19 replies to this topic

[Matthew_Lott]

I just managed to get my full license and am now driving myself around for the first time. Having been really into cars for as long as I can remember this day has been long anticipated. I have a fairly new ford fiesta which should be a nippy little thing. For some reason how ever, I'm not enjoying driving it around as much as I thought I would. I have to be honest, I am rather disappointed. I have fond memories of whipping the occasional go kart around a track- or of the hours I spent playing with remote control cars. When I was younger I would do anything car related that I could get my hands on-- I'd read books on cars and memorize figures as much as possible. Unfortunately I wasn't able to scratch my car itch with an actual car at a young age. I try to drive on windy roads (and maybe even speed a little bit as a resault) but I can't say that it is anywhere near as much fun as I anticipated it would be. Can any one tune in on this? Is it just the car that is making the driving sort of boring, or have I really got no love for driving cars? Should I drive faster? Is anyone out there only into minis because they enjoy fixing them, not driving them? Any help from the mini community would be greatly appreciated.

 

-- thanks, Matt

[Carlos W]

I've owned my mini 11 years and never driven it.

When it's actually finished I may not like the way it drives as I'm used to modern cars and vans.

I'm going to make myself sound old now, but you start learning to drive after you pass your test. Don't drive faster, you'll end up upside down in a ditch
Enjoy the freedom, but treat it with respect.

[Maccmike8]

Im getting to the age where I find doing jobs more pleasurable than driving although I did have the tyres squealing on my 998 recently which was great fun.

If you are after a more modern daily driver, drive a mk1 bmw Mini, mine was great fun.

[surfblue]

Don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly!

Well remember passing my test and thanks, because I've just realised it was almost exactly 30 years ago! (Feeling old) The feeling of freedom was brilliant, going where I wanted to whenever I wanted to. Have to say I always enjoyed driving and still do no matter what I'm driving. Same with the motorbike.

[cal844]

For me it's tyre squeal on roundabouts at 30mph, or catching those impreza driving clowns who go flat out upto a corner and chuck the anchors out.... In a mini its all about corner speed! Don't get black box insurance on the mini, you'll regret the costs £££

[MiniCarJack]

For me, driving can be relaxing, fun, boring, or downright frustrating. All depends on the road, weather, and definitely the car... day to day I love driving my Mini around, but the noise levels at 70mph on the motorway can become a bit tiring after a while - especially more so if it's pouring down with rain, it's cold, the windows are steaming up and I just want to get home. Meanwhile I might've actually enjoyed those same conditions in a weird way if I was driving my old BMW 325i which was a properly smooth motorway cruiser. However there isn't anything more fun than a classic Mini to take down a windy back road, at least not that I've driven up until now! That's why on a nice evening I'll often just make a point of going for a drive, nowhere in particular, just take the Mini out for a spin and drive for the sake of driving.

 

This has been interesting to reflect on for me particularly over the past few days, since my Mini was unfortunately taken off the road after a collision last weekend, and I've been given a modern Fiat 500 as a hire car by the at-fault driver's insurance company. I figured it might well be the closest thing to a classic Mini that's available in a corporate hire fleet, but even though it's positioned as a fun, nippy little city car, it's got nowhere near the character or soul as anything pre-2000's. It feels more like an appliance than a vehicle, if that makes sense. Awful electric steering, notchy gear change, sluggish electronic throttle response, and no real engaging characteristics to make it enjoyable to drive in any way (at least for me). I'm not sure if it'd be a similar case with a Fiesta like yours, but for me driving something "modern" has really made me appreciate why I got my Mini in the first place. Never mind the lack of aircon, power windows, cup holders etc... you feel properly connected to the road, it responds to your inputs beautifully, and with everything mechanically in good condition, it just feels "right".

[Spider]

This is getting in to what's going on inside our heads ! That could be interesting !!

 

Sometimes when you look forward to a big event for so long that when it does finally come around, it can feel like a let down or a disappointment as you may have drummed it up in your head in to something so much bigger than it really is.

