Ignorant is correct. Lack of sophistication, education, and taste. People who dis MINIs have been force feed the mantra for decades. Good cars (or trucks) are BIG. Good motors are eight cylinders, guzzle gas, and are LOUD! These are people who are very likely driving a vehicle with at least 2 drum brakes and grease fittings. They wouldn't know hi technology if they stumbled over it. They call our MINIs death traps while they cruise the Interstate at 80 mph with half bald tires, wobbly ball joints, while not wearing a seat belt. They think NASCAR is racing. They think formula racing is....well they don't even know what it is. Oil means Quaker State, auto parts means WalMart. No class, no taste, no imagination. My opinion only.

 

If I had a dime for every time a Mustang driving gearhead at work comes up to me saying "I had no idea those MINI's were such great cars!" Then they rattle off a bunch of MINI facts which has them absolutely amazed (but it goes right over my head), so I figure it's still a good thing. One more convert begging me for a ride.

 

wow that's a great way to summarize it...that's the other thing I get all the time..."How good of a crash test rating can a car that small really get?" I just respond "they have received great ratings ESPECIALLY for a car that small!!"

 

You could do a 007 Squirt Gun Mod (saw it somewhere here on NAM), to shoot fluid out of where there rear wiper used to be, did it myself and it works great!!

 

"So you say, 'Hey look, you just got dusted by a clown car!" I mean ya gotta get some respect!"

 

Since they ask I alway tell them the first number that comes to my mind, "143 mpg, only hold 3 gallons of gas, cost less than $10 to fill up!"

 

+1

 

Had to put this on (youve been passed by a clown car):

 

Striped Toad....Beyond Sweet....

 

That is pretty sweet and has gotta be very aggravating to some jackass who tried to race you and lost with his "appliance"!!

 

 

They don't really bother me, It keeps the numbers down, and our value up I did a road trip this past weekend to NY State, I saw 3 mini's the whole trip, all on the Mass Pike, and they returned the waves how cool is that. That is a sweet sticker toad, where did ya get it?

 

The XRS has eXtRa S.... something. Its amazing what they do with plastic bits and glue these days...





I get a chuckle out of these "poser" cars everytime.

 

...all you really need is self-respect.

 

Chalk it up to ignorance. I don't mean it in a derogatory way, rather quite literally. I didn't know much about the Mini's capabilities until I saw "The Italian Job" remake and started researching them. Anyone that makes fun of a Mini clearly does not understand what they're dealing with. You can wipe the floor with the average car out there, especially if you have an MCS, so take comfort and let them remain ignorant. Oh yeah, and feel free to blow by one of them every now and then.

 

+1

 

Hey Steve,

Glad your feeling better about the situation but I'm sure a lot of people here can relate. But you just got to know the difference between people who actually know a thing or two or posers. We shouldn't have to demand respect from people who do not know a thing about cars, as their respect wouldn't hold any value anyways. Come on now, a Corolla? Oh wait, sorry Corolla XRS! It's a good and pretty safe car for a small family but trying to kick a race at 75 mph? Ask a 3 year old which one is fast, and I bet he would know the answer. There are so many people going around now thinking if they add a Boeing 747 wing and a x-large fart canon, their car is going to gain 500 HP. Let them think what they wanna think, and it'll catch up to them sooner or later. Authentic car enthusiasts, would never look down at a Mini to a Corolla status. As far as I'm concerned, the Mini is one of the cars out there with the most character.

 

Very well put, I couldn't agree more. Thanks for the great comment..much appreciated!

 

Yeah that's the exact same car that wanted to race me..except in white. I mean I'm sure they probably have 130-140 hp right? but most likely weighs more and well its an economy car. Sorry that is not a fastcar!!

 

There's some really great facets of car culture and some really stupid ones...I recommend opting out of the stupid ones completely. It's odd, I wind up getting a good amount of respect out there, but it's generally because I defer to pedestrians, let people over when they need to change lanes, drive in a non-threatening manner, and use the MINIs superb motoring dynamics to drive more accurately in order to create safer, friendlier roadways. I get a lot of waves and thumbs-up from folks because 1) this cute little car just helped them out and 2) I think they know that MINIs are quite capable of zipping right around them. Everybody realizes how nuts things are out there on the roads these days...random acts of kindness are greatly appreciated, even moreso when it's coming from a MINI. MINIs are designed in a way that can make us better, more accurate, more aware drivers....that's what we should be about.

 

Very eloquent defense. Hear Hear.

 

You guys hurt me. My current car, (soon to be replaced by a MINI, this weekend I hope!) is a corolla and it's served me well for a decade now.

Of course, I'm the person that bought it because it was a four door, had decent trunk space and at the time, I had two small kids and the safety ratings were awesome.

I never expected to drag the thing... Must have been some teenage dork driving his mom's car that thought this was a good idea...

 

Mini’s are cute. Nothing is wrong with that. No point in getting bent out of shape by people that are just yanking your chain. Enjoy your car and take it as a complement every time a kid tries to provoke you into a race. Mini’s stand out in traffic, but most people know very little about them. The kid may have just been curious, and wanted to see what your little shoebox can do!

I bet he did not bother to rev on any or the hundreds of accords, camrys, escorts, or malibu’s that he passed.

 

Don't worry about it! I drive a MINI 'cause I march to a different beat than most folks.

I have gotten a couple " cute little car" comments, but my favorite comment is after I gave an aquaintance a ride, and after warmup, ran thru 1st and second, and the "cute car" comment changed to "G*DD**N!!! What's this thing got in it?!!"

Thanks, ALTA!

 

I brake with my wee wee.