Man I wish I had the chance to drive my Mini that much every day. lol I can't seem to make it home after work everyday on time. Always want to take the long road. lol

 

that this entire thread is about how to induce other drivers into dangerous situations?

Just a thought......


Matt

 

Why would we feel guilty? We don't make them do it. If they fall into it, that is their own stupidity.

 

Too True.........

 

I was the same way! Ten years without a ticket. Until.......

Road trip to AMVIV, 23 mph over. End of an era

Be careful out there!! :smile:

 

Absolutely! You want them behind you when they lose it, not along side or in front. Many in trucks try to push smaller cars around, so I see no moral issue in leading them to a true off road experience!

regards,
Red

 

I'm not asking them to try and keep up,nor am I speeding.If they want to try and keep up,thats up to them.Today I had a suv tailgating me,rural road,posted speed 40MPH,I'm doing 40,waiting for the 60MPH posting,hold 40 till I cross the sign post,down shift to 2nd gear and go to wot,buddy tries to keep up,but twisties are part of this road,and he is gone from my rear view,and I'm looking down the road.He is not my reponsiblity

 

Yes! Watching in your rearview mirror as a POS recovers from an impromptu 4 wheel drift is one of the many joys of owning a MINI

 

Gotta love those on-ramps! Don't mean to suggest that all SUV's drivers are untalented and rude drivers but the other day I was cut off by a HUGE Ford Excursion whose driver was obviously engaged in a telephone conversation (he was talking so I assume it was a hands-free setup). Why? Because he was also SHAVING at the time. With shaving cream. And a regular razor. At least he was only doing 50 mph on a relatively straight road with moderate traffic.

Took his tag, phoned it in and stayed the heck out of his way as I didn't want to find out if he was reading the morning paper as well.

 

I have seen people reading books/newspapers on the highway
I'm a pay attention,2 hands on the wheel,look down the road kind of driver.
I see the task at hand is to get away from these folks,and let the idiots who want to go 30% over the limit to go for it.If I see them in the twisties,and they want to keep up,well thats their business

 

had that experince with a fella who thought his Lexus SC 430 was the absolute mutts nutts. He went sideways trying to follow the MINI thru an offramp that I was accelerating thru...I'm positive he left skid marks, just not on the road...

Let's see, I paid $20K for my sports car, and you paid what? $65K?

 

I used to have a 99 Olds. 70mph was nothing. But in my 2005 MC 70mph seems a lot faster then before. With this feeling I just cant wait to go dust an unsupecting 6 or even a 8 clynder, Granted they can catch me but they wont have as much fun at 70mph. :smile:

Keeping it all safe
Dave

 

I don't necessarily trust the other driver to be able to recover from whatever "fun" they may try when they observe MINIs on off-ramps... Brothers and sisters, have compassion!

 

Its not all about MPH,staying within the limit,but getting there quick is what makes my day,and pulling away from everything on snow/ice covered roads,is the best fun

 

I have to agree with a lot in this thread. Took a nice, long day trip today. I live in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. So me and the WU decide to take a run to the coast.

First we took Supelveda south to Sunset blvd. Nice twisty road, but too much traffic to open the Mini up. Than, it was Sunset west to PCH. Even twistier now. SUV's all over the place. This is the same road that the WU always tells me to slow down on. Except now she is in a passenger seat with a big grin on her face . I have driven this road for years. My '89 CRX really used to tear it up, but nothing compared to the Mini . With one eye on the speedo, I am seeing myself taking 45 mph corners at 65+ (kids do not try this at home and obey the speed limit) without even trying .

By this time we are on PCH heading north. Drove all the way to Oxnard. A collection of MB's, Audi's, Porsche's, BMS's, etc in our wake. Long 50 mph posted sweeper were kids play at 80+.

Turned around in Oxnard and headed back. Nice dinner at Charthouse and than back the other way towards home. That is untill we decided to run up to Valencia to look at some cars.

Here is a funny part. An Acura dealer had a '04 MCS on the lot with 15k on it. They were asking $27,500. Isn't a brand new loaded one less that that? This is just a side note.

By this time we are calling it a day and heading home. West on Valencia Blvd. towards 5 freeway. Well, this schmoe in his SL500 blows by me towards the onramp to 5 south ( a nice right sweeper) cutting me off in the process. Well, well, well. With the nod from my wife, I droped the Egguinn into 2nd and just mushed the gas pedal. All the Rolex wearing wannabe saw was my tail lights as I passed him on the outside and disappeared.

Now, by all accounts I am on the low end of Mini's capabilities. A regular cooper convertible, with no engine or suspension mods (yet), running on regular runflats. And if I can embarrass a $90k+ car like that, well, shoot, I am happy. And the guys in the Benzos and SUV's are not.

