Just thought I'd share the experience of my 1200mi roadtrip to the Orlando area in our '06 MC. The total time was about 17.5 hours including about 1.5 hours for gas, eats, and pit stops. Overall, the car was great. I am no stranger to long trips in small cars either. I did an 18 hour roadtrip from Chicago to Austin once in my 350z. Straight. Alone. This time, I brought my fiance with to share driving duties

I live downtown, so we jumped on the Skyway and headed over to I-65 at about 4am Christmas day. Ran into some hard rain but still cruised along at 80mph. Rain stopped and we pretty much stuck the needle at [fast]mph through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. While troopers were absent through most of the stretch, (which explains why the blue-hairs were passing us in their Cadillacs at 95mph) the return trip was a nightmare thru Georgia and Tennessee. I don't think we went 5 miles without seeing a wolfpack. And they were dirty too, sitting on top of overpasses in tinted out unmarked Tahoes, radioing to the pack parked up ahead. So from I-75 to I-24, we had it only [a little fast] over. We managed to make it to Florida and back without getting pinched.

The only annoyance I had with the car was the wiper blades. I knew they were bad before, but having them on for hours at a time just amplified the problem. They wear out after a few thousand miles, and rub on the windshield to the point where I have black marks on the top of the drivers side. And the VVVVVVVVERRRUMMPPT noise every time the wiper passes. My god, I still have nightmares.

So we stopped in downtown Orlando one day at Mini. That dealership is really cool. It's in an old loft type warehouse with polished concrete floors, exposed ductwork and brick. And they had that thing packed with Minis. They changed the blades and topped off the fluids for us. Nice guys. By the way, Orlando was pretty much the only city where we saw minis. And if you are into keeping score, none waved.

Everyone we spoke to was shocked we took that "tiny" car all the way there. Sizewise, I think it was great. We had one large duffel bag in the boot and the back seat was completely open, so we were able to recline and get some sleep. On the road, all the truckers were respectful as they normally are. I never felt fear of being run down as some people do. Mileage was about 30mpg. I suspect running at [fast]mph for much of the trip sucked a lot of fuel. One other note about traveling on holidays, Waffle House was the only place open for food. Which can be good or bad, depending on if you like smelling like grits and bacon grease for the rest of the car ride. So keep that in mind

That's pretty much it. I guess if you were considering a long trip in the Mini, go for it.

 

Great write up - I really enjoyed it.

 

Nice writeup,
i did a similar trip from Washington DC to Orlando for Christmas as well, left Thurs midnight and got in Friday Morning.. Spent Sat at the Downtown MINI store, bought some touchup Paint and took pics of my MINI downtown infront of the store.

It is a nice concept. But yeah.. no waves when driving around town, and I noticed most of the MINIs there were sporty configurations, compared to my DS/S MCS w/chrome. So lots of looks when people saw my MINI.

The trip was good, heavy rain, and passed the Tornado path on the way back up on the 26th in North Florida. filled up only twice for the 900 mile trip, got about 400+ miles to the tank.

I drove by myself, so everyone thought I was nuts, but it was a good surprise for my family that lives down there. Especially seeing all the gifts i stuffed in the MINI, and still had room for more..

I didn't get a top -off or blades, shouldn've asked I guess..
The fun part was just exploring the area in the MINI, I grew up there and remembered some good roads to try out.

I still think the friendliest MINI group I've experienced is in the Metro DC area.. but I'm biased to that..

Glad you enjoyed the trip.. and it was a safe and non-ticket event one at that.

I agree with superc00per, long trips in MINI.. go for it!

 

Great road trip report, Been there done that route, burned the t-shirt LOL

FYI, the NAM cops may tag your post for the talk about breaking the speed limit, been there done that too. :(

Use RainX for your washer fluid, and your use of wipers will drop in half and at highway speeds I use the blades very little. Yes it cost more, but I use less of it.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the heads up. It has been edited.

On another note, I was selected for that way cool Motorby experimental ad billboard on 294. I'll let you guys know when I get the fob.

http://motoringfile.com/2006/12/30/m...nic-billboards

quote=ChicagoMini;1311688]Great road trip report, Been there done that route, burned the t-shirt LOL

FYI, the NAM cops may tag your post for the talk about breaking the speed limit, been there done that too. :(

Use RainX for your washer fluid, and your use of wipers will drop in half and at highway speeds I use the blades very little. Yes it cost more, but I use less of it.

Cheers![/quote]

 

Maybe you could put what on the back of my MINI on the BB on 294, back of my MINI says, "My Corner Office Really Corners" that would rock!

 

supercooper,

I enjoyed the trip to Orlando. It was like I was riding with you.

Thanks for sharing this experience. We have not taken any long trips in our Mini but plan on going to MOTD this year so we will get to enjoy this nice long ride.

 

Nice write-up Long road trips in the MINI are great. They're even better with a good passenger or in a pack of MINIs with radios.

I can't wait for the month of May... MOTD and NL2NB!!!! A lot of motoring crammed into a few weeks

thanks for sharing superc00per.