Old one!
it's all about the design

The old one is the Mini, just like the Italian Job the new ones are a good car/film in their own right and would be far better without trying to cash in on the originals, which were both all time greats they had no hoping of matching. Without the name and a bit less of the naff retro but bloated (if you want to do retro get it neat and tidy like the Figaro and 500 both very stylishly done cars) styling you would have an attractive car (well not hideously ugly like most modern cars) with good mechanicals. There's nothing relating it to the original Mini, except that it was originally designed in the UK, then thankfully not sold as the eco-box Rover thought it should be.

Both for me.

I like the old one a lot. It's charming and cool in a sort of kitschy retro way. If I could get into B-class rallying I'd be happy to drive an old Mini through a forest dirt track

I quite like the new one too, though. It's a bit more chunky and feels a lot more like a "man" car than the original one. I was in one for the first time a couple of months back, and didn't feel like my knees were up round my ears in the way I always felt in our old one.

if you have a girl friend and you need to drive her around, you'll want a new one.

which of course a better solution is to teach her to drive...thrash around in your new mini a bit, give it to her then get yourself an old one.

Driving an old mini hard is the only time I have been truly scared whilst in control of a vehicle. They're uncomfortable, don't feel safe by todays standards, and the engine is pretty gutless compared to other cars i've driven and owned.

But does it handle !? Oh yes, it handles.

What a car.

Quote from asbjoern :

man you have to much freetime

if you meant me, I'm on school holidays

Quote from Becky Rose :

...and the engine is pretty gutless compared to other cars i've driven and owned.

Standard engine, maybe, But my dad has converted his to run on a 650cc Kawazaki thing It's great to pull up to the lights, in an innocent looking mini, and then you get a group of chavs pull up next to you revving the nuts out of their corsa, then you pull away with 200+bhp and leave them standing It's a good trackday car at brands hatch too

Quote from Becky Rose :

Driving an old mini hard is the only time I have been truly scared whilst in control of a vehicle. They're uncomfortable, don't feel safe by todays standards, and the engine is pretty gutless compared to other cars i've driven and owned.

But does it handle !? Oh yes, it handles.

What a car.

I don't get it. Do you like it?

If it feels gutless, shove a Rover V8 in it like one of my Dads friends did, although you need to knock the dashboard back a bit.

Or fit a motorbike engine in it.

I love the old mini so much that I just can't stand seeing one of them crash or be destroyed.

old mini ftw! i love them, three days ago i saw one in perfect condition, just beautiful

Quote from brandons48 :

if you meant me, I'm on school holidays



Standard engine, maybe, But my dad has converted his to run on a 650cc Kawazaki thing It's great to pull up to the lights, in an innocent looking mini, and then you get a group of chavs pull up next to you revving the nuts out of their corsa, then you pull away with 200+bhp and leave them standing It's a good trackday car at brands hatch too

Hun, if you want to get your hands dirty rebuilding a car to have a mere 200hp that's cool and all, but you'll need more than that to put a smile on my face in a straight line away from the lights, or indeed to beat half the cars I've owned...

You see the problem is, the more you are into getting more juice out of a car the more likely it is that you'll end up as pit crew. For me the joy of driving was always been behind the wheel, not freezing cold under a car at 9pm on a night I could be making a hangover.

Quote from Becky Rose :

Hun, if you want to get your hands dirty rebuilding a car to have a mere 200hp that's cool and all, but you'll need more than that to put a smile on my face in a straight line away from the lights, or indeed to beat half the cars I've owned...

You see the problem is, the more you are into getting more juice out of a car the more likely it is that you'll end up as pit crew. For me the joy of driving was always been behind the wheel, not freezing cold under a car at 9pm on a night I could be making a hangover.

So what you're saying is we buy a Honda S2000 that never breaks down but is fast? Where's the fun in that? I thought cars were about character and a feeling of accomplishment.

Quote from piggy501 :

I don't get it. Do you like it?

If it feels gutless, shove a Rover V8 in it like one of my Dads friends did, although you need to knock the dashboard back a bit.

Or fit a motorbike engine in it.

I admire it, but I'd never own one. It's too uncomfortably small and they just arnt fast enough.

