.

And, if you have missed any of our past coverage of MTTS, you can find it all here. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for another LA update this weekend or early next week!

Download audio file (mttsChicago1.mp3)

Download | 4:41 | 2.2MBmb

Those are coming up quick! Chicago is July 25-27 and LA is August 1-3. There is still plenty of time to get get registered. Remember, registering get you a very cool bag of swag, access to all of the events, including being able to drive a JCW MINI on the AutoX course they have set up at each event! It’s a lot of fun gang and I highly recommend it!

If you have any questions about the upcoming events leave them below. Gina will be keeping an eye out for them and provide answers toward the end of next week.

Finally, don’t forget that the LA event also marks the 3rd anniversary of White Roof Radio. Both Todd and myself will be there and we will be ready to make party. Come join us!

Update. For those of you that are wondering, the hotels for LA will The Westin and The Hilton, both in Pasadena. Watch for updates to the MTTS site later today.

Download audio file (Gina4.mp3)

Download | 13:00 | 6.1mb

News of the week from Motoringfile.com, but since it was mostly MTTS related, we recapped the week instead.

We had a great week and you’ve seen most of it. To recap, we posted over 700 photos, over an hour of video and almost 2 hour of audio! Thanks everyone for checking it out or coming by to say during the event. It was great to meet you all!

Planning to attend Chicago or LA? Don’t forget to register. They also posted quite a few updates during Miami and Boston that you can see here.

Check back tomorrow for the JCW show. You aren’t going to want to miss it!

Woofcast 253: Download audio file (woof253.mp3)

Download | 20.0MB | 43:27 | WRR @ iTunes

Some of you have asked about the MINI we drove. We had an Astro Black R56 S with body colored roof, sunroof and automatic transmission. Yes, we know we are Whiteroofradio. I think someone at MINI USA was having a little bit of fun with us.

This is the last of the audio and there is quite a bit of it. I still have more coming in the shape of video and photos, so you can watch for those later today.

And, if you are wanting to go to either of the remaining MTTS events (like I know you are), be sure to take a minute and register. You can subscribe while you are there and get all of the updates MINIUSA was posting as well.

Download audio file (MTTS2008.mp3)

Download | 53:43 | 24.6mb

Exclusive! The Factory JCW will be getting the burble exhaust sound back as was on late R53 models. This is great news and you can see and hear for yourself at your local dealer starting July 14.

If you have the chance to test drive the MINI JCW you must take the opportunity but if you are a fan of the JCW you better get your order in now. Starting July 14 MINI will begin delivering the MINI JCW to U.S. dealers for some eager early adopters. The MINI JCW will be making appearances at the remaining MTTS events in Chicago and LA in late July and early August.

Oh yea, and Tony the Peanut Man! Awe. Some. If you don’t know you’d better ax somebody!

The journey continues onward to Boston. Watch for more stuff coming.

Download audio file (MTTSMonday08.mp3)

Download | 7:30 | 6.9mb