More car geekery

[mishak]

There's a Mini Cooper dealership near my work, so I went down to test drive one on my lunch hour. It's impossible not to smile when you walk up to one of those things, they are so damn great. The interior is shockingly roomy, I swear they are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside; it's a cavernous fishbowl with aluminum accents, the interior details are all these friendly-yet-efficient ovals and young, eager curves. It oozes a comfortable hipness, it doesn't flex the euro-muscle of its BMW manufacture, but it arrives with an assertiveness completely lacking in the New Beetle.

On the road, there's really nothing else like it. It's a playful, oversized go-kart, it makes everything else on the road look lumbering and oafish. It goes precisely where you steer it, stomp the brakes and it sits right down with an immediacy of a well-trained foxhound. There's not enough horsepower here to win any races, but it'll scoot around the city and merge onto the highway with no fear.

I don’t want to own a Mini, but I'm so happy they exist.

Comments

[cris.livejournal.com]

I had a high-school English teacher who was an avid Mini enthusiast and he'd regale us with stories of driving along the Trans-Canada Highway, pulling up behind 18 wheelers, lightening his foot on the gas, and basically drafting trucks all the way across Alberta.

[militart.livejournal.com]

There's not enough horsepower here to win any races

I beg to differ...In the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Solo 2 H-Stock category, the MINI Coopers (not the Cooper S) are dominating the class (which contains cars like my Focus, Omni GLHs, and older Civic Sis). But then, it's more about the handling and brakes than the power, still though, you do need something to push you around the course.

[mishak.livejournal.com]

Dammit, I knew you'd catch me on that one.

The Mini is a totally fun, infectiously happy drive, but it didn't give me that "become-one-with-the-vehicle" feeling like the RSX. It will, however, maneuver circles around anything bigger than a skateboard.

[jasonlizard.livejournal.com]

I love that they exist. I'd much rather be in a world of mini's than the current plague of SUVs.

[mishak.livejournal.com]

There are a couple SUVs I wouldn't mind owning. I love the Isuzu Vehicross (http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/used/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/2456.htm) because it looks like a shoe, a giant's crosstraining sneaker for the post-apocalyptic wastlend. Too bad they don't make it anymore. And the Infiniti FX45 (http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=39&article_id=1778&page_number=1), my god the thing is fucking gorgeous. I saw one in Brookline the last week, it had me drooling and panting like a schoolboy. Infiniti's taking a lot of chances with their new designs, and they've hit spot-on with this one.

[hellocatgirl.livejournal.com]

I want a MINI!

I must test drive one sometime.