R50/53 Impressions of an African MINI owner!!
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2nd Gear
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Impressions of an African MINI owner!!
***NOT A RANT!!***
Having grown up in Zimbabwe, lived in South Africa, England and Japan, the last 2 years I have spent in the USA have by far been the most interesting. Recent purchase of a new MINI has mulitplied this a hundredfold!
Coming from a place where people are just as obsessed with cars as in the USA, but where gas is $6 a gallon, a 1.6l engine is considered 'sporty' and V6's are reserved for luxury cars, reactions to our MINI have ranged from bizarre to hilarious. Hilarious being my father in law refusing to believe his 6' 7" frame would fit (you all can imagine his expression once inside), bizarre being a friend who, on looking inside exclaimed "it has a stereo and everything!" (HK package notwithstanding...) This is a car I used to salivate over, dream about - with no way in hell I would ever be able to afford the $38 000 an MCS costs there!!
I guess as a road cyclist and a MINI owner in the Mid-West (Cincinnati) it is a bit of a double whammy. People have been nothing but warm and pleasant to me (and for the most part come across as intelligent and well informed), but their reaction to bicycles on the road and small cars just amazes me! Showing them what happens to a MINI vs. an F-150 in crash testing leads them to remark "that's bull#$%^ - those pictures are fake!!"
So not a rant - more of a ramble about the passion that Americans seem to bring to everything, hobbies (this forum a perfect example), government, patriotism. The reaction of other MINI owners has been awesome, people stop to chat, genuinely interested in you and what you have to say - and all this arises out of something as simple as owning the same type of vehicle... imagine if everyone who owned an F-150 would do the same thing!! My road rage has gone out of the window, that's for sure, I just wish there was a way to spread the feeling!!
Having grown up in Zimbabwe, lived in South Africa, England and Japan, the last 2 years I have spent in the USA have by far been the most interesting. Recent purchase of a new MINI has mulitplied this a hundredfold!
Coming from a place where people are just as obsessed with cars as in the USA, but where gas is $6 a gallon, a 1.6l engine is considered 'sporty' and V6's are reserved for luxury cars, reactions to our MINI have ranged from bizarre to hilarious. Hilarious being my father in law refusing to believe his 6' 7" frame would fit (you all can imagine his expression once inside), bizarre being a friend who, on looking inside exclaimed "it has a stereo and everything!" (HK package notwithstanding...) This is a car I used to salivate over, dream about - with no way in hell I would ever be able to afford the $38 000 an MCS costs there!!
I guess as a road cyclist and a MINI owner in the Mid-West (Cincinnati) it is a bit of a double whammy. People have been nothing but warm and pleasant to me (and for the most part come across as intelligent and well informed), but their reaction to bicycles on the road and small cars just amazes me! Showing them what happens to a MINI vs. an F-150 in crash testing leads them to remark "that's bull#$%^ - those pictures are fake!!"
So not a rant - more of a ramble about the passion that Americans seem to bring to everything, hobbies (this forum a perfect example), government, patriotism. The reaction of other MINI owners has been awesome, people stop to chat, genuinely interested in you and what you have to say - and all this arises out of something as simple as owning the same type of vehicle... imagine if everyone who owned an F-150 would do the same thing!! My road rage has gone out of the window, that's for sure, I just wish there was a way to spread the feeling!!
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: SF Bay Area
Nice post, thanks for sharing. I needed a bit of good spirit at the moment 
Glad you are enjoying your MINI - would love to hear your impressions of al the places you have lived, must give you an interesting perspective
Glad you are enjoying your MINI - would love to hear your impressions of al the places you have lived, must give you an interesting perspective
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Key West, Florida
...it is a wonderful thing when something as simple as a machine brings people from diverse backgrounds together to share stories and just be nice in general....in Key West, we have a bumper sticker : One Human Family....
Mick
Mick
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Westminster, Colorado
I can second that sense of sharing. Just today, a chap from Ireland was passing out flyers for a local concert and sat down by our table to take a rest. We were chatting about my newly delivered Mini, and he actually slid over and joined the conversation. From being complete strangers, the conversation went from the Mini Cooper to politics of Ireland to music, etc. etc. The Mini Cooper seems to be quite the ice-breaker and I am finding that folks find this car quite approachable and really open up!! Thanks for sharing your story, TeddyB!!
