AirRex - Mini CountryMan

I'm a huge fan of brand Mini because of its unique old world design & reliability. Its such a small brand which was only present in Europe where small cars are still a fashion. In Americas we still use big gas guzzling cars and Mini is out of comparison and that too when its generally a 2 door coupe.

Little that I knew Mini transformed in a big way after the BMW's acquisition of Mini. The first Mini model with 5 door / 5 seater, Countryman hit the market in 2011 and the response was pretty nice. Mini is again becoming a style statement, but this time along with utilities like a good boot space. Countryman also is the first Mini to come up with ALL4 all wheel drive feature which Americans are fond of. I still feel the interior of the Mini can be little more serious than just being comical.

Mini Countryman became a big news when legendary Pro-drive Design firm decided to prepare a Countryman based on the WRC specifications. It was a total surprise when I knew Mini once won WRC !!. Once a car competes in WRC that means the car is solid in many aspects. Eg: Mitsubishi Evolution, Subaru WRX, Citroen DS3, Peugeot, Skoda, Ford Fiesta etc etc and all these cars had very solid sales in the past which shows the reliability. These days Mini is available in India and that shows how far the brand is accepted and reliable (Indian roads are good testing facilities). Pro-Drive came up with the following design for WRC 2011, cuteee ..

But I truly believe the popularity of a car reach its heights when local technicians / mechanics work on a model to customize it for their customers. Because generally people spend money on things they like a lot and want to make them better. Here's a classic example of that, a company called AirRex from Taiwan developed a product specifically for Mini Countryman and the feature allows the driver to lift / drop the car couple of inches based on the requirements. One of the defects people reported when Countryman was released, is the body roll of the car compared to old Minis' because this car is taller and wider. Of-course you can get a JCW package ( John Cooper Works ) with sport struts, but that's not just enough when you are hitting 120 miles and taking a hairpin. Here's a beautiful video of AirRex on the play

Pro-Drive Test Version

Daniel Sordo - WRC driver tests the car in Germany

SMEG = Beauty

I sometimes wonder how British have the aesthetics & design for products which nobody else in the world finds interesting. Like the cabs in London & red double decker buses history is stuck in the British design for years and they are amazingly beautiful.

SMEG is a kitchen appliances company which inspired me a lot when I think about product design. They are classics in that arena. Talk about boring subjects like refrigerators, dish washers and hob & chimney, this company draws attention of all human races. 

I first noticed their hob with copper plated tips; they are just the cutest it can get.  Visited their site and here I’m, instant fan of all of them. See it for yourself here SMEG

Portraits to decorate

UniKey

The Kwikset Kevo looks like any other lock. There's a place for a physical key, and it's double bolted onto the door. You don't need to call a specialist to install it. You can still unlock the door from the inside by turning a knob. But unlike a traditional lock, this lock uses proximity to unlock doors. The lock operates via iPhone or iPad app, or a fob for people without smart phones. When the mobile app or fob are nearby and you touch the lock, it turns blue then green to signal it is unlocked. If you tap the lock three times, it turns yellow and locks again. If you don't have access to a door and you touch it, the lock turns red. You don't have to be touching the app or fob to lock and unlock doors. The devices just need to be within range. You can set the range to either a few inches or a few feet via the app or website.

UniKey's technology knows which side of the door the owner is on, so being too close to the lock from the inside won't let a nearby stranger in. There's no pin required to access the mobile app key or button that needs to be toggled. You just enroll your device(s) once. Hackers aren't really a worry either, because UniKey scrambles together new key codes all the time. If you lose your smartphone with the the app, you can turn off access on via the website. Otherwise, access will turn off on the old device as soon as you activate a new phone.

The best feature is the ability to share permanent or temporary keys with others via mobile app. For eg, you could assign a key to a house cleaner for a specific day each week, or let a construction worker use a key for a few hours each day. Family members can get their own mobile copies. Keys can be cancelled as quickly as they can be created on the app.

Penny Chic

Shauna miller started a blog in 2010 with a goal to find look-alike dresses for designer clothing lines from retail stores like Walmart, Target, Kmart, Sears, Forever 21, JC Penney, so and so.. Her idea was to find penny smart dress for ladies. In short big brands equivalents from retailers.

