I flog the living sh_t out of this car!!! I have never thrashed a car so hard!

Shift above 6k every chance I get, even between stop lights, and rarely let the revs fall below 4k once I get rolling Throw it into corners way, way too fast cuz it feels so good. Constantly work the transmission up and down, and always brake hard and late. I show this cooper no mercy.

I tell myself that the mini likes it, but sometimes I feel guilty. I think I may be pushing this car, or at least the engine and transmission, towards an early grave.

Am I alone?

 

Probably

(But if you've got $20K to throw into an early grave, it's your money...and do look out for those of us who DON'T want to see an early grave as you get it up to the redline between stoplights)

 

No these are just fun cars!!! Currently I am waiting for my new MCS but when I had my old Mark 2 in the UK I used to thrash the thing. History of events:

Hand brakes turns in the local park. Banned for life from park.
Clocked it up to 80mph on a motorway (interstate for the US). This was quite an achievement considering that this was 1000cc engine.
Took corners way way too fast.
Overtook everything.
Raced everything even though I would often lose.

Having said all that I must confess that I might be a tad careful with my new one. My old can only cost about $300 whereas my new one will probably set be back $30000. Plus I am now married with kid. So hence more of a reason to be careful.

However as I found when I did my test drive, when I get behind the wheel I turn completely into someone else. Maybe I am the Incredible Hulk!!

 

We get to soon old and to late smart

Learn your limits ,respect others :smile:

 

>>Probably
>>
>>(But if you've got $20K to throw into an early grave, it's your money...and do look out for those of us who DON'T want to see an early grave as you get it up to the redline between stoplights)
>>

I second this...but then again everyone knows I am a safety maven.

 

>>I second this...but then again everyone knows I am a safety maven.

 

Two words. Track days!

 

Yes, I probably need to look into some track time therapy.

I guess I should have anticipated the pro-safety backlash to my post. Not to worry (too much) on the safety front. Most of this thrashing happens at speeds under 40mph, never around other vehicles, and NEVER when the two car seats permamently installed in back are occupied.

But it sounds like no other owners find this a fun car to drive hard...

[MERLIN: How the heck do you spend $30k on a Mini?!?! Gold-plated S-Lites? I thought full list on an S was around $22k.]

 

Not to worry. I drive hard...and often faster than I'd want to advocate publically (I put in a lot of interstate miles, and with a good radar detector and an open road, 90+ feels just fine in my MCS ). I also want track time SOON so that I can do things that go beyond speed and are ill-advised on public roads.

Alls I was reacting to was the thrashing part, and the fact that it seemed to be along the lines of street racing (which I DON'T personally abide by). If your MINI is exercised regularly to its technical limits, I'd say that's one of the reasons why many of us bought these cars to begin with! Motor on vigorously.

 

>>[MERLIN: How the heck do you spend $30k on a Mini?!?! Gold-plated S-Lites? I thought full list on an S was around $22k.]

It is all too possible. If you load it up (all three packages and the Navigation) it lists for just over $27K. Add taxes, tags, and maybe an aero kit and wheels and you are well over $30k. Sad, but true.

 

XAlfa! My compadre! I also am guilty of flogging the daylights out of my MCS every chance I get. The car was meant to be driven so might as well go for it.
Too bad the Pirelli Euphorias are so quiet. I lay down so much rubber it would be nice if they were squealers.
Firewall the throttle!!!!!

 

I guess that I too am in the "safety maven" crowd but I do appreciate that this car is just too much fun. Like the beer commercials all say: "party responsibly"

 

Speaking only for myself, I too drive this car hard, but don't find that to be intruding on anyone's saftey around me. I don't slow for corners and I excellerate from stop lights/signs. Just cause you're hitting redline doesn't mean you're driving like an idiot, especially if you're not speeding. Now if the stop lights are one block apart, that's a whole different story. I just like to get up to speed quickly and hold it there. Corners be damned! Especially now that I've got KN springs and the Madness rear sway on the stiff position. Now where's that "evil" emoticon again...

R

 

I look at it this way... The car is like thorobred (sp?) horse. It's made to run fast. There are very few compromises, it is a sports car in thin disguise. So.....it begs to be driven in a sporting manner. That does NOT mean unsafely! It does NOT necessarily mean speeding, although we all know speed limits, in many instances, are more politically motivated than anything else, and have little to do with safety, particularly on the freeways. (whew!, that was a long sentance!)

So, if you don't use the capabilities of the MINI...... you might as well be driving a VW New Beetle!

 

In my opinion, the car should be alright with the way you're driving it :evil:

__________________________________________________
Bullet: DS/DS MCS, all the goodies in the book (Ex: NAV.), All Packages, 17"R90's, Rally Lights, Clear Tail Lights, Painted Wheelarches & Front/Back Spoilers. SeX oN WhEeLs!!!

 

If the car allows you to go up to 7000 rpm, do not worry.
Basically the most important part is your service, change the oil more frecuent than the 10000miles, I personally doit every 5000 miles, also keep an eye in all the other mechanical parts, Coolant, brakes, break fluid.
About people worring about the speeding you can beat the car with out speeding, sometimes is just fun to feel the car.
I had a Rally car for 4 years, and believe me, I beat the Sh.... out of that Opel, and when I let it go the mechanic was surprized by the strength and condition of my engine, once again every 2000 miles I changed the oil with syntetic oil, and always keep it in prime mechanical conditions, (By the way it was 110000 miles)
Enjoy your car that is why you buy it...

 

Yes of course the MINI is super-fun to drive....but it is also, hands down, the most expensive thing I have ever bought myself besides my college tuition. I don't rag my car out because I want it to last longer.

Just my 2¢.

 

>>Yes of course the MINI is super-fun to drive....but it is also, hands down, the most expensive thing I have ever bought myself besides my college tuition. I don't rag my car out because I want it to last longer.
>>
>>Just my 2¢.

When you are older and the cost of two new tires and additional oil changes don't matter to your budget you'll be flogging the sh** out of your car like the rest of us

 

It's too early to tell for any of us, but the true test of us "flogging" these babies will be the cost and number of brake jobs we have to get at the dealer. Living in a city is hard enough on brakes. Driving "enthusiastically" kills them even sooner.

I don't know about you guys, but I baby my brakes for the first couple of hundred miles - then I stand on the suckers! All the reviews of the MINIs rave about the BMW 4 disk set up - so why not use 'em?

 

No offense intended , but as best as I can tell I may be almost (not quite) twice L.Mini's age and I still don't feel the need to squander my resources. $22K SHOULD be a lot of money to anyone...and besides, it's not just about the cost, but also about respect for the value of property, including your own. With that in mind, I think that respect includes driving the car like it was intended to be driven...but this doesn't mean flogging it. I don't know, maybe it's just semantics, but I have a hard time wiht that term. My 2 cents.

 

Honestly....I am almost 25 years old and I can't imagine I would ever "flog" my car in any situation. That's just not me. I have a good job and money for new things if I need them, but I would just as soon not have to hurry up the process of needing new tires, etc.

To each their own though.

 

And my you get lumps of coal in your Christmas Stocking for treating any MINI in that way

 

>>Honestly....I am almost 25 years old and I can't imagine I would ever "flog" my car in any situation. That's just not me. I have a good job and money for new things if I need them, but I would just as soon not have to hurry up the process of needing new tires, etc.
>>
>>To each their own though.

OK, so I'm only 1.64 times older than L.Mini

 

And I LOVE to rev her high and stomp her brakes, now and then...just for exercise, of course!!

Cheers!
Clover

 

>>
>>I second this...but then again everyone knows I am a safety maven. >>>>

Right...except for those red lights!