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Cincinnati
Hi there! Where abouts do you roam in Cincy? A couple of weeks ago around noon, I saw a brand spankin new space blue/silver MCS turn onto the street by the Lowes off Colerain. I was out for lunch with friends so I wasn't in my MINI, but I did wave, but didn't expect the person to look at me in a Toyota truck
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1st Gear
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From: Carlsbad, CA
Hey TeddyB Thanks for the great post. It made my day.
I understand your comment about the Mini VS an F-150 crash test. I run the IT Department for a large construction company that has about 200 of those F-150's and everytime one of those drivers sees that picture on the wall in my office they ask me if it is a joke. They just can't believe it and I usually hear the same comments you do!
Welcome to the USA
I understand your comment about the Mini VS an F-150 crash test. I run the IT Department for a large construction company that has about 200 of those F-150's and everytime one of those drivers sees that picture on the wall in my office they ask me if it is a joke. They just can't believe it and I usually hear the same comments you do!
Welcome to the USA
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2nd Gear
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Originally Posted by MandaBoo
Hi there! Where abouts do you roam in Cincy? A couple of weeks ago around noon, I saw a brand spankin new space blue/silver MCS turn onto the street by the Lowes off Colerain. I was out for lunch with friends so I wasn't in my MINI, but I did wave, but didn't expect the person to look at me in a Toyota truck
6th Gear
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Prescott, AZ, USA
Really great introduction! Welcome to NAM.
I have found out that everyone likes MINIs... at least I haven't had someone say anything close to derogatory about it. What shocks me is what a great ice-breaker with the ladies it is, wish I had one way back when.
Zimbabwe, guess things have changed...
I have found out that everyone likes MINIs... at least I haven't had someone say anything close to derogatory about it. What shocks me is what a great ice-breaker with the ladies it is, wish I had one way back when.
Zimbabwe, guess things have changed...
3rd Gear
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Holland, Michigan
TeddyB -
Thanks for the great post. You've got a fellow road cyclist and MINI enthusiast in West Michigan. I moved one county south into a more 'rural' area and the cars on the road are much understanding of cyclists and MINI's
Road rage for me has really become road chuckle as I chuckle under my breathe at irrate SUV drivers!
Welcome to NAM!
-Randy
Thanks for the great post. You've got a fellow road cyclist and MINI enthusiast in West Michigan. I moved one county south into a more 'rural' area and the cars on the road are much understanding of cyclists and MINI's
Road rage for me has really become road chuckle as I chuckle under my breathe at irrate SUV drivers!
Welcome to NAM!
-Randy
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2nd Gear
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Originally Posted by 89AKurt
Really great introduction! Welcome to NAM.
I have found out that everyone likes MINIs... at least I haven't had someone say anything close to derogatory about it. What shocks me is what a great ice-breaker with the ladies it is, wish I had one way back when.
Zimbabwe, guess things have changed...
I have found out that everyone likes MINIs... at least I haven't had someone say anything close to derogatory about it. What shocks me is what a great ice-breaker with the ladies it is, wish I had one way back when.
Zimbabwe, guess things have changed...
Zimbabwe... things have changed... one day it would be good to drive a Mini there though - wonder how it would handle game park roads!!
2nd Gear
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Hard for me to say welcome, when i've hardly been around NAM long myself, but your sentiments were great, I also love to see people's reactions when they get in the car and feel how roomy and hilariously fun it is.
I do feel the need to comment though, on the MINI vs. F-150 crash. For the record, that is not a crash test of an F-150 vs. a MINI at all, but an IIHS (www.iihs.org) offset test of a MINI into a barrier and an F-150 into a barrier. It is NOT the same as an F-150 hitting a MINI by any stretch, if it were a case of an F-150 striking a MINI, the results would be quite different. What the crash tests do show is that an F-150 supplying all of the crash energy does not keep the occupant compartment as intact as the MINI has done in its test. It is a way of evaluating the relative safety of cars in their respective vehicle classes. If an F-150 would strike a MINI, with approximately 2x the mass of the MINI, the MINI would see a much more substantial car crash than the person in the F-150 and the injury potential would likely be very different to the two occupants.
That's not to say the the MINI is at all unsafe. For it's size, I believe it is amazingly safe. But, unfortunately since the rest of America needs to drive enormous vehicles, we still fall victim to the laws of physics.
Sorry to be somewhat off topic, but I had to chime in. If only we could teach everyone to enjoy sharing the road as much as the people in the small fun cars...
