blinder's Journal: We Got The Mini

we picked up the car this evening. boy is it pretty. i stalled it out a few times getting used to driving a manual transmission again.. but solemn was there with with the hazard lights, and with just a few impatient boston drivers, i managed to get us over to the store (getting supplies for the days of the dead dinner) and then home again without trouble.

anyway, i really like this car. its got a lot of spirit (for driving around the tiny little streets of cambridge) and just has a lot of nice small details that will make it quite fun to drive.

i know its going to take a few more outtings for me to get fully comfortable with the transmission, but yeah, driving around boston in a sporty little car is quite fun. heh, its also cool to pull out of the dealer with a new car with 14 miles on it :)

we'll post some pictures soon.

mmm

[ellem]

That's a lovely Mini. Give it to me now!

Yay

[OctaneZ]

New car, what fun!

Sweeeeet

[Oculus Habent]

Do enjoy. I just broke 10000 with mine this weekend.

Notes from the field:

Cigarette lighters (& power plug in the boot) go off with the ignition (well, accessory setting, anyway).
Hitting the blinker with the car off will light the signal indicators and the under-door lights on that side (IIRC)
The detached boot cover fits smoothly over the headrests of the folded-down back seats.
The gas cap point fits into the little loop on the arm instead of hanging free - i'd never seen that before.

You can fit a rug cl

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[Some Woman]

My gas cap does that, too. I never would have figured it out if the saleswoman hadn't told me.

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[TechnoLust]

Most newer cars do that. I saw it on the Altima I rented when I wrecked my last Eclipse. I thought, "Hey, I bet the gas car would sit right there!" But I was always good at that game where you put the shapes through the right holes as a kid. :-P

"Modern" strollers

[sulli]

You can fit a Mini in some strollers these days. (But they do still make the folding kind...)

Dang!

[GMontag]

I thought you were talking about a skirt, not a car smaller than a skirt!

Loved the Monster Garage episode where they made on into a snow mobile.

Cool you got something that you like a lot. If you need a ride just put your car in the back of either of my 'hybrids' :)

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[blinder]

you shooters and your big dumb hydrogen-hybrid-converted cars!!!

well, heh, you know this car is actually bigger than my last (porsche boxster). it felt like a damned suv with all the space inside and not with a huge engine right at your back.

Ah... the new Mini

[jawtheshark]

What colour? My wifes is red with a red roof. It's a nice car, but I wasn't allowed to drive it yet. (She may drive my car though, but she doesn't like driving with it.) I guess, she must have broken the 10000km by now, but I don't know for sure. It did have only 7km on the counter or so.

I personally found the trunk way too small. It is smaller than both her old Mercedes A-Class or my own car. But, hey, since I usually go grocery shopping that doesn't need to be a problem.

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[SolemnDragon]

astro black, with black roof. It's gorgeous.

Enjoy that Boston snow...

[FortKnox]

... with that hockeypuck you just bought ;)

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[blinder]

um... okay, we will.

(of course, today, oct 31st its 68F degrees)

but with the wide wheel base, front-wheel drive, standard transmission, traction control, abs, we'll do just fine in the winter.

at least with this car, it'll actually be able to be driven in bad weather. the porsche couldn't go out in it, and when we get another porsche, that'll always be garaged in bad weather.

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[SolemnDragon]

you've obviously never driven one.

The thing grips corners like you wouldn't believe.

So have you been practicing being snarky at home in the corner, or is it just your first reaction to everything these days? What's up?

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[FortKnox]

Naw, have a few friends that have them. They're extremely light which isn't fun in the snow (well, Cleveland snow).

No, there was that winkie emoticon in my original post as it was just a little joke... midwesterners call small little cars 'hockeypucks' just cause in heavy snows most people around here don't know how to drive them, so they end up in medians and stuff, stuck. Sorry it came off as so offensive (never been double teamed by the SG and blinds... like I said... was meant to be a silly joke).

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[Some Woman]

Well, see, in the more civilized parts of the country, we have these things called "snow plows." Boston may even have some.

I've been practicing at home in front of the bathroom mirror.

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[FortKnox]

Snow plows are good if the snow is forseen a good 24 hours in advance (sometimes more) and the snow doesn't fall too fast. Places with lake-effect type snow (cleveland, buffalo, etc...) can attest that snow plows aren't worth a damn unless things are planned a day in advance and the snow doesn't fall too quickly. Even a heavily salted area can become snowed over with a heavy snowfall (I hate taking trips to visit my parents up north during the winter).

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[ces]

Ah yes ... had my only experience with that crud when visiting family in Chicago one winter.

The mess snow makes in the cities around the Great Lakes has to be experienced to be believed.

Comfort

[Shadow Wrought]

From the few pics I've seen, you seem decently tall. Does it fit comfortably? I'm 6' and 250. (I'm working on the latter, though it'd be nice if I could just increase the former...)

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[blinder]

actually i'm quite average (i'm under 6'), and had no problem, in fact, its easier getting in and out of than the porsche. the porsche may have been longer by a foot, but it had a 1/3 of the cabin space as this car does.

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[FortKnox]

Doesn't the boxster have more trunk space, though (with the front and back)?

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[Shadow Wrought]

I heard once that the founder of Porsche, uh, Mr. Porsche, was 6'6" so he made sure that his cars fitted anyone who was tall. I don't remember the reference tho' so that could be highly unreliable...

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[blinder]

Dr. Ferdinand Porsche was a big guy, but his primary passion was racing, but when they did design the 356 speedster, it was designed in such a way as to enable the driver to get in and out without much fuss (which meant faster starts, because gt racing, the race started out as a foot race,which is why on all porsche the ignition is actually on your left hand side. so you can start the car, get it in gear at the same time).

but that being the case, porsche has always been a bit more roomy than your average hi

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[blinder]

the rear boot on the boxster is nothing more than an slight indentation in the rear, no more than 12 or 13 inches deep and maybe 20" wide. oh sure, you could cram some groceries into it, but nothing more. the front boot (the boxster is a mid-engine mounted car so there are two boots) is very deep, maybe 2' deep but very narrow. no, the boxster is useless for anything but using it for what it was designed for, a pleasure car.

i'm looking at either a 911 or a cayman in the next year or so, and while the 911 ha