I'm officially a proud MINI owner now Picked up my MINI on June 8, went on vacation June 9, and returned home to my MINI on June 18.

I'm sure many of you have made these same observations while driving but I'll post them anyways.

- Everyone (and I mean everyone!) turns their head to look at the car when ever I'm stopped at an intersection! The only other time I had this happen to me was when I owned a Samba Green Honda del sol, and that only happened a couple of times.

And yesterday a doctor, still in his scrubs, stopped about 5 feet short of his loaded looking 7 series to turn around and watch me drive out of the parking lot. I should have stopped and given him one of my MA's business cards

- Big pickup trucks seem to really be annoyed with my car. The only thing I'm doing differently in the MINI is leave about 2 car lengths of space between me and the car in front. And I'm only doing this to try and avoid rocks and pot holes. In two days of driving around the NW & W suburbs of Chicago, I had 4 trucks ride my a.. One Avalanche pulled up so close to my rear bumper at an intersection that I'm sure there was less than 2 inches between it and my MINI. Now I don't want to pool all pickups in this, but this doesn't happen when I'm in my other car driving the same roads

What a blast it's been!

-paul

 

I notice people tailgating me in my MCS, too. I'm not sure if I'm getting more tailgaters, though. I could be that the MINI is so short that people look like they are following me more closely, but really they're not any closer than before - it's just more noticeable when I don't have a bigger back seat and a trunk behind me.

 

OMG I agree with that 110%!! The tailgating is BAD!! I know it's not just me, many other Mini owners have reported it! I wonder if it's common for smaller cars?? I wonder if there are threads reporting that on Scion Xa or Smart forums? lol

 

I've noticed it mainly with full sized pick-ups and SUVs. My guess is that they think they are intimidating me by riding my bumper.

If I didn't like my car so much I'd stop short and let them rear-end me.

 

Ditto.

 

I used to get this with my vette. They crawl right up my behind at every light... I think they were all jealous and had to show they had a LARGE macho POS to intimidate with. Of course as soon as traffic started moving again I would leave them in their place, way behind.. Hope the mini can do the same!

 

I agree, people do tailgate at stops, and it seems really pronounced with the Mini. Mostly I think it is just cluelessness though, not nec aggressiveness as it seems; there is no trunk on the car and they just stop close to your brake lights out of general dim-ness and poor driving judgment. Remember, most people parallel park by feel (hitting your car, the curb, whatever) due to ineptness and laziness, so expecting them to show good judgment in stopping distance from your pretty brake lights might be asking too much

I know that I hate it, and I do not think my perspective is thrown off by the size of the car so much as the aforementioned hatch - in my 3 series they get close too, but the length of the trunk makes the car behind stand off from the rear window whereas with the Mini they can get within inches of the glass :P

Oh and congrats on the new Mini!

 

I've been tailgated much worse since getting my MC. The only effective way to deal with it is to flag down one of our local cops going the other way and ask them to remove the offender from my Mini's nether regions. Judging from the blue lights that instantly followed my request the officers have been only too willing to oblige. Apparently tailgating is a HUGE factor in collisions!

 

Its not just tailgating. I've noticed a lot of people changing lanes and damn near nipping my rear when they do it. It reminds me of my motorcycle days - it's as if you don't exist. Hopefully my carryover defensive driving techniques will keep me out of trouble!

 

i think they just want a closer look because they're so cute

"objects are closer than they appear"

 

I thought people in trucks were pulling up really close at lights. So I put my father's Chevy 2500 (3/4 ton) 4x4 pickup behind my car in the driveway. With the truck 4 feet behind the MINI, from the inside it appeared to be right on top of me.

The truck is high, the MINIs rear window is high and at the very back of the car.

Next time you are at a light, and a truck or car for that matter pulls up too close, get out and pretend to get something out of the boot. You will be amazed at how much space is back there.

Steve

 

It's good to hear (in a strange way) that this isn't uncommon. As soon as my break-in is over, I'll either be leaving them in my tracks or moving out of their way

 

I've kinda noticed this tailgating thing, too, but I think it's because the MINI is small. I had a Miata back in '92, and when I was stopped at a light, it looked like the vehicle behind me was right on top of me!

Anyhoo, as for the current situation, I've developed a simple solution to rid myself of those who follow too closely: I turn. The offending vehicle inevitably falls behind!

 

I hate tailgaters and they seems to be getting bolder and/or dumber. I see lots of yahoos driving with just one car length between them and the poor person they're following at freeway speeds -- usually in the fast lane!

