Yeah baby. When I grew up on the farm in the 70's, we used to burn brush piles with tires and gasoline every year or two. And we'd burn off our bermuda grass pasture every winter so it would grow out much more vigorously in the spring. Now if if I tried that, the vegan wool farmer next door would have a stroke from the horror of watching me "killing" his "mother"...

 

We - 12 MINIs - are driving to Yellowstone June 5th. Sorry MINI get stuffed.

 

Bravo!

 

Just like you, I too visit NAM less frequently... for the opposite reason.

 

You know what? I'm in.

I love driving the MINI, and while the MINI is on the "efficient" end of the spectrum, taking public transit is stll more efficient. Even if your car is a hybrid and you're not the one spewing CO2, your car on the road increases traffic, increasing the emissions other cars create on their trips.

If public transit isn't feasible, why not carpool? Or carpool with someone partway into town and then take transit. Driving to school is a luxury--not a necessity--for me, but I try to balance it by ridesharing as much as possible. Or biking on mornings when I start late.

It's good for you, and it's good for the Earth. Why not? Reducing our day-to-day reliance on gas means driving our MINIs for pleasure becomes a more sustainable proposition. Even if everybody in North America instantly changed their vehicles to MINIs, our way of life is not sustainable. If everybody in our world lived to our standard of living, we'd need three Earths or more to sustain us. I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of the same--realistically, I could wake up an hour earlier each morning and transit. But with the exception of some luxuries--MINI!--I try to cut my usage where I can.

Of course, if you live where public transit isn't available and there's no one to carpool with, thanks for choosing a cleaner car.

 

Well said!

 

Can't argue with that, except when I drive my family of 4 in our Clubman past an empty bus driving past empty bus stops. That seems to happen frequently where I live.

But this whole "Let's Not Motor Day" leaves me scratching my head.

This very weekend, hundreds of Minis are screaming around a race track in Silverstone England, doing nothing more than going around in large circles really fast (and burning lots of fuel in the process).

A few weeks ago, hundreds of Minis from all over the country gathered together to drive through 40 miles on a beautiful country road called The Dragon for no other purpose than to enjoy the sight of a road clogged with Mini traffic.

A month before that, hundreds of Minis and their owners converged on Las Vegas to see first-hand what happens to traffic on The Strip when nearly 500 Minis hit the pavement all at once.

On any given weekend, somewhere around the country, numerous MINI owners clubs are driving for no other purpose than to honk and wave at each other.

Then, for one day this year, someone in Mini's marketing department thinks it would be a good idea for all of us to keep our cars in the garage, as if that's going to make some kind of a difference?

If Mini were to change their slogan to "Let's Motor... but only when we really need to get somewhere" or encourage all Mini owners climb aboard a natural gas-powered bus before riding through the dragon, then a "Let's Not Motor Day" would make sense to me.

But since they don't, my reaction remains: "WTF? Over."

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. But the bus will be running regardless of how many people on it (if any at all)--so you can have (a) a bus with your family of four in it, or (b) an empty bus and a MINI Cooper with a family of four in it.

That said, I wouldn't be one to push you to take a family of four on public transit. It can be a handful--particularly when it's rush hour and you're trying to keep track of your party. So it's perfectly reasonable to take the car.

Where I raise questions are single-occupant vehicles where public transit is readily available and practical.

I guess the rationale is like Earth Hour. Really, Earth Hour itself doesn't make a dent in the grand scheme of things. But it's a great way to get some free media coverage and get people interested and educated about how to conserve power.

 

Lets not motor day....? What a stupid thing. I will be sure to call work and tell them I can't drive there that day.

The term 'Let Motor' applies to all 365 days of the year, taking one day away from me and my Mini is hard. ...too hard. haha

 

 

I think I'll take that particular day to enjoy the peculiarities of my V10.

7 MPG, all day, every day.

 

I spent eight months putting together a regional/national event for Minis (the PUB in Cleveland) on 6/6 which had people from four different states attend last year and for MARKETING purposes(like BMW really believes/cares in the green movement) Mini sends this email for people not to drive 6/5 (i.e. not travel to Cleveland).

My event, while free, is also a fund raiser (t-shirt/raffle ticket sales) for a shelter in Cleveland for abused/homeless children. This of course is a REAL problem. Not a phoney "symbolism over substance" campain designed to show how "enviromentally aware" Mini is (remember the fake "empty" milk carton Mini gave out to use as an excuse to drive or the "lets take the long route" slogan?).

