I don't know about you, but I came from a rather pokey car to my new MCS. A 1997 VW Jetta 4cyl to be exact. Even keeping within the break-in window I find myself passing other cars simply because I now have some juice under the hood.

Not that I'm trying to show off or cause a dangerous situation, but this ability to move out with a slight depression of the loud pedal is addicting

 

Menace to society .

 

I know what you mean. Every time I press that pedal on the right, the darn thing just takes off! Its easier to drive this thing fast than it is to drive it slow (with traffic). But try to be careful. My goal is to drive the car smoothly at reasonable speed/rpms in traffic (not easy). So that, its just that much more fun, when I 'goose' it, when conditions permit.

 

I know what you mean. My license has been clean for over ten years, but under the right conditions, it is fun to watch objects grow smaller in your rear view mirror.

I especially enjoy drawing tailgaters into off ramps and watching them squeal out of control.

regards,
Red

 

I gotta try this

 

Better when they're behind you than in front! There's a sweeping left turn on a fly-over ramp near here. Its two lanes, and I easily pass most vehicles on the outside. I was coming up hard on the outside of a minivan who may have seen me coming and thought he was going too slow. He went into the turn too fast, got a little sideways, and I had to back-off till I was sure he wasn't going to need my lane before I blew by him.

The folks in minivans, SUVs, and large trucks with big tires, who have no idea what the limits of their vehicles are, amaze me.

 

I went from a heavily modded camaro to my JCW and I love it... passing is just too much darn fun!!!!

 

I have a 100 mile daily commute,90% 2 lane highway,I go for MPG,so when the roads are clear I cruise at 70MPH,posted is 65MPH.I get passed alot by suvs,4x4s and beaters,I don't care.But when the roads are snow covered and icy,I pass everyone:smile:

 

That is one of my patented maneuvers! I love it when they think that a little econo-box like a MINI is no match for their huge SUV! One of these days I am expecting one of them go actually go off the road and I wonder if I will turn around to check on them or drive on as if I were them and unaware of what incident has happened behind me that I had nothing to do with!

 

Now drawing them in is fun,off ramps are made for MINIs,go in hard,then pull away,not because they are slowing so they don't roll over,but because you are putting your foot into it,and going fasterThen you blow off the ramp,going faster than the traffic you are merging into

 

Yeah that really annoys the heck out of me. SUVs think they own the road. A lot of them don't slow down on 2 lane curved acceleration lanes or just curves in general. They just use both lanes - AND never look! I'm always passing them on these curves too - you just can't help not to. But they never look and think they get to use the whole road b/c they're big and don't know how to control their vehicle!

 

The suvs,minivans and 4x4s can't feel the road like we can,plus they are sold on the myth's that bigger is safer and all wheel drive means better braking.Both myth's have been proven wrong in many studies.
We need to watch out for ourselves,motor like our cars can,and show others small,well built,safe cars are the way to go

 

lol yucca. I had a guy tailgate me through a canyon in his turbo charged acura. I decided to show him what a mini could do. After a while I couldn't see him anymore and slowed down. He never caught back up so I got scared. I actually pulled over and waited until I he drove past. It was pretty funny how poorly his "pimped out" rsx handled, but I was glad he didn't wreck. I'm still not sure which one of us was more scared of his car.

 

I like the idea of leading the tailgaters on gonna try that one real soon - but I've got to remember to drive defensively too! Since the MINI reminds me so much of my motorcycles it doesn't hurt to have the same mindset while motoring!

I think a lot of the SUV lane hogging is because they haven't the foggiest idea where the perimeters of their vehicles are , half of them don't even know that they are encroaching on another lane!

 

Nor care

 

coming from someone with a HUGE stupid SUV, it is so true... the sides of my beast go in and out so i never know where they fall... so i try to stay in the middle, something that i cannot say about some of my counterparts.
oh and what goaljnky said- SO true of SUVs!

 

Soon you can park the SUV and have fun with Samantha! Sam will know where the lanes are.

