Mini's are awesome!

minis!

mini driver reporting in :) nice to see them getting a mention again. as for crash damage, maybe time for drexel please to show everyone that rolled mini photo. its funny really cos the 1.3is wernt as specially tuned as the old coopers, so the older ones were faster :)
 
[TW]Fox said:
I think the Mini gives the illusion of being really fast and having amazing handling becuase its so small and you are so close to the road.

I reckon if you'd have driven the same road in, say, a BMW 5 Series at twice the speed it'd have felt slower :D
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Illusion you say ? :D

2.5 V6 vauxhall engine anyone ? Also converted to rear wheel drive :eek:
60.jpg
 
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I will agree with what everyone is saying about them being slow.....they are but then check out there power figures.....its hardly a surprise.

But i dont agree with saying that they dont handle. I had have a mini cooper which handles really well and keeps up with loads of cars on the twisty stuff.........why would the car handle badly it has a real low centre of gravity and it doesnt really weigh all that much..........but on the flip side yes it really doesnt have the speed as standard to backup this good handling.

One thing about the handling though is the car can be very snappy. Much like a go cart so if you overcook it is very easy to get it completely wrong.
 
[TW]Fox, You are compairing a £5k+ german mid range saloon designed in the 90's to a £100+ small car designed in the 60's. I would have you down for being more intellegent.
 
cableguy2003 said:
2.5 V6 vauxhall engine anyone ? Also converted to rear wheel drive :eek:
60.jpg
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That used to be a 2litre 16v jobbie! ;)
old: www.16vmini.com
new: www.v6mini.com
He's also doing a RWD 2.7V6 project

V6 must be a lot heavier :S

The fact that a golf gti mk1 couldnt keep up with my little 1litre through the bends (I'm no race driver and he was definately trying ;) ), I'd put rest to the claim that they dont handle.

I'm fed up of this - When I have a decent one with decent BHP/ton - we should all go out on a trackday.

Cant wait to race a 5series :rolleyes:
 
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I have a real dislike of mini's

The feel fast, but they aren't (apart from a few ones with engine swaps.... Of course, compared they can only be compared to other cars with engine swaps)

They flatter the driver and appear to handle well, but don't really (it's a combination of feeling fast and being low down, makes you think you're driving really well, but in fact most modern cars could keep pace with a mini without the driver even trying, unless the mini is modified, but comparing modified cars to stock cars is silly)

They are terminally unsafe, rust heavily, are cramped and uncomfortable and have no redeeming traits in my eyes.

But this is why I wouldn't own one, and things I would encourage others to check. If you don't care about them or they don't bother you, there's nothing wrong with the car.

Wow, I managed an entire post in a Mini thread without referring to it as a horribly outdated, rusting British leyland rotbox relic.... Oops.

-Dolph
 
F355 said:
[TW]Fox, You are compairing a £5k+ german mid range saloon designed in the 90's to a £100+ small car designed in the 60's. I would have you down for being more intellegent.
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the daewoo matiz is korean aint it? (they are now chevrolet over here, so all part of the GM blanket)
 
-westy- said:
went out in a mate's mini last night, and my god! :eek:

they handle so well, i was really really suprised!

this was a 1976 1 litre mini, and it seems like so much fun!

i want one!

anyone else agree?


:D
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The original post feeling/point has been lost I feel.
Ok, a stock mini wont out handle many modern sporty cars and modded minis Vs stock modern cars is just silly.

Westys post is making a statement that Minis are fun, which IMO and many, many others they are indeed, fun personified.
They are also a lot of other things such as and I quote "Rotbox''s, unreliable(can you say "front mounted dizzy in the damp UK climate!"), unsafe in a crash(but to a greater and lesser degree, what is or isnt?) and small.

But for a cheap fix/thrill/bomb around car, it would be my weapon of choice.

Mini wins, Flawless Victory in the fun class.
 
I can agree with the mini's being fun thing (vaguely), but i'd argue there are lots more classics as much fun if not more so.

I'm not against classic cars though, I've got a 1967 Landrover myself, which is noisy, very slow, bouncy, drafty..... But it's fun and that's what matters for me.

I just have a big dislike of Mini's and VW beetle/campers as classic cars, but to each their own :)
 
I used to have a great laugh driving around in my old mini, and that was an 850cc :eek:

Certainly gave the impression of steering like it was on rails.

I've been a passenger in a mini which was written off, which was no fun at all.
 
Heh, to all saying that a Mini is a deathtrap in an accident, you should try driving what is called over here a Ford Festiva or the Geo Metro!! A 1965 Mini would drive right through either one of them and still go home under its own power!! And yes, I know this from personal experience!! I owned a Metro. For all of a week, then sold it as quick as I could. I also got stuck driving a Festiva for a week on rental. Those were the scariest two weeks I've ever had since I started driving!! :eek:

1989 Ford Festiva :
89festiva.jpg


1993 Geo Metro :
93metro.jpg
 
Mickey_D said:
Heh, to all saying that a Mini is a deathtrap in an accident, you should try driving what is called over here a Ford Festiva or the Geo Metro!! A 1965 Mini would drive right through either one of them and still go home under its own power!! And yes, I know this from personal experience!! I owned a Metro. For all of a week, then sold it as quick as I could. I also got stuck driving a Festiva for a week on rental. Those were the scariest two weeks I've ever had since I started driving!! :eek:

1989 Ford Festiva :
89festiva.jpg


1993 Geo Metro :
93metro.jpg
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Isnt that what we call a swift ? :eek:
 
GT3 said:
Needs some nice 12x6 deep dish minilites or starmags to finish that off ;) 5" wide ones don't really fill the sportspack arches do they ;)
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12x6's would probably need bigger arches - technically they'd be illegal! plus 12x6's need slight bodymods too!

I love 12x6s though - Have 2 sets :p
 
im going for 13x6 on mine with proper sportspack arches but ive upgraded the suspension ready for them, gaz shocks all round, hi-lows, and full adjustable tie rods and bottom arms :cool:
 
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