So why all the MINI hate?
6th Gear
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,103
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From: Phoenix AZ
OK the next time a person comments on the mini being a death trap or is an unsafe vehicle show them this!!!!
http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTe...perVsFordF150/
Bigger is better? I think (proven) NOT!!
http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTe...perVsFordF150/
Bigger is better? I think (proven) NOT!!
I get ripped on about the MINI all the time because of the interior lighting being called Mood Lighting. But my buddy with a Subaru Legacy drove my car and wanted to straight up trade me after one drive. My friend with the S2k loves it. I get mixed reviews cause I hang out with a bunch of Evo and Sti drivers. Some like it and others hate it. Mostly they don't understand it. I actually really like how it looks. The size helps in urban areas the handling is awesome in the country and it is a very versitile car. I can go to the beach with board on top and go down a gravel road and don't have to worry too much about my car getting tore up from all the gravel awesoming I am not going a hundred. I think people are just jealous that even stock you have more fun in your car then they will ever have in their modified ride.
5th Gear
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 880
Likes: 0
From: florida
yeah ive gotten bs crap from my friends . f um. i can haul *** and still get better gas mpg and run circles around them too. this is my third mini too. they just accept it that im a mini demon. the el diablo blanco.
This line of thinking is very reminiscent of many of the concerns expressed by members of a European travel website I frequent: people there are overly concerned about what the Europeans think of them when they travel over there. They agonize over what clothes to wear ("Europeans will laugh at you if you wear white sneakers and/or short pants"), what and where they should eat, where to shop ("Don't shop in major chain stores'), what kind of luggage looks European, and American foreign policy. They are so concerned about fitting in that I doubt they bother to enjoy themselves. Same with you MINI drivers - quit worrying about what people think. Enjoy the "funnest" car on the road. What difference does their opinion make? F them.
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, GA
OK the next time a person comments on the mini being a death trap or is an unsafe vehicle show them this!!!!
http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTe...perVsFordF150/
Bigger is better? I think (proven) NOT!!
http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTe...perVsFordF150/
Bigger is better? I think (proven) NOT!!
Physics: The test was a Mini and an F150 hitting a wall at 40 MPH. That is not a likely scenario unless you are racing in a parking deck or warehouse. if you pit the Mini and the F150 in a head-on test. the F150 is going to clober the Mini. The F150 is larger and has more mass, so it's going to take more to stop it. The mini would be be destroyed by the F150 because it's smaller and has less mass. That would be a more likely scenario to happen on the road.
Let's take it one step further. Say we tested a Mack truck at 40MPH hitting the same wall. The wall would probably not survive.
Physics: The test was a Mini and an F150 hitting a wall at 40 MPH. That is not a likely scenario unless you are racing in a parking deck or warehouse. if you pit the Mini and the F150 in a head-on test. the F150 is going to clober the Mini. The F150 is larger and has more mass, so it's going to take more to stop it. The mini would be be destroyed by the F150 because it's smaller and has less mass. That would be a more likely scenario to happen on the road.
Let's take it one step further. Say we tested a Mack truck at 40MPH hitting the same wall. The wall would probably not survive.
Let's take it one step further. Say we tested a Mack truck at 40MPH hitting the same wall. The wall would probably not survive.
So many people focus on the "head-on" scenario, as though it is inevitable. It's not. I'd rather focus on what's most likely.
I'd also like to focus on avoiding the accident in the first place (active safety... instead of passive safety where you plan for the impact being a foregone conclusion). The MINI is far, far superior at avoiding accidents altogether than any F-150 or other large truck/SUV.
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta, GA
Very true (except for the "more likely" part). What you're ignoring is the fact that statistically, you are much more likely to be in a single vehicle accident than a head-on collision with another vehicle.
So many people focus on the "head-on" scenario, as though it is inevitable. It's not. I'd rather focus on what's most likely.
I'd also like to focus on avoiding the accident in the first place (active safety... instead of passive safety where you plan for the impact being a foregone conclusion). The MINI is far, far superior at avoiding accidents altogether than any F-150 or other large truck/SUV.
