Hello all. Long time reader first time writer. Any way I was wondering about the following scenario:
You're going north on a two-lane highway in a MINI
Wind blowing west to east
Semi (or tractor-trailer) heading south
When the Semi passes what effect does the wind have on a MINI, is it tossed around from the turbulence, or do you drive past without noticing a thing?
Also the OE alarm system, can it be programmed to chirp when the alarm is armed/disarmed?

Thank you for your help

 

Welcome to the writer's club!

I find the MINI to be very secure in the wind, and not tossed around by semis. After all, it is pretty heavy for it's size, low center of gravity, and it is proportionately the widest car on the road with it's wheels pushed out to the corners.

Pretty damn stable I would say. No worries mate.

Regards,
Red

 

dont notice a darn thing, cept how sticky the road feels under the MINI.

 

Truck ?, what truck !..........if you have the windows down you might notice it, other wise the MINI is like a rock out there on a windy open highway.

 

Thanks for the quick response! My current car is an 82 Toyota Corolla and it will move around even without a big semi going by.

 

A windy day with gusts over 45 MPH, you will feel it. But you're not going to get blown out of the lane or anything...

 

Actually, the Big-Rigs sway after my MINI passes! He He
Seriously, I was in a big windstorm in Brooksie, and I didn't notice the wind until I looked over to see where all the trash on the freeway was blowing in from. It was that stable.

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

 

To answer the other question, I don't believe that there is any way for the dealer to modify the alarm to chirp or honk or anything. Sorry.

 

>> Actually, the Big-Rigs sway after my MINI passes! He He

Have a good set of holidays folks.
John

 

The MINI has near ZERO wind noise for such a "square" shaped car. I have two MINIs and neither one of them has any kind of wind noise at highway speeds in the window seals...the MINI is a like a pressurized aircraft cockpit...amazing!

Big 18-wheeler rigs and their air turbulence do not upset the MINI at all. In fact the turbulence seems to even make the car more stable. I have driven with 4 rigs surrounding us....1 in front, 1 in back and two on each side...no problem at all...you don't feel their presence smooooth as silk.

The high speed stability dynamics of the MINI reminds us every time we are behind the wheel that we are driving a pure breed GERMAN car.

 

I have never found anything large come close and be felt in the MINI like in other small cars I have owned.
Most of the time I am passing everything else. Also wind is not usually a factor, I'd estimate it will need to be gusts of above 45 to 50 mph before anything significant can be felt.

 

you'll feel a suction if you're stopped at the left turn lane
and a semi drives by you at 40mph+. but that's the way it
is with almost any car unless you have aftermarket struts
and stiffen up the ride.

 

>>The MINI has near ZERO wind noise for such a "square" shaped car. I have two MINIs and neither one of them has any kind of wind noise at highway speeds in the window seals...the MINI is a like a pressurized aircraft cockpit...amazing!
>>
>>Big 18-wheeler rigs and their air turbulence do not upset the MINI at all. In fact the turbulence seems to even make the car more stable. I have driven with 4 rigs surrounding us....1 in front, 1 in back and two on each side...no problem at all...you don't feel their presence smooooth as silk.
>>
>>The high speed stability dynamics of the MINI reminds us every time we are behind the wheel that we are driving a pure breed GERMAN car.

i had a classic prius and that thing got knocked around alot. i test drove the new '04 prius and it was a little better than the classic prius and was a little wind noisy for a car supposedly has a lowest cd of any car, .26 cd. my '04 mini is very quiet and doesn't get knock around in the wind or behind or next to semi. you can actually go faster than you feel. don't know how those germans do it!!