Quote from piggy501 :

So what you're saying is we buy a Honda S2000 that never breaks down but is fast? Where's the fun in that? I thought cars were about character and a feeling of accomplishment.

I don't believe you can quote me as condoning the use of Honda's.

Quote from Becky Rose :

I don't believe you can quote me as condoning the use of Honda's.

Double post *tit tit*

I'm not saying you should use Hondas, I just used them as an example of a reliable car.

How on earth are you supposed to shag in that car.

Even If I shrink myself my **** wont lol

Quote from Becky Rose :

Hun, if you want to get your hands dirty rebuilding a car to have a mere 200hp that's cool and all, but you'll need more than that to put a smile on my face in a straight line away from the lights, or indeed to beat half the cars I've owned...

200bhp in a car that weighs less than half a tonne, weight makes a huge difference, and i said "200+" as i'm not sure as to how much power it kicks out.

but for a little old MINI that's not bad at all
But hey, if you don't like them, i don't mind, everyone has a right to their own opinion.

both just as = fun imho...


the old one is more fun to throw around but the new one is rather nice lookin so...

a good choice either one you pick

Quote from piggy501 :

If it feels gutless, shove a Rover V8 in it like one of my Dads friends did, although you need to knock the dashboard back a bit.

you can fit it without cutting the body up, seen it done, ill have to try and find the website again (and no, its not in the boot! )


EDIT: got it http://www.geocities.com/jharkola/Viku2.html

Or an "original" convertable mini/speedster http://www.geocities.com/jharkola/images/viku/viku2.jpg

The classic all the way.

There's a lot more tuning options for it.

It's 50 this year and iirc Wood and Pickett are gonna be selling a limited number of new Classic Mini's. (website for W&P, it's the Margrave 50 Click Here).

Steve McQueen owned 1 too.

Here's a vid of the sort of rebuild my dad's mini has.
And i just realised my dad's one isn't Kawasaki it's an R1 Yamaha lol
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v= ... mgvIQ&feature=related

Quote from piggy501 :

Double post *tit tit*

I was posting on an iPhone, not only does this give me the right to ignore rules on double posting on the grounds that i've A) Paid more to do it; and B) Can't possibly sit there for an hour getting an iPhone to edit a post!

Quote from brandons48 :

200bhp in a car that weighs less than half a tonne, weight makes a huge difference, and i said "200+" as i'm not sure as to how much power it kicks out.

You said 200bhp as fact, and yes cars that are light can be quick with what i'd view as a medium amount of power. The problem is you also said the engine was out of a motorbike which when I looked it up had 180hp when brand new, before being driven like a cock - and trust me, I was sent a video in PM.

The reason motorbike engines aren't often put in cars, but are quite often put in go karts, is because they're designed to rev high and go fast, but they dont pull a lot of weight. You could argue a mini doesnt have a lot of weight, but compared to the motorbike it does.

Now i'm not saying it is a slow car, far from it. What I said was that is not enough power to put a smile on my face just from the acceleration forces. It just isnt. Many of the cars i've owned had better power to weight ratios and they didnt either.

This is because the original conversation was about beating boy racers away from the line, so keeping it in context, yes your little mini makes a lot of noise and is moderately faster than a riced Astra.

But if you want to know whether chucking a motorbike engine into a mini, claiming an extra 40 or more horsepower, and driving like a cock impresses me personally. I'm afraid my knickers are still firmly in place.

I don't drive it im 13 for god's sake.
And tbh, i'm not really bothered about your knickers as you're probably quite a bit older than me.

I was just pointing out that the old MINI can be made into a much more powerful car, everyone has their own way with their car whether or not it's a MINI. Standard mini's have about 60 odd BHP standard from what i know, and adding 150 or so BHP and removing quite a bit of weight is quite an improvement. So what if it can't beat some of the faster cars on the road? So what if it's an awful lot of work?
I just wanted to share that little customization and show what's possible with a little old MINI.

What's the harm in that?

EDIT: that video in my PM and my post isn't my dad's mini, it's just a similar customization that i showed as an example.

If you don't want the answer don't ask the question.