For those of you out there who commute everyday in you MINI, do you find youself making sure your in the smoothest lane at all times? On my commute from the west side of Cleveland to the east side along interstate 90, I know every patched pot hole, raised pavement seam and any other imperfection and I make sure I'm not in that lane when those imperfections approach.

Sounds a little fanatical I know, but I just hate jarring my Cooper for any reason as Coopers in general don't handle major bumps very well. I was visiting in Pittsburgh last week and during some unfamilar road construction, hit a huge pavement separation area and I swear I though the car was going to break apart. Of course it didn't, but I'm just glad MINIs are engineered well. I would still NEVER give up the overall ride of the MINI as I'm still always amazed how fast I can take corners with a sense of controlability! Its fun to impress (scare?) someone who has never ridden in a MINI. They ALWAYS walk away impressed thinking they nerver thought a MINI could handle like it does. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

 

Because my right foot weighs more than my left (I don't know why, it baffles medical science ), I am always in that lane on the left that accomodates my disability . Usually the smoothest, no truck traffic.

 

I did the same when I would have to drive 100 miles a day. In the truck or the MINI I would always try to be in the same place at the same time. No more commute for me. Work is about 50 yards away now!!!

 

I don’t commute a long distance anymore to work, but on road trips on major highways I always seen to drive in the fast or left lane. I find less ruts in it and always smoother with less road noise. If someone faster than I comes up behind me I pull to the right soon as possible then just move back over.

Also in town I seem to stay in the left lane because the everyday drivers seem to slow down to 1 MPH to make a right hand turn on a green light and stall traffic, but in my area we seem to have an abundance of left turn lanes so the traffic moves faster.

 

Pothole avoidance is mandatory on my daily commute. My only other annoyance while commuting involves this juicy little S-bend I encounter every morning/evening on the way to and from work. I live for this little sucker twice a day!
Half the time, I get stuck behind someone who actually believes to go around a corner fast, you must brake real hard at the entrance to that turn. This, of course, totally frazzles me and my MC! We know to go around a corner real fast you have to aggressively enter the turn, and hit it even harder on the gas at the apex! When will these other cagers learn!?!?
Of course, on the other days, I have those turns all to myself, and take full advantage!

 

Just as long as you remember the racing addage:

"In slow, out fast. In fast, out backwards."