"hondalover" here...

I'm going to make this quick for obvious reasons. A young man died in a streetracing accident near my home tonight. His Acura Integra was split in two.

While I was standing near the accident site, I thought back to some of the stories I've read about people driving BMWs, getting into accidents that should have resulted in death, and walking away from those accidents with only minor bumps and bruises. One person actually drove off a short cliff in a Z4, rolled three times with the top down, and not only survived, but he didn't even break a bone! Each story was a testament to the incredible safety engineering that goes into BMWs.

Anyway, I know this sounds morbid, but I thought to myself that if the young man had been driving a BMW, he might have lived...

I'm considering buying a Mini (as many of you already know, judging by the number of responses I got to my first post "hondalover curious about Mini"), and I was wondering...does anyone know anything about how safe they are? Are they as strong as BMW's?

 

One of the things about accidents is that you don't get to choose what kind of accident you are in. While some cars are safer than others, the type of accident dictates more about your survival. I have seen very large Dodge Ram trucks, get hit so hard there wasn't much that resembled a truck. I think some cars provide an increased level of protection, but if the accident involves a semi truck and it runs over the car, than all the protection was pretty useless.

Another fallacy that just bugs me to death, is this American mentality that small cars are dangerous, and you need something big to be safe. The Mini is loaded with a lot of safety features, and has done quite well in crash tests. Here is a great article on a comparison between a Mini and an F-150 on Gabe's site (http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/Cra...operVsFordF150)

 

While trying to be sympathetic to your loss - I must say - street racing is the worst way to judge a car's safety and reliability.

While the MINI is known to be the safest car in its class nothing makes up for stupidity. The law of physics rules. If you stress an object beyond its maximum it will perform as expected (fall apart).

If you are racing on a designated course and taking advantage of every safety option of that location your MINI should perform up to standards and you should feel safe racing. There are many guys on this board that race in their MINIs. Howeve, very few of them advocate racing on city streets. There are just too many variables to contend with in staying safe.

I am very sorry for your loss. He probably never meant to put himself in this much danger.

 

I really doubt the type of car he was driving would have made a difference. I'm gonna guess that since he was street racing he was well over the standard crash test speeds institutions use for car safety comparison, its anyones quess. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, hopefully his bad judgement will save a few lives by reminding people why street racing isnt the brightest idea.

 

Thanks for the responses.

I guess it was a silly thing to ask...but it's a forum. No need to be self-conscious. Anyway, I was not close to the person who past away last night. I did know a lot of people who were good friends with him, however. Last night, everyone was saying they were never going to street race again. They spoke of how cheap a thrill it was to race. However, I personally doubt it's going to last. This is Kansas City...there's not much to do on a Friday or Saturday night. So, people get together and go race...even in late December.

Personally, I don't care for streetracing...I've done it in the past, I'll admit. I would rather get out on a five-lane open highway and race one of my friends than risk killing someone or myself on a neighborhood street. That's too much risk for me to accept. At least on a highway, there's no cross-traffic, no kids, and no potential for jumping a median and hitting on-coming traffic (at least not on our highways here in KC - there's a six-foot barrier separating the two sides).

If there was a track here, I believe the majority of us would never race on a street or highway again, but who knows?

Does Mini USA plan special auto-cross events just for Mini owners? Just curious.

 

MINIUSA does not, MINI owners do.

 

I'd say that whatever safety standards BMW has, MINI's standards are probably about the same. They are very safe vehicles and that's a big plus for what appears to be a small-sized car. People are almost always shocked when I describe the safety features that are standard on MINIs. Adding DSC only helps.

Very sorry about your friend.

 

Hyperblue,

Sorry to hear about the accident and about the tragedy.

The laws for physics applys to every car traveling at high speed that strikes any object (especially a stationary one like a pole or tree). Having the most safe car isn't going to help if the Acura split into two. Lady Diana was in a very safe Mercedes but died from injuries in a very bad crash.

The MINI is a very safe car but we still need to be responsible drivers and not take our driving for granted. Going to driving school and learning how to drive well and control our cars is going to help prevent problems. Street racing is not safe. Save your fast driving for the track or driving events under supervision. A MINI should be as safe as other BMWs. Unfortunately in my area we still hear of fatal crashes in BMWs by young drivers that crash into trees or rollover their cars. Speed and or alcohol is a common factor. Not everyone is as lucky.

Drive safely. It doesn't take much to have an accident when speed is high.

 

fwiw, if I had to pick a brand based on safety engineering alone, I'd pick Honda over BMW any day.

 

Hyperblue

Sorry to hear about the tragedy. I am from KC also. There are a few Mini owners that autocross locally. I started locally 2 years ago and have been a die hard ever since. I can assure you, if you guys bring it to Arrowhead stadium for SCCA solo II instead of the streets, no more of your buddies, or you, will ever have something horrible like this happen to you again when racing, and thats the important part. Local autocross can be extremely competitive and fun, I'll PM you my phone number if your interested and I'll fill you in on any questions or details about the events. If you visit www.kcrscca.org and www.crownautocross.org that will give you some details and event info, although its not updated for next season yet.

I think you guys should start some sort of organization to get the guys to stop street racing and start autocrossing. Maybe start a competition between all of you for next season, and the top guy within your organization wins some sort of good prize.

I think the first event will probably be late March or so.

Also, there are High Performance Car Control Clinics, HPCCC, which basically let you push your car to the limit around the track, in a responsible manner, for a couple hours, with and then without an instructor. This would be at Heartland Park in Topeka, not too far away and definitely worth the money.

Let me know if you guys are interested, I'll point you in the right direction and answer any questions.

Craig Wilcox
Oasis Tan
Blue Springs, MO

 

I agree that things MAY have come out differantly if a Mini may have been involved. As I recall the JD Powers group gave it a 5 star ( highest )rating . The Mini may be small but they have put a good amount of saftey in them.

 

The MINI is very safe. Remember it is actually very heavy for its small size. Someone here posted awhile back that they were going too fast (i.e., they said 90 mph) around a bend and ran off an embankment and overturned their MINI, and they were OK with no injuries. Amazing! Try that with some other cars. Give me a BMW over Honda anyday for that kind of safety. Hondas are light and BMWs are heavy (relatively speaking) -- I think that really helps in an accident.

Also, the MINI dealer told me awhile back that an SUV crashed into the side of a MINI and the MINI only had minor damage to the door shell, which was easily fixed, but the SUV had much more damage to its front end. Again -- amazing! The dealer said the MINI can give a lick too. Yes, the MINI is a safe car alright. :smile:

 

The loss of your friend is tragic, and I'm sorry to hear about it. Streetracing is not the brightest idea, but I don't think this is the thread to preach about it. I just don't think it's the right thing to do to race on the street....either way, I am confident that in any accident, save a Semi rolling over my roof, the MINI will hold up well. All the crash tests and facts point to it. I find it to be very safe, and have not thought twice about loading my 7 year old and 4 year old in the back. I would say it's just as safe as our other car (2004 Nissan Armada), and damn, that thing is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, sorry to hear about your friend...I hope everyone who was close to him is doing OK, and my prayers go out to them and his family.

Tony.