I took a trip in the Cooper S to Twin Lakes Colorado last weekend with the family (my wife and 2 month old daughter).

We pulled up to an inn at Twin Lakes and I sat in the car while my wife went in to check about a room. I noticed about 50 feet away a local man and woman where sitting on a chair in the shade and were making comments about my car. I could hear them perfectly well - although they didn't know it.

The woman says, "Them things are a death trap! Wouldn't catch me in one of those!"

The man replies, "Ain't nuttin but a go kart! Just a glorified go kart" and Blah Blah Blah

I wanted to drive over their and invite them to sit in the car and educate them about how safe a Mini Cooper really is and so on but I decided to just let it go.

It really bothered me that there are so many Americans with narrow minds about large automobiles and trucks being safer than small cars. What is it going to take for some people to believe that small cars can be safe?

 

A large percentage of Americans are, unfortunatly, complete morons. There is nothing you can do.

 

Its simple...why do they drive these LARGE cars and SUVs/Trucks? Because they feel safe in it becase its BIG. They see a MINI as small and therefor not safe. But then again we have seen time and time again that the MINI is safe. Like the thread we had over how a MINI is safer then a F-150. Now there some convo for them

 

If these folks are as backwoods, hill-jack type as you make them sound in your story, there is no "edumacatin' 'em". You would have used big, fancy city words with two syllables whilst their peepers was eyeballin' yer tiny little go-kart of a kar. Glad you saved your breath on that one. You probably wouldn't have wanted to smell theirs.

 

Sounds as if they lack the common good sense, understanding, and wisdom of, say, Homer Simpson.

 

You have to remember. There are two views of safety. Those that drive SUV's and large vehicles prefer being safe in an accident. Those like us, we prefer safety in knowing we have a better chance in avoiding the accident. We do have the added benefit of having a very agile car which is built to high safety standards. Something uncommon for small cars sold in America when the MINI was released. In a Ford commercial they were advertising an Explorer as having a safety feature that enhances manuverability. It may enhance manuverability but once you get enough weight going one way it's not easy to correct it. That will always be an unknown downfall to the general public for larger, heavier vehicles.

So you can't blame someone for thinking larger is safer. They have yet to be informed that sometimes you can avoid accidents.

I honestly believe license test should be on a test track so that people will learn just how much weight really affects their vehicles behavior.

 

 

it's called survival of the fittest. i think the rules of natural selection could apply as well.

 

It happened to me here in San Antonio couple of weeks ago, a police officer approached and told me that his Honda Goldwing has a bigger motor in it, no s.....t . Just smiled at him and waLKED away.

Prefer not dealing with ignorance. Unfortunately, a big percentage of our nation is pretty uneducated.

 

You know you really ought not be so sensitive about these things. All sorts of people say all sorts of things. The most important thing is that you are happy with the car.

 

Well in that case, he may very well have been right! Those are freaking HUGE engines! They have 1.8l V6 engines now!

 

Actually it's a boxer (flat) six, but it's still freakin' huge - 1,832 ccs of thrummin' Honda power. . .in a bike, ferchrissakes. . .DOUBLE the displacement of mine. . .nuts.

 

It has been said that after Albert Einstein died, his brain was discovered to be somewhat smaller and weigh less than the average human brain.

I rest my case.

Theo

 

American manufacturers tend to go for quantity, wether it be in size or production... the European manufacturer does not.

And how many mini's do you see rolling over or sliding into the back of other cars because their 60-0 stopping range is terrible?

 

I see too much ignorance for it to bother me anymore. Any stupid questions from other drivers on the road is met with a rev to 6000, and a "I can't hear you"

At least he was right about the MINI being a go kart!

 

Hit it right on the head there. I will never understand how one can just take something for face value without doing the research themselves. I love bringing the F-150 (97-03 models...the new ones are MUCH safer) issue up. Down here in truck land it always end up being a hot topic.

 

The police and paramedics that were on my accident site said if I were in any other car I would have probably lost my life. Head on accident with an 84 Mercury two door, and I escaped without a broken bone, cut or bruise. Some serious whiplash though

Here are some pics http://community.webshots.com/album/98890203VmKTYT
The car being so low and having run flats is what kept it from going all the way over into the canal. You can actually see the tire mark on the curb about 6 inches from the edge where the car first hit, it fortunately just sat down. Any other car would have gone over.

It sure does suck to hit another monster sized vehicle, but rest assure you are safe in your little car. Plus our chances of being involved in an accident are significantly reduced because of our great handling. I see a rollover accident on the freeway in LA at least once a month.