Motor on!!!

 

Awwww....you should have rounded up the fancy-schmancies, formed a tight little circle in a Starsux parking lot....and broke into a rousing verse of horn-tooting "Kumbaya!"

Clover

 

That's tomorrow morning. See you there.

 

I stumbled onto this thread after posting elsewhere. The rearview mirror image I saw last week was not joyous.
The black pickup was trying to follow me. I managed to spurt ahead of the pack just before this wreck. I did not intentionally lead this driver, wrong place at the wrong time for him. But if I didn't drive defensively, and followed the left lane lemmings going the speed limit (or less), my daughter and I would have been killed [excuse me: fatally injured] between the truck and car in this picture. The police still don't have the cause of this accident. My angels fly fast enough!
The tactic of leading tailgating SUVs into curves is tempting. Leaving the scene without filling a report about how the SUV was shiney side down because of stupidity would be a disservce to MINI motoring. You think that driver would admit to it?

 

Kurt,

Having been in a similar situation, I've come to the conclusion that we (MINI drivers) have a bit of an obligation to resist using our MINI Super Powers around those who we know are likely to suffer loss (and potentially inflict pain) attempting to keep up. Big SUV's and powerful trucks seem especially [font='Times New Roman']susceptible, but they're not the only ones. Be kind to dumb animals. [/font]

 

I disagree, Drivers need to drive the road not the traffic. A MINI driver does this by instinct. The others are lemmings.....The show in the rear view is free of charge or responsibility.

If you want proof just watch brakelights on the interstate, you can watch the ripple in brakelights for as far as the eye can see. They brake only after the car immediately in front of them brakes.....You can spot the good drivers who hardly ever touch thier brakes because they slow by simply lifting off the gas when the car 3 or 4 cars in front hit thier brakes.

They just follow people MINI or not......It is not my responsibility to help them drive the road

 

Sage advice. I did not even realize I was doing it until I did it. I don't know what I would have done if the driver trying to keep up with me slid off the road. Yuck. (Is there a yuck symbol?)

 

Its odd, I've had the same experience, I usually don't brake for corners, I just downshift a little early and bring my speeddown for the curves. Appearently people behind me get annoyed because I"m slow down without the brake lights, so they'll be right up against my behind. Next thing you know the MINI is accelerating in the corner and they have to brake hard just to make it

 

I've got one thing to say: Daylight running lights. The first thing I did when I got my 05 MCS was tell the service department to program my car for dayling running lights. I'm sure they have saved me more time than I want to know from "large" vehicles pulling out in front of me.

 

The funny thing is that the stock MCS isn't all that "fast". What it does have is a very large sweet spot in accessible power, confident handling and "chuckability" that gives a large segment of owners a comfortable feeling in driving in a sporty manner. Just like the classic Minis (dog slow in a straight line), once you get to ANY turn in the road you had a tremendous advantage in lighter weight, handling communication with the driver, and the ability to change direction very quickly (different than just handling). They used to say that my old '91 Lotus Elan provided 90% of the drivers 90% of excellent handling 90% of the time (or something like that) and the MCS does that too. It's the combination of things that makes it a giant killer like the old ones - including that MINI drivers are just a bit more aware of the situation, enjoy being engaged in "driving" and have excellent visability to boot. They are also more attractive, smarter, etc

It's still no excuse to drive like a jerk, but I think that we are talking about different things here. Be careful out there!

 

I definitely see your point, believe me. I'm a huge believer in personal accountability, and I'm sickened by the blame game so many people play so well. That said, I think it's wise to temper my behavior with a bit of thought about potential consequences of my actions.

For example, let's say I encounter a moron in a Hemi whose behavior behind the wheel persuades me to lead him too deep and too fast into a turn. I make the turn no problem, but he loses control, spins across in front of oncoming traffic and has a high-speed collision involving multiple cars. Can I say that was not my fault? Yes and no. Clearly, I knew I could make the corner. And, he should have known whether he could make the corner. But I would not like to defend that position to the families and friends of the now dead third parties. This is why I try to remember to "be kind to dumb animals". The example above is admittedly extreme to help make the point. But, it could (and does) happen.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm going to drive both the road and the traffic. At times I'll drive aggressively. Situationally, I'll drive defensively. I'll (nearly ) always drive courteously. And, on occassion, I'll help people avoid doing something stupid. Like losing control of several thousand pounds of steel, plastic and rubber.

If people could get what they deserve without harm to others, I'd really have no problem with it. But since that's frequently not the case, I've had to soften my position a little. However, I do hope they get a good scare and learn something.