Right on the antenna though the car slid on its nose and front part of the roof. Did a good amount of sliding too as it was just waxed.

 

Having been through a front end wreck myself in my MINI I will say it gives you a whole new respect for the car. Simply amazing in good times and bad.:smile:

 

Your mini served you well. Glad to hear you're OK

 

Phil--1st thing, YES, thank God you are OK. It's so freakin scary, but a rollover, man you must have needed a couple drinks!

My wife recently totalled her MCC, and I had a nasty accident last Sept. in my Cooper. Everyone was amazed that the passenger areas were totally unharmed. They looked as they did before each accident (except for the airbags in my wife's car).

I really sympathize with you. But as I like to say, if THIS is the worst thing that happens to us, we're gonna be OK!

Enjoy your new MINI, and use your misfortune to shut up all those know-it-alls who say MINIs are unsafe.

Ken

 

You made my day with that comment!

Glad to hear and see that the car held up so well and did it's job of protecting the occupants.

 

I'm sorry to hear that so many of us have suffered pretty big accidents in our Mini's but its incredibly reassuring to hear how well the Mini stands up to them.
The second thing I did after the accident (adult beverage was first) was write a note to Mini telling them how I impressed and thankful I was they did such a good job in putting passenger safety as such a high priority in their design of the car. They sent me a nice note back too.

 

>>>Glad to hear your OK

I motor everyday on a deer infested highway, mostly in the dark.

Saw 3 tonight.

How many airbags blew?<<<

Me too! Almost everyday -- dead or alive. The animals are just so stupid it amazes me. I feel sorry for them at the same time. I've hit two of those AND a turkey (unfrozen), all with my old '02 Jeep Wrangler (now retired to Daytona Beach, FLA). Hopefully my '05 MCS doesn't encounter them any time soon.
Anyway, glad to hear your MINI kept you safe.

 

As others have mentioned I also am glad to hear that you survived and that the MINI is a safe vehicle, however I wonder if I am stating the obvious when I observe that the real lesson here is not to swerve "violently". With the MINI's wide track and ABS I would think that a direction change within the lane while braking would work. I noticed that you stated that you swerved on "reflex" so perhaps it was not intentional to swerve "violently".

Since you said that you rolled drivers side first I presume that you crossed over the oncoming lane. It would be a real shame to have a head on and kill innocent people in an attempt to save a stray dog, or to hit a tree and end up in the hospital. I would try hard to avoid a moose or a large deer, but I train myself not to swerve for dogs or squirrels. Tap the brake, maybe move within the lane, but no big swerve. It just isn't worth it.

 

I have always said hte same thing about not swerving to save a dog.

However, if you are going at 88 feet per second (60 MPH) and a dog jumps out in front of your car 15 feet away, there is no way that you can see the motion, recognize the blur as a dog, then decide not to swerve. In reality, you are doing good if you see the dog at all at which time your reflex is to swerve. Maybe people who have raced or done lots of driver training can dial this reflex out, but for most of us, our concious mind is along for the ride in this scenario.

 

I agree, in principal, that reflexes supercede the conscious, but I think our sub-conscious is doing a bit more work than we give credit for. I would guess that if there had been oncoming traffic, spyderphil would not have reflexively swerved into the other lane. He most likely would have swerved the other way, stomped the brakes, or just hit the dog with a look of absolute horror on his face.

There are a lot of factors that you sub-consciously take into consideration; the brain is amazingly fast: even if it can't provide the absolute right answer, it will generally yield the least dangerous answer before you're even consciously aware of it.

Unfortunately, in this case, physics over-ruled spyderphil's intentions. Let's not give him a hard time about it. He's OK, and he'll be motoring again in no time.

 

Great thread! People automatically assume the car will squash like a bug, but it's actually a very safe car in comparison to some others.

I had to look at the photo several times as at first glance, I thought it was a perfect image of a Mini. Maybe it's the PW color not showing damage as badly as other colors (Blue, black or red would show all the scratches and dings more).

Glad you're ok, and am still in shock, that it did so little damage.

 

Wowza! Glad to hear you are just fine. Sorry about your MINI though - but...it did it's job in saving YOU my friend....like you've heard many times, cars can be replaced, people can't....:smile:

Donna
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven - burned up)
05' Cool Blue MCSC "Ariel"
05' HB/W MCS "Gizmo"

 

The voilent swerve is something people have to learn not to do in SUV's because of their high center of gravity and cushy suspensions. But what happened in this case mostly was because he hit dirt or grass sideways which probably made the car "dig in" along with comming off a high shoulder that sent the car on its roof. Spinning in a MINI on concrete will almost make it impossible to rollover due to such a low center of gravity and wide track. The only way you might flip a MINI is on R-compound Racing tires with a stock suspension, and even then its VERY unlikely. From the sound of the story and the looks of the car it was probably a slow roll onto the roof and then slide down the embankment.

Great to see the car in such great shape! Its funny to look at the picture because i've owned two PW/PW MINI's. My 04' which looked exactly like that and my current 05' which has the new Xenon's.

I know these little buggers are porkers but i guess its for a reason, THEY'RE TANKS!

 

I can feel your pain. My 6-month old Cooper was rear-ended/totalled by a Ford Explorer 2 months ago. (hence the SUVs SUCK reference).

Insurance payoff was very much acceptable.

