What Are You Driving ?

[Rustpot]

Can you fit in a Mini?

My left shoulder is a bit tight, but I have to move the seat forward to get the clutch all the way in and I've got 3-4" of head room. Easier to get in than my Volvo, which is a medium to full size (V70/S60).

 

[GRFMotorsports]

Youve got a V70? We were thinking about getting one but the reviews scared her away from it.

 

[Herbsley]

The Mini is technically a BMW as well. The standard Cooper is a bit of a chick car, but the S is not so much. Especially with a 6 speed, you don't have many people, and less women especially, driving manuals in the US.

It's impractical, a bit of an imposition, but damn is it fun to drive.

This is true. The Mini is made by BMW so you know that you are buying a solid piece of kit - reliable, well-built, safe, and technically sound.
I'm not saying it's not a good car, because it is, and for all of the reasons above it's probably why so many fathers buy them for their daughter's first car.

Haha - I'm winding you up mate. But it is funny how the same model of cars are viewed quite differently in the USA compared to the UK. Take the Porsche Boxster for example. In the US I know it is commonly viewed as a lady's Porsche. Yet in the UK, where we have been brought up on a diet of small nippy sports cars for many decades (thinking back to Lotus Elan, Triumph Stag, Jaguars in the E-Type era etc etc etc), a chap could easily drive a Boxster safe in the knowledge that onlookers will just think he is someone who enjoys a sporty drive and taking corners quickly.

Or someone going thru a mid-life crisis, of course. (Most Porsche drivers - haha)

If you had been brought up in the UK, Mr Pot, I have no doubt at all that you would be driving one of the quicker models in either the VW Golf range or the Ford Focus range. I've never understood why the Golf is called the Rabbit in the US market - makes it sound like a soft car - but the GTI is certainly not that.

Bizarre.

 

[Herbsley]

Exactly! I love Alfa Romeos my Mito really surprises folk (usually the BMW driver that's right up my backside when going round a roundabout) it's got a 1.4litre engine, 6 gears, turbo and 170bhp Pocket rocket very much!

I like the Mito. One of our neighbours has one. Very stylish cars. But then, aren't all Alfas? haha
Top Gear always say you can't call yourself a car nut until you've owned an Alfa Romeo. But my only personal experience of one was an Alfa 147 - which had a gear lever that appeared not to be interfaced with anything related to the mechanicals of the car. It was like stirring a bucket of wallpaper paste.

I know Alfa have largely sorted their mechanicals (and reliability) now - but it's still their styling that grabs you. I'm struggling to think of an ugly one.
The Brera is a lovely looking car.

 

[SpeakForYou]

I like the Mito. One of our neighbours has one. Very stylish cars. But then, aren't all Alfas? haha
Top Gear always say you can't call yourself a car nut until you've owned an Alfa Romeo. But my only personal experience of one was an Alfa 147 - which had a gear lever that appeared not to be interfaced with anything related to the mechanicals of the car. It was like stirring a bucket of wallpaper paste.

I know Alfa have largely sorted their mechanicals (and reliability) now - but it's still their styling that grabs you. I'm struggling to think of an ugly one.
The Brera is a lovely looking car.

Yeah they have made some really good looking cars over the years. I love Alfas because they stand out from the VW and Fords. People still go on about how they'll breakdown etc but even modern BMWs aren't as reliable as they once were.

 

[Rustpot]

Youve got a V70? We were thinking about getting one but the reviews scared her away from it.

I owned a 2001 V70 XC for about 6 years. Just retired it with 183000 miles [294500 km]. It was good to me, survived a few accidents and the starter was the only thing in the engine bay that needed replacement. Lots of little things started breaking, and it was consuming oil, started having a rough start every once in a while. But I bought it for college in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where annual snowfall is over 350in [890cm] and I didn't want a truck since my commute from college to my parents' was over 500 miles [800km].

This is true. The Mini is made by BMW so you know that you are buying a solid piece of kit - reliable, well-built, safe, and technically sound.
I'm not saying it's not a good car, because it is, and for all of the reasons above it's probably why so many fathers buy them for their daughter's first car.

Haha - I'm winding you up mate. But it is funny how the same model of cars are viewed quite differently in the USA compared to the UK. Take the Porsche Boxster for example. In the US I know it is commonly viewed as a lady's Porsche. Yet in the UK, where we have been brought up on a diet of small nippy sports cars for many decades (thinking back to Lotus Elan, Triumph Stag, Jaguars in the E-Type era etc etc etc), a chap could easily drive a Boxster safe in the knowledge that onlookers will just think he is someone who enjoys a sporty drive and taking corners quickly.

