since acquiring "Basil" in May I have noticed a lot of other drivers who like to tailgate my MINI, I'm not a timid driver nor am I careless. I am not holding anyone up either. My previous car was an 89' Pontiac Grand Am and I never had the same frequency of tailgating drivers like I do with "Basil" it's like a tailgator magnet sometimes. The other day I parked in an empty parking lot outside a store and when I came out a guy in a Hummer had parked so close to my drivers door I could barely get in. Whats up with that stuff is it just MINI envy or what....any one else have similar experiences?

 

Yes, I've had similar experiences. I'm not so sure it's intentional on "their" part though. I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt but it sure does feel as if they get purposefully close to LilTiger's rear end.

However - I did come from 14 years of driving SUVs. Someone in LilTiger's rear view mirror is naturally closer to me than they would be if I was in my SUV....by about, oh, I dunno, 10 feet or so.

I feel somewhat intimidated when I can read the VIN in the engine bay of the truck behind me though.

As for those stray parking lot muts...ya got me. I will walk 1/2 mile from THE furthest parking spot in the lot if I feel that it protects LilTiger better. But it never fails...the whole lot can be empty, and I come out of a store to find someone has parked next to her. And it runs to both extremes of the spectrum...I've come out to find a really really nice vehicle beside her...to coming out and finding something that should be mercifully sent to the car graveyard in the sky. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

 

I'm glad someone else has experienced people tailgating them while driving their MINI. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt also, but damn, if they're in that big of a hurry go around. Ever notice how many of them are talking on their cell phones while they're pushing you down the road.

 

My MA told me people like to tailgate the Mini's. Maybe it's because they're trying to read our cute vanity plates... That's why I ordered the rear fog lamps. My MA told me you can flip them on and they act like bright brake lights...helps to back 'em off!

 

not MINI related, but my friend was driving his Mustang GT, and there was this BMW way behind us. he must have done like 80 in a 45mph to catch up to us, and he was driving on our *****... that pissed us off

 

yes, those tailgaters. they probably think they can intimidate us. what i usually do is slow down and make them change lanes and try to pass me. then i speed up and dont let them. just want to show them that just b.c. we are small doenst mean they can pick on us. ( + we are fast too!!!)

 

That works for me too.
That, and flying pennies.

 

HAHA, thats awesome.

When people tailgate me in my srt-4, i just wait till we go under and overpass and bounce it off the rev limiter...3" turbo back with no muffles makes one hell of a back off warning

 

I'm not looking forward to this issue. I know it's going to be an issue. Since my DH's GT500 arrival 7 months ago I'm getting **** about this tail smelling as I call it. In the GT500 I could just down shift and kick up some loose pavement (Oops, did I just give myself away). With the Mini being front wheel drive it just won't have the same effect.

I was bumped in the Chick-A-Fillet drive thru by some lady who admitted she was trying to read my sticker on the back window of the camper shell of my F150. She damaged the mess out of her front bumper since she only bumped my hitch. Expensive afternoon read there. I did feel a little bad because the sticker she was trying to read was...My Daddy Loves My Teacher - Support Home Schooling. Ouch!

Now I've already ordered the Actual Size sticker for the back window of the Mini and I want the Mini's name of Shelby Jr. on there also. I guess I need a big ol hitch to boot.

Maybe I need a sticker that reads something about flicking
nostril chunks at folks following to close. I know, that's bad and un-lady like.

 

Yeah, tailgaiting is a HUGE problem here in Hampton Roads... and I agree a Mini will attract them more than the average vehicle.

My solution? 2 methods. One, I will slow down so much that they are left with no choice but to pass me exasperated out of their minds, or Two, if it isn't out of my way to do so, I'll wait till they try and exit, and then I'll suck them into taking the off-ramp WAY faster than their car can handle. It's always fun to see the cell phone get dropped out of their hands while they make efforts to recover.

Good times my friends... good times.

 

I actually got rear-ended, jumped out of my car, and physically dragged the driver out of his seat and dragged him down the road yelling the whole time! Funny thing was...there was a lot of damage on his vehicle and almost nothing on mine!

 

Yeah, nothing funny about that story. I'd be mad as heck myself, but I'd try and restrain myself from the assult portion of things.

 

is bad...mmmmkaaay?

 

Please don't do this..........if they bother you just move over and let them go on by, or speed up and leave them in your dust, but don't become a rolling chicane - you'll only make things worse. How does this make the rest of us MINI owners look when you do this? Besides being extremely anti-social behavior, it's against the law..........Try to take the high road, OK?

 

It does seem that I'm tailgated more in the MINI but I think it's just because the back window is so close to the rear of the car and there's very little bumper protruding beyond that, it's an optical illusion. If you had about three feet of trunk, or even another few feet of car between you and the end of the vehicle, you'd feel better.

 

Road Rage has such negative connotations. I prefer the term "Road Retribution"

 

Just yesterday I experienced this. I was traveling about 5 MPH over the speed limit yet (residential area) and had this guy in an infinity sedan tailgating me for about a mile. I turned and he turns still smelling my you know what.... he passes me and looks the other way ignoring any type of eye contact.

Good grief...

 

It's the same mentality that makes people act like motorcycles have no right to be on the road. Amazingly enough, after I installed the 3rd brake light pulser on my car, the incidents of tailgating have abated. If someone is too close, I lightly tap the brake, without slowing the car. Magically, they always pull back. I don't know if they think I am a cop or I'm shooting a laser at them, but, who cares? It works!

 

I never thought of that, cool idea LynnEl! Who sells those again?

 

Several vendors. I think Moss Mini, Minspeed. I got one with a 15 second repeat delay so that it doesn't keep pulsing when in stop and go traffic.

 

Hmmmm...been driving Msfitoy for over 65,000 miles and have yet to have anyone tailgate me...not that I'm going any faster than anyone else...

 

+1. My pulsar has the same effect on tailgaters

 

I have a similar device since day one...maybe that's the ticket...

 

This has been discussed before. Do you really think its tailgaiting or is it a perception issue because the tailgate is so close to the driver and then nothing? If found that what I thought were people way too close in rush hour traffic, in fact, they were fine.

 

Perhaps, but they do back off.....