 

I think it's impossible to say what you would do unless you're in a situation like that. Given time to assess the situation its pretty easy to say you'd brake lightly, stay in your lane and drive around it. There was so little time I didn't even know it was a dog until after the accident, and I looked back. I just saw a blur as someone said. Having said that, it's possible someone with better reflexes and skills could have kept it on the road. DSC might have helped as well. Who knows?

One thing I know I should have done is let it go off the road rather than fight it, that way I might have prevented the roll and just had some frontal damage (or a fence through my head). However, I was still trying to avoid having an accident at all at that point. Thameth you're right, as soon as the car left the road the drivers side wheels dug in and I was over.

The car really was in good shape considering. However, when I took the pics it was a sunny day and I'd very recently waxed the paint meaning its very reflective and difficult to pick up the deatil. I have some other pics I'll try to post in the gallery shortly.

Moving on....

Anyway, the insurance check showed up and I ordered an 05 (couldn't wait for an 06) DS/W with sports package, LSD, webspokes. I also got a pretty good deal on the JCW upgrade from the local dealer. Didn't get the HK option this time though. Would love to have gotten an 06 JCW from the factory but that would mean another $2.5K in rental cars!

I've done some driver's ed and owned/driven quite a few high performance cars in the past and never had any altercations before and I'm not sure if I'm in the same situation I wouldn't have another. I am going to do some more driver training for peace of mind though.

The last thing to do is to find that dog....

Thanks all for the nice comments and happy (SAFE) motoring.

Phil

 

Honestly, your car would be a great candidate for a buy back to turn into a dedicated track car now, especially with such little REAL damage.

I would say with your new MINI, you best safety upgrade would be to get some better tires than the runflats.

Good luck on the new one and post pics once you get it

 

No runflats on mine, I had Goodyear F1's with only 3K miles on them!

 

first, it's really good to hear that you are alright.

second, this thing looks excellent, better than many cars I see on the road.

 

DUDE!! Buy your Car back!! I see you have the JCW kit, the engine will be just fine. Try and get your car back!!! I dont know what the rules are in your state, but if you live in Cali, you have first dibs on the wreck, not only that, it will only cost you salvaged value which is about ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!

BUY THE WRECK, DONT LET THE INSURANCE COMPANY TAKE IT!!!!!

So many good things still left on the car too, ouch.


p.s. Thanks for posting this thread, and thanks for the pics. It's good to know these things (although no surprise to me - classics are the same way, it's because of the angle of the pillars to the roof.)

 

Will it be fine, though? The car was upside down. Fluids tend to go places they weren't intended, oil pans re-introduce all the crud they've pulled out of the engine, and things get all higgledy-piggledy. If it is in working order, that would be fantastic. Even if it isn't, I'd still try to buy it and keep it as an organ-donor.

 

Of course it will be fine! Engines have seals, which is why oil doesnt come into cylinders and oil doesnt go from the head into cylinders. It will be just fine!

 

We ran the engine when it was at the paint shop and it was really buggered. It blew white then black smoke and smelled awful. Surprising, given it didn't run too long upside down.

The JCW exhaust also appeared to be busted up. in fact the only part I took off the car was a dented JCW exhaust tip which is now a pen holder on my desk. Insurance company wouldn't let me take anything off the car which is fair enough given they gave me within a few hundred dollars of what I paid for it.

 

Good to read that they gave you a nice check for your trouble, Phil! And thanks again for sharing your story with us. Our MINIs are stout little beasts.


Clover

 

Yeah man, what was the salvage value on that baby? CamelPilot and I can go scavenge parts off it like two hungry crows. If you really wanted to know how to retain salvage, PM me and I can tell you how to do it...it's really easy. I settle at least 3 total loss claims a week. Shoot, I am willing to pay for the salvage value and shipping to CA if the price is right.

On a more serious note, I'm glad that you are OK and I'm glad I own a MINI. that car looks fabulous for being in a rollover.

I almost rolled on the freeway once, I was going way too fast on a desert road on a bright, sunny, clear day. Someone going way too slow in the next lane ahead of me thought she should get in the fast lane when I was about 15 feet away and closing. A split second later after she swooped in front of me, I was 3 feet from her bumper and I swerved hard to the right. I lost control as I felt my psgr side rear wheel come off the ground. As I corrected towards the center of the lane, my car jerked to the left and the driver side wheel came up.

It wasn't a fish tail, it was a frozen fish tail. DSC helped out, and brand new BFG's also me stay on the road. By the time I regained control and remembered to honk, she was about a football field's length behind me. The moral of the story is to expect the unexpected and to ditch the run-flats.

We can Monday morning quarterback what happened all we want, but the bottom line is that I'm glad you weren't hurt, and the dog is safe (I'm a dog lover too). The MINI did it's job, and it says a helluva lot that you are staying within the MINI family.

Now post some more, you're a good writer.

 

Krassanova, I experienced all your pre-rollover fishtailing too. The curve in the road was my end. Glad to hear you didn't do the full monty! Interesting on the DSC, I think it could have helped me too. It will be on my next car.

After posting this and doing my homework for insurance purposes on other mini's in accidents I'm more sold on Mini than ever. When I bought my 04 I debated between it and a few other makes; I didn't even blink this time. Looking at the pics makes me think about PW/PW again though!

I just posted some more pics in my gallery for those interested. The 'ripples' in the roof is really what totaled the car. To fix it they would have to cut it off, remove the interior, reweld a new frame on w/geometry 100% and the put a new roof panel on. Very $$$.