In the process she heard lot from women which she started to relay to the retailers which forced them to come up with next season dresses. Later she found that women found it difficult to find little black dresses and she started her own clothing line. This season, Walmart is selling clothes to her and she inturn sells to her readers with best combinations. And I think other big companies will follow the suit. Here it is pennychic

Shauna's pics are here : http://www.pennychic.com/category/shaunas-picks/

Beautiful Decals

After urban living became very common people kind of resorted back to small apartments and closed spaces where most of the interiors tends to be light hues of shades to make the rooms look more bright and spacious. In those cases, which are highly common there are a few options to decorate rooms with less furnitures or artifacts which consumes space. In these scenarios' Decals became very common and user friendly to make your rooms very colorful and vibrant. Here's a wonderful company promoting beautiful decals for very reasonable price. Check it out  MyWonderfulWalls

Looking Good Sunglasses - Mirrors

Fridge That Rocks - Marshalls

If you are a rock fan ever or watched a concert there will be this big portable box behind performers on stage. Its their ear to hear how their music sounds while they are playing, what's been magnified to the audience. Over the years numerous rock stars & performers fell in love with Marshalls and took lot of pictures with it which rode Marshalls high.

Now this beautiful memorabilia can be in your man cave and nobody will ever imagine its a fridge. Its a creative way to relive your rocking times, remember the best shows you had ever seen and until you say nobody will ever think its a fridge. Probably people may ask you, 'hey do you play any instruments ??' thinking that why you carry a Marshall.

Marshalls fridge comes with the same details as on the real speakers. A white piping around the frame, cloth material in the front, audio controls on the top front panels and more than everything Jim Marshalls signature. Here it is, Marshalls

Punkt Group

Punkt Group, is a rare name for such a design company. They have few line of products but I should say they are just beautiful. As Steve Jobs re imagined Ipod & Ipad, PG is doing to things which we use in day today life. They add colors & solve some of the usability issues, to boring things otherwise.

The best of all they got is their cordless phone. It sits on a magnetic cradle which hold it and also let the receiver charge. Now lot of companies designed cordless phone but what makes this different is because it solves a problem when the base unit is on the wall, vertical, upside down or slanting. In any position you can imagine, once the receiver comes close to base unit, it just clicks on the magnet and hold it back.

I remember we had a base unit on the wall and every time somebody who are not used to it place the receiver on the base unit, it slides down and fall down. And Punkt solved it beautifully. Another product they re-imagined is an alarm clock. Its so cute to look at now. Its brightens your morning, and also stands very thin and tall to view the time. Now you don't need to sleep with your phone as alarm. PG also came up with an extension socket which reduces wire clutter, which is also a clean design. Punkt is from UK, so people in north america will have to get them shipped, but its worth every bit of it.

If you are a Mits fan

Mits ( Mitsubishi lovingly called ) is so dear to all its fans had a fantastic 5 years here in USA from 2008 when they introduced new design for lancer. Until then it was a dying brand like Suzuki. It then grew leaps and bounds with new Outlander, Outlander Sport, Ralliart & Evolution X released in coming years. Its 'Don't Mess with Me' looks made its fans to fall in love once again.

Mitsubishi was a well known brand in Asia with their famous SUV, Pajero. It was a huge success all the way through its release till today. But its sedan range lost life and in US its been treated as 2nd grade car, not in the likes of Honda's & Toyota's. However Mits Evolution was so famous in rally circuits all around the globe. Mits almost took championships every year after year with Subaru sharing a bit here and there. These days Subaru( STI-WRX ) and Mits ( Evo ) are not in WRC for 2 to 3 years. They are trying to make a tamed version of these monsters for daily usage. These days even a mini is in WRC, I don't know for what reason though.

But that's not the story here. Mits released its small sedan range Lancer GTS which many fans fantasize, who can't afford to drive an Evo or even a Ralliart. I do love GTS because of its cute looks and a mere possibility of getting a facial done at a low cost to make a look alike trimmed down version of Evo. But there is small problem, GTS have a front bumper which is designed awkward with its 2 bottom strips hanging on both sides. So I was looking around for a cheap makeover and found this small garage in California called Road Race Motor Sports (RRM).

Although I liked their CarbonTrix dress up stuff, I curiously browsed through forums & topics about them. I found that they mastered Mits Mods for many years. And they do that reliably without much dollar bills burnt. Their mods not only enhanced the character of the car but also added lots of stigma as a sports car for a daily usage. The best part was they were able to generate enough horses to beat a complete tuned version of Evo X with 1/3rd of the cost.

I know not many people will be excited about an EVO with that power, because you are paying the price. But a lancer GTS stick shift + 6 - 8 grands can make that power amuse lots of fans. And the car is equipped with sway bars, brembo equivalent wide breaks, New Air Filters, Coil over suspensions & Evo like 16G value with a RRM Kit to make it a perfect street car you can drive to office and smoke in the evening. Here are some videos Kerry Ann Dela Cruz ( She's brand ambassador for many brands and also a rally driver & street car fanatic  ) taking the RRM version for a spin and come back with all surprises. Here's a small video, you will love it.

Here's the front lip installation which I was actually looking for