Is it me? (MINI Content)

With the latest add campaign for the MINI encouraging the drivers to driving your mini like an idiot I swear I have had more close calls with Mini drivers in the last couple months than ever before. And I mean stupid stuff like they just don't look when changing lanes. Thinking that I can stop my expedition on a dime so Hay why not cut him off. Just driving like they are participating in a track day when in fact it is rush hour on I90. Way back I remember the drivers of the 2002 had a bad rap as did the very early 3 series. It is to the point that I just assume when I see a mini I assume that the driver is going to drive like an idiot.

Note to Mini Drivers: You driver a very small car. Driving aggressiveness while fun means that your skills have to improve with your aggressiveness. (this is the real problem) I can not stop a 7000 lb truck as fast as a Mini. And the big one. Go study the laws of physics. Then study the affects of an accident between a 7000 lb truck 2200lb car. I will give you a hint. It will be messy at best.

There are other small cars out there but those drivers seem to get it. Heck Miata drivers are some of the best on the road and a Miata is probably the same size or smaller than a Mini. They even had the zoom zoom adds for quite some time. Then there is the Smart car! I think they realize that there car is the same size as a riding mower. Just about every manufacturer has a car of equivalent size as the mini but I really don't see them driving like idiots. So why is this?

I am completely convinced that it is the add campaign that has recently been run promoting dumb driving. Am I wrong here?

Lastly. This is not some knee jerk reaction to being cut off this morning. I actually had a great commute today. This "rant", if you want to call it, is based on observations over the last couple months. (yes I took notes). It should also be noted that this is not limited to only when I drive my truck. I have had equal problems when driving my Mustang or the Porsche (maybe it is me?). I don't know.

Trying to be objective and the only thing I can attribute this to is that there is allot of them on the road. I see more Mini's than Miatas (I have counted.. . . Yes I get board driving to and from work)

Anyone else see this trend or am I just turning in to a crotchety old SOB that needs to get over it?

I could very quickly turn this the other way.....why do so many singular drivers need to be in a 7000lb vehicle for themselves?

my DD weighs 450lbs...wet.

I have to admit that i cut off someone in the Miata on the way to work this morning.

Moron was trying to keep me from merging onto the onramp for some unknown reason in his work truck S10. After speeding up and slowing down for about an 1/8th of a mile, i finally got pissed and hammered 3rd around him, and narrowly made it onto the onramp just in time, maybe only about 5 feet in front of him.

I see more behavior like you're describing out of Toyota Camrys and any Acura these days.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I have to admit that i cut off someone in the Miata on the way to work this morning. Moron was trying to keep me from merging onto the onramp for some unknown reason in his work truck S10. After speeding up and slowing down for about an 1/8th of a mile, i finally got pissed and hammered 3rd around him, and narrowly made it onto the onramp just in time, maybe only about 5 feet in front of him. I see more behavior like you're describing out of Toyota Camrys and any Acura these days.

I always let folks in when they are trying to merge...if the guy behind me tightens up so as to avoid letting anyone get in front of him, I let more people in...

plance1 wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I have to admit that i cut off someone in the Miata on the way to work this morning. Moron was trying to keep me from merging onto the onramp for some unknown reason in his work truck S10. After speeding up and slowing down for about an 1/8th of a mile, i finally got pissed and hammered 3rd around him, and narrowly made it onto the onramp just in time, maybe only about 5 feet in front of him. I see more behavior like you're describing out of Toyota Camrys and any Acura these days.

I always let folks in when they are trying to merge...if the guy behind me tightens up so as to avoid letting anyone get in front of him, I let more people in...

The dumb thing was that it wasn't even heavy traffic, being that it was 5:30am. If there wasn't a car behind me, i would have just come to a dead stop and let his shiny happy person self carry on down the road.

When he saw me drop back and downshift, he hammered it because he knew i was going for it. Don't know when a 4.3 S10 has ever been able to keep up with a turbo miata, though.

But yes, i'm with you. I let people merge, because i'm a nice guy.

