It isn't all car forums. Jeep forums are booming. The miata.net is still very strong. But you can see the difference in the vehicles and why. The newest Miata, the ND, is lighter, better looking, and faster than the previous generation. It is easily modified, and there is a huge amount of after market support. The opposite of what MINI has done. Miatas at the GAP had over 1000 cars this year. MINI has lost the enthusiast base. My first MCS was a 2003. We did MINIs at the Dragon through 2008. I had a 2003, TWO 2006s, a 2008, and a 2012 Countryman. My daughter has a 2013 Cooper. The 2014 and newer cars are less attractive, huge front overhangs, etc. You don't see the enthusiast base, the aftermarket support, the Autocrossing support, any of that as much anymore. Most of the MINIs I see now are 4 door automatics.

Back when this place started, people were modifying cars, developing aftermarket parts (not all good, mind you!) and doing cool things with MINIs. Heck I have multiple t shirts, hoodies, hats, books, posters, note pads, stickers, miniatures, models - a stuffed bulldog, you name it I probably bought it at one time or another. How many new MINI buyers are doing that now? How many even know who Paddy Hopkirk is?

I'm buying a new car in January. I went to miniusa.com and tried to spec out a car. Crazy expensive to get the options I want, and it just isn't as cool looking as it used to be. I'm probably going to buy a Miata instead. MINI lost me as a customer, and I suspect MINI lost many other enthusiasts along the way as the cars grew ever bigger, heavier, uglier, and more complicated. That's why the forums are dead.

I just dropped in here today to see if there was anything interesting posted about the new cars, looking for pics of nicely modded ones, anything to see if I could get some of that enthusiasm back that I used to have. Instead I found this thread and it just confirmed what I already thought. I'm actually sad now.

 

Well, my Clubman has SIX doors, and attractive women half my age approach me at the gas station and ask about my "cute" car. Much more satisfying than the angry, go to he*l rich fu**er glares I used to get when gassing up my Jag XK.

And the 8 speed automatic with paddle shifters, in Sport mode, is the best tranny I've every experienced in a car. And I've had a lot of cars, and rowed a lot of gears.

 

I believe most new mini owners buy the cars to drive to and from work or maybe to the store. They don't sim to be into weekend rallies or track time. It's a sham BMW is marketing the cars the way they are. They also keep making it bigger and bigger. Pretty soon it will be like all import cars every year larger until it a bus.

 

It's sad to see this place a lot quieter than I remember back in the early 2000's when my family picked up their 2003 MCS. I made some great friends from the rally's and meets I did back then, and we'd wave at every other Mini we'd see on the road. There was an excitement to have something different, and unique that I think is lacking with the larger Mini's (and owners buying them as their daily drivers). I still wave to every Mini I see when I'm driving my GP1, but honestly, I've only gotten one person to even acknowledge that I am also in a Mini! Hopefully as more 1st gen's fall into enthusiasts hands, and they become more rare, we'll get back some of that excitement and maybe have more Mini meets in my area - NJ!

 

Bear in mind also that the original branding and marketing campaigns were strongly anti-SUV. That was one of the things that attracted me. Small, relatively simple, easily modified (even though MINI would give you crap for doing so), awesome design (would you honestly say that about later models?), incredible handling and sportiness. Now, MINI MAKES SUV's, they are larger, the design isn't as good, interiors look busy, front ends of the smaller cars in the range are ludicrously long. The original ethos and branding were so radically different that they are now. IMO, that is why the forums are dropping in traffic. Folks come here to look up how to do stuff now. NAM and other MINI forums are turning into repositories, not discussions. The FB MINI groups are not much busier. IMO, it's the new products appealing to a different audience, and that audience isn't as gung-ho because the cars aren't - and the branding certainly isn't. No disrespect to newer car owners here - you guys are keeping the brand going.






Text on this one: LET’S BUILD A CAR FOR EVEL KNIEVEL. Let’s paint it red, white and blue. Let’s put a big number one on the door. Let’s prepare for takeoff. Let’s jump the rules. Let’s jump the status quo. Let’s jump SUVs. Literally. LET’S MOTOR.

And that original bulldog ad was just badass. If you are a newer MINI owner and never saw it...

You Tube

 

The European Facebook forums are pretty steady. I been on them alot more than here as of late. Much easier to post stuff on Facebook.

 

I've had two BMWs with that transmission. It is a nice automatic. The DSG in our previous A3 was better, but the BMWs were better driving cars overall. I saw a JCW All4 Clubman at the Dragon this past weekend. Lowered a bit, pretty nice looking. I'm car shopping, so I built one on the website. $47,000 dollars.

It looks like a Miata or a WRX are in my future. Maybe a BRZ. Not many fun options left out there for reasonable money.

 

And there you have it! $47K for a really nice MINI. Mine booked out at around $42K before incentives and dealer discounts. After taking my own Art of the Deal car buying advice and grinding out a good deal, my 36 month low mileage lease is about $360/month plus tax, coming in at exactly $399/month. And, of course, there's that $995 lease fee every time you enter into a new lease. If you want to mod, you need to undo it all prior to turning in the car at lease end. And the car has to be very clean when you turn it in or you get dinged, and if you don't lease or buy another MINI or Bimmer, you pay 400 bucks to turn your car in.

So, yes, the economics of getting into a bespoke new nice MINI, kitted out as you like it, don't make a lot of sense.... unless one is accustomed to shelling out a lot more for high line cars. I drove my Range Rover into the BMW/MINI store looking for a BMW, not even thinking about a MINI, when I spotted a Clubman and asked the sales guy what it was.... a whole new world opened up to me. Still grinning as I complete year 5 as a MINI driver. At $400/month plus entry fees. What can I say???

 

Its sad but it is what it is now and its also happening at few other car forums as well. Forum is where i met good car friends and learned a lot from forums. FB is just useless.

 

I think fB is useless in general. I joined an eMTB group and got chewed out for upgrading my wheel set as wasteful and consumerist. I was like really it's not like I took the stock wheel set and threw it in a dumpster, I sold it.

I deleted my Facebook after that.

 

@Nicefeet You sold it?? You nasty capitalist, you!

 

Yeah person went full on ballistic like I threw the stock wheel set in the trash.

If I was that rich I'd have a Porsche GT3 in the garage and two MINIs

 

GT3 phooey! Watched Leno's latest show this week. Save your coin for a Koenigsegg. Holy ************! (those are my thingies)

 

I'm on a number of Facebook MINI posts and they're pretty decent if you are looking for events. Sadly, they are pretty useless if you want real information .... lots of opinion, but not much data. I often refer them to this forum, but I doubt many actually take the time to research anything. Most folks on Facebook are looking for a quick and easy answer.
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Logged out of Facebook 7 months ago and haven't been back. Account is still there...I just don't log into it. People can still Messenger me, but no more social media idiocy...and I have so much more spare time.