I was out today driving my mother's A4.... and suddenly it hit me

Does anyone realize that whenever you are out in the MINI, it seems that you are always driving faster than the family car...

my mother's A4 3.0 avant is a quick car, not my car quick but plenty quick, good comfortable, and at speed it feels slower than it actually is, im still driving slower, taking turns slower, and more worried about the economy of the car than outright blowing performance out of the A4 but whenever im out in the mini, im always speeding, passing people, and if someone decides to look at me the wrong way i school them....

does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

I can't remember the last time I drove my mother's car....

 

im 20, give me a brake!

 

I do that, too and I have a Cooper. I do think the temptation is greater in an MCS though.:smile:

 

I hate to admit it but all the stuff except the "mother's car".......GUILTY!

 

that ive not recieved a ticket in 8 months of MCS o'ship is a miracle. yes I regularly push my car, drive it like I stole it. I love flyovers

but then sometimes I like to cruise at med rpms, let the exhaust gurgle, wave back at the kids.... :smile: gawd I love my car (despite some shop time.) :smile: Giddyup, jim-bo

 

I usually drive 10 to 15 miles faster on a stick shift car than an auto.
BTW A4 3.0Q is a heavy car, no wonder you feel lot slower.

 

Nope. I have always driven other peoples' cars more cautiously than my own so it is not an issue. But I don't even drive my MINI very fast. I hope because it is still within the break-in period and not because I have lost interest in fast driving although that is possible. However I like the Audi A4 very much (not the current front end styling though--yes, I realize it is supposed to express thrusting power).

 

any car with a comfortable ride will feel slower than it is.

the mini is like a vette, you feel the road, thus, you feel like your going faster than you are.

 

hummm...my MCS feels like it's going 35mph when going expressway speeds.
when the car is balanced and has tremendous headroom to its
handling limits, it feels much slower.

 

runflats still? i still have mine!!!

i like the bumpy rough ride my car has, its aobut the same as my vette was, and i love it!!!

 

Interesting observation and I hope to experience it (I have never been invited to ride in a Corvette). Yet I wonder if some cars feel as though they are going faster because they allow the driver to see more of the pavement rushing towards them. So perhaps a tall car would feel as though it were going slower than a low car--especially one with a sloping front such as a Carrera or Elise?

Perhaps Kyrian was suggesting that the MCS inspires more spirited driving than other cars (even those as competent as the Audi A4) rather than that the MCS feels as though it is going faster even though it is not. I believe participants on NAM have commented on how their MINIs are deceptively fast--travelling much faster than they realized.

Happy motoring!

 

Ditto that. Mine is stock and it feels as though it is doing 45 when it is actually doing 70. The positive steering, controlled dampers, sound insulation, and high hoodline conspire to a sense of invulnerability.

 

i see the opposite.

i seel like i'm going faster than i actually am. I'm not sure its because i drove the vette for a while, its still decieves me, but the Buick Rahn-Day-Voo in the garage does 100 and it feels like i'm not speeding!!!

 

I notice that too. I'm typically going 20km faster than I think I'm going. For awhile I thought the speedo must be wrong but noticed I'm passing everybody so I must be going a bit on the fast side.

The car is so well balanced....

 

I dont have that problem, the mothers car is a 350Z TRACK edition.

it out accelerates, out brakes (14'' brembos) and yes, out corners my MCS.

 

My Mini handles overall better between 80-90 mph. It is as if I'm in a time-warp with everything around me standing still yet passing by.

Are we in Kansas, yet, Toto?

 

Hmmm, I drove my mothers car recently. Flew down for a visit. Chauffered her about. She is 75 and lives in a seniors community. She has an Acura 3.2 CLS. Compared to the Mini it is a sled. Feels big and slow and imprecise. The Mini feels faster. Nice and low and tight and precise. I often find myself sizing up other cars in the Mini. But most of them don't rate anything more than a brief look. I do like zipping through the corners in the Mini. Don't mind sliding it. Would never do that in the CLS. Some times I have felt like I am going fast down a tight back road but the computer says average speed is only 45mph.

 

After 50k miles I KNOW how fast I'm going in my MC. I do like the look of the speedo still though In the city,were I work, or around the small town and beach roads,where I live, I do the limit, on the highway, which accounts for 90% of the miles on my MINI I cruise at 10-15% over the limit.
The mounties give us 10%.

I do however get up to speed quickly, and hold speed well into corners, on and off ramps, well ya know

On the deserted gravel back roads that I play on, the posted limit is 60MPH, but no posted limit on the corners

 

Exactly...and therein lies my problem.

 

I feel the same way and really have to watch it! My regular ride is a big Chevy pickup since I haul stuff to and from the farm a lot. Yesterday I had the Mini. Entering the Interstate I had a slow car in front of me and much faster traffic coming up behind...so I had to merge quickly. I floored it in third and quickly ran thru the gears till I was in the lead and out of the way of those who were no longer coming up behind me!

A glance at the speedo: 105mph! Foot off gas! Holy cow that car scoots!

 

i drive everything too fast