This is Predator , my f56 mini cooper s sport , which came with jcw styling & aero kit.
Specced by me from the factory with only these choices Jcw suspension & non run flat tyres "poverty spec" or as i prefer "racecar" 😀.
Weighing in at under 1200kgs Predator was then given a tasty little remap providing 260bhp & 400nm of torque. Also added was a proram induction kit for those awesome sutututu noises and breathability .... a few decals and little styling mods were also applied.
Predator without a doubt has been the most fun car I've ever had , also reliable , fast , great handling and an awesome place to be.
Predator has been my "herbie" for 5 & a half years , the longest period I've driven the same car, we went many places together , we went many places very quickly together , we jumped , we slid , we got there first . Through twists & turns & over hills. Predator made me feel like a Duke of hazzard , or Michael Knight , like Brian oconner or colin macrae , ken Block , Ayrton Senna , Michael Schumacher & the Stigg all rolled into one.
We did 2 of the Renegade runs , 1 to wicklow & lap the lough (which was sheer madness 😀)
Predator can do 160mph ... I was informed by a new friend in a gtr35 err on a track , his gtr can go much faster. But me & Predator were happy with 160.
Several Nimm mini runs , many subaru grand tour outings.
And so after all the good times hanging with my mini friends & my subaru friends & the Renegades & the burger runs, the trip to England, diddly squat farm (clarksons) cafeine & machine , the ferries , the Strabane run through the sperrins and the trips over the border to the south.... my time with Predator has come to an end .
I am heart broken 💔 😢 😞.
Predator I will miss you forever .
Please Predator find a new friend to race around with. 🧡🧡🧡🧡
So long buddy.
If your not a proper car person you won't get my bond with Predator.
***this could not have come at a worse time for me , mentally I'm so low , my flesh & blood best friend appears to have just washed his hands of me since I was diagnosed with grey zone lymphoma (cancer) approx 5/6 months ago , and I'm sat here in hospital getting chemo feeling pretty awful .... it just feels the most reliable thing in my life has been snatched from me.
Thankyou Angela wife & Natasha daughter for being there for me ....... I love you both xxxx
********** MUSIC ***********
I chose the 2 songs Spiderbaits version of "Black Betty" & Ray stevens "The cannonball run opening theme" because they hold special meaning to me .
I was first introduced to spiderbaits Black Betty in "need for speed underground 2" on the ps2 racing my little brother back in the early to mid 2000s , & since then I've played the song many many times when I fancy a bit of a spirited drive. Now in predator I pressed play on that song nigh on every time I got to a specific junction on my way home , and subsequently aimed to arrive home as or before it was ending ..... it made for a superb rally stage with many twists & turns , 2 jumps the 2nd of which coming immediately after the first & requiring great skill to reposition, launch and then land without facing the wrong way , an apex on a cambered corner into a fast uphill & 2 handbrake corners ....
In recent months finishing with a big handbrake slide 180 on my gravel driveway . It made me feel alive !!!!!!!
The cannonball run has been a thing for me since the 1980s and the need for a black countach was quashed for the first time in my life by a big little orange & black mini called Predator ! This song was my entering the motorway and progressing tune , and like spiderbait was played pretty much daily during my time with Predator .