Month: December 2006

MINI Cooper “Marginal” Rear Safety

Heard on CNN this morning that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety had released a new report on the safety of mini cars and they specifically mentioned the MINI Cooper has being highlighted for poor rear safety.

You can find a summary of the report or go here for a bunch of links about the study. Bottom line is that the MINI (up to and including the ’06 models) scored Good for front protection, Acceptable for side, and Marginal for the rear. Contrast this with the Nissan Versa that was top with Good protection all around, and the Hyundai Accent/Kia Rio which finished last with Acceptable front, Poor side and rear.

Update: GBMini posted a good debunking of the report; Motoringfile posted a link and, of course, the MINI fanboys got their knickers in a twist that someone dare say something negative about our precious tin cans.

A New One on Me

At a happy hour with some old Navy colleagues a woman I worked with asked if I still had my MINI. She had been thinking of getting a convertible but her husband told her that small cars were dangerous because they do not hold the road well on corners. I’ve heard some complaints about the MINI from non-owners but never that one! I assured her that quite to the contrary the MINI stuck to the road far better than most vehicles and her husband didn’t know what he was talking about. I am glad to say she is going back home and telling him she is again interested in a MINI.