Hypocracy in the name of profit.

 

While I understand your frustration with the timing of the "Let's Not Motor Day" based on your event the following day, I don't understand where MINI is profiting from an environmental awareness day.

 

is not "awareness". It's intent is marketing/promotion by exploiting the concerns of those who subscribe to this idiology. I feel they are being fraudulent.

I don't have a problem with that so much as selling cars is their business and after my fourth Mini I've certainly done my share to help. My issue is their inconsideration of their customers in dropping this idea with two weeks notice as opposed to last December declaring the date so us in the real world can plan accordingly.

I'm not the only game in town. There are British cars shows all over the country as well as people who planned their road trips for that day. The late notice compromises those who wish to participate. I may have fewer people at my show if they decide to observe this last second program. I've spent a lot of my personal time and money to put this together for a charitable cause as well as a celebration of the car that we are all so passionate about.

My other car is an FJ Cruiser. The Mini is my pleasure vehicle. Perhaps a more realistic (and better for Mini promotion) would have been "garage the gas guzzler and drive your Mini day".

 

There's quite a few of us here who own other types of vehicles for different purposes - I'm one of them. These 'other' vehicles are often less fuel efficient, and many of us choose to use the MINI when we don't 'need' to use the other vehicles. For me, the MINI is just a kick in the pants AND is the most fuel efficient vehicle I own, aside from my motorcycle. So why not use the MINI for my commute instead of my fuel pig V8 Land Rover? I just use the vehicle that best suits a given task - I don't need anyone telling me what I need to do. And yes - I've been known to park the MINI in favor of my motorcycle or mountain bike when the weather/conditions are appropriate.

In my eyes, this is a huge "FAIL" for the marketing group at MINI. "Garage the gas guzzler and drive your MINI day" would have been much more appropriate, and definitely less controversial.

 

Once again, I sympathize with you and the timing of "Let's Not Motor Day". Also, once again, I fail to see how MINI is profiting from promoting such a day. I also fail to see how they are being fraudulent or exploitative. They are deceiving no one with this campaign, nor are they unfairly using their power and advantage to prevent people from driving. MINI's campaign to not motor next Friday is merely a suggestion from the company that manufactures our cars to think of alternative modes of transportation, and ultimately, it is the drivers that will make up their own minds on whether to motor or not to motor on June 5. For you, frustration understandably lies in the fact that this campaign conflicts with your event. I trust that you have planned a stellar event and will still have a great turnout. After all, we can see how unpopular MINI's campaign to not motor has turned out to be. People will still be motoring away.

I wish you and your event the best of luck.

 

For PR purposes, thats how they benefit, and its the only reason they are doing it.

For those of you not motoring this day (on purpose), you really should have just bought a Prius.

 

I'm going to do my part.

I promise not to drive the SUV that day.

 

Hope you come to Cleveland for the PUB! I'll buy you a beer!

 

Good point....but then again a lot of these kinds of things (large scale and small) are more about marketing than creating a real, sustained improvement. To do that takes refiguring one's lifestyle...but the marketing efforts sometimes provide the baby steps help some people nudge forward.

I predict that, over the coming years, MINI is going to have to continue taking strides in producing some solid fuel efficiency and emissions winners. In some ways it's really still a part of the Mini-thing. So we may see more advertising/marketing scaled towards this side of the performance equation (like the 37 mpg ads on NPR). I think it's really great that MINI (in certain configurations) can give they hybrids a run for their money right now!!!

 

what a nice gesture I am doing my part my brand new JCW will not be driven that day ( did I mention it's STILL ON THE BOAT?) there, now that I am doing my part I feel soooo green

 

I appreciate that. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the 1500-some-odd mile drive east to Cleveland to take you up on that offer. Not to mention I don't drink beer... Besides, last time I drove through that area I got a speeding ticket in Elyria on I-80, and that wasn't even in a MINI.

Again, good luck next weekend!

 

Hum i don't think so i just got my car and want to Motor all day long ! Looking for a twisty road ! SUV's need to stay home on that day !

 

+1
freakin' hilarious!
....still laughing

 

Forget that.... I'm driving the H2 to work...

Not really... I hardly drive it since I got my new mini.


Mark