I got sick of stupid people driving on the highway with the heavier traffic on the way home. So know I drive home on b-roads...and I a lot more relaxed -it takes me 10 minutes longer on my 30-35 min drive but its a stress free drive.

I drive my 7000 lb tank when the weather is bad (ie rain/snow/cats'n'dogs). My miata has a tattered top.

Doing so found me this lil' delight: I kinda want to get it, but I'd have to get rid of the miata, but I dont think I'm ready for that yet.

Grtechguy wrote: I could very quickly turn this the other way.....why do so many singular drivers need to be in a 7000lb vehicle for themselves? my DD weighs 450lbs...wet.

I don't see how you are turning this the other way. If the driver of the 7000 lb vehicle is driving like an idiot then they deserve too be called out. This, however, is not what I have observed.

I try to drive my truck as little as possible. It doubles my commuting costs. However trying to carry an extension ladder and all my testing gear for work some times necessitates it. I once put an extension ladder on my 924s LOL. I am surprised a photo of that has not shown up on the internet some place.

RossD wrote: Doing so found me this lil' delight:

Me Want!!!!

Nope. I see MINIs all the time. I haven't noticed their behavior to be any better or worse than any other group.

Its for sale near Little Chute, WI. It just got pulled out of the barn. There was a sign in front of one of the other 7 cars with a contact number. PM me for more info...

more and larger pictures of the cars: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31936748@N00/sets/72157627291268165/

Around here, the (large) SUV is driven predominantly by single women with a starbucks in one hand, cellphone in the other, and somehow putting on makeup. Turn signals don't exist.

Too often I get the response of "I don't want to get hurt, my next one will be bigger"

Guess I'm just saying I don't have problems with smaller vehicles trying to get the berkeley out of the way of the unaware. Consider it over aggressiveness if you will

I think the Mini just appeals to a certain fashion conscious person that isn't going to be a great driver because that's not what's important to them. I'm not saying the Mini isn't good - it's a fun great handling car - just that the average Mini driver is going to be more interested in how they look than how they drive.

My experience is that it's the drivers, not the car. But with the amount of cars on the road at any given time in Chicago, chances are very good that there's an idiot around.

Around here most of the MINIs, and there aren't that many, are driven by the middle-aged women who recently downsized from monster SUVs but retained the makeup-coffee-cellphone trifecta. i think that the estimation of a customer base that favors looks over capability is probably fairly accurate. Driving habits reflect that.

In this area, the rice-rocket berkeleytards don't go for the Coopers much.

Full disclosure, we own a MINI that my wife drives, occaisionally frightening the bejeezus out of me with lack of awareness. Most of the time she's okay, though.

dculberson wrote: I think the Mini just appeals to a certain fashion conscious person that isn't going to be a great driver because that's not what's important to them. I'm not saying the Mini isn't good - it's a fun great handling car - just that the average Mini driver is going to be more interested in how they look than how they drive.

I call shenanigans on this. 30-35% of the minis out there are manuals and that alone skews the demographics to people who at least have some interest in driving.

In reply to wearymicrobe:

"According to Mini, 34 percent of the Cooper, Cooper convertible and Clubman choose the three pedal version. It's even higher in New England at 50 percent."

Spot on.

No, it's just you.

I don't see Minis as a problem any more than any other type of car. Nope, when someone in the adjacent lane even suspects that I may be considering moving into their lane, they start speeding up. Nothing brand-specific about it. It's the people, not the cars.

That said, the memorable event from yesterday was a woman in an SUV going about 20 mph faster than everyone else (read: 70 in a 50mph area) into a local merging on-ramp/off-ramp combo, which is dicey on even a good day. It got a little hairy when she tried forcing her way into a disappearing lane where she shouldn't have been. Lots of brake lights.

All that aside, my #1 annoyance is people who drive slow in the left lanes. I pass people ALL THE TIME to the right, simply because they aren't using the slow lane.

I want to make a bumper sticker: "Everytime you're passed on the right, somewhere, a puppy dies."

