35 replies to this topic

[Purple Tom]

i've just spent the last half hour with the biggest smile on my face! (its not what your thinking either!!) I went out in this torrential rain we're having, and sought out some roads with nice wide bits and possibilities of flooding. I then explored the wet weather handling characteristics of my mini, and bugger me its awesome! You can controllably understeer it, then lift your foot of the throttle and laugh as it all jumps back into line, and feel it aquaplane at low (!) speed, then just have a play twitching it about. I was also amazed, as i was blatting through deep puddles at 30mph plus, and it didn't stop! I didn't even bother to fit the ignition guard which i keep in the boot, i wanted to see how much water it would take, and it was fine!

Also, with this discussion of tyres, i would DEFINITELY go for the Yokohama A008 for both wet and dry use. I think they only do them in 10", but they are absolutely fantastic! With my old Camac tyres it would aquaplane and understeer at the first sign of moisture in the air, but with these they grip, and then lose it controllably and predictably, they really are good.

It was so nice to have empty roads as well, everyone else seems to be staying inside, but Mini's rock in this weather! I know they steam up a bit when you go through puddles, and with green stuff pads the brakes don't work so well (as they're always cold), but they're so chuckable its amazing.

You can see how Timo had so much succes in the snow and wet, and he had nearly 80 bhp and a 1275 to play with! A 1098 with 50bhp is just as much fun!

:grin: :tongue: :grin: :cheese:

Tom

[Jules]

Hey, i have a phobia bout driving in the wet, only been driving (learning ) for 9 months or so and have had 2 spin off because of the wet, scraed me sh**less. Brave or stupid for doing it!!! Maybe its because you had room, or maybe its because I either had 3 sheep to deal with or big JEEPS and gravel.

Either way as long as you got good brakes and tyres the road is all yours!!!! :wales:

[shaun of the Tamar Valley]

kool

[Pickup76]

Sounds nice! i always love driving in difficult weather conditions, it makes things more interesting. Did you go out in the snow this year? That was awsome, sustained oversteer round every corner in a front wheeldrive car and all the BMWs spinning off because they are rear wheel drive! Excellent!
But as you say Jules wet can be damgerous, wrote off my dads volvo in the rain because it was so slippery (and i was driving sensably )

Be careful out there!

[Zeemax]

lol sounds cool, with my wide arse wheels mine is C**p in the rain, really C**p.

and omg at your driving through those puddles! When i went through a puddle in mine 20 mins later distrup was wet therough and the car wouldnt start

[Purple Tom]

yeah i couldn't believe it kept going either, maybe because its a clubby, the front valance is different and the dizzy isn't as close to the grille as a roundnose......

Yeah i was playing in the snow at a similar time in the morning in february too when we had about 8 inches in 3 hours, bigger cars spinning and even saw a lorry whose trailer had refused to follow the tractor unit round a roundabout! But the mini kept going, i think because they're so light and (relatively) underpowered you can get away with more than in a more powerful, heavier car. Like you say, oversteer is awesome in the snow, as its so controllable, something which in a mini usually isn't!

I'm looking forward to getting my pick-up finished as apparently they're even more fun in wet weather, as they're lighter over the back end - mwahahahaha :cheese:

But i agree, it can be dangerous, and i was lucky because the roads were empty and i wasn't going fast. Its when you see people in Vectra's and the like doing 80mph down the motorway in any weather, whether its bright sunshine, fog, or driving rain with zero visibility, thinking that their ABS and other gizmo's will get them out of trouble - thats when you have to start worrying. Bet they never took time to have a play with their car in adverse weather so they know how it behaves. They're the ones who don't think about driving, think they're indestructible because they're in a warm comfortable box on wheels. Give them a Mini for a week (or a motorbike for that matter), they'll see what driving is really like!!!

[Dom]

it doesnt work going round a round about quickly in the wet!

[Purple Tom]

really? mine is awesome in the wet, as long as you're progressive with the throttle its flies round them!

[Pickup76]

minis84 im looking forward to getting my pickup in the road too. Ive only driven it once and it was a right laugh. Real easy to do handbreak turns and get the back out! fun fun. Think ill be abit careful with her once the restoration is over though.

[Purple Tom]

me too mate, its going to be kept in one of those blow up bags for cars, driven only in guaranteed dry weather and polished every day!! Well thats what i'd like to do with it, but having a 1293 Pick-Up sat on the drive will no doubt spur me into action and make me drive it whenever I can! I'm quite a long way from finishing it though - it's actually easier to write a list of what doesn't need replacing, its something like this:

Roof panel
Scuttle

EVERYTHING else needs replacing!

:grin:

Oh well, keep you busy don't they!

Tom

[Dom]

really? mine is awesome in the wet, as long as you're progressive with the throttle its flies round them!

yeah at that time my dad was driving it and it went sideways

u have to take into account he has dodgy knees so he cant put as much pressure on them as he wants to.

i dont have Yokohama tyres either

[Purple Tom]

thats fairy nuff, i've heard that mini's with 12's and 13's aren't as good in the wet, mind you, mine was absolutely shocking before I got the Yoko's, so it must be them.

[Pickup76]

Yikes a 1293 in a pickup i bet that will go some, pickups are quite abit lighter than the standard mini. Mines gona be totally stripped out but i want to keep the standard 998 for insurance. Im gona put a MG metro 1275 cylinder head on it though and bore it a few thou but i want the engine to look pretty standard. They'll never know!

Sounds like you've got your work cut out, how much have you done?
Did your pickup have foam filled cills? I dont know if it was standard but ive just have to dig it out of my cills.

[bluebottle]

i used to have an ultra light pick up, so much of it was rusted away, it was like a sieve!

it was like that toyota pick up on top gear, it just wouldn't die, it froze solid and the core plugs fell out, then it boiled dry when the core plugs fell out again, so i drove it until it seized and nearly set the oil on fire, just to get to work. went back out that night to where i'd abandoned it, put some water in, put the core plug back in, started it, and drove it home! i used to go up and down the m4 in it, from east anglia to swansea, i moved house in it, it just wouldnt die!

[Pickup76]

That sounds cool, i take it that its totally died now?
I think my pickup was used like that, it was a farm hack till it failed its mot, then it sat in a barn.
There is so many holes in it that when i was being towed from the barn i got mud all up my legs but i will soon solve that.
Bet it was abit hairy in a mini on the M4!