 

I do get a great deal of pleasure from doing most jobs on the Minis but more so on the Mokes, in particular, identifying something I don't like or I feel could be improved up, which maybe a creature comfort (in a Moke - Bhahahahaha !!!), a heavy duty part or to make an item more servicable.

In regards to driving them, I have to say, in city and suburban areas I don't enjoy driving them that much, but planning a trip and going out on the open road, hours between towns (and traffic lights - and traffic !) - having a 'mission' to complete -  is just about all I live for these days. Driving any car around in built up areas is certainly not something I do for pleasure at all these days, it's only when I have to.

 

I recall in my late teens and early 20's just cruising around, as I'm sure most of us did. It was fun for a while but I did find after a while, without a destination it became empty and almost boring. 

[Icey]

As has been mentioned, it all depends on the vehicle and the roads.

Sat in traffic commuting to work? No vehicle is ever fun, but comfortable seats and a good stereo make it much more liveable. A classic typically doesn’t work well in this environment where as even a dull modern can be perfectly pleasant.

On good country roads at a healthy pace? Yeah, a classic comes into its own. You don’t need to be going mega speeds to feel like you’re actually driving. Moderns are OK, but ‘exciting’ cars have the problem that to become ‘exciting’ typically risks your license.

The one spanner in those works for me is riding a motorbike. I love riding in traffic - filtering, nip-and-tuck manoeuvres, the need to have absolute focus - to me it’s more fun than driving on track (although I imagine racing is a different story). And you don’t need to be doing life ending speeds either. One of the best experiences on the road I’ve ever had was carving through rush-hour traffic on a pathetic 125cc motorcross bike I’d borrowed from a friend. No power, no speed but great visibility and brilliant manoeuvrability. A Mini in the right environment is about as close as you’ll get to that I think.

Edited by Icey, 22 April 2021 - 10:01 PM.

[MrBounce]

For me it's all about getting away from it all. I tend to drive for the hell of it - going somewhere but nowhere. It's all about the event itself. As Cooperman says, a Mini is not a quick car by today's standards, but what it is is a hugely entertaining vehicle to drive. My first car was a rustbucket of a 1977 Mini 1000 called Huey. I didn't use it for work yet I clocked up 14000 miles in my first year of driving - that's mainly just evenings and weekends. I learned everything about that car - what was good, what sort of bumps in the road upset it, where best to place it on certain corners to get the most out of its somewhat lack of power.

 

I did nearly 30,000 miles in that car in two years, and learned more in that time than I could have imagined. Sadly Huey was condemned by the rust monster, but I still sold him for more than I bought him for to a fellow club member who used his parts to keep his own going. Huey was replaced by a 1275GT, which remains the only car I wish I'd never sold.

[Matthew_Lott]

Thank you for the replies everyone. They certainly makes me feel more optimistic about the future.

 

From the sound of things I should reserve judgement until I have the opportunity to drive a classic-- I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a mini some day then (hopefully sooner rather than later). Unfortunately my residing in America means a mini can easily run you 13 grand (USD). That will likely come a few years later in life since it makes a lot of financial sense to invest my money so I can have 100 minis in the future. In the mean time perhaps in college I can find a club to cater to my classic car needs.

 

Do those of you out there think that the cars we drive today will become classics in the future? Perhaps the era of the classic car is gone as cars slowly have their character sucked out to make way for more comfortable motorway cruising. We certainly see a lot of car manufacturers remaking old classics such as Aston Martin ect. (as highlighted by The Grand Tour). Maybe this tells us that everyday cars won't ever be exciting like they once were, and won't be collectable in the future. Then again there are probably hundreds of different models of cars that aren't worth driving from the 60s-80s (classics) so maybe I'm totally wrong.

 

When the mini slowly became more modern (especially the 90s) did it lose any of its fun factor? or was it just as good as the originals?

 

It sounds as though a lot of mini owners love working on their cars just as much if not more than driving them. Perhaps this will be the case for me too. I can't really complain about my current situation as I am fortunate enough to have a solid car to drive.