But I also think that the perspective from our MINIs can be deceiving.... it took me about a year of fill-ups to stop over-shooting the gas pump... and my prior car was just a Corolla!

 

I think its a perspective issue. Since the MINI is small, folks don't realize how close they are. After I put an 'Actual Size' decal on the rear window, I noticed people weren't riding up as close.

Shelly

 

I think the Mini is the perfect car for mounting one of those scrolling red LED signs in the rear window with several *choice* words for drivers who irritate you.



I have to look into this mod further...

 

i had the rear fogs installed....flip 'em on and they back off....cruel to be kind....plus have been rear ended already(no fogs)

 

I would rather have them in front of me so I wait for 2 to 5 seconds after the light turns green to proceed. Their impatience will usually force them to want to get around me as soon as possible. Usually I let them around...although if there are turns ahead....

 

You will be leaving them in their tracks . Cause thats always more fun. I mean looking in the rearview and watching them try to catch up.
LOL.....

 

I don't think that would work so well in the '05 rear fog placement...can anyone even see it? I had rear fogs in my A4 and they definitely worked like a charm.

I agree with the observation about the tailgating. I also agree that it might seem worse because with this car, they are affectively in my backseat.

 

I've noticed it too.

An example of which is: At 5:30 AM this morning on a 45 MPH stretch of 2 lane country road. (no passing zones in this section)I was 4-5 maybe more car lengths behind someone doing 47-48mph. No big deal to me. Sunroof open enjoying the early AM breeze and sunrise. This Minivan comes up on my bumper so close that I swear the only way I could see their headlights was in one in each side view mirror The only thing I could see in the rearview was a hood emblem.

I could see the driver trying to look around/over the MINI to see what the holdup was, swerving from side to side backing off and running back up on my bumper again. She finally backed off when the local police going in the other direction pulled a U-turn in the road and got behind her. Didn't stop here but I think they knew what was going on.

I'm becoming a firm believer that every driver on the road should be required to take an update driving course every so many years and also be required to take at least one Advanced driving school session.

Tailgating is the cause of some nasty freeway accidents. At 70 MPH a good nudge from the rear will send most cars into a spin. Following 1-2 or less car lengths at freeway speeds is nuts. I really feel a lot of drivers aren't aware of how easy it is to lose it in those situations and wouldn't know what to do if it did happen.

Enough ranting...Motor on!

 

I've also noticed extreme stupidity demonstrated in the vicinty of our MINI. One woman even passed me on the right on a two lane road (double yellow center line), just to get to a stopped at a red light less than a mile away. I got out of the car and motioned her to open her window. When she lowered it, I asked WTF her problem was, then got in and drove away. Jerk.

 

What pisses me off like NO TOMORROW is the fact i live in the "country" and my house is in the middle of a turn in a "25 mph for the next one mile" curvy road.

Wouldn't you know these stupid MINI-wanna be's love powering through turns in that area... but in much much larger vehicles (try f250's, subhurbans, and expeditions) at 40 mph... you can't tell my driveway is there unless you're going the limit suggested. My driveway is also on a pretty steep incline near the road so when you go up that last hill towards the road, if you don't just keep going, you start spinning out and have to roll back down the hill and start over.

I try and look as far down the road as i can before pulling all the way up... but sometimes it isn't enough notice since it's such a big hill. Almost every morning i just gun it up the driveway and onto the road. And unless i get on the road and immediately do 50 mph up the road, i'm tailed the entire time... regardless of the fact i'm in a 25 mph, then a 35 mph, then there's a stop sign soon after. It's almost guaranteed i won't get that person off my butt until i hit town 30 minutes later, because it was my fault they were flying around a blind turn, and wouldn't give me 2 seconds to finish getting my car on the road and get up to the speed limit.

It's the price you pay for living in a nice open area with a bunch of massive vehicles that think they own the road, and it's your duty to stay out of their way, even when you're doing nothing but trying to go to work too. Of course, this ONLY happens in the mornings... and they typically work the same schedule i do. So when they see me again in the afternoon, they feel the need to ride me back home just because i ruined their morning.

/rant.

I love this car. I love what it's capable of. I don't like feeling inferior. I love the smiles it puts on kids faces, and the wave i get from both mini owners and NON mini owners.

btw: how illegal is it to put a piece of clear plastic sticking 2 feet off the back bumper? Just to see if it's really just me THINKING they're that close to my tail. Would i get in trouble for that, or would i be able to fight and say that it's not my fault they were riding my tail?

 

The 05 rear fog works for making people step back

 

Where do i get the rear fogs/how much is it/how hard to install?

AND what does it look like?