I do feel the need to comment though, on the MINI vs. F-150 crash. For the record, that is not a crash test of an F-150 vs. a MINI at all, but an IIHS (www.iihs.org) offset test of a MINI into a barrier and an F-150 into a barrier. It is NOT the same as an F-150 hitting a MINI by any stretch, if it were a case of an F-150 striking a MINI, the results would be quite different. What the crash tests do show is that an F-150 supplying all of the crash energy does not keep the occupant compartment as intact as the MINI has done in its test. It is a way of evaluating the relative safety of cars in their respective vehicle classes. If an F-150 would strike a MINI, with approximately 2x the mass of the MINI, the MINI would see a much more substantial car crash than the person in the F-150 and the injury potential would likely be very different to the two occupants.
That's not to say the the MINI is at all unsafe. For it's size, I believe it is amazingly safe. But, unfortunately since the rest of America needs to drive enormous vehicles, we still fall victim to the laws of physics.
Sorry to be somewhat off topic, but I had to chime in. If only we could teach everyone to enjoy sharing the road as much as the people in the small fun cars...
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2nd Gear
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Originally Posted by Iggy-MCS
Hard for me to say welcome, when i've hardly been around NAM long myself, but your sentiments were great, I also love to see people's reactions when they get in the car and feel how roomy and hilariously fun it is.
I do feel the need to comment though, on the MINI vs. F-150 crash. For the record, that is not a crash test of an F-150 vs. a MINI at all, but an IIHS (www.iihs.org) offset test of a MINI into a barrier and an F-150 into a barrier. It is NOT the same as an F-150 hitting a MINI by any stretch, if it were a case of an F-150 striking a MINI, the results would be quite different. What the crash tests do show is that an F-150 supplying all of the crash energy does not keep the occupant compartment as intact as the MINI has done in its test. It is a way of evaluating the relative safety of cars in their respective vehicle classes. If an F-150 would strike a MINI, with approximately 2x the mass of the MINI, the MINI would see a much more substantial car crash than the person in the F-150 and the injury potential would likely be very different to the two occupants.
That's not to say the the MINI is at all unsafe. For it's size, I believe it is amazingly safe. But, unfortunately since the rest of America needs to drive enormous vehicles, we still fall victim to the laws of physics.
Sorry to be somewhat off topic, but I had to chime in. If only we could teach everyone to enjoy sharing the road as much as the people in the small fun cars...
I do feel the need to comment though, on the MINI vs. F-150 crash. For the record, that is not a crash test of an F-150 vs. a MINI at all, but an IIHS (www.iihs.org) offset test of a MINI into a barrier and an F-150 into a barrier. It is NOT the same as an F-150 hitting a MINI by any stretch, if it were a case of an F-150 striking a MINI, the results would be quite different. What the crash tests do show is that an F-150 supplying all of the crash energy does not keep the occupant compartment as intact as the MINI has done in its test. It is a way of evaluating the relative safety of cars in their respective vehicle classes. If an F-150 would strike a MINI, with approximately 2x the mass of the MINI, the MINI would see a much more substantial car crash than the person in the F-150 and the injury potential would likely be very different to the two occupants.
That's not to say the the MINI is at all unsafe. For it's size, I believe it is amazingly safe. But, unfortunately since the rest of America needs to drive enormous vehicles, we still fall victim to the laws of physics.
Sorry to be somewhat off topic, but I had to chime in. If only we could teach everyone to enjoy sharing the road as much as the people in the small fun cars...
You are absolutely right and thanks for setting the record straight!
6th Gear
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: Boerne/SAtown TX
hello,
i really enjoyed reading your post. Quite an adventure being all over the world, but i truely understand, I was born in Germany, lived in Austria, and Turkey (beautiful Mediterinian side) adn been here since 1995. Observing and experiencing different cultures definetely broaden your vision. But among all these countries i lived in I LOVE MY US ... Welcome on-board, don't be a stranger, great people here. Anyways back to topic...
i really enjoyed reading your post. Quite an adventure being all over the world, but i truely understand, I was born in Germany, lived in Austria, and Turkey (beautiful Mediterinian side) adn been here since 1995. Observing and experiencing different cultures definetely broaden your vision. But among all these countries i lived in I LOVE MY US
... Welcome on-board, don't be a stranger, great people here. Anyways back to topic...
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