 

Thank god they know why I'm getting one : )

 

Scarry looking accident. You actually punched out the guard rail, but fortunately didn't launch over into the canal!

I have a couple of questions though. Did you have a passenger with you? I understand the MINI is supposed to have active sensors that deploy only the airbags that are needed, and I see that your passenger airbag did deploy. How about the head/thorax airbags? Since it was not a side impact, they shouldn't have been triggered.

Did the seatbelt tensioners deploy?

Lastly, I see the windows are down about 1/4th. I understand the doors are supposed to unlock and the interior lights are supposed to come on in a serious accident. Did they?

 

Maybe I am out of line. Maybe I have just had a really bad day.....

I am really wondering who the morons are. It seems as though just because someone makes an uninformed comment and is from the hills they are just plain ignorant and not worth your time.

Here's news for you. Those are exactly the people I come from. And you know what. If you took half a second to say "Hello" or "Howdy" you might have found some that was really nice, but just did not have the benefit of your experiences.

I cannot tell you how many of my customers, people at stores, on the roads in the hills, etc.. have said exaclty the same and more than likely with the same tone of voice you experienced. However instead of flipping the switch that says be a bigger idiot. I decided to make a friend.....

My dad, taught me something before he passed away, "How can some be expected to know something if they have never been taught."

think about it....

02, EB/W, 99K

If I offended anyone....my apologies...

 

MMG, I remember your accident (in my neighborhood), and it was amazing to me how LONG it took them to repair the railing at that intersection!

As for the rollovers, they seem to occur at least ONCE a day, if you listen to the local traffic reports. So scary!


Clover

 

you make a great point. you can't expect someone to know something they haven't been taught - and i'm sure that there's plenty we can learn the people who made the comments. one thing though that cannot be tolerated regardless of what side of a debate you are on is having a closed mind and judging things you know nothing about.

if you haven't been taught something, that's fine. but don't make assertions that you know nothing about especially if you are going to be judgemental. i can't make any judgements about an chevy avalanche except that i think its ugly and huge and i wouldn't. so there is the difference, IMO.

 

:smile: As an early new MINI owner back in 2002, I've always felt that all of we MINI owners are ambassadors for MINI. When people are curious about them, I always take the time to chat with them. I do say "Nope" to the PT Cruiser question, but I always follow up with what the MINI is, where it is built, and something about its racing heritage.

People are genuinely interested and fascinated by the MINI. Even here in the land of car-nuts, Los Angeles, I still have strangers coming up and striking up conversations with me about Wanda.

It's really quite special and as exasperated as I may be with some of the clueless comments/questions, I answer as nicely as I can. Who knows....maybe I've just converted another person to our cult!?

I've also found that in my thousands of miles of motoring across the country the past few years that folks who many would call "hicks" or "hillbillies" have been some of the most interested and nicest people of all! In fact, in many country gas stations, strangers have often insisted on pumping Wanda's fuel for me! I think that's called Southern Hospitality and Graciousness, and I really appreciated it on my solo journeys.

I hear ya, whskysouth...


Clover

 

I live in the "country," land of the big vehicles. For the most part, they have a purpose for driving big vehicles. I can understand that.

As for the safety in sizes... i had a coworker who's husband i made DESPERATELY want a mini, even before i bought one. She REFUSED to let him spend their money on a "deathtrap" while they're lugging their kid around in a Saturn Vue. Her reason? "When an expedition rams into the back of that thing, it'll decapitate my kid, who i can't even put in the middle back seat!!" I said whatever. Shoot your husbands dreams, and put down a car that has as much if not more safety features than her SUV. They're now buying a corolla.

Back to the country driving/friendly people thing... people here are very friendly. I can count atleast 5 DIFFERENT people that wave to me in the mornings on my way in to town. Occassionally a thumbs up, and MANY conversations while i'm stopped. Not to put down my car (that's only for the city people) but to ask a billion questions on how GREAT it is. As soon as i hit the city, though, i get those dumb unsafe/slow comments. Oh well. I love my mini. I'm obsessed with my mini. I love my fellow mini owners. I couldn't ask for a better choice in cars. Some people will never have that feeling.

And i don't care. If they refuse to be even a little curious about the great things a mini is made of, i wont waste my time.

 

As long as there are "prejudiced" people out there against our MINIs, our resale values will continue to be high up

Remember: The MINI is not a mainstream car in the USA and will never be. Many people can never understand why we are willing to pay $20K-$30K for a "small" car, much less why we go crazy about them.

In the meantime, Honda, toyota, Nissan, Ford, GM, etc will continue to cater vehicles to the mindless "herds".