Or someone going thru a mid-life crisis, of course. (Most Porsche drivers - haha)

If you had been brought up in the UK, Mr Pot, I have no doubt at all that you would be driving one of the quicker models in either the VW Golf range or the Ford Focus range. I've never understood why the Golf is called the Rabbit in the US market - makes it sound like a soft car - but the GTI is certainly not that.

Bizarre.

How many fathers buy their daughters the S (curiosity, not poking? I do see more Coopers with women behind the wheel, but between talking to the folks at the dealer and seeing them on the road, if it's got the hood scoop it's generally a man driving.

If we had a Focus with 2/3 doors and 200+ hp I think you'd be right. We haven't had anything but 4/5 door models with asmatic 4 cylinders for the last 2 generations and the B-pillar is really in the way for me on them. But in the US whenever they add a sport trim to a car they bump the price immensely anyway, so I'm sure when we finally get the RS it will be $35-45000, more than double the price of a base Focus and into BMW territory. Which makes absolutely no sense. But they do it all the time here. Mazda 6 starts out under 20, but to get the V6 you're looking at 32 and it only comes with an automatic.

The VW GTI seats have huge bolsters made for a skinny chap. The 2 door is one of the first cars I looked at, including the R32. If it had normal passenger car seats, or even more accommodating sporty seats I might have one of those too. The Beetle is a chick car for sure, but I fit in those really well. Trying to find a Turbo or diesel without a ton of miles that was only a few years old that wasn't a chick color proved too difficult. The newest generation of Beetle has more balls to it, but I'd have to buy new at around $25000, which is just a little more than I could have realistically afforded.

One of my teachers in high school owned a Boxster and he loved it. He eventually got a Carrera S, but still. I never though the Boxster was a chick car, just Porsche's cheapest.

Oh, and ALL BMWs are seen as rich-wanker cars for the most part. You generally see more women driving non-M 3series around here, and they drive them for the name and not the performance. It's sad. A base 3series starts out around $36000, and the 1series is still $31000, and by the time a used car gets into my price range it's several years out of warranty and right into needing a ton of maintenance. My brother drives a '97 M3 and loves it to death, and it's from an era where he can still do most of the work himself. I'd love a 3series coupe.

 

[Herbsley]

Oh, and ALL BMWs are seen as rich-wanker cars for the most part. . . . . . I'd love a 3series coupe.

I'm not sure I understand this admission, mate! haha

For the record, I have a 3 series coupe, but it's ten years old.
I must be a poor wanker.

 

[Rustpot]

I'm not sure I understand this admission, mate! haha

For the record, I have a 3 series coupe, but it's ten years old.
I must be a poor wanker.

I was just showing you another example. I considered an older BMW, but I was getting out of a 11 year old car, I really wanted something new and 'reliable'.

I don't care what people think. If someone offered to give me a tricked out BMW 3-coupe but it was bright pink I'd take it and drive it.

I'm 25 and since I could drive I've had boring cars. Ford Taurus, Pontiac Bonneville, GMC Savannah, Volvo V70XC. Not bad cars, all did the job of A to B, but I'm done with safe, boring cars.

 

[Herbsley]

I'm the same. But my cars have got progressively faster.
Boring Peugeot (handled well, mind)
Fairly boring Lexus IS (I crashed this and wrote it off - oops)
BMW 323i coupe (kept this for a long time)
BMW 330ci (my current ride - fast enough for the moment - and in the corners she sticks like sh1t to a blanket).

Wanker or not in the US, I'm not sure I can turn my back on BMWs now. Maybe it's a European thing.
M3 drivers in the UK used to get stick for being wankers though. Now that's reserved for the faster Audis, as the wankers changed sides (as it were).

My taste in cars (and certainly the ones that I want to buy) are always about ten years in the past - or more. I much prefer older designs. For example, I prefer the E36 and E46 models of 3-series to the newer ones. I feel many manufacturers are making all of their cars look the same these days - Audi and BMW in particular are taking their 'design motif' to the extreme by seemingly slapping the same face on all of their cars.

The trick of course is finding that used car which has been well-kept and well-maintained. And I've been pretty good/lucky in that respect.

Enjoy the Mini. I'm sure it will be a fun drive - and you'll soon be embarassing many bigger cars, especially in the corners.

 

[Rustpot]

Had it out for a spin today since I'm off work. Getting better/comfortable driving it. Too hilly around here, damned hill starts, I probably should move to a town that isn't called Rochester Hills

I'm thinking an Oakley; Thermonuclear Protection decal on the tailgate, but I'm hesitant to start putting **** on it right away.