 

It's very interesting that a lot of you out there find motorway driving to be somewhat mundane. In hindsight it makes total sense that driving in a straight line down a road isn't that much fun. I will say that those old videos of Coopers at Monte Carlo make driving look like a hell of a lot of fun, so maybe rallying is the trick to having fun whilst driving. I also find the lack of sound coming from my ford makes the driving experience less exciting (I would assume). but man what a difference a sun roof makes to a driving experience!

 

thanks again everyone for the replies

Edited by Matthew_Lott, 23 April 2021 - 02:33 AM.

[MrBounce]

 

When the mini slowly became more modern (especially the 90s) did it lose any of its fun factor? or was it just as good as the originals?

 

 

I wouldn't say so. It became a bit more refined and the seats were better, and the injection models certainly made things smoother. The ones with 13" wheels (Sportpacks) have much heavier steering at parking speeds due to the bigger wheels and there's a bit more tramlining on the motorway. However, the later cars did tend to rust a lot more than the 80s versions.

 

Nothing will beat the sparseness and the basics of a Mk1 on 10" wheels, nor the noise and the smell of oil and petrol, but the injection cars are light years ahead of this refinement-wise. 

[Quinlan minor]

Most of the pleasure for me comes from the anticipation and planning:

As a Flying Instructor said to me, many years ago,

"Always have the answers to these three questions:

What am I doing now?

What do I want to do next?

How am I going to do it?"

 

Like Icey, I, also, ride a motorbike. Current one for the last forty-five years, it'll do 145 mph + but few places are available to do that.

It's the joy of stringing a set of bends together, driving through towns without ever putting your feet on the ground, anticipating traffic lights, approaching them on the roll.

 

A great way to hone your skills, in a car, is to see how far you can drive without ever touching the brake pedal.

(My current UK best,: 427 miles [mainly Motorway and Dual Carriageway, but including rolling up to the petrol pumps]).

 

A Mini is perfect for this, and it shows that "More haste, less speed" thing, perfectly.

The great visibility, a Mini offers, helps in this.

 

In most 'modern' cars, I feel like I'm driving a submarine while peering through the periscope!

 

Hope that helps you with whatever you're driving.

 

It's much easier to get good at something when you enjoy doing it!

[Ethel]

I'd say the trick's to find a way to make it engaging. That's very easy in a Mini where you can feel every bump, pick a "racing line" on virtually any road because they're small and skip through the gears with real effect without even reaching the speed limit.

 

Even in the dreariest, modern box on wheels with all the life engineered out of it you there are ways to make it more involving. Try to avoid braking and maintain a best average speed by anticipating other road users (especially challenging at roundabouts) & traffic signals. You don't have to take it to the extreme of timing the light sequences on your regular routes so you can count them down to get a rolling start 

[jeffster06]

I would say a lot of it can be the car you are driving. I have owned sports cars and some not so fun cars and honestly the not so fun ones will suck the life out of you while driving, even on the fun roads. Seeing you are in the states you should look into getting a 1st gen BMW mini. R53's (R50's can be fun as well but the supercharger on the R53 gets addicting) can be had pretty cheap these days and can be a lot of fun, my first step into the MINI/mini world was with an R53 (I actually still have it) and the go cart like feel you get can make even a boring commute fun. I will say I enjoy my 91 mini more than my R53 these days but it has been quite finicky. I would recommend doing lots or research and get second opinions when you go to buy a classic though, mine ended up with all sorts of surprises in the long haul and I have spent a small fortune so far on it. 

[Haynes]

Its definitely not speed.

 

We all get hung up on having a faster car but that doesnt make it more fun.  Minis are relatively slow, but they feel fast and as said above they engage you more than a modern car.  I have a relatively fast mini with over 100bhp but to get it there has sacrificed a lot of 'comfort', its hideous in traffic but brilliant on the open road.

 

I also have an 850 and the its more fun than the 1380, still totally standard, on drum brakes etc.  The only real problem with is that its a bit slow on major roads when mixing with impatient modern traffic, but for country lanes its brilliant. 

 

And if you do have a mini, fixing it is all part of the experience!

 

Have you been in / driven a classic mini?   If you havent do it, if you havent got the opportunity to drive one then try watching the 1969 film the italian job - that will give you a sense of how brilliant minis are.