iPhone in Japan
04 Jun 2008 | Comments (1)Just as I was getting ready to post a rant about Japanese cell phones, some great news hit my mailbox. The iPhone will be making it’s way to Japan sometime this year and it will be via my current carrier, Softbank!
Such good news. I was getting worried that we’d have to switch carriers over to NTT Docomo, but it looks like we’re safe! Phew! Anyways, if you still want to read my rant you can click this link:
MINI Project 002
01 Jun 2008 | Comments (1)Welcome to MINI Project 002! I guess this actually is going to be a fairly common thing, huh? Anyways, this time we did not change out the horrible stock audio system or fix the scratch on the back of the car as we previously mentioned, but rather we improved our 2007 MINI Cooper S’s performance.
Induction was on today’s menu and we changed out the stock air box for an ALTA Performance cold air intake system and new silicone turbo inlet hose. Schweet indeed. The car feels a lot faster now and it sounds awesome! Apparently the upgrade aids in better fuel economy too, but as a wise man once said, “What the air filter addeth, the foot taketh away!”
The only problem was that the Japanese spec MINI isn’t exactly the same as the American version for which this upgrade was designed for. Japanese MINIs have no Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor or sensor housing meaning that there was no joint to connect the two silicone tubes. Ouch! No problem though! My friend (and master mechanic) Mr. Morita and I made a joint out of aluminum piping and it works perfectly! Check out the pic!
