You can see by my signature...my first MINI was meek & mild. I hardly ever got bothered by the police. And the few times I was stopped, I was let go.

Well, this time, as you can see, this car will look more like a badass. With the Viper style racing strips all over the car and with black wheels. Although, imagine the cop pulling me over, expecting to find a 20 year old male behind the wheel to instead find a 30-something year old female!

So those with an aggressive looking MINI - do you get bothered by the cops more than you would in say a sparkling silver with a white roof do you think??

*remember no mention of speeding or reckless driving or this thread will get locked*

Unless you're driving in a manner or have a bumper sticker that would cause the officer to think that you're "deserving" of a ticket (I'm thinking "bad cop no donut" would not help you) I'm sure they will just ignore you.

While other MINI fanatics might notice the "aggressive" nature of your car, most other people will just think of it as a clown car or something cute. We love our cars but in general I think that the police are not going to profile you in your new car any more than the old one.

Just my 2 cents.

Nice color combo WannaMINI pics in the gallery.

I've pretty much blacked my car out... and with tint on all windows but have never come in contact with any of Cali's CHP or police. I drive spiritedly as well

I think alot of this depends on were you live and when you drive, its a rare month that i dont get pulled over going to work at 2 AM in the Mini, normally the officer (after seeing me in uniform) just lets me go and tells me they " have funding to do DWI Checks at this hour". Funny when I was going to work at that hour in my Lincoln LS or my Chrysler hemi 300 I was never stopped, so i am not so sure the car does not play a role.

A heavily modded car with tint, lowered, body kit, etc. will always attract the eye of Johnny Law, but especially so on any given boulevard in cities like Los Angeles.

That fear is exactly why I didn't go with red. I'll see what trouble I can get into with the black instead.

I scorched the retinas of a popo the other day with my driving lights and he gave me some crap, does that count?

Mine is lowered and loud, but ive been told its more on the classy side with the brushed rims and painted aero kit vs the "mean" side (workin' on that).... so no, even living around some of the most d1ckheaded cops in the Columbus suburbs, they dont really seem to look twice.... I do tend to drive like a grandma most of the time though lol

There is a vast quantity of teenage ricers around here to keep them busy, so that might help me some as well.

Hi WannaMini,

My car is very similar to yours and, so far, I haven't been pulled over. I was pulled over a couple of times in my previous MINI, which was certainly less *badass* than my current one, but it was always my fault for abusing my driving privileges.
I agree with jsargevt's comments above ... non-enthusiasts typically don't see MINIs as badass, they see them as cute, little cars <grrr>
And, in most places, unwanted attention from the police has less to do with the car you're driving and more with HOW you're driving it.

Yep that is it.

Never been an issue of being bothered, I've had a few ask me how I like it, hows the mpg, is there enough storage for my patrol rifle in the trunk, is it fast, etc.

I always look twice at MINI's, not because I am a cop, but because I am a MINI owner. And Yes a patrol rifle does fit in the boot. I do not profile hot cars as much as not hot cars. I was taught in the police academy "defective people drive defective cars".

No. Never.

Don't really think you can make a MINI look "bad ***" in a meaningful way. I've seen a couple of examples here in the forum that come close, but even the Racing MINI's don't really strike fear in the hearts of the average citizen and not within the eyes of most LEO's. What you do on the road however can get their attention, 95 in a 65 zone or 60 mph on Main Street with pedestrians scattering for cover will arouse their ire no matter how bland your MINI looks. This does not take into account window tinting in black out look or exhaust system that would wake the dead I put some white viper stripes on the bonnet and while photographing it an airport cop shouted "neat looking car" so I guess it could be said that cops did take notice, but not in an aggressive way.

Well, I must be defective then.

Actually wannamini.. I've been told that many people (mainly females) consider those "racing" stripes to be very cute rather than aggressive.. lol

Good deal all!!

QFT

I tend to agree here. It's not how the MINI looks, it's how the driver performs. If you had a Mustang, Camaro, Corvette, WRX, etc., it would speak for itself because it's already interpreted as a sports car with HP and go fast in mind.

Now, the ricer thing. If you live in an area where everyone that owns a Civic races all the time, ANYONE that owns one will become a target by association. Having said that... if you live in an area where everyone drivers their MINI like mad, you're going to be a target by association.

One exception can be project cars. I'm referring to those that have several colors of paint because of replaced parts, or they are all primer gray or black. These drivers tend to have race on the brain, or they tend to drive more aggressively because they don't really care what happens if they get in a wreck. This is more the case in inner city environments than out in the country.

When I was stationed at Ft. Campbell, I had a Honda CRX that was in the process of being built into a show car, primer paint job and all. That thing was always siting on the side of the road in front of the blue lights, I pretty much sent an eighth of each paycheck streight to Clarksville PD.

On the other hand my MINI I drive it the same way, if not faster, and I am rarely bothered in Denver. When I do manage to get pulled over for some reason I always end up with just a warning. Once I got stoped in the mountians, the cop came up to my window and actually said "Never Mind" walked back to his squad car and drove away.

And YES MULTIPLE firearms can fit in the back of a MINI.

JumpingJackFlash...couldn't agree more! There are vehicles out there that scream "Neutral or Full-Throttle" and no in-between. They are expected to be doing something wrong, and most of the time, they are.

The MINI market is so vast, you have everything from 70 year old guys enjoying the road, to school teachers that think they are "cute." You also have the other part that only aesthetically modifies the car, with no care towards the go-fast, and some that do minimal to the exterior, and dump everything into performance. (I love MINI's to death, and anybody in any car can do stupid things,) Our "performance" is simply not in the same category as Mustang, EVO, WRX, F-Body performance.

Because of this, I do think police have a tendancy to overlook our cars, and I'm not complaining!!

Didn't MINI rank #1 in unreliability recently? I'll have to go figure out which list that was.... I know I get excited if the MINI starts in the morning.


Here's the link, looks like it's a tie.
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings...e-#page-anchor

Man that one hits the nail on the head. Next time you see some hoopty piece of carp wallowing down the road check out the driver & passengers. Try not to make eye contact.

I'm just sayin', I can get my acceptable minimum on just one 76 Ford Granada. That's all.

I've never had a problem with police in my town. My house is right by a very busy road where there are ALWAYS cops (90% of the time) and I always rev match downshift slowing down to lights and accelerate quickly to the speed limit, yet no problems. not to mentions R53's are not refined at all in the sound department. In sure the cops always hear my exhaust and supercharger. Plus my mini is blacked out and even more "tuner" looking.

As long as your not a maniac and speed you're good. (I would call my driving "spirited" and not wreckless at all)

but I could be lucky just cuz the town over is filled with riced out civics that are always vetting pulled over