Hi All,

After I test drove the MINI Cooper S I fell in love and insisted that my friend test drive one himself. We went to the dealer and hopped in an electric blue S. It had just rained, we had 4 people in the car and and were going about 80 downhill and saw a stop sign about 60 yard in front of us, my friend stepped on the brakes and we slid about 10 feet past the stop sign. Granted it was raining and we had a full house, not like it made me cancel my order or anything, I was just curious if anyone else has experienced this.


P.S. The car did stay surprisingly straight while it uncontrollably slid for about 130 feet or so.

 

No, that has not happened to me to such an extent, but yesterday I was testing my Mini to see if it would. I live in Maryland and if you are from Maryland you know that it has rained like twice in the past two months (the stupid draught that is making us all unable to wash our Minis at home). But it actually did rain alot yesterday....the first time it has rained really hard since I have had the Mini (which is more than a month). I was on I-95 and it was like a monsoon. I didn't have any big problems what-so-ever but granted we weren't really going downhill, there was only two of us in the car and no immediate stops aside from the idiots in front of me slamming on their brakes. There was one point where I felt it harder to stop the car than usual but it didn't veer off in any other direction, but I was expecting at least something to happen with all the oil being brought out of the pavement because of the new rain.....


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Pure Silver/Black Cooper.....premium package, sport seats, fog lights, spoiler, 16" 5-spoke wheels....I would MUCH rather be MOTORING! :smile:
DeeDee is a dream come true!

 

Doing 80 downhill in the rain with only 60 yards to brake, what do you expect a miracle :evil:

 

here, here!

 

The MINI's braking/traction systems are terrific but they do not compensate for driver induced stupidity at all. Active safety systems such as ABS, EBD, CBC, ASC, etc are there with the primary intent of helping the driver make the best out of a potentially ugly situation (Avoid an accident).

A lot of people out there have this belief that active safety systems will make up for unecessary risks and bad judgement behind the wheel and nothing could be farther from the truth.

The MINI has the handling and braking reflexes of a fine German car, but still one should excercise uttermost caution when driving and expect the unexpected...there are many idiots in our roads.

Be glad that your close call in that slipery road came to a happy end. Just keep this experience in mind for next time you decide to play Mario Andretti on a public road.

 

What I can not tell from the original scernario is if the Anti-Lock system activated. I can not image why it would not. If it did activate I would think that the pulsations from the system through the brake pedal could feel something like skidding. Even with it activated it would take a while to stop given the conditions (speed, weight, downhill).

To Velocity2878: I am wondering about the performance of the other electronic braking safety systems. Could you try your stunt again and this time turn the steering wheel hard to the left or right after you start the slide and let me know what happens? Just Kidding !!!!!

I am actually interested in the performance of some of these systems if anyone has a comment.

 

The force was with you!!! Good to hear that MINI performed so well.

LMini - If you have any bad experiences with leaves in the fall, please post it. I'm from the East Coast, but now live on the West Coast, I can remember having quite a few problems with freshly fallen leaves in the morning, especially wet.

 

I posted this statement out of curiosity with no intent to upset anyone. I was not driving the car, my friend was driving the car. It was a test drive and my friend was understandible excited to be driving the car, after the incident occured he slowed down realizing the road conditions. I personally love the Mini thats why I bought one. I also learned a lesson through this incident and feel that other spirited drivers might learn through my experience. The lesson is that the MINI is an outstanding machine, however it is still just a car so dont go to crazy with it.

 

Gidget...will do....I had a problem last year with my Honda slipping on wet leaves when I was going around a corner...and not that quickly...so I will be curious to see how the Mini handles a situation like that. But also considering that it rains about once every 2 months here now, the next obstacle I could be looking forward to is snow!

 

>>Gidget...will do....I had a problem last year with my Honda slipping on wet leaves when I was going around a corner...and not that quickly...so I will be curious to see how the Mini handles a situation like that. But also considering that it rains about once every 2 months here now, the next obstacle I could be looking forward to is snow!

 

>>The MINI's braking/traction systems are terrific but they do not compensate for driver induced stupidity at all. Active safety systems such as ABS, EBD, CBC, ASC, etc are there with the primary intent of helping the driver make the best out of a potentially ugly situation (Avoid an accident).
>>
>>A lot of people out there have this belief that active safety systems will make up for unecessary risks and bad judgement behind the wheel and nothing could be farther from the truth.
>>
>>The MINI has the handling and braking reflexes of a fine German car, but still one should excercise uttermost caution when driving and expect the unexpected...there are many idiots in our roads.
>>
>>Be glad that your close call in that slipery road came to a happy end. Just keep this experience in mind for next time you decide to play Mario Andretti on a public road.
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HERE HERE!!!

 

>It had just rained, we had 4 people in the car and and were going about 80 downhill and saw a stop sign about 60 yard in front of us, my friend stepped on the brakes and we slid about 10 feet past the stop sign. Granted it was raining and we had a full house, not like it made me cancel my order or anything, I was just curious if anyone else has experienced this.
>>
>>
>>P.S. The car did stay surprisingly straight while it uncontrollably slid for about 130 feet or so.

Two observations:

1. The ABS, DSC, and all of the other acronyms worked perfectly (you stayed in a straight line, didn't hit anything...)

2. Since a typical High Performance car (only thing I could find quickly was an Infinity M45 road test; Road & Track, October 2002) takes about 239 feet IN THE DRY to stop from 80mph, I think that little MINI did damn fine!

 

Velocity - since it was the first time your friend drove the car - that could account for the way the brakes worked. I know I am always nervous the first time I drive a car, and trying to get familiar with all the newness.
In general, I have found the brakes great on my Mini - my first car with ABS. I can feel an improvement over my old car, that had no problems.