So many people focus on the "head-on" scenario, as though it is inevitable. It's not. I'd rather focus on what's most likely.
I'd also like to focus on avoiding the accident in the first place (active safety... instead of passive safety where you plan for the impact being a foregone conclusion). The MINI is far, far superior at avoiding accidents altogether than any F-150 or other large truck/SUV.
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Before I bought my MCS, I had a couple of people jokingly ask if I was "gay" for getting a MINI. Aside from that, overwhelmingly my friends (including a huge ex-football player) expressed nothing but pure jealousy. And of course girls fawn over it like it is a golden retriever puppy.
Anyway, people who don't "get" why a regular dude would buy an MINI also don't really "get" cars, so to me it kind of separates those who know anything about cars from those who don't. Still trying to figure out how a car itself can be gay. Did it come that way from the factory or is it a dealer option?
Anyway, people who don't "get" why a regular dude would buy an MINI also don't really "get" cars, so to me it kind of separates those who know anything about cars from those who don't. Still trying to figure out how a car itself can be gay. Did it come that way from the factory or is it a dealer option?
4th Gear
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 359
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
Is it just me, or are MINI owners shunned by the outside world? The other day, I had a random instant message pop up on my screen saying "I never thought of the Mini as terribly manly." to which I replied "wtf? ok."
I've also been called "stupid" and "girly" for ordering my MCS. Seriously, what's with all the hate towards what is a genuinely nice car? I've also gotten a slew of "you should have gotten this car, or that car, or that car (ad nauseum)." It hasn't discouraged me any from my decision to order, but it definitely makes me question others' taste. In the end, I'm getting a car I want, built the way I want it.
It just sucks that the value of a car is apparantly determined by its horsepower number and the time it takes to go through a quarter of a mile... no, MINIs don't have LS1s, nor are they made in Japan, so they must be crap, eh?
Anyone else who has ordered one been hung by their fingernails for liking/wanting/buying a MINI?
I've also been called "stupid" and "girly" for ordering my MCS. Seriously, what's with all the hate towards what is a genuinely nice car? I've also gotten a slew of "you should have gotten this car, or that car, or that car (ad nauseum)." It hasn't discouraged me any from my decision to order, but it definitely makes me question others' taste. In the end, I'm getting a car I want, built the way I want it.
It just sucks that the value of a car is apparantly determined by its horsepower number and the time it takes to go through a quarter of a mile... no, MINIs don't have LS1s, nor are they made in Japan, so they must be crap, eh?
Anyone else who has ordered one been hung by their fingernails for liking/wanting/buying a MINI?
1st Gear
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 43
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We just got ours & it's the only one for miles around out here in the "Great Plains" of nowhere. We had some sarcasm like- "Is there room in there for a wheelchair?" We are both in our early 60's. "What's next a scooter chair?" Granted we are not spring chickens anymore but we are still fit & active & want to have fun! At least we have good taste & know a great car when we see one. They can keep their big SUV's & huge club cab pickup trucks, I'll take a mini cooper S anytime. We loooove it!
1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
From: LOMITA, SoCal
Long before we bought a MINI I considered the look of the car as 'cute', but when I drove it, it didn't really matter. Now that we have it, mostly females drool over it. Guys, well, they hold back the laughter....but that's okay. At least it's not as 'cute' a VW Beetle with a plastic flower on the dash!!
2nd Gear
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 129
Likes: 0
I have a Dark Silver/ Black and I don't get much crap for it. Most people are intrigued and ask questions about its performance and interior room.
I love catching the guys in big Ford Pickups and such checking out the MINI on the highway. As soon as I look up they look away like "I wasn't looking at that POS, I only like muscle cars"
I love catching the guys in big Ford Pickups and such checking out the MINI on the highway. As soon as I look up they look away like "I wasn't looking at that POS, I only like muscle cars"
2nd Gear
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
I don't let it bug me and it shouldn't bug you either. I find it funny how some people equate their "manliness" and self-worth on the kind of vehicle they drive - gotta be a V8, 4 ton SUV or monster truck. There is definitely something wrong with a person that needs a muscle car or such to convince himself of his "manliness" or self-worth.
