the last outback i owned got 32 mpg highway and 28 in town. pretty similar to a mini. you could also nearly put a mini inside of it, and i could drive up 4WD roads in the subaru. you got me on the safety part though.

if they want to market the mini as a quirky image oriented sports car that corners on rails, fine. to market it as a fuel efficient vehicle based on the size is nonsense however, and that is my problem with it.

You obviously do not live in Phoenix, AZ. SUVs and stupidly huge trucks everywhere.

As for quality, I'll give it to you from the mouth of a GM prototype machinist that took early retirement (in a cost cutting measure) a couple years back. He said that the "cost engineers" are running the show now. The bottom line is not how good the car is but the profit margin.

GM has cut WAY back on testing (they now run the car 5000 miles and model the rest) and consequently, our GM work trucks are falling apart under us before 100,000 miles. On one we have had to weld the bed 5 times. Brakes, suspension, electrics...we've had trouble with everything.
But hey, nice cup holders, though.

sorry just got to point this out.
The Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally three times.
yep, thats right, you can take the mini off road and it will do fine in most places.

really? then you've never read the plethora of negative comments that have surrounded it since it's introduction in 1982. I had a 1984 Esacoprt GT. it was such an unreliable shitbox that one day, after 95,000 miles of agony, I got out my gas torch, fired it up, and then cut the car up into pieces in my driveway and had it hauled away, so that no other por soul would ever be able to drive it. (true story)

hell, even look at american trucks. Chev....ask chossmonkey how his diff sounds.

that's exactly ONE truck, out of a fleet oftens, if not Hundreds, of thousands of vehicles. how well has he kept up the lubricant in the differential housing?

this past summer, both 4th and 5th gear failed in my escort's transmission due to low fluid level. TOTALLY my fault, not that of the car.

you cannot blame the vehicle for failures due to owner abuse or neglect.

very true, but his did it within the first year, and so did literally thousands of other chev trucks. This wasn't operator failure on this one.

I know other trucks have had a lot of trouble but i don't remember specifics.

anyway. IT's been a good debate and thanks for all the conversation!

Comparing the Mini and a Subaru is comparing apples and oranges.

Subaru's are designed and marketed as outdoor adventure machines, family oriented AWD fun etc.

The Mini is a performance oriented (albeit handling/stopping power more than break neck speed) urban/communter vehicle.

You can't tell me that the Mini's image marketign is any more prevalent than that of Subaru's. This site is a perfect example of that. Try bad mouthing Subaru's or toyota trucks in this community and you'll be met with a throng of violent objections.

The benefit of the Mini (and even the Smart car) is that they are enjoyable to drive but at the same time they are more socially/environmentally concious choices than an SUV or truck for everyday use. have you ever tried to park a full sized vehicle in an urban core area? Considering that most of us do 95% of our driving on perfectly acceptable roads in decent weather, there is no reason for us to have a big vehicle. Why justify the extra expenses by saying that you need is for offroad driving when you do it once a week for 20 minutes?

There are definately uses for trucks and SUVs, but the (sub)urban road warrior doesn't fit that profile at all. If North Americans moved to smaller vehicles for our day-to-day uses we'd save gas, reduce emissions, reduce traffic congestion, free up extra parking instead of paving new lots, and reduce damages/injuries when impact accidents happen.

my point is that much like a hummer, the mini offers absolutely no practical advantages in its niche. sis.

was there a recall?


on a rainy day, like today, and bored at work, it's good times going on about cars. ;-)

Driven with a light foot, the mini will get excellent mileage, well into the mid 30s Mpg. stomped on, it'll drink it right down, as any vehicle does.

[
and it's ALWAYS good to talk about cars!!!!!


:D

for realz ;-)

Had I the coin, and the choice, I'd buy the Mini over the Prius, renew my SCCA membership, and take it autcrossing, and use it for the occasional track day. it'd be a BLAST. ;-)

and it's ALWAYS good to talk about cars!!!!!

Anything to keep from talking about climbing huh? :lol:

this is community! There's no climbing talk in community! :mrgreen:

so you had a z28? What did you do to it?? I thought those things were boats?!

:D

did it have a 350 in it?

It was a 1987 with the 4bbl 305. not as much hp as the TPI engine, but enough to have plenty of fun. It had the four-speed auto.

since I was autocrossing, I concentrated on the suspension and transmission, and wound up getting a couple neat freebies.
A guy i worked with had been on an SCCA race team in the American Sedan class (which was for pony cars) and had a set of pontiac firebuirg GTA BBS-mesh-style 16x9 rims, which he gave to me. they were different colors two black, one white, and one silver, but I didn't care, they were free!

the car itself had come with the highest level suspension - stiffest factory springs and antiroll bars - and I added a set of Bilstien street/track dampersm whcih REALLY tightened the car up. I swapped out the non-posi read drum brake axle for a posi disc brake unit with 3.23s, and that, ,with the fatter tires really made for some sharp braking. I installed wilwwod proportioning valve and got the brakes to lock up equally all the way around (unlike stock settings where the fronts lock first)

I put a shift kit in the tranny, and fabricated my own shift lever, and drove it with both feet (left foot braking), like a kart.
I replaced the drivers seat with an uphpolstered fiberglass competition bucket and tossed the intertia-reel seatbelt for an aftermarket old-school fully adjstable three point belt.

I didn't place to highly autocrossing becasue all the guys in my class had newer cars with TPI 350s (meaning, another 60-80 hp than me) and mostly MORE MONEY, and so were able to have a set of street legal autocrossing slicks, whereas I was using goodyear street GTs. still I had a great time. couple times I placed ahead of guys with better cars, ,just by driving more smoothly.

at one of hte events, I knew I wasn;t going to finish int eh money and there was this one turn that was choice for a major powerslide out of it, soooooo, I'd just mash the gas coing out and get all sideways raoring up to the finish ;-) I have some digital video of it somewhere. I'll try to find it.

that odl camaro was every bit as much fun adn rewarding to drive as my mom's 1986 porsche 944, though the 944 was alot more refined in it's dynamics. the Camaro was a big old hot rod that you had to man-handle kinda, but if you gave it positive inputs, it'd do exactly what you wanted.