 

I could not agree with you more. THE CAR CAN'T be driven slow. Now I am not talking about all out speed but I LOVE when she is in third or forth and running about 2800 RPM and punching it . I had a group of raised 4x4 s crowding in to my lane (their lane had to merge into mine) they wanted me to go to the back behind them and I HAD the right of way...So I gassed it and all I saw was the six or so 4x4s way back in my mirror (teaching them to respect the MINI )

 

Yes to defensive driving! Spouse-unit wondered, when she was following me in the Caravan the other day, why not leave the rear fog lamp on All the Time. Idea has some merit, though I've not been rear-ended yet... (I was flicking it on and off, so she would think something on the new car was broken, LOL shame on me)...

I had occasion to drive the MCS on the 2 snowiest, most dangerous days in January (one mission was to pick up my license plates at the dealer's, and I forget what the other one was, but it was important )... Anywho, MCS was fine, but I remember thinking about SUV's, as I watched them going too fast for their own good on the snow packed road, etc...

Thinking out loud here - Taxpayers fund the state driver license facilities, right?

Would taxpayers be willing pick up the tab if there were a SUV School, a voluntary (or mandatory ) driver education course for SUV owners to learn the capabilitys/limits/dimensions of their vehicles ???

I bet not. Can't even get a stupid school levy passed in my town (wait til those nay-sayers try and sell their house to the young couple who turns down the deal due to (unnecessarily) mediocre schools )... I guess folks are just short sighted, maybe it's a genetic thing?

It's much more fun to bi***... (complain) about the drivers who don't really have any place they might go to PRACTICE!

Just a thought or two, not a hijack - my beef with SUVs is more to do with resource management. I deal with the poor drivers/parkers just like I would if they drove a Smart ForTwo - give 'em PLENTY of space and Motor On.

Tatt

 

Coming off of the highway people always tailgate me... so I make sure to gun it when I hit the off-ramp into the turns, it really is funny to see the people behind you disappear and catch upto you again at the light. They look at you in disbelief.. it's almost like the MINI defies the laws of physics

 

Now that, I love... But, if you're turning RIGHT, you're GONE (magic vanishing MINI).

 

Ah, yes, the sport of kings! This provides me with endless entertainment. I especially love the big sweepers on freeway-to-freeway merge ramps. I regularly embarass some pretty nice rides this way, and I'm on stock suspension and runflats.

 

Hey, BRG, where are you? I like the transition from I580 West to I680 North--it's a similar situation, and I am always blowing by SUVs and the like in my '97 e36. Too much fun!

 

I have an MDX and the Mini. Guess what? They drive the same. No, the Acura doesn't hold the road as well.... But it's a front heavy front driver, and despite the mushy suspension, driving dynamics are pretty similar.... Setting the weight for the turns, dynamics on breeaking and wieght transfer...

But as someone with feet in both sandboxes, I find that the clueless SUV crowd would be clueless in any car. (Any one see the line up of BMWs and Mercedes driving in the left lane on 280 during a commute?) I think the SUV crowd is a bit worse than most because one is so disconnected from the true driving experience.... And they are so hard to see around. But from inside, you can see everthing so well...

Another item on the freeway onramps. When I got my Mustang back from the latest round of bank account depletion, I was doing what I always do in the Mini, hit the curves hard, and stomp the gas as the road straigtens out. Got sideways in a hurry! God, torque is fun! But with a full race suspension under a 1965 car that couldn't turn from the factory unless hit broadside by a bus, I shock the cr*p out of people, as I stick on the butts of BMWs and tons of other cars...... Or just set for the turn, and all they see is nothing, because with a suspension that can handle power and the power to use, I'm already gone! (All they can hear is the sound of the Flowmasters...., and my car has a nasty cam, headers, and no cats!).

Matt

 

My fav manuever when I have a tailgater and we're entering a multi-lane curve - right at the moment when most cars would cut into an inner lane, I switch to the outer lane and pull away. They never follow and tend to back off. As if their saying, "Whaaa...that defies the laws of physics" or "Ok, forgive me for calling, it's cute."