When I went to MOTD5, I hauled a family of four and all our gear for a long weekend - of course, I cheated by using my cargo platform...

But today, I set a new personal best for INTERIOR space utilization...

What's inside?


Any guesses?


Let's drop the top...



Ah-Ha!

It's my new Kumho Ecsta SPT 215/45R17's mounted on my other set of bullets...



It was really pretty amazing. They fit like they're made to go in there. Seats folded down, a blanket to protect the MINI, cardboard discs to protect the wheels from each other, seats back to hold them in place, they didn't shift at all. Top goes up and down, it's perfect. No visibility out the back, but what else is new.



So for anyone who says an MCS doesn't have a spare,
I have FOUR.

So I've thrown down the gauntlet. What have YOU hauled in YOUR cabrio? Photographic evidence preferred, but we'd like to hear your stories, even without the pics to prove it...

 

Nice pics!

No pics, but when we went to MOTD5, we started by spending a week in Indiana with family(including having to pack for a funeral), then MOTD5, then another week of travel around Tennessee and Kentucky. While it was just my wife and I, there was quite a bit of luggage. We have a large suitcase that is the same color as Gromit, and on the drive home found a smaller one the same color, so we added an extra suitcase to the load. We had to load the car by putting the top down-but we had already figured out that was the easiest way to load the car anyway. Like you said, no rear visibility, though.

 

Blimey, love the red calipers! They look great on there!

 

I wonder if MINI thought that out...the fact that 4 wheels/tires just fit in the back! Cool! Never thought I would be able to do that.

 

 

but they fit the topic so well

 

If you fold down the front & back passenger side seats, 8' molding will fit between the bottom of the windshield and the boot. That was a nice surprise.

 

I LUV the Christmas Tree pic - I had seen that before, but forgot...

davavd - wow - cool to hear about the 8' length... I usually haul my lumber in the van... but good to know I could pick some stuff up in the MINI is a pinch...

 

Me, too, but it wasn't here. I went planning to leave the boot lid open, like a pick-up , but didn't need to.

 

I have an inflatable kayak which fills the rear seat folded down. Kayak paddles detach into two and set in the front seat well with fishing gear. Hiking gear,vest, waders,pump for boat sit on the front seat. Other accessories fit in the boot. I can also carry my bike on a bike rack. And they call these "MINI'S"

 

My wife and our four year old daughter drove from central OK to south Jersey for a nine day vacation down the shore (you have got to have a convertible at the shore..) Driving was three days there, nine days vacationing, and three days back. The luggage included the normal clothes, toiletries, toys and such. I also brought my bike, cycling gear (helmet, shoes, clothes, etc.) and a stroller strapped to the MINIFINI bike rack. The only real trick was on the way down. We had to have it packed such that the top could go down for the roll into town when we got there, that meant no using the back deck for storage.

It was pretty tight getting there, especially when the usual vehicle for this trip is an Isuzu Rodeo. In the end, a little help from Space Bags went a long way, and having the MINI at the shore was well worth it.

 

I've fit in (not all at the same time):
1) 36" tv
2) 4 drawer filing cabinet
3) 36" CRT tv
various and sundry IKEA bookshelves/etc.
i'm sure none of it was legal, and the top did have to be down...

 

one cat carrier, a whinning college student, luggage for two, folding bird stands, (and a partridge in a pear tree...) No pictures tho. I'm usually ready to murder someone by the time I get them all in and ready to go!! The good news is having the top down I can just sort of throw everyone in and don't have to crawl around in a hardtop car trying to organize it all.

 

My Mother-In-Law

 

^ Ouch. . . do you have to fold down any seats?

 

That wouldnt be much fun then

 

Did you fold her up in the boot??

 

The largest item I've had is a 12 foot palm tree in the back seats. The root ball filled up the entire space and I had to move the front seats way foward. The tree itself dwarfed the height of the car. It was a sight to see. I had tons of people taking cell phone photos as I drove home from Lowe's.

My wife and I took a cross-country camping trip from Florida to California and back. We had a wedding to go to out in California, so we decided to take a month off and enjoy ourselves. The tent and all the camping gear fit perfectly in the boot (with some creative packing), and our clothes (including suit and formal gown) and pillows were in vaccuum bags in the back seat, along with our full-sized cooler. Everything fit underneath the wind deflector and found that it worked exceptionally well at sandwiching our wet towels so they could airdry. We had a great time on the trip and were amazed at how comfortable we were in the car despite the 12 hour days behind the wheel.

I'll have to see if I can find the photos of each.

 

I raised the boot by releasing the two levers, and she sat in there.
Awkward at the toll booth though, as I tried to convince the collector
that it was my performance exhaust making the sounds.