I concur that it is the driver. I also concur that the MINI is a driver's car. It just seems that since they have been promoting dumb driving in there commercials the drivers / new owners seem to think they can drive like what is depicted in the commercial. Yes there are allot of idiots out there. But up until this spring MINIs were not on my radar as a car that seems to attract overly aggressive while at the same time underly talented drivers. In fact the Mini was one of the best kept secrets in terms of it being a "drivers car" Therefore they were driven by people in the know (Who have talent and understand physics). Like I said this is a recent phenomena that I have only really observed over the last 3-4 months.

Ok some one say it. .. . Dean you are just a grumpy SOB.. . . .

What ad campaign are we talking about? Other than their silly gambit to challenge Porsche to a race I didn't know they advertised.

Hm. I own a MINI. I should probably comment on this.

Yes- I am guilty of spirited driving. It's a fun little car to hoon around in.... and if you've ever driven one with a stick and a supercharger or a turbobooster, it's like they encourage you to have fun in them. I am quite aware however, that it is a small car. And I like it that way. I can get my MINI out of the way a helluva lot faster than said 7000lb truck can. Honestly, the people that drive like jagoffs around my area are certain folk in clapped out Camrys, and.....

7000lb SUV drivers. I've been cut off more times by some clod in an Expaburbanade than I care to think about. It's not like you can't see the little bugger, it's electric frickin blue. I have a hard time believing that they simply don't see me.

wearymicrobe wrote: I call shenanigans on this. 30-35% of the minis out there are manuals and that alone skews the demographics to people who at least have some interest in driving.

I would argue that a Mini with an automatic is a wretched automobile, and so 65 - 70% of Mini drivers have absolutely no interest in driving. That's a high percentage!

(said with a smile, of course.)

Grtechguy wrote: Around here, the (large) SUV is driven predominantly by single women with a starbucks in one hand, cellphone in the other, and somehow putting on makeup. Turn signals don't exist. Too often I get the response of "I don't want to get hurt, my next one will be bigger" Guess I'm just saying I don't have problems with smaller vehicles trying to get the berkeley out of the way of the unaware. Consider it over aggressiveness if you will

My DD vehicle weighs in at 4100 lbs and I drive it often by myself. Why? Because I have three kids and a dog and cannot afford more than two cars. It's not like I can own a bike for when it's me, a Miata for when there are two of us, The PT for when there are four etc etc etc... Sometimes that one guy is driving an F-350 because he needs it three times a week and can't afford something additional.

dculberson wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote: I call shenanigans on this. 30-35% of the minis out there are manuals and that alone skews the demographics to people who at least have some interest in driving.

I would argue that a Mini with an automatic is a wretched automobile, and so 65 - 70% of Mini drivers have absolutely no interest in driving. That's a high percentage! (said with a smile, of course.)

A MINI with an auto (even a S) is the single most offensive thing on earth. I would rather drive my Taurus than deal with that POS ever again. I wanted to lodge a complaint with my local MINI dispensary about how they should allow me to have a manual as a service loaner because I drove in in a manual. Even a non S. Just gimme that 3rd pedal.

tuna55 wrote: My DD vehicle weighs in at 4100 lbs and I drive it often by myself. Why? Because I have three kids and a dog and cannot afford more than two cars. It's not like I can own a bike for when it's me, a Miata for when there are two of us, The PT for when there are four etc etc etc... Sometimes that one guy is driving an F-350 because he needs it three times a week and can't afford something additional.

well said. i don't get the self-righteous outrage regarding other peoples' choice of vehicle. bitching about driving behavior, fine. but the vehicle itself? silly.

anyway, around here it's Audis, C-class Mercs, IS250s, Maximas and Rams (but not Ferds or Chebbys) that are the worst offenders.

last year, I almost got rammed into a guardrail by an inattentive SUV. It merged onto the roadway and immediatly came across three lanes to take the next turn off... if I had not seen them coming and hit the brakes, I would be driving a vastly smooshed BMW.

I think the problem with the MINI though, they ARE fun to drive. They are small, responsive, handle great, and are truely a point and squirt car. At least in a Miata you are constantly reminded that you are out in the open.. in a MINI you have a real roof, doors, and glass all around you. Makes you feel safer