This morning some whack job chose to push into my lane on a wet highway. I reacted and the backend gave a little fishtail. It all resolved quickly to full control, but got my attention.

I haven't tried autocross or track driving, but have pushed the car in curves here and there when the conditions were safe and sane. It seems that the MINI tends to hop a bit sideways, but that neither the front nor back wants to break loose.

Would like to hear from those with experience really pushing the limits. What is 'normal' for the MINI? I'd like to know what to expect. This morning's exercise was was truly unexpected and way too exciting for a city street.

 

I went from a 1995 BMW 540 with the V8 which is a very stable ride to my 07 "S" and I found it to be very skittish at first but you will get used to it after a while and before long you will not even notice it. A piece of metal on the freeway punctured one of the runflat tires last month and I replaced all four tires with standard tires and that also helped with the harsh ride, handling, and road noise.

 

The back end probably hopped sideways because you hit some standing water on the wet road while changing lanes and then got grip back again. Nothing unusual but it is good to experience the exexpected on a driving school's skidpad or an autocross circuit before you run into it in heavy traffic. I think short cars with stiff suspension make this more noticable.

 

I assume you had your DSC engaged at the time of this incident. The computer-controlled differential braking on individual wheels reacts to upsets far quicker than any human could. The quick recovery you noted was probably DSC-assisted. It's a great - and important - MINI safety feature.

 

Most front wheel drive cars just exhibit mind numbing understeer at the limit. The thing that makes the Mini more fun is that you can get the back end to come around like on a rear wheel drive car. However I would never consider it tail happy like a 911 or an S2000. In stock configuration it should be a very nice compromise of fun and secure handling.

rickdm

 

My experiences show the MINI to be fairly neutral in its handling characteristics and surprisingly adjustable for a FWD car. Mostly, a touch of understeer (mostly on corner exit) and lift-off oversteer available at-whim in a very controllable way. It's the best handling FWD car I have driven by a mile.

 

Rule 1: Minis are to be driven beyond the edge of grip in both wet and dry conditions so as to cause the drivers of other cars, and any observing police units, multiple syncopic effects.

Rule 2: Drivers that lack the skills necessary to observe rule 1 should trade their Minis for Buick Regals previously owned by little old ladies so that their adaptive CPUs are properly educated.

 

Haha, Buick Regals... please... no!

Anyway, MINIs do have fairly precise handling... on a dry day do a slalom through the stripes on the road, alone of course... the handling and loss of traction is predictable...

I don't know how it is in rain in your state, but on Texas highways, the lines on the road are lower than the lane, creating a small "river." Normally, in light rain, it isn't a problem, but heavy rain can cause adverse handling characterisics. A change of tires will solve your problem.

In the city, however, I've noticed no poor handling in the rain. I had to conduct an evasive maneuver when some fool in a Mustang opened his door on a 40mph street almost into my MINI. That was some scary stuff... they should make that street no parking....

 

Minis do tend to be a little tail happy went pushed too hard especially in the wet! HPDE are very helpful in teaching you the limits and reactions that ur car can and will give in extreme situations. Most of the time u will learn quickly how to adjust and counter such wiggles if u willr

 

Thanks for input. Am happy to hear more. I'm not a Buick Regal fan. Merc Grand Marquis is my other car (now my wife's car). I'm not a skilled racer, but have lots of time on snow and ice in my trusty old '56 Chevy and '63 Valiant. Does that count?

Anyway, I'm having a ball gradually finding the edges of traction on known corners in my area. Maybe I tapped the brakes a bit too hard on wet pavement and broke the back end loose. I don't have DSC that I know of. It's a no-frills Cooper.

 

haha they're RWD of course it does. A RWD toyota long bed PU is my deep snow beater vehicle, and with chains can get me thru just about anything.

 

I had lots of fun time using handbrake in an empty car park yesterday. I am glad that my Mini is quite tail happy in snow and very easy to control during handbrake turn.

 

I have got to find myself some snow here in Alabama. I never had more fun than when playing in empty parking lots during Omaha winters.

 

I haven't autoX or tracked the MINI - yet (it's the S.O.'s car and she exercised her veto). But autoX or empty parking lot is a great way to experience your car's handling limits. Here are some tips from Tiff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPnGjdZi7bY

 

If you brake hard while turning, the weight shifts to the front wheels and the tail can swing around. I invoked a little too much of this effect sometime ago.

If you add a stiffer sway bar to the rear, without doing that to the front, the MINI can become even more tail-happy.

 

Hard cornering is a state of mind, reaction to hard cornering is just plain fun

Mark

 

I asked a lot from my MINI this weekend, and I was surprised it responded so well.

The situation: in the right lane of a 4 lane undivided highway at night. running 65 mph (legal), one hand at 12 o'clock on the steering wheel, low beams for an approaching car. Road was damp, but no standing water.

Hello! Large dog, centered in my lane, going left to right. I snapped from 12 to 9 o'clock and back to 12 as fast as I could. Even with cruise on, the tail lifted and the nose dove right, then left, then settled even. My beagle did a flip in the back seat and both my passengers hit their windows with their heads.

I never felt a loss of control. In fact, I never felt more in control. I have never had a car that could jump sideways like a cat.

 

I am reminded of that car ad from a few years ago where there's a fly buzzing about in the car that the guy "swats" by making him hit all the windows.

 

While at Roebling for a track weekend we actually got a chance to play around a bit and I was able to get the back end to slide out quite predictably. It is a very strange feeling in FWD car but it was very controllable. Right at the limit if I gave it a bit more gas it would slide more a bit less and it would straighten out.

You may think you know what your car is capable of but if you've only ever driven on the street you have no idea.

 

Sold. We have an annual MINI driving weekend here in the Spring with professional instructors. I missed the last one due to company, but won't this year. If my sister comes back to visit, she'll just have to come along and drive, too.

 

That's odd. That's exactly opposite of what a Skip Barber Racing School video says should happen in a FWD car. More gas is supposed to cause understeer, let up on the gas for oversteer.

 

My daily drive includes a fast rural road with really big, rolling bumps. The MINI sort of hops once, then grips solidly. It will hop either with the front or rear, depending on the shape of the bump or curve. I think it takes exceptional suspension in a light car for it not to get bounced off-line on these bumps (I had a little sports Ford which managed it). The reassuring thing is that the MINI grips again straight away.
BTW adding a camber kit on the front reduced how much the steering got pulled around on the bumps.

 

I'm not gonna argue with the experts, just passing along my experiences.

 

This is the physics of what is happening: As the car is going around a corner close to the limit, if the driver lifts off the throttle or applies braking, the weight shifts to the front of the car. The decreased weight on the back tires causes them to lose traction relative to the fronts and the car will oversteer (fishtail). To stop the rotation, the driver can apply careful throttle to shift the weight backwards so the rear tires regain traction and the car will straighten out. If too much throttle is applied, then the front tires will lost traction and the car will understeer (push). If you watch the Burning Rubber video with Tiff Needell I linked to above, he is doing exactly this when he demonstrates the Scandinavian Flick. The only difference being that Tiff uses the steering to unsettle the chassis instead of the brakes or throttle. BTW, I highly recommend the Skip Barber driving schools to learn car control skills. It's the most fun you can have in a car with your pants on.

 

thanks for the vid smackboy1!