What kinds of "Ahh-Haa" momments have you had in your MINI. The brief moment of discovery that made you slap your forehead and go "d'oh". Mine was realizing that squeezing in and out of the drivers door in my garage, because the MINI's doors are longer than my old Accord, and I would eventually start wearing a hole in the side bolster because I slid/fell into the seat. So I began to slide the seat all the way back when I get out. For us old farts who are not as flexible as we once were, it makes ingress/egress a lot easier. This does two things for me. Its easier to get in and out, no wear on the seats [cloth], and not constantly having to readjust the steering wheel. I fond it easier and quicker just to pull the seat up to driving position.

 

I was locking the tilt wheel in the up position when I got out. Most of my other cars had tilt wheels that didn't stay in place. However, the MINI wheel seems to stay in the up position without being locked. Makes for quicker getaways when I'm leaving work. I don't need to unlock it first before I pull it down.

 

My "ah ha" was more emotional. On the way home from the dealer, I realized we were a perfect fit in every sense of the word, and that I started thinking as "we" instead of "me and the car." I'd never felt that way before.

CROC 411

 

Check the Things You Didn't Know About Your Mini thread, pretty much every post is an Ahh Haa moment.

For me it was realizing that I can really scare drivers behind me by simply using my windshield/headlight sprayers.

 

I understand that thread is there. this is not referring to some gizmo or function that you didn;t realize you had.

Not knowing the button berween DSC and the Sport button is a cloaking device that makes you invisible to police is "things i didn't know about..." topic. Getting your mother in law to stop riding with you by going 90 is an "Ahh-Haa" minute.

 

 

I find it much less so in my '07 Cooper, but in my '03 there was a big difference between having the AC on and not...and the car seemed to love cold air. I remember one of those first chilly days in the Fall, driving home w/o the AC and chirping the tires all over the place. I did not expect this sudden jump in performance and had to do a quick driver recalibration to avoid trouble!!! Like I say though, R56 seems to be much more able all the time, and I've enjoyed that.

 

well there was that time I got it up to 129 . . . but then that was more of an oh $h!t moment really

 

My AH HAA! was a, I actually found something negative to say about my mini.
i can't keep the windows slightly opened in the rain, water just keeps dripping and splashing in!

 

+1 on the we thing. It confuses people though, my girlfriend thought I was having an affair.

 

DITTO...it freaks out my friends and co-workers who aren't motorheads.

 

+1 on the we thing. It confuses people though, my girlfriend thought I was having an affair -- grodenglaive

DITTO...it freaks out my friends and co-workers who aren't motorheads -- ENEMINI

This is something only MINI motorers can understand, I think. I get teased by my friends about my "affair" with my MINI, and I simply reply "safe sex, not getting any disease from this mistress." Well, except obsession, maybe, but that's not a disease, it's a choice. I smile every time I motor.

CROC 411

 

The only other vehicle that shares the same enthusiasm is the Jeep.
had one all built for show and rock crawling and it was the same as the mini community

 

I had a nice ah-haa moment in my R56 several months after I got it. I took delivery in May '07 and since summer was on the way wit it's longer days, I really never had a chance to get a good feel for the mood lighting. I forgot about it until one night when I went to a friend's house-warming party which kept me out later than usual, and it was good and dark on the way home. The mood lighting was great...good, useful, subtle cabin illumination. Mine is set on blue. I like it!!!

 

Had the same cold realization before.

For me, it was getting used to the fact the driver's door will almost never stay open. Unless I open the door and quickly brace it with my left foot, the door will always come back and assassinate my shin. Doesn't matter if I open the door 5 inches or all the way, it always swings back fast at my ankles. Vicious little car.

 

My "ah-hah" moment-figuring out how to open the bonnet

 

I had several ah-haaas regarding the MINI's size. I was at a club event years ago and got there early. Soon, I saw some cars approaching and I was struck at how super tiny they were. Eventually, as they got closer, I realized hey, those were other MINIs!!!! Driving a MINI every day, the smallness of the car just does not always register.

Same thing has happened when parking next to....say my neighbor's Camry. For some reason I managed to park having the front bumpers aligned and had a chance to compare sizes. That Camry was way, way longer than the MINI....it was amazing. In all honestly though, the same thing happened when my MINI was parked next to a friend's Smart car...it too was way shorter.

 

and i thought i was the only one!!

 

check your door hinge, the bar that is supposed to help keep the door open may be damaged.

 

That drove my wife nuts and she would ask why the door wouldn't swing back when I opened it. I told her because the stops are rather subtle and you have to bring the door to a complete stop, other wise the momentum of the door swinging will blow right over the stops. She hasn't had a problem since.

 

women

 

Yep. Only had this "ah ha" moment once before with a car ...in 1976 when I bought a 1966 MGB.

Dean.

 

My "ah ha" moment was when I realized that if I want to own a Mini I'd have to put up with and live with several quality and design issues. With any other car these issues would not be acceptable, but with a Mini, it's all part of the car's character... Strange...

 

The only "ah ha" moment I can recall is when I learned that the new R56 MCS was more powerful and got getter gas mileage than the previous MCS. I didn't really need a new car...

 

What quality and design issues?