2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
From: Gastonia, NC
My wife turned 50 this year and I will too later this year. The older we get the more we seem to adopt the attitude that we just don't care what other people think and we are all the more happier for it. A very wise person posted on this very subject in another unrelated forum. In summary what he said was that when you value another person's negative opinion about you, you essentially transfer power to them and in doing so give up something of yourself. Do not do this! Does such an opinion actually change you in any way? Of course not!
So if driving a MINI makes me look girly or gay then fine if that is what you choose to think, go on with your delusions, but I am very much a heterosexual man...you can ask my wife!
I suppose another way to say it is, I know who I am, who cares what others think? Enjoy life, it is way too short for all of this nonsense.
My $.02!
So if driving a MINI makes me look girly or gay then fine if that is what you choose to think, go on with your delusions, but I am very much a heterosexual man...you can ask my wife!
I suppose another way to say it is, I know who I am, who cares what others think? Enjoy life, it is way too short for all of this nonsense.
My $.02!
3rd Gear
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 197
Likes: 0
From: Frederick, MD
I drove mine to a country concert yesterday and got several funny looks since it was so small and it was in jacked-up-truck land. I got an awful lot of admiring looks too though so it all balances out.
There's also nothing funnier than hearing a guy go "what a gay car" and then his (female) friend turn around and smack him and say "no, its cute!" Guess who won that argument?!
Personally I think manliness is inversly proportional to the size of the car you drive :-P
There's also nothing funnier than hearing a guy go "what a gay car" and then his (female) friend turn around and smack him and say "no, its cute!" Guess who won that argument?!
Personally I think manliness is inversly proportional to the size of the car you drive :-P
I have a Dark Silver/ Black and I don't get much crap for it. Most people are intrigued and ask questions about its performance and interior room.
I love catching the guys in big Ford Pickups and such checking out the MINI on the highway. As soon as I look up they look away like "I wasn't looking at that POS, I only like muscle cars"
I love catching the guys in big Ford Pickups and such checking out the MINI on the highway. As soon as I look up they look away like "I wasn't looking at that POS, I only like muscle cars"
exactly the same here lol.
1st Gear
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 19
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From: Bergen, Norway
I work part time as a bus driver and I get cut off much more often driving my MCS than driving the bus..I wonder why?
I have almost stopped to pick up passengers at bus stops driving my Mini home from work. (I actually stopped once when a woman waved to catch the bus behind me.)
I work full time as a schoolteacher and almost all the kids at school love the Mini. Two of the 6th graders says that they don't like it because they have got older brothers saying that Mini is for gays and that it is a girly car. I'll have to teach them new attitudes to gays, girls and Minis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9608Uaerds
I have almost stopped to pick up passengers at bus stops driving my Mini home from work. (I actually stopped once when a woman waved to catch the bus behind me.)
I work full time as a schoolteacher and almost all the kids at school love the Mini. Two of the 6th graders says that they don't like it because they have got older brothers saying that Mini is for gays and that it is a girly car. I'll have to teach them new attitudes to gays, girls and Minis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9608Uaerds
3rd Gear
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 226
Likes: 0
From: a little south of HELL...
Lots of great comments on this thread... 
The bottom line is this, there are lots and lots of ignorant people in this world who love to form opinions with zero basis... If any one of these folks were to take a 5 minute drive in a Mini, they would change their opinion...
If someone chooses to think less of me because I drive a Mini, that's their problem... It's none of my business what other people think of me anyway... It's their illusion unless they know me...
What they do need to worry about is me slicing & dicing them in traffic...
It could always be worse... We could be driving Prius'...
The bottom line is this, there are lots and lots of ignorant people in this world who love to form opinions with zero basis... If any one of these folks were to take a 5 minute drive in a Mini, they would change their opinion...
If someone chooses to think less of me because I drive a Mini, that's their problem... It's none of my business what other people think of me anyway... It's their illusion unless they know me...
What they do need to worry about is me slicing & dicing them in traffic...
It could always be worse... We could be driving Prius'...